The extension of two Tier 1 South African Research Chairs Initiative (SARChI) research chairs at the University of the Free State (UFS) highlights the institution’s growing impact in research, innovation, and postgraduate training. It also means the chairs can continue and extend the scope of their work.
The South African Research Chairs Initiative, established in 2006 by the Department of Science and Technology (DST) and the National Research Foundation (NRF), aims to strengthen and improve the research and innovation capacity of public universities to produce high-quality postgraduate students, research, and innovation outputs. This is in line with the university’s strategic goal to improve its academic excellence, reputation and impact. In terms of research, this entails an emphasis on visibility and impact for sustainability. The University embeds itself within national and international scholarly communities and strengthens partnerships with industry and the world of work. It is also committed to champion innovations anchored in deep collaborations locally and globally.
Prof Vasu Reddy, Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Research, Innovation and Postgraduate Studies, says “These SARChI chair renewals reaffirm that sustained investment in knowledge ecosystems translates directly into societal resilience and scientific excellence. Our research chairs embody the convergence of science, technology, and innovation with real-world impact, from food security to public health preparedness.”
Extension is motivating
“I am happy that the SARChI chair was renewed for a third five-year term (up to the end of 2030). We now have a strong interdisciplinary team working together on the research and student supervision at the UFS. We also have a good collaborative network on a national and international level, and we have also improved our infrastructure in terms of equipment and other facilities over the years,” says Prof Labuschagne, a Professor of Plant Breeding in the Department of Plant Sciences.
For Prof Burt the renewal of the chair is motivating. “I am delighted to have the chair renewed for a third and final round. Having confirmation from external reviewers that we are achieving excellence with our activities is very motivating. The renewal of funding allows us to continue with our established biosurveillance programmes and extend the scope of the work that we have been performing.
“I am grateful to be able to contribute to the university’s research profile. The funding supports research and allows for the support of postgraduate students with bursaries and postdoctoral students with fellowships.”
Prof Labuschagne contributes the extension of the research chair to the many PhD and MSc students it has produced over the past 10 years. Their research was widely shared at international and national conferences as well as in the media. The results from the research were also disseminated to industry and farmers and have made a significant impact in terms of disease resistance, and new releases of nutritionally enhanced climate-resilient crop varieties.
What contributed to the extension for her SARChI chair, says Prof Burt, is their multidisciplinary research. Although the aim is to advance scientific knowledge on zoonotic and vector-borne pathogens, they also have a social responsibility to create awareness among communities of diseases they could be exposed to due to occupational and recreational activities.
Highlights of the chairs
The Disease Resistance and Quality in Field Crops chair produced 28 PhD, 22 MSc and 15 honours/BSc Agric 4th year students as well as the four postdoctoral fellows over the years. In the first 10 years of the chair, researchers published 130 papers in almost exclusively ISI-listed journals with good impact. Furthermore, significant progress was made on rust resistance and the mechanisms and genetics of resistance, as well as crop biofortification, with the release of some of the biofortified varieties to farmers for production in Africa.
“We have extended our research to include more legumes (cowpea, bambara groundnut, pigeon pea and vegetable soybean), which are important food security crops in South Africa and the rest of Africa. I am grateful to the UFS who has facilitated the chair and helped us in many ways to make it a success.”
Prof Burt, who is from the Division of Virology, in the Faculty of Health Sciences and National Health Laboratory Services (NHLS) says: “We have consistent output in the form of research papers in international peer reviewed journals, and we have made a significant contribution towards capacity building in One Health research and training the next generation of scientists to build capacity in outbreak preparedness and promote gender balance in science.”
While their work will continue to focus on biosurveillance of mosquitoes and ticks to identify vector-borne and zoonotic viruses circulating in the region, Prof Burt says they are also expanding the scope of the research to further understand the public and veterinary health implications of the viruses that are detected during surveillance.
“We have a very exciting project with Prof Angélique Lewies (Associate Professor in the Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery) to develop human brain organoids that we will use to investigate if the viruses we have detected have potential to cause neurological disease in humans. In a nutshell, we are hunting for viruses, old and new, we determine the potential human and animal health implications from these viruses circulating in our environment and we look at how they cause disease.”
Prof Reddy says this continued support from the DST and NRF enables the University to build globally connected scholarship that drives innovation while remaining grounded in local societal needs. “At UFS, we see research excellence not as an endpoint, but as a catalyst for responsible, societal futures shaped through innovation and postgraduate capacity development.”