The University of the Free State (UFS) has established four new research chairs to advance solutions to some of South Africa’s most pressing societal challenges, bringing together expertise to address issues ranging from poverty and human rights to childhood infections, antimicrobial resistance, biodiversity loss and the relationship between people and nature.

By supporting these research programmes, the University is strengthening its research capacity while creating opportunities for collaboration, postgraduate development and research that responds to the needs of South Africa and the wider African continent. Through these initiatives, the University aims to advance research that not only expands knowledge but also responds to challenges affecting communities and contributes to long-term societal impact.

Profs Peter Taylor, Afromontane Research Unit (ARU) Professor-in-Residence and Professor in the Department of Zoology and Entomology, and Aliza le Roux, behavioural ecologist researching mammalian cognition and communication, with expertise in rodent, carnivore, and primate ecology, are co-leading the research chair in restoring biodiversity and connections to nature in Southern Africa’s mountains, while Prof Marieke Gryzenhout, Associate Professor in the Department of Genetics, leads the Fungal Frontiers Initiative. Prof Danie Brand, Director of the Free State Centre for Human Rights, is heading the research chair that focuses on poverty, rights, and democracy; while Prof Martin Nyaga from the UFS Next Generation Sequencing (UFS-NGS) Unit will advance genomic surveillance of respiratory and enteric pathogens in children in South Africa.

Recognise the outstanding research and leadership

At the recently held Exceptional Academic Achievers Awards, Prof Hester C. Klopper, Vice-Chancellor and Principal, awarded the inaugural UFS research chairs, saying the awarding of these chairs recognises the outstanding research and leadership and provides a platform for advancing knowledge and developing postgraduate talent, as well as addressing important societal challenges.

“It has been at the core of our mission to become a research-led university and, as part of the drive towards being a research-led university, we made the decision to invest in research chairs that are supported through the University of the Free State. We proudly acknowledge the researchers who have been awarded these research chairs for their leadership, their contribution to advancing research excellence and also making meaningful societal impact,” said Prof Klopper.

According to Prof Vasu Reddy, Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Research, Innovation and Postgraduate Studies, the research chairs embody the curiosity, courage, and collaborative spirit needed to tackle the challenges of our time and create a better tomorrow. “I am filled with optimism with these appointments because they are an investment in intellectual excellence and future-focused scholarship. Their work will not only advance the knowledge project but also touch lives, strengthen communities, and inspire emerging researchers.”

The research chair in restoring biodiversity and connections to nature in Southern Africa’s mountains takes the strengths of the two co-chairs, which are in the ecology of small mammals and the interaction between humans and wildlife, to focus on how biodiversity can be retained, in some cases restored, and how the admittedly broken relationships between humans and nature can also be restored. Prof Brand says the research chair will study the relationship between impoverishment, rights and democracy. The purpose, he says, is to contribute to efforts to eradicate poverty/impoverishment by investigating how rights and democracy relate to one another, and how they both relate to impoverishment.

With respiratory infections and diarrhoeal diseases still among the leading causes of illness and death in children under five, both in South Africa and across sub-Saharan Africa, the main aim of the research chair in genomic surveillance of respiratory and enteric pathogens in children is to build a comprehensive genomic surveillance system for respiratory and enteric (gut) pathogens in children under five. The broader goal is to turn this information into evidence that improves care and policy.