Three bright students will soon be jetting off to Norway where they will gain valuable skills and experience in their field as part of their work integrated learning experience.

Third year BHSc: Medical Laboratory Sciences students Erin Jacobs, Linah Mjuleni and Renaldo Pool will spend three months in Norway where they will be based in the city of Bergen. Prof Tandi Matsha, head of the Biomedical Sciences Department, says a two year grant was received from the UTFORSK partnership programme and this would enable the three students to travel to Norway for their training.

The three students said their studies had prepared them well for the experience and they were looking forward to the opportunity to develop and hone their practical skills. 
“In terms of theory I think we know what to do but I am expecting to learn a lot in Norway and to see how the Norwegians work in their labs and how they do things differently,” said Jacobs.
“This is a once in a lifetime opportunity. I have never even been on plane. This is going to be such a good learning curve. It will be good to explore what’s happening elsewhere in the world, for example certain diseases are more endemic in other countries,” says Mjuleni.

Pool said he looked forward to seeing the different techniques used in the laboratories in Norway.
“We could bring some of those techniques back and try to implement it here.”
The UTFORSK Partnership Programme supports project cooperation between higher education institutions in Norway and higher education institutions in Brazil, China, India, Japan, Russia and South Africa.

Written by Ilse Fredericks
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CPUT’s objective of providing students with hands-on training and practical skills has been bolstered through a partnership programme with a Norwegian institution.

The project would also seek to establish research collaborations between CPUT’s Biomedical Sciences Department and the Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, says Prof Tandi Matsha, Head of the Biomedical Sciences Department

She recently visited Norway with Microbiology lecturer and third-year co-ordinator, Yvonne Prince, while a team from Norway are scheduled to visit CPUT later in the year.

The project is aimed at developing best practice for training in biomedical laboratory sciences through educational and research collaboration between the institutions.

Matsha said a two-year grant was received from the UTFORSK partnership programme and this would enable three CPUT students to travel to Norway later this year as part of their Work Integrated Learning experience.

The UTFORSK Partnership Programme supports project cooperation between higher education institutions in Norway and higher education institutions in Brazil, China, India, Japan, Russia and South Africa.

The three students are on the BHSc: Medical Laboratory Sciences Programme.

Prince said the students would spent three months in Norway.

A further two students would be given the opportunity to go to Norway next year for Work Integrated Learning.

“An important part of the visit was to discuss areas for research collaboration and looking for funding for this jointly,” says Matsha.

While the students’ accommodation and flights would be covered, funding toward other expenses was still required.

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Written by Ilse Fredericks
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.