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05 October 2023 | Story Anthony Mthembu | Photo Stephen Collet
UFS Research scholars celebrated at the annual research awards
The recipients of the various awards presented at the annual UFS Research Awards.

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

New Division of Virology to deliver crucial services for HIV diagnosis and resistance testing
2015-12-14

The establishment of a Division of Virology within the Department of Medical Microbiology, under the joint auspices of the UFS and the National Health Laboratory Service (NHLS), reflects the continued growth within Virology.  Dr Dominique Goedhals, Head of the Division, says the division will also provide training of undergraduate medical students, medical technologists and technicians, and registrars.

The newly established Division of Virology at the University of the Free State will be one of only five laboratories in the country to be involved in crucial diagnostic and testing services for HIV viral load monitoring, early infant diagnosis, and HIV resistance testing.

The Virology Diagnostic Laboratory serves as the reference laboratory for all HIV National Priority Programme samples for the Free State and Northern Cape provinces.

Medical staff at the laboratory will provide a 24-hour consultative service, as well as outreach programmes to district laboratories in the Free State and Northern Cape where pathologists are not available. 

Dr Dominique Goedhals, Head of the Division of Virology, says this division, under the joint auspices of the UFS and the National Health Laboratory Service (NHLS), reflects the continued growth within Virology.

The division will not only deliver this critical diagnostic service, but will also focus on training and teaching, as well as research.

Teaching and training activities include teaching of undergraduate medical students, medical technologists and technicians, and registrars.  The postgraduate science programme has a high output of honours, master’s and doctoral students in Virology.  The intern medical scientist programme is also active, with five interns having successfully submitted their portfolios since the programme was implemented in 2010.

Research activities under the Head of Research, Prof Felicity Burt, have also expanded and continue to show increases in publication output and acquisition of grant funding.  Established research groups within the Division of Virology focus on vector-borne and zoonotic viruses, human papilloma viruses (HPV), and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), as well as work with a number of international collaborators.


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