The University of the Free State (UFS) Faculty of Education celebrated postgraduate achievement and research excellence at its annual postgraduate awards on Friday 2 October 2026.
The awards recognise the work of postgraduate students, supervisors, and academic departments, highlighting the different contributions that support successful postgraduate education within the faculty.
Prof Maria Tsakeni, acting Dean of Postgraduate Studies in the Faculty of Education, said the awards are about more than celebrating individual achievements.
“The primary purpose of the postgraduate awards is to recognise, celebrate, and reinforce excellence in postgraduate education and research within the faculty,” she said.
According to Prof Tsakeni, completing a Master of Education or PhD requires sustained intellectual engagement, perseverance, and scholarly development. It is also a journey that involves more than the student alone, with supervisors, departments, support structures, families, and communities all playing a role.
“Postgraduate success is a collective achievement,” she said.
The awards therefore also provide an opportunity for the faculty to build a culture where research and scholarship are valued, and where postgraduate achievements are visible to the wider university community.
For Prof Vasu Reddy, Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Research, Innovation and Postgraduate Studies, “Education research holds unique power: it shapes teachers, strengthens institutions, influences policy, and unlocks opportunities for future generations. Every postgraduate degree represents curiosity transformed into knowledge, and knowledge transformed into impact. Research excellence is never an individual endeavour alone. Behind every successful postgraduate student stands a network of supervisors, departments, families, and communities committed to success.”
Celebrating different forms of excellence
This year's awards recognise achievement across several areas of postgraduate education.
Dr Martha Khosa, Senior Lecturer and Head of the Department of Languages in Education, and Prof Ntombizandile Gcelu, Associate Professor and Senior Lecturer in the Department of Education Management, Policy, and Comparative Education, were recognised as the ‘Most Productive Supervisors in 2025’, with Prof Thuthukile Jita named runner-up.
The supervisor awards recognise the important role academics play in guiding postgraduate students through their research journeys. Prof Tsakeni elaborates, “Effective supervision is not simply about the number of students supervised, but about helping students develop into independent researchers and successfully complete their studies.”
The Department of Education Management, Policy and Comparative Education, represented by Dr Lulama Mdodana-Zide, HOD and Senior Lecturer on the Qwaqwa Campus, received the award for the ‘Department with the Most Graduates in 2025 in the Master’s and PhD’ category.
The faculty also recognised the winner of the ‘2025 Three-Minute Thesis (3 MT) Master’s Competition’, celebrating the ability to communicate complex research in a clear and accessible way.
Prof Tsakeni said this is increasingly important in higher education, where researchers need to communicate the relevance of their work beyond academic audiences.
“In contemporary higher education, it is not enough for researchers to generate knowledge; they must also be able to communicate why that knowledge matters – to educators, policymakers, practitioners, communities, and the broader public,” she said.
A milestone, not an endpoint
For the recipients, the recognition provides an opportunity to reflect on their achievements while looking ahead to what comes next.
Prof Tsakeni said she hopes recipients leave the awards with ‘a sense of achievement but also with a sense of responsibility.’
She encouraged postgraduate researchers to see the recognition as a milestone rather than the end of their academic journey, particularly in a field such as education where research can influence teachers, learners, institutions, and communities.
“Continue researching. Continue questioning. Continue collaborating. Continue sharing your knowledge,” she said.
For the faculty, the awards ultimately point to a broader measure of postgraduate success – not simply the number of degrees completed, but the contribution graduates go on to make through their knowledge and research. “Ultimately the greatest measure of postgraduate success is not simply the number of degrees we produce or awards we present. It is the scholarly and societal contribution that our graduates go on to make,” Prof Tsakeni said.
Echoing these views, Prof Reddy remarked, “Our postgraduate ecosystem thrives when excellence is shared, supported, and celebrated across disciplines, departments, and campuses. Our award recipients are not only graduates and researchers – they are knowledge creators, problem-solvers, and architects of a better future. Excellence is not a destination but a continuing journey of questioning, discovery, collaboration, and contribution.”