The document summarizes the growth and expansion of the University of the Free State's Department over time. It traces the development from the early 1900s to the present day, highlighting key milestones like expanding underground in the 1970s due to space constraints, receiving donations that enabled new labs, and constructing a new building in 2015 to accommodate continued growth. It also notes the department's increasing research output and citations over time, as well as investments in state-of-the-art equipment and an NRF Sarchi chair that have supported cutting-edge work in fields like photonics and nanotechnology.