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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.
5 things you might not know about Elizabeth Molapo: Miss SA 2016 finalist
2015-11-20
Kovsies’ own beauty queen, Elizabeth Molapo |
Elizabeth Lihotetso Molapo is a final-year BCom Economics student at the University of the Free State. The impeccably-beautiful 23-year-old is the only Bloemfontein representative among the top 12 contestants who have their eyes fixed on the Miss South Africa 2016 crown.
You might not know that:
1. Elizabeth was named after Queen Elizabeth 2, with whom she shares a birthday. Her middle name, “Lihotetso”, translates as “Fire”. Suffice it to say, her burning desire to learn - the pull factor for her embarking on the Miss SA 2016 journey - is a manifestation of her fate.
2. This is not her first time in the Miss SA competition. Last year, Elizabeth gave the Miss SA competition a try but unfortunately did not make very far.
3. Her childhood dream was to become a pediatrician. Economics won when she had to shadow at a hospital when she was in high school, and was horrified at the sight of blood. Elizabeth then decided: “This isn’t for me!”
4. “Enter Miss SA,” she recalls Rolene Strauss saying. The former Miss SA and current Miss World encouraged her to follow her dreams, and to aim for the most prestigious tiara in the country.
5. The last book she read was Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers. It is also the next one she might read, as she has read it three times already.
Other Kovsies who have made strides in the beauty pageant realm include Rolene Strauss who was crowned Miss SA 2014 and Miss World 2015. Earlier this year, Relebohile Kobeli was also crowned Miss Lesotho 2015 and is now en route to Miss World International 2015 in China.