Latest News Archive

Please select Category, Year, and then Month to display items

UFS research scholars celebrated at the annual research awards

05 October 2023 | Story Anthony Mthembu | Photo Stephen Collet

The University of the Free State (UFS) recently hosted its annual Research Awards function at the Wynand Mouton Theatre on the Bloemfontein campus. Present at this event on 26 September 2023 were Prof Francis Petersen, the Vice-Chancellor and Principal of UFS, Prof Crain Soudien, a globally renowned academic and the President of the Cornerstone Institute, and members of the UFS academic community, among others.

The awards ceremony

Prof Petersen stated, ‘’The purpose of the event is to recognise scholars at the University of the Free State who are conducting outstanding research in their respective fields of expertise.’’ Certificates were presented to researchers in various categories, including National Research Foundation (NRF) Rated Scholars from categories P to A. Prof Vasu Reddy, Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Research and Internationalisation at the UFS, highlighted that there are precisely 217 NRF-rated scholars within the institution. However, some of these scholars had not been acknowledged internally. Hence, the ceremony aimed to celebrate these scholars.

Furthermore, UFS staff members were acknowledged for their research at both national and international levels. Prof Abdon Atangana, named as one of five recipients of the inaugural UNESCO-Al Fozan International Prize for the Promotion of Young Scientists in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), was among these individuals. Future professors of the institution who are part of the Professoriate Programme were also recognised for their outstanding performance in transforming the programme.

The highly anticipated category of the evening was the UFS Book Prize for distinguished scholarship. Prof Reddy explained, ‘’the purpose of the award is to recognise outstanding publications produced by any permanent member of the UFS staff, which are research-based and published in a book. Prof Soudien, who was the guest speaker for the evening and one of the reviewers of the books nominated in this category, indicated that he found the books ‘’illuminating and in many ways challenging of positions I hold and positions that I think that we all ought to be reflecting on in terms of where our world is going’’.

From the four nominees vying for this award, Prof Helene Strauss was announced as the winner of the 2022 UFS Book Prize for her book entitled, ‘Wayward Feeling: Audio-Visual Culture and Aesthetic Activism in Post-Rainbow South Africa’. Strauss expressed her appreciation, saying, ‘’It is a great honour to be awarded the UFS Book Prize given the high calibre of this year's nominees. It is a lovely morale boost at this time of the year when our motivation can start to flag under the weight of the workload. It inspires me to continue to try to live up to the many examples of outstanding research produced on this campus.’’ The prize includes a certificate of honour as well as a monetary award.

The significance of the awards ceremony

While the award ceremony aims to recognise and celebrate research outputs by the UFS staff, Prof Petersen emphasises that it is also an acknowledgement of the researchers’ impact. Through their contributions, they elevate the research profile of the institution, thereby bringing the vision of becoming a research-led university, as outlined in Vision 130, closer to reality.

News Archive

UFS leads the way with GMO testing

2003-08-25

A formal agreement linking Africa’s first testing facility for genetically modified organisms (GMO) to an international organization was signed at the University of the Free State.

According to the manager of the GMO testing facility, Dr Chris Viljoen of the Department of Plant Sciences, the facility is now part of GeneScan, a world leader in food diagnostic testing, which has its headquarters in Germany with subsidiaries in the Unites States, Brazil and Hong Kong.

The facility at the UFS has been selected by the second largest international food company to do all its South African GMO testing for export products.

The GMO testing facility is the brainchild of Dr Viljoen, who is a specialist in the field of marker biotechnology and its applications in crop science.

He says the need for such a testing facility arose due to the international regulations on GMOs in food, especially Europe and Asia that requires South African exporters to certify whether their products contain any GMO.

“The regulations in Europe and Asia reflect a consumer need for choice in what they eat due to concerns over the safety of GMOs, as well as environmental and ethical issues. GMO testing and labelling allow consumers the right of choice to eat genetically modified foods or not. According to EU regulations, any product with a GMO content of 1% or higher is labelled as containing GMO.”

According to Dr Viljoen only four products in South Africa are currently GMO. They are white and yellow maize that have been made insect resistant, soya bean that is herbicide tolerant and insect resistant cotton. He says that the awareness of GMOs among South Africans is still very limited, especially in poorer communities, but it is likely to increase with the efforts being made in consumer education by government, seed companies and NGOs.

The testing facility has been established to accommodate the local as well as international market. The GMO testing at the UFS facility is performed using real time PCR, the most advanced means of GMO detection currently available, and using GeneScan developed technology that is recognized worldwide.

Back

Economic and Management Sciences

Education

Health Sciences

The Humanities

Law

Natural and Agricultural Sciences

Theology and Religion

Open Distance Learning

Business School

We use cookies to make interactions with our websites and services easy and meaningful. To better understand how they are used, read more about the UFS cookie policy. By continuing to use this site you are giving us your consent to do this.

Accept