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25 June 2025 | Story Dr Nitha Ramnath | Photo Lunga Luthuli
Dr Omololu Aluko
Dr Omololu Aluko, Senior Lecturer in the Department of Biostatistics advances health research and collaboration during prestigious fellowship at Ghent University, Belgium.

Dr Omololu Aluko, Senior Lecturer in the Department of Biostatistics in the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of the Free State (UFS), recently completed a prestigious short research stay at Ghent University in Belgium. The fellowship, hosted in April 2025, was awarded through the highly competitive Africa Platform of Ghent University Association (GAP) funding scheme, with additional support from the UFS International Office. 

A recognised expert in infectious disease modelling, particularly HIV/AIDS research in low-resource settings, Dr Aluko has devoted his academic career to using biostatistics to address pressing health challenges. His selection for this fellowship marks a significant achievement both for his individual research trajectory and for the broader ambitions of the Faculty of Health Sciences and the UFS.

 

Strategic steps towards international collaboration 

The opportunity for the fellowship was first announced in the UFS Digest Newsletter. Motivated by the potential for international collaboration, Dr Aluko began seeking a host at Ghent University whose interests aligned with his own. After several weeks of correspondence with various departments and researchers, a suitable academic collaborator agreed to host him. 

With a host confirmed, Dr Aluko submitted his application, which underwent a rigorous review and selection process. His proposal was shortlisted and ultimately approved. While Ghent University provided partial funding, supplementary financial support was secured through the UFS International Office. Dr Aluko credits the office’s assistance – especially the guidance of Mr Kagiso Ngake, Senior Officer: Partnerships – for helping him successfully secure the necessary resources. 

 

Advancing research in health data science  

During his time at Ghent University, Dr Aluko focused on the application of machine learning algorithms to address public health challenges – an increasingly important field within the Faculty of Health Sciences. His research demonstrated how advanced data analysis techniques can improve health outcomes and optimise treatment strategies, especially in resource-constrained settings. 

Beyond the immediate research achievements, the fellowship laid a foundation for long-term collaboration between the UFS and Ghent University. Key outcomes include: 

  • Opportunities for joint PhD supervision, allowing UFS students to conduct part of their research at Ghent University 
  • Prospects for publishing collaborative research in leading international A1-rated journals 
  • The identification of a promising young research collaborator, paving the way for future academic partnerships 

  • Plans to explore future staff exchange programmes, as new funding calls are announced 

     

A growing partnership in a new academic field 

Dr Annelies Verdoolaege, Coordinator for the Africa Platform at Ghent University, emphasised the broader vision behind the initiative:

“The purpose of these fellowships is to foster structural academic collaboration between Ghent University and partners in Africa. We offer a dedicated amount of seed funding to support short-term mobility, with the aim of building long-term partnerships – through student exchange, joint PhDs, joint funding proposals, and collaborative research publications. 

The UFS is a long-standing partner of Ghent University, especially in Education, Linguistics, and Agriculture. We are delighted that this fellowship has taken place in the field of Data Analysis and Mathematical Modelling - a scientific domain still to be fully developed between our institutions.” 

 

Enhancing UFS’ global research impact 

Dr Aluko’s successful fellowship reflects the high calibre of researchers at the UFS and illustrates the importance of international academic mobility. By securing this competitive opportunity, Dr Aluko not only advanced his own work but also strengthened the UFS’ global research footprint - opening new collaborative avenues and reinforcing the university's growing reputation in health sciences and data-driven research. 

The UFS expresses its sincere gratitude to the Africa Platform of Ghent University and the UFS International Office for their critical support in enabling this milestone. Partnerships such as this are key to fulfilling the UFS’ mission of producing world-class research and fostering meaningful global engagement. 

News Archive

Enhancement of social justice focus at research colloquium
2010-10-07

At the third Education for Social Justice Research Colloquium the publication Praxis towards sustainable empowering learning environments in South were handed to Prof. Ezekiel Moraka, Vice-Rector: External Relations at the UFS. At this occasion were, from the left: Prof. Dennis Francis, Dean of the UFS Faculty of Education; Prof. Sechaba Mahlomaholo, Research Professor in the Faculty of Education Sciences at the North-West University; Prof. Moraka; and Dr Milton Nkoane, Senior Lecturer in the UFS Faculty of Education.
Photo: Leonie Bolleurs

 

This year, the University of the Free State (UFS) was the host for the Research Colloquium: Education for Social Justice for the very first time. It is the third time that this colloquium has been presented.

Prof. Ezekiel Moraka, Vice-Rector: External Relations at the UFS, opened the colloquium, stating that academics, through their research, are ultimately in a good standing to advise government on important issues such as social justice for them to address these issues accordingly.

Prof. Sechaba Mahlomaholo, Research Professor in the Faculty of Education Sciences at the North-West University, delivered the opening address on the theme: Validating community cultural wealth towards sustainable empowering learning environments for social justice. He said that the legacy of our recent past as South Africa still continues to haunt us, especially as exemplified in the dysfunctionalities that are rife in our education.

“With the colloquium we manage to bring together the ideas, thoughts, resources and efforts of educators and/or educationists concerned with the creation of a more equitable, equal, free, hopeful, peaceful and socially just society. Through our teaching, our community engagement and research activities we strive towards a more humane, caring, respecting and respectful South Africa and the world,” he said.

According to Prof. Mahlomaholo, education and its research are some of the most potent mechanisms at the very centre of social transformation. The papers at the colloquium focused on investigating, understanding and responding to issues of amongst others:

  • The medium of teaching and learning which continues to be a barrier to many learners to perform to the best of their abilities in the majority of the education institutions in South Africa;
  • Health, sexuality, HIV/Aids, stigmatisation and other deseases plaguing our communities currently;
  • Self-fulfilling prophecies and stereotypes about some learners not being as intelligent as the rest and this finally being reflected and confirmed in their poor academic achievements;
  • Differentiated levels of parental involvement in the activities of their children’s learning due to long absences from their families as they have to work in far-off places of employment;

Papers delivered at the colloquium moved beyond merely identifying the problems; they also suggested possible and plausible research-based solutions to these, such as integrating HIV/Aids education in curricula, listening to the aspirations of significant stakeholders such as mothers and parents generally in teaching and facilitating more rigorous community engagement practices.

At the colloquium gala dinner the book Praxis towards sustainable empowering learning environments in South Africa by authors Dr Milton Nkoane, Senior Lecturer in the UFS Faculty of Education, Prof. Mahlomaholo and Prof. Dennis Francis, Dean of the Faculty of Education at the UFS, was launched. The publication consists of a collection of the best peer-reviewed papers from a conference with the theme Creating sustainable empowering learning environments through scholarship of engagement. The main criterion for inclusion was that the paper should contribute to the theme by means of an original, tight, theoretical and empirical study conducted with the aim of informing the practice of creating sustainable empowering learning environments. The concrete cases examined in many of the chapters are very useful to helping readers understand the specific, on-the-ground concerns related to higher education and schools.

Media Release
Issued by: Leonie Bolleurs
Strategic Communication
Tel: 051 401 2707
Sel: 0836455853
Email: bolleursl@ufs.ac.za  
30 September 2010
 

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