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08 May 2024
Photo SUPPLIED
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.
Students are flocking back to class
2014-02-03
Ready for the new academic year. From the left are: Shannan Bohlander and Caden Hendricks.
Photo: Chloe Jansen
Despite the weather, campus is bustling with anxious and excited students. While the first week of classes is underway, some are dashing to and from class and others are catching up with classmates.
Shannan Bohlander, a second-year Psychology student, is greatly looking forward to this new year. “I’m excited about actually going to class!” Caden Hendricks, a second-year Media Studies and Journalism student, says his year is all about prioritising, “I’m excited to see if I can achieve balance this year, whilst at the same time not ‘missing out’ on all the activities on and around campus.”
BComm Accounting honours student, Siya Qinga, says this year is a daunting one for her, “I’m not too sure what I’m excited about, because at the start of the year you hear people telling you that it’s hard [honours], so it gets to the point where you’re very scared, because there’s no one reassuring you on that. So it’s a very confusing time, and you need a whole lot of introspection.”