More than 70 high school learners from South Africa, Zimbabwe, Nigeria and Tunisia participated in the South African Maths Foundation's learner development camp from 4 to 8 December.

Hosted by Stellenbosch University's Department of Mathematical Sciences, the aim of the camp was to prepare some of the brightest young minds in the country for the 55^th International Mathematics Olympiad that will take place from 3 to 13 July 2014 in Cape Town.

The IMO is described as the world championship in mathematics for high school learners. The first IMP was in Romania in 1959 and participation in the event has grown from seven to more than a hundred countries from five continents. This will be the first time for an African country to host the IMO.

According to Prof Stephan Wagner from SU's Department of Mathematical Sciences and host to this year's Learner Development Camp, the learners were selected following their participation in the South African Mathematical Talent Search, the South African Mathematics Olympiad and various other mathematical achievements.

"The learners are competing for only six places in the team to represent South Africa at two major international mathematical Olympiads: the International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) and the Pan-African Mathematical Olympiad (PAMO)," he explains.

The intensive four-day program consisted of training sessions, lectures and daily tests.

The teams are usually announced in May. Until then the learners still have to participate in several selection tests.

For more information about these events, visit the official website for IMO 2014 at http://www.imo2014.org.za or the Pan-African Mathematics Olympiad's website at http://www.pamo-official.org/en/​

​​​​​Four Stellenbosch University experts were honoured by the South African Academy for Science and Arts for their contributions to their respective fields at a rewards ceremony in Stellenbosch last night. These awards signify excellence, commitment and hard work – characteristics that are highly prized at SU.

The recipients are Prof Johan de Villiers and the Libertas Choir, Prof Leon Dicks, extra-ordinary professor at the Department of Microbiology, Prof Lizette Rabe from the Department of Journalism, and Prof Leslie Swartz, from the Department of Psychology.

Prof Johan de Villiers, emeritus professor in Mathematics at Stellenbosch University, and the Libertas Choir, received a special medal of honour. Prof De Villiers found the choir and has been its conductor since 1989. The Libertas Choir was the first multi-cultural choir in South Africa and is still representative of the diverse South African community.

Prof De Villiers was recognised for his "inspiring leadership, unique characteristics and exceptional ability in the field of choir instruction and performance of choir music".

Prof De Villiers had the following to say about the award after it was announced earlier this year: "I dedicate it to every choir member over the years, and specifically to my wife, Louwina, without whose enormous contribution as choir manager there wouldn't have been a Libertas Choir. I am also greatly indebted to Stellenbosch University for promoting my parallel career in music, since my time as conductor of the University Choir."

Prof Leon Dicks has been awarded the Havenga prize for life sciences. This is a prestigious prize awarded annually for original research in the natural sciences and/or technology and can be awarded only once to the same individual.

Prof Dicks said, as a scientist, the award serves as a wake-up call to tackle even more challenging issues: "It is always nice to receive recognition for one's work. I am deeply grateful towards the Academy for the award and that I have received so many blessings, but I also realise that there is still a lot to be done!"

He received the award for his research on antimicrobial peptides and the probiotic properties of lactic acid bacteria.

Prof Lizette Rabe receives the Stals-prize for Communication and Journalism. In a media release the Academy says Rabe distinguished herself as a respected academic in a field of study where hands on experience, together with in depth knowledge, are prerequisites. Her career  getuig van 'n benadering om alle geleenthede te benut om joernalistiek as vakgebied te bevorder en uit te bou."

She was praised for her insight into the fast changing environment of electronic communication tools and how it enables her to study the application of these tools in journalism, and to train student accordingly.

Prof Rabe said the award is an honour "which I accept with great humility".

This year the Stals-prize for Psychology was awarded to Prof Leslie Swartz for the key role he played in the formation of the Centre for Public Mental Health, in cooperation with the University of Cape Town. "Prof Swartz serves as in inspirational example of a psychologist and academic who lives out his passion for renewal on the field of psychology as well as the acquisition of knowledge," said the release.

Read more about Prof Johan de Villiers and Prof Leon Dicks.

• Photo: From left is Proff Lizette Rabe, Johan de Villiers,  Leon Dicks​ en Leslie Swartz. (Photographer: Anton Jordaan)​ 
  

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Among the 26 doctoral degrees awarded in the Faculty of Science this week, seven were in Chemistry and Polymer Science, five in Physics and another five in Botany and Zoology.

The research problems investigated by these postgraduate students range from the conservation of South African white sharks, to laser physics and new strategies to prevent biofouling of membranes used in water purification systems.

Dr Sarah Andreotti, supervised by Prof Conrad Matthee, developed a unique categorisation system, the White Shark Photo Identification Database, to study their population dynamics. Through the databasis she was able to show that the number of white sharks along the South African coast line is dwindling.

Dr William Cloete obtained his PhD in polymer science under the supervision of Prof Bert Klumperman. His research addressed a serious problem with water purification membranes, as bacteria attach to the membranes and eventually form a biofilm. This means that the membranes have to be replaced on a regular basis which leads to increased costs. Dr Cloete managed to successfully introduce hydrophilic polymers as grafts on the membranes, which then inhibited the attachment of bacteria.

He is currently working with SU's industry interaction and innovation company, Innovus, to develop the concept further.

From the Department of Botany and Zoology, students investigated topics such as the causes and consequences of the armadillo lizard's body armour (Dr Chris Broeckhoven); the population genetics and dispersal potential of a recently introduced polychaete (Annelida: Spionidae) in southern Africa (Dr Andrew David); and the ability of African daisies to adapt to unpredictable environments (Dr Caroli de Waal).

Other research covered topics such as the development of improved algorithms for video surveillance (Dr Petrus Holtzhausen); designing high brightness lasers (Dr Darryl Naidoo); the effect of rooibos on cortisol levels in humans and rats (Dr Lindie Schloms) and investigating the structure and evolution of basin and petroleum systems in the western Bredasdorp Basin, offshore South Africa (Dr Wasiu Sonibare).

There were also three PhDs awarded in microbiology and two each in Biochemistry, Earth Sciences and Mathematical Sciences.

Other PhDs awarded were:

• Dr Jacobus Blanckenberg from the Department of Physics with his PhD entitled Skryrme model description of heavy baryons with strangeness.
•  Dr Francois du Toit from the Department of Biochemistry with his PhD entitled Modeling glycolysis in Plasmodium-infected erythrocytes.
• Dr Alexander Ilchev from the Department of Chemistry and Polymer Science with his PhD entitled Amine end-functional Poly(N-vinylpyrrolidone) as a macroinitiator for L-lysine N-carboxyanhydride polymerization - towards the preparation of pH-responsive micelles for  drug delivery.
• Dr Hendrik Kotze from the Department of Chemistry with his PhD entitled Immobilized Ru(II) catalysts for transfer hydrogenation and oxidative alkene cleavage reactions
• Dr Heinrich Kroukamp from the Department of Microbiology with his PhD entitled Improving the protein secretion capacity of Saccharomyces cerevisiae with strain engineering.
• Dr Fhumulani Nemulodi from the Department of Physics with his PhD entitled Investigation of the 2⁺ Hoyle state candidates in ¹²C.
• Dr Gautier Nicoli from the Department of Earth Sciences with his PhD entitled The metamorphic and anatectic history of Archaean metapelitic granulites from the South Marginal Zone, Limpopo Belt, South Africa.
• Dr James Odendal from the Department of Chemistry with his PhD entitled What is the possible origin of the ¹⁹⁵Pt NMR shielding in the solid state? X-ray diffraction, solid-state NMR studies of deceptively simple C₂[PtX₆] salts (C= various cations, X = Cl and Br).
• Dr Isaac Okoth from the Department of Mathematical Sciences with his PhD entitled Combinatorics of oriented trees and tree-like structures.
• Dr Divann Robertson from the Department of Chemistry and Polymer Science with his PhD entitled Solution crystallization analysis of polymers.
• Dr Lindie Schloms from the Department of Biochemistry with her PhD entitled The inhibition of adrenal steroidogenic enzymes and modulation of glucocorticoid levels in vitro and in vivo by Aspalathus linearis (Rooibos).
• Dr Dirk-Mathys Spangenberg from the Department of Physics with his Phd entitled Time domain ptychography.
• Dr Kim Trollope from the Department of Microbiology with her PhD entitled Engineering a fungal β-fructofuranosidase
• Dr Milton van Rooy from the Department of Physics with his PhD entitled An investigation of a possible effect of reactor antineutrinos on the decay rate of 22Na.
• Dr Anton van Staden from the Department of Microbiology with his PhD entitled In vitro and in vivo characterization of amyloliquecidin, a novel two-component lantibiotic produced by Bacillus amyloliquefaciens.
• Dr Chandré Willemse from the Department of Chemistry with her PhD Comprehensive 2-dimensional liquid chromatographic analysis of anthocyanins.
• Dr Trevor Wright from the Department of Chemistry and Polymer Science with his PhD entitled Advanced analytical methods for the analysis of complex polymers prepared by RAFT and RITP.
  

Photo: Justin Alberts

​With a 47-24 victory over Hamiltons on Saturday (1 August), the FNB Maties sent a clear message that they want to end the season at the top of the WP Super league log.

Complete translation in English to follow.

Maties het nog vyf wedstryde oor teen Tygerberg, SK Walmers, UWK, Helderberg en Villagers en sal, indien hulle aanhou om met bonuspunte te wen, eindig op 66 ligapunte. Hamiltons, wat nog teen UCT, Belhar en Tygerberg moet speel, kan 'n maksimum van 65 ligapunte verdien. 

Dit het Saterdag egter nie vanaf die begin klopdisselboom vir die Maties gegaan nie en Hamilton het vroeg reeds gaan druk toe hulle die bal van die afskop af bemeester het en hul vleuel onaangeraak die bal neergedruk het.

Gelukkig het die maroentruie wakker geskrik en daarna was daar net een span of die veld. Die telling met rustyd was 20-12 en die hoogtepunt van die eerste helfte was 'n briljante drie deur die skrumskakel Jean Nel. 

Chris Smit, Paul Streicher en veteraansenter Koos Loubser het ná rustyd behoorlik amok gemaak. Hamiltons het egter so bietjie terugbaklei maar danksy 'n drie deur kaptein Beyers de Villiers en 'n strafskop deur plaasvervanger Edri Vorster is enige ambisies vinnig in hul spore gestuit.

Die Victoriane het ook Saterdag 32-20 gewen teen Sir Lowrians en moet nog teen Villagers, Dur-Bell, SK Walmers, Valsbaai en Primrose die seisoen.

Stellenbosch University (SU) will be investing close to R70 million (R68.6 m) in the diversification of its staff corps over the next three years. This amount has been allocated from the University's Strategic Fund, and will be in addition to the normal staff budget.

"We are focussing on transformation with a sense of urgency. We are intent on making our institution more inclusive and accessible. By setting funds aside specifically for a more diverse staff corps, we shall be able to attract and develop the required human resources," SU Rector and Vice-Chancellor Prof Wim de Villiers said.

One of the University's mission statements is to create an academic community characterised by social justice and equal opportunities. This stems from SU's commitment to redress and development, as well as the view that a diversity of people and ideas promotes academic excellence.

SU has made good progress towards greater diversity in the composition of its staff corps, but as with other universities senior academic appointments remain a challenge. Due to the serious country-wide shortage of human resources from the designated groups, as well as the attractive remuneration packages offered by the private sector and the state, South African universities generally struggle with staff diversity.

In 2014, permanent black, coloured and Indian (BCI) employees at SU made up 43.2% of the University's staff corps compared to 37.6% in 2008. So, the trend is upwards, but SU will have to accelerate its pace to reach its goal of 53% by 2020.

This urgency is also applicable to gender. SU's number of permanent female employees improved from 51.9% in 2008 to 55.9% in 2014, but the goal is 60% by 2020. Equal representation of women on the executive management and senior academic levels has not been achieved yet.

The University's top management has therefore decided to allocate a substantial amount to achieve greater staff diversity. The funds are available immediately and will be used in the following ways:

• On the one hand, senior professionals from the designated groups – especially academics, but also professional support staff – will be recruited and appointed.

• On the other hand, current SU staff members from the designated groups will afforded development opportunities to become upwardly mobile, e.g. from lecturer to senior lecturer to professor.

As part of its succession planning, SU focuses on accelerated knowledge transfer to young academics with its mentorship projects. The University is also participating in the Department of Higher Education and Training's Programme for a new Generation of Academics (nGAP). Some of the strategic funds will support these initiatives.

As an investment in the future, SU is making a significant contribution to the transformation of higher education by delivering a large number of graduates at senior postgraduate level each year. In 2014, SU conferred a total of 234 doctoral and 1 297 master's degrees, of which 95 and 492 respectively went to BCI graduates.

This achievement contributes to SU being able to maintain the highest research output per full-time academic staff member in South Africa, and at the same time it increases the pool of black academics and professionals in the country and on the rest of the continent.

SU takes a broad view of transformation: that it affects all elements of university life, including learning and teaching, research and innovation, social impact and co-curricular activities, the renewal of the institutional culture, as well as the composition and transformation expertise of its staff and student corps.

The fact that transformation has pertinently been included in the portfolio of Prof Nico Koopman, Vice-Rector: Community Interaction and Personnel, illustrates that SU is taking transformation very seriously. An Office for Transformation is being established to facilitate, coordinate and stimulate transformation processes at the University.

A Transformation Committee has also been instituted. And SU is strengthening the statutory role of its Institutional Forum in relation to transformation. The University also plans to establish a Research Chair in Reconciliation and Transformation.

"The objective of transformation at SU is to align ourselves with the values of the Bill of Rights in the South African Constitution – especially human dignity, with the building blocks of reconciliation, justice, freedom from oppression and discrimination, and equal opportunities for all to flourish as members of society. Diversifying our staff corps is part of this objective," Prof Koopman said.

Fifteen year-old Charl Marais from Stellenbosch High School dragged his sick mother out of bed last week in order to attend Dr Jacobus Diener’s talk on neutron stars at Science Café Stellenbosch.

This grade nine pupil says he wanted to know more about how one can land up in this career one day, especially as he has to make his grade 10 subject choices at the end of the year. But to do research about other dimensions is something that he definitely wants to do one day.

Neutron stars are remnants of massive stars that exploded, or rather imploded, in core-collapse supernovae. The force of these explosions made the protons and electrons to melt and form neutrons – from there the name neutron stars. Today these “new” stars are only about 10 to 20 kilometers in diameter, but nearly twice the mass of our Sun – just a sugar cube of neutron star matter would weigh about one hundred million tons on Earth.

Dr Diener, a postdoctoral fellow at the National Institute for Theoretical Physics (NITheP) at Stellenbosch University, specialises in the description of magnetised nuclear material and the application of that on astrophysical objects.

To him neutron stars are like a laboratory in outer space where he can study nuclear material, similar to that found in the nucleus of an atom. Because, he explains, here on Earth we cannot generate the same amount of energy needed to pressurise material to that level.

It is possible to study these neutron stars because they emit radio waves at a very specific pulsating frequency – pulsating neutron stars are also called ‘pulsars’.

“If we look at neutron star pulsars, they can tell us something about nuclear matter because their density is very similar to what we would see inside the nucleus of an atom. We use the same models or the way we think about nuclear matter, and apply that to study the material that we think are inside pulsars. So that is the correlation we can draw.

“But, the funny thing is, we cannot manufacture these densities in a laboratory on Earth, You just need too much energy to compress all this matter together. So these neutron stars represent a different test case that we can’t experimentally look at on Earth. So it is really interesting for us to look at these stars because it is a different laboratory than what we have on Earth.

“By inferring the characteristics we try and explain what we observe about these stars and thereby learn more about what we think should be inside the star and thereby nuclear reactions and nuclear matter.”

Dr Diener was interrupted a few times by audience members who asked him to please repeat slowly what he has just said…like the fact that it doesn’t matter what the circumference of black holes are, because in the end they are all smaller than the head of a pin.

Other audience members peppered him with questions about the Meerkat and the SKA, and what scientists plan to do with all the big data.

Science Café Stellenbosch is an initiative of the Faculty of Science at Stellenbosch University to promote the public discussion of science issues. The talk on neutron stars were part of National Science Week.

For more information, contact sciencecafe@sun.ac.za or follow us on facebook - https://www.facebook.com/ScienceCafeStellenbosch?ref=hl

On the photo, Charl Marais with Dr Jacobus Diener. Photo: Wiida Fourie-Basson

Women's Day fails in its purpose because it is "fake", according to University of Stellenbosch Business School director Prof Piet Naudé. The rights of women should rather be embedded in everyday life, Naudé believes.

The well-known academic and expert on ethical leadership yesterday delivered a Leader's Angle presentation at the USB, saying the women who marched on 9 August 1956 did not do so for women's rights but for human rights. Honouring them with a "Women's Day" reduces a human rights issue to a "gender" issue.

Naude said there existed a "deadly cooperating network of sexism" working against the rights of women. He listed the different elements as follows:

•        Culture ("Who am I?")

•        Religion ("What place did God create for me?");

•        Sport ("Who is physically the strongest and fastest?");

•        Politics ("Who can lead?"); and

•        Business ("Who gets promoted and the higher pay?").

Prof Naudé said he was not opposed to symbolism or events like Women's Day rallies, but it can only work if it goes hand in hand with such actions as re-educating children about gender, setting public leadership examples and vigorous application of the law. Sexism should be tackled with the same rigour as racism, he believes.

He said the USB is committed to creating space where women are empowered because of equal treatment and not special treatment.

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Dr Josephine Kaviti Musango attended the 33rd International Conference of the System Dynamics Society which was held in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA on 19 – 24 July 2015. She presented a paper in a parallel session titled 'A system dynamics model of the individual decisions of a salaried employee in saving for retirement', which was co-authored with Prof Johann U. de Villiers of the Department of Business Management and Prof Alan C. Brent of Industrial Engineering.  A poster paper titled 'A system dynamics approach to understand the implications of a green economy transition in the Western Cape Province' was also presented, which she co-authored with Prof Alan C. Brent, six students from Industrial Engineering namely:  Jacobus B. Smit van Niekerk, Willem D. Jonker, Aliza P. Pienaar, Theodore A. York, Juan Oosthuizen and Lize Duminy; and Imke H. de Kock, a lecturer from Industrial Engineering.

During the workshop, Dr Musango participated in the South Africa System Dynamics (SASD) Chapter (www.systemdynamics.org.za) Roundtable which was held on 21 July 2015. She is serving as Organising Secretary of SASD Chapter.  She also chaired in a plenary session at the conference.

The conference was attended by 466 participants from 45 different countries. South Africa had 11 participants (2.4%), of which 7 were from Stellenbosch University.

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Names in the photo, from left to right:

Prof Alan Brent, Theodore York, Imke de Kock, Dr Josephine Musango, Willem Jonker and Jacobus Smit van Niekerk.

​​Two students in the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences at Stellenbosch University (SU) recently became the first students from the Department of Statistics and Actuarial Science to win the South African Statistical Association (SASA)'s annual honours project competition.

This competition is sponsored by SAS® and administered by SASA's Education Committee.

Dr Margaret de Villiers and Ms Dalene Saaiman, under supervision of Prof Paul Mostert, outdid 17 other entries to win the prize with their project titled Influence of Right-Censoring on Some Kernel-Smoothed Hazard Rates.

De Villiers and Saaiman chose this topic because it aligns well with one of their supervisor's research interests. Prof Mostert, associate professor in the Department of Statistics and Actuarial Science, presents the post-graduate module in survival analysis .

Survival analysis is a branch of statistics that deals with analysis of time duration until one or more events happen, for example the re-occurence of cancer after treatment. An important parameter in survival analysis is the hazard rate, which is the risk of a subject experiencing the event at any given moment, (read more about the topic below).

Entries for the competition were received from the Universities of Cape Town, Free State, KwaZulu-Natal, Pretoria and Stellenbosch as well the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University and Wits. Each University may enter their top three projects for this competition.

In their letter of congratulations, the organisers commented on the excellent quality of the 18 projects they received. 

"There was a good variety of topics as well as statistical techniques utilised. Ranking the top projects was a difficult task, in particular due to the high standard, but also the number of projects that had to be adjudicated," it read.

De Villiers and Saaiman said they were "blown away and extremely happy" about the award, while Prof Mostert said the department is "ecstatic" about the first prize.

"It is really an honour for the department to be awarded first prize. The honours project competition has always been stiff and the winning department gets some well-deserved exposure within the statistics community of South Africa."

The prize will officially be awarded to the students during the opening ceremony of the annual SASA conference in December 2015 in Pretoria. Part of the prize money is to present a talk at the conference and all expenses to attend the conference is paid for by the sponsor of the competition, SAS®.

More about the students:

Dr Margaret de Villiers

While completing a Honours, Masters and PhD in Botany at Stellenbosch University, Margaret de Villiers realised the fundamental role that Statistics plays in all applied scientific disciplines. She therefore took some Statistics courses to improve her understanding of the analyses that one carries out in biological research. Last year she did Honours, and she is currently busy with her Masters in Mathematical Statistics, working on develping models for predicting crop yields accurately.

Ms Dalene Saaiman

In 1998, Dalene Saaiman obtained a BSc Honours in Physiotherapy at the University of the Free State and she worked as a physiotherapist for many years. She changed her career in 2006 and started with a degree in Statistics at Kovsies on a part-time basis. She completed her first and second year at Kovsies, and third year and Honours at Stellenbosch University. She is currently working as a Biostatistician and plan to complete her Masters in Statistics part time.

More about the topic:

Survival analysis is a branch of statistics that deals with analysis of time duration until one or more events happen, for example the re-occurence of cancer after treatment. An important parameter in survival analysis is the hazard rate, which is the risk of a subject experiencing the event at any given moment, on condition the subject has survived up to that point in time.

Most survival studies and clinical trials occur over a fixed period of time due to financial constraints and other practical and ethical considerations. For example, a study testing the efficacy of a new medication in preventing the recurrence of a certain type of cancer would probably span several years. In the case of the patients involved in the study that redevelop cancer, the length of their remission can be recorded exactly. However, some of the patients will either leave the study prematurely or still be in remission at the end of the study, and an exact time to the event (re-occurrence of cancer) will not be recorded for them. The recorded time-to-event for these latter patients are referred to as being right-censored. The presence of right-censored observations in a data set is problematic, since their omission from the analyses would result in an underestimate of parameters such as the average length of time to the event and hazard rate.

This project involved investigating the influence of the presence of right-censored observations on estimates of the hazard rate. An extensive simulation study was carried out to investigate the influence of censoring using different kernel functions for the hazard rate. The study revealed amongst other results that increasing the proportion of right-censored observations in a data set makes the hazard rate estimates less stable but still gives the correct estimate on average. 

Tributes from all over the world have been pouring in since the sudden passing away of one of the giants in South African science, Prof. Ron Sanderson.

Prof. Sanderson passed away peacefully on 8 August 2015 at his home at the Helderberg Retirement Village in Somerset West.

At the time of his appointment at Stellenbosch University (SU) in 1970, Prof. Sanderson was not only the only polymer scientist in South Africa, but the discipline was virtually non-existent as an academic field in Africa. Over the next 40 years he did groundbreaking work to establish polymer science as a research and teaching discipline at SU and in South Africa.

In 1978 he was appointed director of the newly established Institute for Polymer Science at SU. He established undergraduate and postgraduate courses in polymer science and promoted more than 150 postgraduate students. At the time it was the first, and still is the only, honours course in polymer science on tertiary level in South Africa.

When Prof. Sanderson retired at the end of 2008, he left a legacy of more than 40 local and international patents, almost 200 publications, strong international collaborations in Europe, the United States and the Far East, and a significant funding base from industry.

According to Prof. Harald Pasch, a former colleague, Prof. Sanderson is the reason why the Polymer Science Division at the University of Stellenbosch today is an internationally recognised research institution.

Prof. Robert Gilbert, research professor at the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia, says Prof. Sanderson was larger than life and did much for polymer science in South Africa and Africa: "His energy, enthusiasm and drive were spectacular, and used for the good of science and for the well-being of his many students."

Prof. Peter Mallon, head of the Department of Chemistry and Polymer Science at SU, says "there is no greater credit to his efforts and career than the fact that polymer science is now firmly established as an integral part of our Department and University. On behalf of the Department, we give our heartfelt condolences to his wife Elsa-Marie, his two sons and daughter as well as all of his grandchildren."

More tributes

Prof. Greg Russell, acting President of the Macromolecular Division of IUPAC (International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry), University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand

"As Acting President of the IUPAC Polymer Division, I would like to pass on the condolences of the entire division to Ron's family and close colleagues. I am sure Michael Buback, the President of the Division, joins me in this. I shall make sure that Ron is remembered both at the closing of the current division meeting in Busan and at the opening of next year's meeting in Istanbul (Macro2016)."

Prof. Robert Gilbert, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia

"My condolences on the sad news of Ron's passing. He was, as the saying goes, larger than life. He did so much for polymer science in South Africa, and indeed for all of Africa. His energy, enthusiasm and drive were spectacular, and used for the good of science and for the well-being of his many students."

Prof. Lilian Tichagwa, Harare Institute of Technology, Zimbabwe

"I heard the sad news that Ron passed away over the weekend. It is such a sad loss for the polymer science fraternity. The University of Stellenbosch, South Africa and the rest of Africa have lost a caring soul who worked tirelessly with much commitment to promote the education of polymer scientists. Prof. Sanderson's work helped develop the careers of many of us, his former students who are now scattered across different countries."

Prof. Peter Mallon, head: Department of Chemistry and Polymer Science, SU

"I am very sad to say that we heard this morning that Prof Ron Sanderson passed away over the weekend. It is difficult to think of someone who has had as great an influence on our Department over the last 45 years.

"Ron Sanderson joined the University in 1970. During his time at the University he published 231 research papers, successfully promoted 60 PhD students and graduated 95 MSc students. Those of us who knew him will always remember his passion and commitment for his subject as well as his dogged determination to establish polymer science as a research and teaching discipline at Stellenbosch University. 

"At the end of the day there is no greater credit to his efforts and career than the fact that polymer science is now firmly established as an integral part of our Department and University thanks largely to Ron's efforts in the early years.

"On behalf of the Department, we give our heartfelt condolences to his wife Elsa-Marie, his two sons and daughter as well as all of his grandchildren."

Prof. Helgard Raubenheimer, former chair of the Department of Chemistry and Polymer Science, SU

"I would like to mention Ron's absolute loyalty to the Department, the polymer science section and in particular to the people around him. He would do everything in his power to promote the interests of the latter. Towards all these instances and people, he would always exhibit a positive attitude; not once did I hear him complain about his co-workers, other staff members, money, allocations to his section, etc. He never complained about anything!

Second, Ron always corresponded positively toward well-founded criticism by acting immediately in trying to solve the underlying problems. His whole attitude would lead to a positive vibe in the polymer section.

Finally, Ron lived in the present time but carefully thought about the future, Owing mainly to his efforts, we could appoint two excellent successors to continue his mission when he retired.

Prof. Harald Pasch, current head of the Polymer Science division, Department of Chemistry and Polymer Science, SU

"It is with great sadness to acknowledge that our good friend and colleague, 'Mr. Polymer Science of South Africa', Prof. Ron Sanderson passed away. Ron is the reason why the Polymer Science Division at the University of Stellenbosch today is an internationally recognised research institution. More than 40 years ago he established polymer science in Stellenbosch and made sure that the Institute for Polymer Science was given its own building. He established undergraduate and postgraduate courses in polymer science and promoted more than 150 postgraduate students that obtained their MSc and PhD degrees in polymer science.

"Apart from his scientific achievements and his accomplishments as the director of the Polymer Science Institute, Ron was a good friend, always supportive, always trying to help as much as he could. He was instrumental in establishing two research chairs (Prof. B. Klumperman and myself) at the Polymer Science Division that largely contributed to the further advancement of polymer science in Stellenbosch.

"We will not forget Ron, his dedication to science, his ability to bring people together, his humour and the way he made the UNESCO conferences on polymers a home for the international polymer community."

Prof. Bert Klumperman, holder of the South African research chair in Advanced Macromolecular Architectures (SARChI)

"My presence at Stellenbosch University is the result of Ron Sanderson's initiative to follow up on a Dutch study tour to South Africa. After a counter-visit to Eindhoven University of Technology, Ron invited me to spend two months in Stellenbosch to teach a few lectures and to get involved in the research at Stellenbosch. This later involved initially to a part-time professorship and later to the current research chair."

Prof. Albert van Reenen, Department of Chemistry and Polymer Science, SU

"I first met Ron in a previous incarnation of the present polymer science building, surrounded by smoke and soot-blackened glassware and lab equipment which had been salvaged from the fire-ravaged building in which the Institute for Polymer Science had been housed until a few days earlier. I was a final year BSc student who had learned of the newly established BSc Honours (Polymer Science) degree only a few days before. Convinced that the fire had put paid to the degree offering, I went looking for Ron.

"The enthusiasm with which Ron greeted me that day typified his approach to the branch of science which was his passion. Not only did he convince me (within five minutes) that polymer science was the way to go, but I also found myself helping to organise and clean glassware…

"The impact that Ron Sanderson has had on the Department of Chemistry and Polymer Science was simply enormous. Starting out as the only English-speaking staff member in the (then) Department of Chemistry, Ron did not have an easy time convincing his colleagues of the need to establish Polymer Science as a discipline. When he finally achieved his goal, there were very strict conditions and limits set. Ron proceeded to bend these conditions to breaking point and beyond, thereby establishing new boundaries, which he would then simply stretch again… Ron was pretty much unstoppable once he got going.

"Ron was, in many ways, unique in his approach to research. He would see opportunities where no one else did, and more importantly, he understood the art of generating research funding. Today we can, within the Polymer Science Division of the Department of Chemistry and Polymer Science lay claim to be the foremost polymer science research facility on the African continent. Most of this is due to the groundbreaking work initiated by Ron Sanderson.

"We can list a number of significant research collaborations with industry, for example with Sasol Polymers, Kansai Plascon and Mondi. Ron's vision of establishing an annual international conference, funded in part by UNESCO and IUPAC contributed in no small way to the establishment of international collaborations, which in turn have led to eminent international academics joining the faculty at Stellenbosch. Ron put the Polymer Science Division on the map, at Stellenbosch, in South Africa, and internationally."

​​

A winner has been found in the search for the most innovative new snack that fourth year Food Science students at Stellenbosch University (SU) could come up with. The honour went to Pop-In's, a guilt-free snack with a North African styled filling that can be popped into a toaster.  The competition was sponsored by the University's technology transfer company Innovus to stimulate creative and innovative product development among Food Science students.

The winning team consists of BSc in Food Sciences students Megan Kleyn, Paula Louw, Lauren Todd, Sumare Marais, Megan Twentyman-Jones and Danie Haumann. The judges were so impressed by the entrees received that Innovus decided to up the initial prize money of R3000 to R5000.

Pop-In's also received the first prize in the Department's recent internal competition for fourth year students. It is a frozen product made of rice flour and cauliflower dough. It ticks all the right boxes when it comes to catering for different niche markets. Not only is it a vegetarian snack, but also gluten-free, soy-free and dairy-free.

"It certainly isn't taste-free," says one of its developers, Lauren Todd.

According to Christle de Beer of Innovus, the competition is part of the company's endeavours to encourage innovative thinking and design among Stellenbosch University students, and to make them aware of the opportunities available to them. During the prize-giving ceremony, De Beer and her Innovus colleagues highlighted how Innovus can support young designers and developers to shape their entrepreneurial skills and business ideas.

Brandon Paschal from the LaunchLab and Antoine van Heerden,  a former SU engineering student and manufacturer of ButtaNutt respectively, also presented opportunities for the students to take their ideas forward at the Stellenbosch University's resident business incubator, the LaunchLab.  If these projects become more than just research, the LaunchLab is a key partner with a proven track record in developing businesses and providing access to market and investment.

Dirk van Dyk of Von Seidels Intellectual Property Attorneys also briefed the students about the basics behind patenting or registering new designs and ideas. These will come in handy as the students prepare for their next challenge: to come up with innovative packaging as part of their packaging course this semester. Innovus will again sponsor a prize for the best idea.

Photo caption:

The winning team of (in front) Megan Kleyn, Paula Louw, Lauren Todd, Sumare Marais, (back row) Megan Twentyman-Jones, Christle de Beer (Innovus), Chisala Ngandwe (lecturer) and Danie Haumann. Photo: Engela Duvenage

​The Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences will once again showcase the exceptional talents of its staff and students.

The annual Gala Concert of the Faculty, a celebration of its diversity of talent, will take place on Friday 4 September at 19:00 at the Hugo Lambrechts Auditorium in Parow.

Don't miss this opportunity to be dazzled by the spectacularly talented students and staff from the Tygerberg campus.

The evening will provide entertainment and listening pleasure with performances by amongst others the popular Stellenbosch University Medical Orchestra, the top Tygerberg serenade groups, the new Tygerberg Gospel Choir, as well as other musicians and dancers.

Bring your friends and family and share in this celebration. Tickets are available online at Webtickets or the TSR-shop on Tygerberg Campus.

Tickets: R120 for adults and R60 for students and children under 12. Free transport for students on campus.

Enquiries can be directed to Mrs Oona Rademeyer, 021 938 9202 or oona@sun.ac.za.

Several staff, students and research associates from the Department of Economics attended the trienniel World Economic History Congress in Kyoto, Japan earlier this month.

Three Stellenbosch students, Jeanne Cilliers, Christie Swanepoel and Bokang Mpeta, presented their research, while Economics lecturer Prof Johan Fourie was a finalist in the dissertation session on early-modern history.  Prof Fourie, who completed his PhD at Utrecht University in 2012, was announced the winner of this category at the closing ceremony.

Dr Sophia du Plessis

Dr Sophia du Plessis is a member of a group of international researchers that has received a grant from the International Development Research Centre in Canada. The team leader is well-known Prof James Robinson of the University of Chicago.

The aim of the project is to collect systematic data on female political representation across Sub-Saharan Africa and use it to understand how traditional female political rights and power influence the extent to which economic growth leads to female economic empowerment.

Dr Du Plessis will be responsible for the African-based research assistants who will primarily be responsible for the collection and coding of data. The ultimate goal is to create a dataset which measures the proportion of women in formal political positions at the smallest administrative unit possible, for the most years as possible, and for the most countries in Sub-Saharan Africa as possible. The grant is worth more than R3 million, of which roughly a third will be allocated to Stellenbosch University.

• Photo: F.l.t.r. are Professors Johan Fourie and Eugene Cloete (Vice-Rector: Research and Innovation) with Dr Sophia du Plessis and Prof Stan du Plessis (Dean: Faculty of Economics and Management Sciences). The photo was taken at a function earlier this year.

The FNB Maties dug deep and triumphed over a gritty Tygerberg side to keep their march to the top of the WP Super League log on track.

After beating log-leading Hamiltons 47-24 the team had short turnaround before they travelled to the lion's den the following Wednesday (5 August). Tygerberg had beaten Villagers, Victorians and Durbanville-Bellville earlier in the season and were not to be underestimated.

Maties scored first through winger Brandon Asher-Wood with flyhalf Chris Smit converting. The home side then scored two converted tries to lead 14-7 and Maties had to regroup. Fullback Craig Barry narrowed the gap with a try to make it 14-12 at the break.

A second try by Asher-Wood made it 17-14 and the Maties then held out for the majority of the second half. Substitutes Marko Janse van Rensburg, Wilhelm van der Sluys and Louis Jordaan all made a massive difference and steadied the ship. The narrow win was a good test for the team as they look to wrap up the first place in the league with four league games remaining in the season.

Hamiltons lost to FNB UCT on the same night and finish against Tygerberg on Saturday. This means Maties will know exactly what they have to do in their remaining games to guarantee the top spot.

The Steinhoff Victorians have won three on the trot after the holidays, beating Helderberg, Sir Lowrians and Villagers in successive matches. Against Villagers the team scored thirteen tries and converted nine of them to win 80-0. Eighth man Gabba de Kock scored a hat trick with fullback Kyle Steyn and winger Jamie Joseph both grabbing a double. Flyhalf Luther du Toit not only kicked seven conversions, but also scored a try of his own to have a personal haul of 19 points.

The Vics have a tough fortnight coming up with matches against DurBell, False Bay and SK Walmers before they finish against St Georges and Primrose.

Sauer Cup

Dagbreek scored six tries against the PSO Barbarians last week to claim the top spot in the Steinhoff Sauer Cup competition. The final score was 38-21.

Huis Marais' eighth man Dehan Theunissen stood out in his team's 23-13 victory over Wilgenhof. Huis Marais is in joint second place on the log with PSO Barbarians.

Eendrag was in control against Simonsberg and scored five tries, two by winger Evan Hendricks, to win 31-10. They are in fourth place.

Helderberg managed to win their first game of the year by beating Academia 28-19 while Helshoogte meddled with Elsenburg's chances to end under the top four teams by beating them 18-12.

Prop Adriaan Tromp earned a second consecutive man of the match award as Medies beat Majuba 24-10.  However, the defending champs won't make it to the semi-finals which means there will be a new Sauer Cup winner for the first time since 2011.

This coming Friday's matches: Medies vs Wilgenhof; Simonsberg vs Elsenburg; Helshoogte vs Helderberg; Majuba vs Academia; PSO Barbarians vs Huis Marais and Eendrag vs Dagbreek.

​A special interest in the experiences of South African prisoners-of-war during World War II led to a first book by Dr Karen Horn, lecturer in the Faculty of Education at Stellenbosch University.

In Enemy Hands: South Africa's POWs in World War II was published by Jonathan Ball Publishers in June.

The book focuses of South Africa's participation in World War Two and more specifically tells the story of those men who volunteered for the Union Defence Force and were taken prisoner by the Germans in North Africa.

Horn's research was based on oral interviews with these men, their memoirs and on archival research. The book follows their experiences in captivity, from North Africa to Italy and then during the last phase in German occupied territory. All of the men then returned to South Africa.

"In 1948 (three years after the war), the National Party came into power and introduced the policy of Apartheid. Along with this policy they also stopped support for veterans' associations," says Horn.

"The result was that the contribution these men had made were ignored and their stories were never told – hence the book.

"Despite the fact that they were largely overlooked in our historiography, these men are not embittered and most are still proud of the part they played in the war against Fascism.

"I chose the topic because there was nothing in print about their experiences except for one book that has been out of print for a long time. They deserve to have their voices heard. Without a written account of their experiences the historiography of this country is incomplete."

Horn is a lecturer in the Department of Curriculum Studies and teaches history and social sciences education.

ACERUS Update: Building partnerships in the fight against Corruption

Warm greetings from the ACCERUS Team!

The Anti-Corruption Centre for Education and Research of Stellenbosch University (ACCERUS) affiliated to the School of Public Leadership (SPL) enjoyed fruitful and productive academic and research engagements. These included the hosting of a distinguished international academic, senior public prosecutor and participation at prestigious conferences.

Conferences:

Prof Pregala Pillay and Prof Evangelos Mantzaris participated at the International Association of Schools and Institutes of Administration's (IASIA) Annual Conference held in Paris, France in July 2015. The first paper was titled: "Corruption, Poverty and A Critical Review of Health Services" (co-authored with Dr Cheryl Mohamed-Sayeed of University of KwaZulu Natal).  The second paper was titled – "Gender Empowerment, Achievement and Postgraduate Training or Success: A South African Case Study".   Professor Pillay is the Co-Chair of the Working Group on Women, Equity and Diversity of IASIA.

BRICS Anti-Corruption Project:

ACCERUS hosted Professor R. Sudarshan.

Professor Sudarshan comes with a distinguished career in the three domains of research, development programme formulation and implementation, and governance. A nationally successful debater at the college level, Sudarshan was a Rhodes Scholar at the Balliol College, University of Oxford, where he obtained his M.Phil degree. He was Research Fellow at the St. John's College, University of Cambridge for many years where he taught and carried out research on issues relating to law and public policy. Sudarshan holds a Masters degree from the Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi where he held a UGC scholarship for Centre for Advanced Studies in Economics. Sudarshan has an impressive track record of publications comprising books, articles, and UN policy reports. He has a dozen years of experience in inter-disciplinary research and teaching in development economics, human development, law, state and poverty at the Universities of Delhi (1972-74), Oxford (1974-77), Cambridge (1977-82), and East Anglia (1982-83). He has another 28 years of experience in the United Nations Development Programme and the Ford Foundation related to public policy.  He serves on the Board of the International Development and Public Policy Alliance (IDPPA).  

ACCERUS (Prof P Pillay, Prof E Mantzaris and Mr N Engelbrecht) together with academics from SPL (Dr F Khan, Mrs D Isaacs and Mr Z Ndevu) will be working closely with Professor Sudarshan on the Anti-Corruption Research Project involving BRICS countries.

Research Visit:

ACCERUS hosted Ms Margreet Froberg.

Ms Froberg is a Senior Public Prosecutor in Hertogenbosch. She is presently leading a team of 15 public prosecutors and 12 legal advisors who are concerned with the handling of criminal cases in the field of human trafficking, capital offences, fraud and corruption and high impact crime.   Ms Froberg holds a master degree in Law. She was selected by the Board of Procurators General – the highest authority of the Public Prosecution Service in the Netherlands – to participate in the two-year training program at the Netherlands School of Public Administration in The Hague. Part of this program, is a stay abroad of two months to conduct research related to her field of work.  Ms Froberg is a professional Associate of ACCERUS and will be conducting research on the dynamics, nature and extent of corruption in South Africa and find comparative analyses with her home country.  As part of her research endeavour, she will interview senior managers and leaders at several anti-corruption and law enforcement agencies, academics and researchers, state departments and other public agencies.

Signing off with a thought….

….  As Madiba eloquently observed "We have learnt now that even those people with whom we fought the struggle against apartheid's corruption can themselves become corrupted."

Stellenbosch University (SU) is to create a fund for the development of isiXhosa as an academic language and will also contribute to a new prize for research in Afrikaans.

The SU Management decided to set up the fund to the value of R150 000 that will be awarded annually for the further development of isiXhosa as an academic language. The award is additional to the work already being done to promote isiXhosa. The full criteria will be determined over the course of the next few months.

"A key component of the University's language policy is that the institution accepts responsibility for the promotion of isiXhosa as an academic language and language of social interaction judiciously. The fund will give further momentum to this ideal," says Prof Wim de Villiers, Rector and Vice-Chancellor.

"The initiative is also in line with SU's Language Policy – which was adopted by Council in November last year – a policy which favours multilingualism. Stellenbosch is a world-class multilingual South African university – one of few in this category, which is sorely needed in a country with 11 official languages. We are trying to ensure that language is not a barrier to access, but a tool for success – especially in diverse educational settings."

IsiXhosa at Stellenbosch University

For many years already, the Department of African Languages has been very active in promoting isiXhosa as an academic field – in teaching and in research. Not only has the Department successfully been offering isiXhosa up to PhD level; but for a number of years, the Department boasted the highest number of PhD graduates in African Languages of any university in South Africa.

Also, the Department has successfully been presenting full communication skills courses to students in especially the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences. For nearly three decades now, the Department has also presented first year communication courses in isiXhosa for beginner learners students of isiXhosa.

Furthermore, since the early 1990's the Department has also been presenting short courses in basic communication skills for staff and students. In conjunction with the University's Language Centre, discipline specific terminology guides have been developed for social work, sociology, psychology, law and economic and management sciences.

The Language Centre also has developed sport terminology in three languages for rugby, soccer and cricket. The terminology list for soccer was launched just before the Soccer World Cup in South Africa in 2010 as part of the University's support for the tournament.  

Contribution to research in Afrikaans

The University will also make a contribution, of a similar value, to the Jan H Marais prize that will give recognition to an academic or researcher that has worked and published in Afrikaans and in the process promotes Afrikaans as a scholarly language. The prize is an initiative of the Het Jan Marais Nationale Fonds (The Jan Marais National Fund – HJMNF) with the media company Naspers that will also contribute to this prestigious fund.  

"Today, a scant amount of research is being published via medium Afrikaans. Against the backdrop of a great number of prizes and awards for research in English, the prize is an initiative and incentive that should be welcomed," says Prof De Villiers about the prize.

"A hundred years ago a donation of  £100 000 by Mr Jan Marais made possible the creation of SU as a fully-fledged public university out of the Victoria College, in 1918. Since then more than 200 000 students who graduated from the University benefitted from Mr Marais' contribution. The HJMNF still contributes generously to deserving SU projects – from bursaries, legal aid and community service to music, literature and the arts."

• Liaise with Stephanie Niewoudt at tel 083 297 8785 with media enquiries on the Jan H Marais prize.

The sharing of knowledge is one of the key features of a university and according to Stellenbosch University's Vice-Chancellor, Professor Wim de Villiers, this role was eloquently fulfilled at the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences' (FMHS) 59^th Annual Academic Day recently held at the Tygerberg Campus.

"A day like this is all about impact," De Villiers said of the 80 oral presentations, 120 poster presentations and seven state-of-the-art presentations delivered by researchers at the FMHS.

"We need to make a tangible difference in people's lives – universities are not ivory towers, we are situated in communities facing challenges where we can have an impact," said De Villiers.

"This day provides us with an opportunity to present our work and to celebrate the way we do research to the benefit of our nation and the rest of the world," said the FMHS's Deputy Dean: Research, Prof Nico Gey van Pittius. The research presented were categorised in seven health care themes aligned with the priorities of the National Development Plan which are based on the needs of the country. These include non-communicable diseases, infectious diseases, maternal and child health, perioperative sciences, mental health and neuroscience, violence and injury, and trauma and rehabilitation.

According to FMHS Dean, Prof Jimmy Volmink, research in the faculty has increased considerably, with both the number of PhD graduates and research outputs doubling in the past decade, resulting in a "measurable impact on both science and society".

Photo (middle): Prof Wim de Villiers

Two eminent women scientists at Stellenbosch University (SU) were honoured with the Department of Science and Technology's (DST) Women in Science Awards in Johannesburg on Thursday (13 August 2015).

Prof Nulda Beyers, a senior specialist and professor in the Department of Paediatrics and Child Health and Director of the Desmond Tutu TB Centre (DTTC) in the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences (FMHS), was the first runner-up in the category: Distinguished Women Researchers.

Dr Wesaal Khan of the Department of Microbiology in the Faculty of Science finished second in the category: Distinguished Young Women Researchers.

The Women in Science Awards are held annually to encourage and reward women scientists, and researchers, and also to profile them as role models for younger women. The theme for this year's Awards was "Science for a sustainable future".

Prof Beyers, a distinguished professor at the FMHS, is internationally recognised and revered for her exceptional work in TB and HIV research, in particular for her efforts to find novel strategies to reduce TB and HIV. She is sixth on the Thompson Reuters Ranking, placing her among the top 10 most influential TB researchers in the world.

A prolific writer, Beyers authored and co-authored 211 peer-reviewed articles and contributed to 8 books and 217 presentations at national and international conferences. She has also supervised a number of master's and doctoral students.

Prof Nico Gey van Pittius, Vice-Dean: Research at the FMHS congratulated Beyers and said she is one of the Faculty's top clinician researchers.

"Under Prof Beyers's directorship, the childhood tuberculosis research division of the DTTC became internationally recognised for its contribution to the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of childhood tuberculosis and is largely credited for developing the scientific basis for the management of the disease, informing policy at the highest level and making a significant impact on the lives of countless children worldwide."

Dr Wesaal Khan, a microbiologist, has received national and international acclaim for her outstanding research outputs on water. Through her work, she continuously tries to find Millennium Development Goals solutions for South Africa and the Southern African Development Community. Considered one of the best lecturers in the Department of Microbiology, Khan has supervised many postgraduate students.

Reflecting on the 2015 Women in Science Awards, Khan said it was a wonderful event celebrating exceptional women scientists. "It was truly an honour to be in the company of these recognised leaders in science." She expressed her gratitude to the Department of Microbiology for nominating her.

Finalists for this year's awards competed in four categories, namely Distinguished Women Researchers, Distinguished Young Women Researchers, DST Fellowships (master's students and doctoral students) as well as the TATA Africa Scholarships for five master's and doctoral students.

Photo: Prof Nulda Beyers and Dr Wesaal Khan