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29 October 2024 | Story Leonie Bolleurs | Photo Supplied
Thandi Mazibuko
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

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.

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