SAEON's Graduate Student Network is on the move

By Athi Mfikili, External Liaison, SAEON Graduate Student Network

The 11th GSN Indibano will be held at Wits Rural Facility in Limpopo from 16 to 20 September 2018

Nobuhle Mweli (left), winner of the FameLab competition held during Indibano 2017, with SAEON research administrator, Beate Hölscher

Since the appointment of the new steering committee, SAEON’s Graduate Student Network (GSN) has hit the ground running.

In line with the GSN’s primary objective, which is to “...build and promote academic and technical excellence among postgraduate students”, the committee have been working tirelessly to plan various node-based activities which include:

the Arid Land Node’s introductory presentation of SAEON’s GSN at the Sol Plaatje University;
the Egagasini Node’s bimonthly paper discussion session on biodiversity and oceanography, and
the annual Indibano to be hosted by the Ndlovu Node.

The 11th GSN Indibano

Former president Thabo Mbeki once said in his speech at the African Student Leadership Summit: “As students [our] principal task is to acquire knowledge as well as the capacity to generate new knowledge”. The GSN, through their annual Indibano, provides an opportunity for postgraduate students to present the acquired knowledge from their respective fields of study.

This year’s Indibano will be hosted by SAEON’s Ndlovu Node at the Wits Rural Facility in Limpopo near the Kruger National Park from 16 to 20 September 2018. It is the first time that the Ndlovu Node will be hosting the event.

This year’s theme is Selling your science, selling yourself. Some of the invited guests include Professor Nox Makunga, a plant biotechnologist from Stellenbosch University; Charles Kuzmanich, a brand and communication strategist; and Marina Joubert, a science communication researcher.

Apart from sharing information through science presentations, the Indibano will offer capacity-building workshops such as “Introduction to R” and “GIS”. Postgraduate students are encouraged to submit their abstracts for consideration to gsn@saeon.ac.za. The closing date is 6 July 2018. More information can be found on the GSN website and social media platform.

FameLab competition

Communicating their science in the simplest way possible is one of the challenges facing scientists. In 2017, SAEON was one of the organisations that hosted the FameLab science competition, which challenges students to explain a scientific concept to a general audience in three minutes. The GSN would like to congratulate SAEON’s 2017 FameLab winner, Nobuhle Mweli from the Grasslands Node, who made it to the FameLab SA 2018 Finals held in Port Elizabeth from 7 to 9 May 2018.

The next FameLab competition should open between June and July 2018 and the GSN would like to encourage interested postgraduate students to enter themselves into the competition. For more information, visit the FameLab website.

Delegates during the 10th GSN Indibano held in Cape Town last year

Mid-year examinations

It is that time of the year when students across the country write their mid-year examinations. The SAEON GSN would like to convey their best wishes to everyone who will be sitting for exams. Remember the secrets to success is preparation and hard work. Always do your very best.