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08 May 2024
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The Dean of the Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, Prof Paul Oberholster, has the pleasure of inviting you to the inaugural lecture of Prof Dirk Opperman.
Date: 21 May 2024
Time: 17:30
Venue: Equitas
Click here to RSVP before Wednesday, 15 May 2024. Alternatively, contact Christelle van Rooyen on +27 51 401 9190.
About Prof Dirk Opperman
Prof Dirk Opperman obtained his PhD in Biochemistry at the University of the Free State in 2008. This was followed by postdoctoral research on directed evolution with Prof Manfred T Reetz at the Max Planck Institute for Coal Research (Germany). In 2010, he was appointed in the Department of Microbiology and Biochemistry. He subsequently established structural biology at the UFS, and his current research focus lies at the interface of evolutionary and structure-function relationships of biocatalysts, and their application in green chemistry. He is an NRF B-rated researcher with co-authored papers in Science, Nature Communications, and Angewandte Chemie.
His research has been funded by both local and international organisations, ranging from industries such as SASOL to the Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF, UK). He has a long-standing collaboration with researchers at the Delft University of Technology (TUDelft, the Netherlands) and is currently part of a European Research Area Network Cofund (ERA-NET Cofund) partnership on Food Systems and Climate (FOSC) that develops biocatalysts for upcycling waste.
Palestinian Ambassador discusses future collaboration in education and development with UFS
2017-06-08
From the left: Chevon Jacobs (Office of International Affairs),
Ambassador Hashem Dajani, Prof Francis Petersen,
Chargé d’Affaires Bassam Elhussiny, and
Kanego Mokgosi (Office of International Affairs).
Photo: Eugene Seegers
Palestine’s Ambassador to South Africa, His Excellency Hashem Dajani, paid a courtesy call to Prof Francis Petersen on 30 May 2017 at the Bloemfontein Campus. Ambassador Dajani was accompanied by Chargé d’Affaires Bassam Elhussiny to congratulate Prof Petersen on his appointment as Vice-Chancellor and Rector of the University of the Free State (UFS).
The diplomatic visit entailed discussions of possible collaborative initiatives between the UFS and universities in Palestine in areas such as student exchanges, capacity building and development, and research.
Diplomacy in action - a tool for internationalisation
The UFS has in the past hosted the Palestinian delegation on public engagements held with the university community, including students and the Institute of Reconciliation and Social Justice, to showcase the socio-political situation in Palestine through the use of film and panel discussions.
The UFS has built strong networks with other foreign diplomatic missions in the country which have yielded interaction between diplomats and institutes, students and academics on the Bloemfontein Campus. These collaborations are an important tool for success of the broader university’s strategy of internationalisation.
It is through the visit of Ambassador Dajani that the university and the Office of International Affairs hopes to create firm, future strategic collaborations with Palestinian universities, academics and students.