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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.
2015 Erasmus Mundus Grantees announced
2015-07-07
Front row, from the left: Frans Kruger, Lecturer: School of Education Studies; Trudie Strauss, Lecturer, Mathematical Statistics and Actuarial Science
Back row, from the left: Johnathan Adams, Teaching Assistant: Centre for Teaching and Learning; Moliehi Rosemary Mpeli, Lecturer: School of Nursing; Ncedo Xhala, Research Assistant: Quantity Surveying and Construction Management.
Photo: Mamosa Makaya |
The grantees of the 2015 Erasmus Mundus programme have been announced, and will soon head off to various institutions at European universities to embark on academic and professional exchange programmes. The cohort is made up of some of the best, most talented staff of the university, who are currently studying towards master’s and PhD programmes in fields such as Mathematics and Actuarial Sciences, Quantity Surveying, Bioethics, and Education.
The Erasmus Mundus programme is an international partnership that enhances academic cooperation between institutions of higher education in South Africa and the European Union, and has within it the EUROSA, EU Saturn and INSPIRE programmes. It aims to promote inter-cultural understanding, and the development of both European and Third-Country universities. The UFS has participated in the programme since 2010. In 2014, 13 staff members were granted PhD and master’s study programmes for a period of up to 22 months in various fields such as Communication Science, Urban and Regional Planning and Law, at among others, the Universities of Ghent, Antwerp Tilburg and Uppsala.