University of the Free State

Overview

University of the Free State

University of the Free State (UFS) is a public university in Bloemfontein, South Africa. It was established in 1904 as a tertiary component of Grey College before it became an independent institution and was renamed the University of the Orange Free State in 1950. It took its current name in 2001 with the aim of displaying the authentic character of the institution and its environment. UFS is also recognized among the fastest-growing tertiary educational institutions worldwide.

University of the Free State Key Statistics

UFS is organized into several academic divisions. These include the Academic Division of Economic and Management Sciences, the Academic Division of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, the Academic Division of Health Sciences, and the Academic Division of Law. It offers undergraduate and postgraduate courses in education, humanities, natural science, and theology.

It has a student population of roughly 37,000. The university also employs over 2,000 academic and administrative staff members across its multiple campus locations. These campuses are the Bloemfontein campus, the North campus, and the South campus.

Other University of the Free State key statistics are its academic and administrative facilities and services that include a student center, a career and guidance center, a computer center, and a student theater. The university also has multiple libraries, including the Frik Scott medical library and the Sasol library which house special collections of books, newspapers, journals, periodicals, and academic databases.

University of the Free State Research

UFS is a research-intensive institution that works with national and international organizations. Its research projects are funded primarily by grants and fellowships from the Centre for Higher Education and Capabilities Research, the University Access Program, and the National Research Foundation.

It is known for its extensive and excellent work in the research fields of biology, medicine, and mathematics. University of the Free State researchers have also attended global research conferences and symposiums such as JCIS: Joint International Conference on Information Sciences, ETRA: Eye Tracking Research & Application, and ISTAWC: IST-Africa Week Conference.

The university’s most cited research output is Dean et al.’s (2012) “The top 10 fungal pathogens in molecular plant pathology,” which was published in Molecular Plant Pathology and has 2,458 citations to date. Its second most popular research work is Sartory and Grobbelaar’s (1984) “Extraction of chlorophyll a from freshwater phytoplankton for spectrophotometric analysis,” which was published in Hydrobiologia and cited 1,065 times.

Meanwhile, UFS’ third most cited research output is Lourens-Hattingh and Viljoen’s (2001) “Yogurt as probiotic carrier food.” Published in the International Dairy Journal, this article, which talks about the history and the development of probiotics as well as its effect on the human gastrointestinal microecology, was cited 1,034 times by students and research professionals worldwide.

UFS holds six SARChI (South African Research Chairs Initiative) Research Chairs, including Solid-state Luminescent and Advanced Materials, Higher Education and Human Development, and Disease Resistance and Quality in Field Crops.

In addition, there are also several University of the Free State research centers and institutes on campus. These include the Centre for Teaching and Learning, the Jonathan Edwards Centre Africa, and the Centre for Gender and Africa Studies.