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Prof Maxim Finkelstein selected as Ewha Global Fellow

26 February 2025 | Story Martinette Brits | Photo Supplied

Prof Finkelstein_web read more edit — Prof Maxim Finkelstein, A1-rated researcher from the University of the Free State, has been selected as the 2024 - 2026 Ewha Global Fellow by Ewha Womans University.

An esteemed researcher from the University of the Free State (UFS), Prof Maxim Finkelstein, has been named a 2024 - 2026 Ewha Global Fellow (EGF) by Ewha Womans University in South Korea.

Prof Finkelstein, an A1-rated researcher from the Department of Mathematical Statistics and Actuarial Science, received this honour in recognition of his outstanding collaboration with Prof Ji Hwan Cha from Ewha’s Department of Statistics. Prof Cha nominated him as a leading expert in his field, highlighting their long-standing partnership and significant contributions to mathematical sciences.

According to Hyang-Sook Lee, President of the Ewha Womans University, the EGF programme “encourages distinguished scholars from all over the world to actively collaborate in research and education with Ewha faculty members.”

The genesis of a unique collaboration

Prof Finkelstein has collaborated extensively with researchers across Europe and the United States but his partnership with Prof Cha is particularly notable. “I started working at the UFS as a Professor in 1998 when he had just obtained his PhD,” recalls Prof Finkelstein.

At the time, Prof Finkelstein was already an established researcher, while Prof Cha was in the early stages. “His letter to me about one of my articles was sent to me by regular mail to my previous working address in Saint Petersburg, Russia, and did not reach me. We eventually connected around 2006, and our collaboration gradually took shape,” he explains.

Over the years, their partnership evolved into a balanced and mutually enriching research relationship. Their joint efforts have resulted in over 120 published papers and two books, setting new standards in the Mathematical Theory of Reliability and its applications. This collaboration has significantly influenced both their careers and contributed to Prof Finkelstein’s recognition with South Africa’s highest research accolades, including an NRF A1 rating in "Mathematical Sciences" in 2021, following his A2 rating in 2015.

A breakthrough in stochastic modelling

One of the major achievements of Prof Finkelstein's collaboration with Ewha has been their pioneering work in stochastic modelling. Their research led to the development of the Generalised Polya Process, a novel model for understanding natural and industrial point events - such as failures in electricity generation, lightning strikes, and hurricanes. By incorporating the ‘history’ of previous events, this model offers a more precise stochastic description of real-world phenomena.

The results of their research have been widely published and have paved the way for further exploration into more complex stochastic processes. Some of their key findings were summarised in the 2018 Springer book Point Processes for Reliability Analysis.

Looking ahead: Future collaboration and continued innovation

Despite being in the later years of his career, Prof Finkelstein remains deeply engaged in research and committed to his partnership with Ewha. Due to the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, his visits to Ewha were limited, but plans are now in place for future visits. During these visits, he will deliver lectures to students and collaborate with faculty members.

For Prof Finkelstein, continuing his nearly two-decade-long collaboration with Prof Cha remains a vital and exciting part of his academic journey.

News Archive

UFS receives research grant focusing on enablement of non-profit organisations

2011-01-20

Prof. Mabel Erasmus

The University of the Free State (UFS) has received a research grant to the value of R1,1 million from the National Research Foundation (NRF) to conduct research on community engagement, with the emphasis on knowledge as enablement – a Non-Profit Organisation (NPO) focus.

This was the first time the NRF had requested applications for research with a focus on community engagement (CE). With the grant, the UFS has become one of the first recipients of a research grant that focuses on community engagement.

The overarching research question that will be dealt with is how Higher Education Institutions (HEI) and the NPO sector can establish long-term, research-based collaborative engagements that will be mutually empowering and enabling through joint, reciprocal knowledge-based activities and capacity building.

The contention that this proposal is based on, is that HEIs have limited knowledge of the NPO sector and thus are unable to be fully responsive to the challenges that NPOs face. What is more, it is very likely that staff and students from HEIs do not have an adequate grasp of the experiential understanding, contextual community knowledge and practical know-how that NPO practitioners have, and hence do not appreciate the crucial contributions that they can make with regard to meaning-making processes aimed at improving some of the harsh South African realities.

According to Prof. Mabel Erasmus, Associate Professor and Head of the university’s Division: Service Learning, which submitted the research proposal to the NRF and is the grant-holder, the university would like the information generated by the research to be beneficial to both HEIs and the NPOs. “Knowledge regarding NPOs, specifically their challenges and information about what they are doing, will be invaluable to HEIs. At the same time, the research must benefit the NPOs with knowledge to improve their practice and strengthen their functioning.

“The research will take place in close collaboration with the NPOs, as their inputs are crucial. The research will thus not be ‘about’ them but ‘with’ them.”

“We do not want to send our students for community-based education or as volunteers to NPOs year after year and it does not mean as much to them as these organisations would hope for. With the research process we would like to strengthen NPOs, to build their capacity and give them our whole-hearted cooperation,” she said.

Funding received from the grant will be applied over a period of three years. Except for the study grants for five Ph.D. students and four master’s students, the grant will further make provision for a number of workshops, a local conference, a publication and presentations at international conferences on this matter. The research team of 22 persons includes academics from other HEIs such as the Central University of Technology, University of Zululand, University of Johannesburg and Monash SA. Several staff members of NPOs also form part of the team, including REACH (Bfn), Childline (FS) and others.

Prof. Erasmus said that the UFS was one of a few institutions that were currently conducting research to this extent on the link between the NPO sector and HEIs within the field of community engagement.

Media Release
18 January 2011
Issued by: Lacea Loader
Director: Strategic Communication (actg)
Tel: 051 401 2584
Cell: 083 645 2454
E-mail: news@ufs.ac.za

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