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3MT competition showcases excellent research and communication skills

29 October 2024 | Story Leonie Bolleurs | Photo Supplied

Thandi Mazibuko, with her presentation: LED there be light, was the overall institutional winner in the PhD category and the runner-up in the national competition of this year’s 3MT competition.

The Centre for Graduate Support (CGS) recently (11 October 2024) hosted the annual institutional Three-Minute Thesis Competition (3MT), which was followed by the national competition (25 October). This year, the nationals took place on the UFS Bloemfontein Campus. According to Tshepiso Mokoena, responsible for Research Capacity Development in CGS, the participating master’s and PhD students gave well-prepared presentations. The competition aims to equip postgraduate students with valuable communication and presentation skills.

She says that postgraduate students are encouraged to do research that will benefit the community. “To do this, students should be able to communicate and present their research to a non-specialist audience. The 3MT competition trains and equips them with skills that they will use in their community and workplace,” she noted.

Overall PhD winner

The overall winner in the PhD category of the UFS competition was Thandi Mazibuko with her presentation: LED there be light. Thandi was also announced as the first runner-up at the national competition.

Growing up in Qwaqwa, Thandi’s passion for mathematics and the natural sciences led her to pursue a BSc Physics degree at the UFS in 2013, followed by an honours at the UFS. She then completed her MSc at the University of the Western Cape and worked as a science engagement intern at iThemba LABS in Cape Town, which inspired her to start a YouTube channel with more than 4 800 subscribers, called Thandisayensi. On this channel she uploads Physical Sciences videos for learners in grades 10-12.

Thandi states that she loves learning and being in learning environments; in 2022, she registered for a PhD in Solid State Physics under the supervision of Prof Hendrik Swart and Prof David Motaung.

Her research focuses on synthesising a phosphor material capable of emitting red, green, and blue light, which, when combined, creates the perception of white light. Thandi compared the research process to cooking, explaining how the preparation of phosphors resembles food preparation. She believes that relatable language, analogies, and storytelling are important tools in science communication.

Thandi says that this competition was a valuable platform to improve her science communication skills. “It is an interesting challenge to explain your work in 180 seconds to an audience with different backgrounds,” she said, adding that she is excited to represent the UFS at the national competition.

The other winners

Each department hosts its own 3MT competition, and the winners and runners-up in both the master’s and PhD categories then represent their faculty in the institutional competition.

The master’s category winners from other faculties were:

Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences: Evodia Mohoanyane with Does SI/tutoring work and what about it works? Evodia was also the overall winner in the institutional competition in the master’s category.
The Humanities: Yonwaba Matshobotiyana with Of Speaking and Visibility: Black Women Poets' Voices in South Africa
Health Sciences: Viwe Fokazi with Establishing a novel 3D doxorubicin-resistant triple-negative breast cancer spheroid model

In the PhD category, the winners were:

Economic and Management Sciences: Chrizaan Grobbelaar with The use of gamification to enhance retirement preparedness of millennials
The Humanities: Sheree Pretorius with The Psychometric Properties of the Prison Adjustment Questionnaire (PAQ) among South African Male Incarcerated Offenders

With Thandi, first runner-up of the institutional competition, Chrizaan, participated in the national 3MT competition. Universities such as the Nelson Mandela University, UNISA, University of KwaZulu-Natal, University of the Western Cape, University of Johannesburg, and the Central University of Technology were also present.

News Archive

MBA Programme - Question And Answer Sheet - 27 May 2004

2004-05-27

1. WHAT MUST THE UNIVERSITY OF THE FREE STATE (UFS) DO TO GET FULL ACCREDITATION FOR THE MBA PROGRAMMES?

According to the Council on Higher Education’s (CHE) evaluation, the three MBA programmes of the UFS clearly and significantly contribute to students’ knowledge and skills, are relevant for the workplace, are appropriately resourced and have an appropriate internal and external programme environment. These programmes are the MBA General, the MBA in Health Care Management and the MBA in Entrepreneurship.

What the Council on Higher Education did find, was a few technical and administrative issues that need to be addressed.

This is why the three MBA programmes of the UFS received conditional accreditation – which in itself is a major achievement for the UFS’s School of Management, which was only four years old at the time of the evaluation.

The following breakdown gives one a sense of the mostly administrative nature of the conditions that have to be met before full accreditation is granted by the CHE:

a. A formal forum of stakeholders: The UFS is required to establish a more structured, inclusive process of review of its MBA programmes. This is an administrative formality already in process.

b. A work allocation model: According to the CHE this is required to regulate the workload of the teaching staff, particularly as student numbers grow, rather than via standard management processes as currently done.

c. Contractual agreements with part-time staff: The UFS is required to enter into formal agreements with part-time and contractual staff as all agreements are currently done on an informal and claim-basis. This is an administrative formality already in process.

d. A formal curriculum committee: According to the CHE, the School of Management had realised the need for a structure – other than the current Faculty Board - where all MBA lecturers can deliberate on the MBA programmes, and serve as a channel for faculty input, consultation and decision-making.

e. A system of external moderators: This need was already identified by the UFS and the system is to be implemented as early as July 2004.

f. A compulsory research component: The UFS is required to introduce a research component which will include the development of research skills for the business environment. The UFS management identified this need and has approved such a component - it is to take effect from January 2005. This is an insufficient element lacking in virtually all MBA programmes in South Africa.

g. Support programmes for learners having problems with numeracy: The UFS identified this as a need for academic support among some learners and has already developed such a programme which will be implemented from January 2005.

The majority of these conditions have been satisfied already and few remaining steps will take effect soon. It is for this reason that the UFS is confident that its three MBA programmes will soon receive full accreditation.

2. WHAT ACCREDITATION DOES THE UFS HAVE FOR ITS MBA PROGRAMME?

The UFS’s School of Management received conditional accreditation for its three MBA programmes.

Two levels of accreditation are awarded to tertiary institutions for their MBA programmes, namely full accreditation and conditional accreditation. When a programme does not comply with the minimum requirements regarding a small number of criteria, conditional accreditation is given. This can be rectified during the short or medium term.

3. IS THERE ANYTHING WRONG WITH THE ACADEMIC CORE OF THE UFS’s MBA PROGRAMMES?

No. The UFS is proud of its three MBA programmes’ reputation in the market and the positive feedback it receives from graduandi and their employers.

The MBA programmes of the UFS meet most of the minimum requirements of the evaluation process.

In particular, the key element of ‘teaching and learning’, which relates to the curriculum and content of the MBA programmes, is beyond question. In other words, the core of what is being taught in our MBA programmes is sound.

4. IS THE UFS’s MBA A WORTHWHILE QUALIFICATION?

Yes. Earlier this year, the School of Management – young as it is - was rated by employers as the best smaller business school in South Africa. This was based on a survey conducted by the Professional Management Review and reported in the Sunday Times Business Times, of 25 January 2004.

The UFS is committed to maintaining these high standards of quality, not only through compliance with the requirements of the CHE, but also through implementing its own quality assurance measures.

Another way in which we benchmark the quality of our MBA programmes is through the partnerships we have formed with institutions such as the DePaul University in Chicago and Kansas State University, both in the US, as well as the Robert Schuman University in France.

For this reason the UFS appreciates and supports the work of the CHE and welcomes its specific findings regarding the three MBA programmes.

It is understandable that the MBA review has caused some nervousness – not least among current MBA students throughout the country.

However, one principle that the UFS management is committed to is this: preparing all our students for a world of challenge and change. Without any doubt the MBA programme of the UFS is a solid preparation.

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