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11 January 2019 | Story Lacea Loader

Status of the UFS 2019 registration process

The on-campus registration process at the University of the Free State (UFS) has not yet commenced. Although the online registration process started on 7 January 2019, the on-campus registration process on the university’s Bloemfontein and Qwaqwa Campuses will commence on 21 January 2019.

Some media reports that the registration process commenced this week and that registration points on the Bloemfontein Campus have been shut down by a number of students, are untrue. The only student academic services currently available on the campus are that of information services and enquiries from students visiting faculties, as well as assistance with online access to the Central Application Clearing House (CACH).

A group of students under the banner of the SASCO Bloemfontein Branch, and operating without engaging with the university’s existing student structures, disrupted student academic services on the Bloemfontein Campus and blocked entrance to the campus at one of the five gates on Wednesday 9 January 2019, indicating that the university management has not effectively dealt with some student-related matters pertaining to the 2019 registration process. The on-campus student academic services programme was subsequently temporarily suspended. However, online and email academic services continued as normal.

Following Wednesday’s disruption, the executive management of the UFS engaged with the group of students who disrupted the student academic services programme, as well as with representatives of the Institutional Student Representative Council (ISRC). Concessions between the university and the ISRC were reached yesterday.

The executive management expressed its appreciation for the ISRC’s cooperation and for its commitment towards student access to higher education. As the legitimate statutory body representing students, the ISRC will work with the management to ensure that preparations for the upcoming registration process run smoothly. The management furthermore condemned the behaviour of the group of students who disrupted the student academic services programme.

The registration process on the Bloemfontein and Qwaqwa Campuses will commence on 21 January 2019 when senior students requiring assistance or academic advice, will be assisted on the campuses. The registration process and academic advising services for first-time entering, first-year students start according to a set schedule from 25 January 2019 on the Bloemfontein Campus, and from 28 January 2019 on the Qwaqwa Campus.

Enquiries regarding registration can be directed to the university’s Call Centre at 051 401 9666. Detailed information about the 2019 registration process is available at www.ufs.ac.za


Released by:
Lacea Loader (Director: Communication and Marketing)
Telephone: +27 51 401 2584 | +27 83 645 2454
Email: news@ufs.ac.za | loaderl@ufs.ac.za
Fax: +27 51 444 6393

News Archive

Prof Hendrik Swart richly contributes to research of phosphors
2014-12-02

Prof Hendrik Swart
Photo: Merwelene van der Merwe

Since his appointment as the South African Research Chairs Initiative (SARChI) Chair, there has been a sharp increase in the number of papers and publications by Prof Hendrik Swart, Senior Professor in the Department of Physics at the University of the Free State (UFS). From January this year, he has already published 78 articles. Some of the journals that has published his work, includes:

• Nanotechnology (impact of 3.67)
• Dalton Transactions (impact of 4.097)
• Sensors and Actuators B: Chemical (impact 3.84)

“My biggest success, however, is the powerful group of researchers we have built over the years. Staff, postdocs and students – without them it would have been impossible. I am therefore much indebted to my groups on both the Bloemfontein and Qwaqwa Campuses.

“The good apparatus we acquired via a sponsorship from the National Research Foundation and Sasol is also one of the main reasons for this. The financial support I get from the university’s research office is of course also a contributing factor,” he says.

For the past 20 years, Prof Swart has been conducting research on any substance that glows. “I only adjust the focus to fit in with current trends,” he says.

Prof Swart believes that his research will make a contribution to the fundamental knowledge about phosphors, as well as to the training of good students for the academic and industrial world on the outside. For the man on the street, his research translates into better, brighter lights that use less energy.

His more recent research focuses on the development of nano-phosphors for light-emitting diodes (LEDS) and organic light-emitting diodes (OLED).

Prof Swart has presented papers on his research not only nationally, but all over the world – including countries in Europe and the East. Some of the most recent papers presented by him and his colleagues/postgraduate students include:

• Applications of AES, XPS and TOF SIMS to phosphor materials at die 15th European Conference on Applications of Surface and Interface Analysis 2013 in Forte Village Resort, Sardinia, Italy.
• Luminescent properties of phosphor nano thin films at the first International Symposium on Nanoparticles/Nanomaterials and Applications in Caparica (Lisbon, Portugal), where he was an invited speaker.
• Role of surface and deep-level defects on the emission of nano metal oxides at the 2014 NanoAfrica international conference, Vanderbijlpark, South Africa, where he delivered the keynote address.
• PHI systems and their modifications at KOVSIES at the PHI European User Meeting in Ismaning (Munich), Germany, where he was invited to speak.

Prof Swart also delivered the keynote address at the SETCOR International Conference on Smart Materials and Surfaces in Bangkok, Thailand. His lecture was titled, ‘Role of surface and deep-level defects on the emission and degradation of phosphor materials’.

 

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