The enhancement of innovative and relevant research and high-quality postgraduate training remains an integral part of the Faculty’s strategic plan. Among other things, an increase in doctoral enrolments and in doctoral and master’s graduates all contribute to the University of Pretoria’s research-intensive identity.
The Faculty of Veterinary Science is therefore proud of its latest eight successful PhD graduates who were awarded their doctoral degrees at the 2025 Autumn and Spring graduation ceremonies of the University of Pretoria (UP).
This year the faculty also hosted its annual Doctoral Celebration ceremony. This event has become a tradition since 2014 and always takes place the day before graduation day.
Three of the PhD candidates who were available for the September PhD celebration event together with supervisors and HODs. In front (left) is Dr Claudia Lucia Cardoso Camaiti, also a staff member, and Frank Banda. Martin Jürgen Schmidt is in the front row (right). Prof Frank J Verstraete, who received an Honorary Doctorate at the Spring graduation is in the front row (middle), next to Prof Marinda Oosthuizen (left) and Prof Vinny Naidoo, Dean of the Faculty of Veterinary Science.
No less than 14 postgraduate qualifications were conferred during the latest in-person graduation ceremony in September 2025 including four PhD degrees and 10 Master's degrees. At the autumn graduation ceremony in May 2025, four PhD degrees, 20 Master's, eight Honours degrees and five postgraduate diplomas were conferred.
The faculty also conferred an Honorary Doctorate on Prof Frank J Verstraete, an alumnus and pioneer in veterinary dentistry who were later affiliated with the University of California, Davis, from 1994 to 2022. There he served as a professor of dentistry and oral surgery. Prof Verstraete gave a special presentation during the PhD celebration event besides two PhD candidates, Frank Banda and Martin Schmidt.
Said Prof Marinda Oosthuizen, Deputy Dean: Research and Postgraduate Studies in the Faculty: “We know that our postgraduate students work extremely hard and sometimes under quite difficult circumstances. We are proud of our new PhD graduates and all those graduates who obtained their master’s and honours degrees as well as postgraduate diplomas. We wish them just the best with their future endeavours.”
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