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Flash Fact Competition ignites collaboration in the Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences

26 June 2024 | Story Martinette Brits | Photo Stephen Collett

Postdoc and Staff Flash Fact Winners 2024 — The winners from the Postdoctoral and Staff categories, from left: Dr Cowan McLean, Dr Kamini Govender, Dr Abdul Rashid Issahaku, Dr Ernie Langer, Prof Paul Oberholster, Dr Tinus Viljoen, and Dr Govind Nair.

The Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences (NAS) recently hosted a two-day Flash Fact Competition, where postgraduate students (Masters, PhD, and Postdocs) and staff presented and shared their research.

Co-organisers Liesl van der Westhuizen and Heidiry White, from the Dean’s Office, noted that “the main purpose of this competition is to disseminate information across departments within the faculty.” Dr Frans O’Neill, Programme Director of Microbiology and Biochemistry and co-organiser, added that the competition “creates awareness for collaboration opportunities and showcases the impressive diversity of research within NAS.”

In his closing statements, Prof Paul Oberholster, Dean of the Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, emphasised the significance of the competition, highlighting that it provides a platform for staff and students to showcase their work and encourages collaboration among participants.

Winners from each department (and divisions within departments) in the faculty faced each other in the final Flash Fact Competition. Participants had three minutes to present their research, followed by a question-and-answer session with a panel of adjudicators and the audience. According to Dr O’Neill, a scoring system based on the standard Three Minute Thesis competition (3MT) was used to determine the winners. The criteria included content and audience engagement.

Prize Winners

Masters category:

First prize – Mareli Moster, Department of Genetics

Second prize – Alexandra Howard, Department of Zoology and Entomology (Qwaqwa Campus)

Third prize – Natalie Matchett, Department of Physics (Astrophysics)

PhD category:

First prize – Thandi Mazibuko, Department of Physics

Second prize – Justin Cooper, Department of Physics (Astrophysics)

Third prize – Diana Mngomezulu, Department of Plant Sciences

Postdoctoral category:

First prize – Dr Abdul Rashid Issahaku, Department of Chemistry

Second prize – Dr Govind Nair, Department of Physics

Third prize – Dr Kamini Govender, Department of Microbiology and Biochemistry

Staff category:

First prize – Dr Tinus Viljoen, Department of Genetics

Second prize – Dr Cowan McLean, Department of Soil, Crop and Climate Sciences

Third prize – Dr Ernie Langer, Department of Chemistry

The winners from the MSc and PhD categories, from left: Natalie Matchett, Mareli Mostert, Thandi Mazibuko, Prof Sam Adelabu (Vice-Dean: Research and Postgraduate Studies), Justin Cooper, Diana Mngomezulu, and Alexandra Howard.

News Archive

First lecture in Law Dean's series presented

2010-10-22

Prof. Johan Henning, Dean of the Faculty of Law at the UFS and Prof. Johan Farrar, a well respected Corporate Law Specialist, at the recent first lecture in the Law Dean’s Prestige Lecture Series.
Photo: Lize du Plessis

Prof. John Farrar, a well respected Corporate Law Specialist of high international repute, delivered the first lecture in the Law Dean’s Prestige Lecture Series at the University of the Free State (UFS). The theme of his paper was Directors’ duties of care – Issues of classification, solvency and business judgement and the dangers of legal transplants.

The topic is of the utmost importance to South African lawyers in view of the very contentious provisions of the new Companies Act 71 of 2008 endeavouring to introduce the business judgement rule into South African Company Law if and thus reforming company directors’ common law duties of care and skill, if when this legislation at long last becomes operative.

Prof. Farrar is a professor of Corporate Governance at the University of Auckland Business School, and joint director of the New Zealand Governance Centre. These are part-time roles and the remainder of his time is spent as emeritus professor of Law at Bond University, Queensland.

Prof. Farrar has extensive experience in Commercial Law Reform, having, for example, acted as a consultant to the New Zealand Treasury, the Law Commission, the Business Council of Australia and the UK Department of Trade and Industry.

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