18 Dec 2007

University of Abertay Dundee expertise helps train first generation of Turkish games designers

University of Abertay Dundee News Release Abertay expertise helps train first generation of Turkish games designers


Abertay University expertise is helping to train a new generation of computer games programmers in Turkey, thanks to a deal signed with the Izmir University of Economics (IUE).

The articulation agreement links a two-year masters degree at IUE with Abertay’s masters degrees in computer games technology and smart systems

Students on the linked programme will spend their first semester at IUE, then travel to Abertay for two semesters, one of which will include writing a dissertation.

After spending most of a year at Abertay, the students will return to Izmir to complete their IUE masters degrees.

The first group of 20 students to take part is expected to arrive at Abertay in January 2009, and the partners are planning to increase overall numbers on the linked courses to 50 within five years.

Professor Lachlan MacKinnon, Head of the School of Computing and Creative Technologies, said:  “We are delighted to have secured this new partnership with IUE.  It is part of a network of links we are building up around the world, and the IUE link joins similar successful links we already have with universities in China and Canada.

“We are all looking forward to welcoming the first students onto our courses, and I am sure they will find the Abertay experience a very valuable and significant component of their learning journeys.”

Mr Ekrem Demiritas, President of the Board of Trustees of Izmir University of Economics said: “This is a very significant agreement for UIE and I’d like to thank the University of Abertay Dundee, SQA and Dundee College together with Scottish Development International for all their hard work in getting this excellent education entity up and running.”

 
Hadi Fawzy, Senior Executive at Scottish Development International said; “This deal is an excellent illustration of the very healthy international demand there is for Scottish skills and knowledge. Scotland’s educational establishments are world leaders in many fields and being able to trade knowledge in this way is having an increasingly positive impact on the Scottish economy and the country’s international links and reputation.” 

For further information please contact Tracey McNeish on 01382 308935.


17 Dec 2007

University Of Dundee Running researchers present cheque for Diabetes campaign

PRESS RELEASE FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF DUNDEE

Dundee.

Running researchers present cheque for Diabetes campaign

A group of researchers and other staff from the College of Life
Sciences at the University of Dundee have raised over £1500 for the
Diabetes Research Campaign, which hopes to raise funds to support the
world-class research being carried out into the disease at Dundee.

The group of 15 â€" ranging from Professors to technical staff - all
took part in the Dundee Half Marathon earlier this year. They decided to
run in support of the University’s Diabetic Research Campaign, which
is raising funds to expand clinical research facilities in Angus, Perth
and Dundee.

“It was great to see the staff involved in the run and then to
realise we had raised such a nice amount of money,” said Professor
Dario Alessi, who took part in the run and is also Director of the
Dundee Diabetes Research Centre.

“Special mention must go to one of one of our technical staff, Maisie
Hawkins - she isn’t the fastest runner but she was ahead of all of us
in terms of raising money, which was by far the most important thing.

“Two years ago Maisie completed the Dundee half-marathon in 3 hours
20 minutes, last year in 3 hours 10 minutes, and this year we are all
supporting her and hoping to see her break the three-hour mark. Everyone
was stunned as Maisise finished in the amazing time of 2h 45 min!
Exercise is our greatest weapon in tackling diabetes. That doesn't mean
you have to be running half-marathons every week, but just taking some
regular exercise will have a real effect."

Michael Archibald, chair of the charity campaign, and Professor Andrew
Morris, one of Scotland’s leading clinicians on diabetes, will accept
the cheque for £1519 from Professor Alessi and some of the other runners
on Tuesday December 18th at 9.30 am in the Wellcome Trust Building.

The Diabetes Research Campaign was launched last year to raise
£3million to support research into diabetes at the University of
Dundee, including the establishment of state-of-the-art outpatient
clinical research facilities in Angus, Perth and Dundee, enabling
scientists and doctors to work together to undertake research from "the
cell to the community".

13 Dec 2007

University of Kent computing students help international airline solve scheduling problem


University of Kent computing students help international airline solve scheduling problem

 

More than 100 second-year students from the Computing Laboratory at the University of Kent are gaining valuable work experience by helping XL Airways solve a scheduling problem.

 

XL Airways, a leading and award winning UK charter airline based at Gatwick, operates a complex timetable to over 50 charter destinations in Europe, the Middle East, Asia and North America from 11 airports in the UK. Consequently, it needs to ensure that it has enough pilots to meet its timetable requirements and that its timetabling operation runs as efficiently as possible, taking into account both human resources and legislation. For example, it needs to ensure that not only are its pilots in the right place at the right time but that the rules and regulations concerning flying hours are strictly adhered to.

 

Working in small teams, the University’s computing students are now constructing solutions to the scheduling problem using processes and methods for software design and development which they are learning in their module Software Engineering Practice. They also have the opportunity to continuously refine their understanding of the problem by interrogating XL Airways via an online forum.

 

The project ends in early January.

 

Professor Simon Thompson, Director and Head of the Computing Laboratory at the University of Kent, said: ‘It is difficult for any university department to provide realistic problems for their students as typical industrial problems are complicated and large-scale. However, it is precisely this sort of problem that XL Airways has to solve and we’re extremely grateful to them for passing this on to our students.’

 

Daniel Hiller, Group IT Business Architect for XL Airways, a graduate of the University of Kent and the originator of the project, said: ‘This is a really exciting opportunity for our industry to work with academia and the University of Kent’s undergraduate population, which I see developing into a long-term partnership. By gaining an insight into XL’s business we hope that students will gain an appreciation for the leisure industry that could develop into future employment opportunities. I hope in this way that we can both benefit from this innovative approach to problem solving.’

 

Tony Hunter, a computing student at the University of Kent, said: ‘The XL Airlines project is an excellent introduction to working in a software team on a real world product, with a real world customer. We are fortunate and grateful to have been given this opportunity.’

 


12 Dec 2007

University of Abertay Dundee workshop to learn about helping those who hear voices

Dundee workshop to learn about helping those who hear voices


Hearing voices in your head is much more common than many Scots think, and may be better dealt with by coping strategies than with medication, a workshop taking place in Dundee today and tomorrow will be told.

The University of Abertay Dundee and the Fife-based mental health consultancy Working to Recovery Ltd, co-directed by Ron Coleman and Karen Taylor who have an international reputation for their work in recovery and psychosis, are collaborating on a two-day workshop entitled “Talking to Voices” (12/13 December).

The workshop will introduce mental health workers to the relatively new technique of ‘voice dialogues’, which aims to help people who find their voices distressing to learn to live with and manage their voices rather than wasting time in an often fruitless quest for a ‘cure’.

Dutch research suggests that as many as one in 25 people hear voices or other ‘auditory hallucinations that have no physical origin in the outside world’. For some, the phenomenon is not linked to mental illness and can sometimes be a pleasant or reassuring experience.

However, for others the voices can be threatening or disturbing – creating anxiety, despair and fear. Often the voices carry some personal significance for the hearer, usually related to some intense emotional event in their past, such as sexual abuse in childhood. Voices can therefore have a great deal of power over the hearer.

Examples include victims of sexual abuse who hear the voice of their abuser or the voice of a screaming child that represents the abused’s inability to scream out their pain at the time they were abused.

Voice dialoguing focuses on helping voice-hearers to explore the history of their voices, and to identify the individuals their voices represent and the things that trigger them. Having done this, the voice hearer is encouraged to engage with their voices in a way in which they, not the voices, are in control. For some people, this can result in the voices going altogether. For others, the voices become less distressing and more manageable.

This week’s seminar will give mental health workers in Scotland a rare chance to hear international expert Dr Dirk Corstens, who works in the Hearing Voices Project of the University of Maastricht and is involved in treatment for voice-hearers. Dr Corstens developed the treatment programme, ‘Working with Voices’, and is an active researcher in this field.

The workshop also features Clinical Psychologist Rufus May from the Bradford Assertive Outreach Team. He has an interest in promoting self-help and recovery processes in psychosis. His ideas and thinking are influenced by in his own experiences of being a psychiatric patient when he was 18 years old.

Ron Coleman, Dirk Corstens and Rufus May will also be keynote speakers in a public “Hour of Power” seminar this evening (12 December), at Abertay University’s main building in Bell Street, Dundee, starting at 7pm.  Tickets are available on the door, priced £10 (£5 for students and the unwaged).

Professor Sue Cowan of Abertay’s Tayside Institute of Health Studies said: “For people who hear voices that are distressing, finding a way of dealing with them is empowering and can be an important part of their recovery process. ‘Recovery’ in this context does not mean ‘getting back to the state you were in before’. It is not about cure, but rather about recovering a satisfying, optimistic and contributing life, even within the continuing presence of mental illness. For each person, recovery is a unique and individual journey.”


11 Dec 2007

HIGHER BIOLOGY CHRISTMAS SYMPOSIUM


HIGHER BIOLOGY CHRISTMAS SYMPOSIUM

Photo opportunity - 10.30 pm, Tuesday December 11th                                 New Teaching Block (Old Hawkhill)  The College of Life Sciences at the University of Dundee is hosting students from local schools this week at a Christmas Lecture Symposium.  On Tuesday 11 December 2007 (in the Large Lecture Theatre in the New Teaching Block) and Wednesday 12 December 2007 (in the Tower Extension/D’Arcy Thompson Lecture Theatre, Tower Building, Nethergate) students from 16 schools in Angus, Perthshire, and Tayside will be attending a series of lectures especially designed for the Higher Biology Secondary School audience and delivered by top lecturers and scientists from the University of Dundee.  Dr James Elliott, Learning and Teaching Dean of the College, will give the Welcoming introduction. Dr Hilary-Kay Young will then deliver a presentation entitled ‘Superbugs’ – the science behind the headlines” which will explore the ingenious ways bacteria develop resistance to antibiotics.  In “Battle of the Sexes”, Dr Steve Hubbard will address the complex and unexpected ways in which the conflict between the sexes is resolved in nature. Finally in “Human identification - Who are you?”, Dr Patrick Randolph-Quinney (Tuesday) and Professor Sue Black (Wednesday) will consider the concept of human identification and look at some real forensic cases relating to identification and consider the importance of returning identity to the deceased.  SCHOOLS ATTENDING THE CHRISTMAS SYMPOSIUM:  Arbroath High School Forfar Academy Webster's High School Baldragon Academy Braeview Academy Craigie High School Grove Academy Harris Academy Lawside Academy Menzieshill High School St John's High School St Saviour's High School High School of Dundee Kinross High School Glenalmond College Strathallan School  University Of Dundee     

6 Dec 2007

HOT CHIP - Dundee Students Association


 

 

Dundee University Students’ Association

 

PRESS RELEASE

 

SEEK AND HIDE PRESENTS… HOT CHIP (dj set)

+ Residents Neil Smith and DIGIMAK

 

Seek and Hide brings Hot Chip to The Union on Sat 9th December.

 

HOT CHIP

Alexis Taylor, Joe Goddard, Al Doyle, Owen Clarke and Felix Martin are the men behind this electropop Casiotone-hop group. They formed in 2000 and self–released records until they were signed in 2003. They released their debut album, "Coming on Strong," later stating that they wanted it to sound like a home-made version of the Beastie Boys' "Paul's Boutique."

In 2006 they released their second album, “The Warning” to great acclaim. The album was short-listed for The Mercury Prize. Two singles were released from the album and both “Over and Over” and “Boy from School” were well received.  In that same year Hot Chip were hired to provide music for the in-game stereo within the Sims.

Hot Chip make use of toy trumpets and kazoos to get their sound just right, but no laptops and no backing tracks.

Hot Chip's Alexis Taylor has provocatively boasted that he is "like Stevie Wonder, but can see things."

Recent festival appearances include Dour Festival, Glastonbury, Sónar, Benicassim, Electric Picnic, Bestival, Lovebox, the Reading and Leeds Festivals, the Summer Sundae festival and the Big Day Out and Splendor In The Grass (2007) in Australia. They released a DJ Kicks compilation in 2007, which included a new song called "My Piano", also released as a 12".

The band will release their third studio album, Made in the Dark, on February 4 2008. The first release out of it was "Shake a Fist" which was released as a limited one-sided 12" in September 2007, the first single will be "Ready For The Floor" in January 2008.

 

Seek and hide have previously brought Pendulum, Mylo and others to the Union

 


The party will take place in the student’s union in Mono kicking off at 10pm and lasting till 2.30am, with organizers expecting a sell-out.

 

Tickets are priced at £7

Available from the Dundee University Students’ Association

 

 

 

 

 

For more information, please contact:

David MacLeod

Vice-President Communications

Dundee University Students' Association

Airlie Place

Dundee

DD1 4HP

t -  (01382) 386003

f -  (01382) 386016

m - 07739964572

e -  vpc@dusa.co.uk

 

 

 David MacLeod       

 Vice President Communications

 email:  vpc@dusa.co.uk 

Dundee University Students Association

Airlie Place, Dundee, DD1 4HP

Phone: 01382 386003      Fax: 01382 386016 

 

This e-mail and any files transmitted with it are private and intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. If  you are not the intended recipient, the e-mail and any files have been transmitted to you in error and any copying, distribution or other use of the information contained in them is strictly prohibited. If you have received this e-mail in error, please advise us immediately .Nothing in this e-mail message amounts to a contractual or other legal commitment on the part of DUSA unless confirmed by a communication signed on behalf of DUSA by an authorised signatory. Please note that it is a disciplinary offence for any employee or representative of DUSA to download any offensive, lewd, racist, libidinous or immoral material

 

 

5 Dec 2007

University of Abertay Dundee Law Students Have Threir Eyes On The Prize

Law students at the University of tsz Dundee have an added incentive to hit the books this year. 

Not only will they learn lots and make progress towards gaining a good degree but the top two family law students will also be in line for a cash prize.

The two students who gain the highest marks for their family law module will each win £100 thanks to the Family Law Association (FLA).

Ken Swinton, division leader of law at Abertay, explained:  “At Abertay we work closely with the FLA to make sure our family law courses are as up to date and relevant as possible.

“The Association approached us earlier this year to offer a £200 prize fund to encourage and reward this year’s most academically successful family law students.

“This is great news for Abertay and particularly the LLB course as it shows that the legal profession are recognising the good work being done here.

“It’s been a great year for law at Abertay as we were the first of the ‘new’ law schools to receive accreditation from the Faculty of Advocates.  I’m very pleased to add the FLA prize to our list of achievements for 2007.”

Helen Hughes, Chair of the Family Law Association said:  “The FLA is delighted to support the law faculty at Abertay by awarding a family law prize and attending at the University to speak with the students.

“As an Association we seek to encourage and promote the teaching of family law at undergraduate level and beyond and hope that our involvement with all law faculties in Scotland will assist in developing the teaching of family law as a distinct branch of the law in its own right.”



3 Dec 2007

Lewisham College Millennium Volunteers awarded funding


 

Millennium Volunteers awarded funding

Lewisham College Millennium Volunteers in Lewisham and Greenwich has been awarded £297,800 funding by v, the youth volunteering charity, to get young people positively involved in their communities.

The project will get 630 young people aged 16-25 to engage in voluntary activities for the benefit of individuals and community organisations across the two boroughs.

Lewisham College Millennium Volunteers is one of 152 projects across the country who will be funded by v as part of vinvolved, a new national youth volunteering programme backed by £75 million funding, which aims to inspire half a million more young people to volunteer in England.

Project manager Jim Delaney says: “We are very excited to be part of the vinvolved programme. The funding will enable us to build on the work of our Millennium Volunteer project of the last seven years to the further benefit of local people.”

vinvolved has been designed by and for young people to make volunteering a compelling choice for all 16-25 year olds in England by tapping into their passions and concerns. The charity aims to change the image of volunteering and make it a ‘must-have’ part of young people’s lives.

Terry Ryall, v’s Chief Executive, says: “v is delighted to be able to fund this innovative and youth-led project, which will enable young people to get positively involved in Lewisham and Greenwich”.

“Young people are at the heart of this new programme which aims to put them at the centre of our communities. Instead of seeing them as a problem to be fixed, we are giving them the chance to become a positive force for change.”

  

The volunteering opportunities will be available from April 2008. For more information visit www.wearev.com or the young people’s portal www.vinspired.com


28 Nov 2007

UNIVERSITY OF DUNDEE STUDENTS TACKLE BALKANS CRISIS

Politics and International Relations students at the University of Dundee are today setting their minds to tackling one of the world's major impending international situations - that of a declaration of Kosovan independence.

The fourth-year students are taking part in a Balkan Crisis Simulation game with teams representing France, UK, USA, France, Germany, the UN, and the EU. The game deals with a looming crisis over Kosovan independence, an issue which is already exercising the minds of diplomats around the world.

"This is very much a real issue and one which is going to test the international community once again," said Professor Alan Dobson, Director of the Institute for Transatlantic European and American Studies at the University.

"Our game is based on real information tracked until Monday, after which the students have had to take on the role of the international powers and see how the situation maps out. It is a valuable exercise for the students as this is exactly the sort of thing which is used to train diplomats, and the simulation really does test their mettle."

The game is part of a new module developed under a strategic initiative offered by the University three years ago aimed at encouraging innovative teaching.

The game is due to finish at 3 pm today at which time some of the students will be available for interview and photographs.

NIVERSITY OF DUNDEE DISCOVERY DAYS 2008

Some of Scotland's brightest minds will get the New Year off to a
stimulating start when the University of Dundee plays host in January to
two of the most exciting days in the academic calendar - Discovery Days
2008.

31 of the University's newest Professors will deliver quick-fire
lectures - each lasting 15 minutes - detailing some of the cutting-edge
research and academic activity being carried out at Dundee.

The sweep of Discovery Days covers everything from what happens when
sperm meets egg to the experiences of Italian women in the Second World
War. In between lie explorations of why the dentist's drill could
become a thing of the past, how we can make computers `see' and new
approaches to combatting the problem of coastal erosion.

There is also a strong strand of medical and life sciences research
being presented.

Two of the sessions - which take place over January 10th and 11th -
will be chaired by Mike Gilson, editor of `The Scotsman', and the Lord
Advocate, Elish Angiolini. All sessions are open to the public and are
free to attend.

Dundee first established the Discovery Days format two years ago,
giving a wide range of newly-appointed Professors the forum to present
their research, all in quick, snappy 15-minute mini-lectures.

The format proved an instant hit, making leading academic research
instantly accessible and helping develop links across the University
community. The format provides a unique test for the professors, who are
asked to condense often complex and wide-ranging work into their 15
minutes, but it is a challenge they have constantly risen to. It will be
fascinating to see how this year's cohort present their own ideas.

The days will be accompanied by a stunning exhibition of posters.

All of the Professors are available for interview before, during or
after Discovery Days 2008. There will be images available to accompany
each of the lecture subjects. Please contact the University press office
for further information.

The draft programme can be viewed at:
http://www.dundee.ac.uk/principalsoffice/discoverydays2008.html

21 Nov 2007

Sports and research achievement to be honoured at Abertay graduation ceremony


21 November 2007

The University of Abertay Dundee is to award honorary degrees to Louise Martin CBE, leader of the successful Glasgow bid to host the 2014 Commonwealth Games, and Sir Keith O’Nions, director general of Science and Innovation in the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills, at its Winter Graduation ceremony next week (Friday 30 November).

Louise Martin will receive an Honorary Doctorate of Arts in recognition of her outstanding contribution to sports development in the UK, and in Scotland in particular.  She competed as a swimmer for Scotland in the 1962 Commonwealth Games, reaching the finals of the 100m and 200m backstroke events. 

Since retiring from international competition, she has worked as a teacher and examiner in nutrition, and held a number of posts in sports administration.  As well as leading the Glasgow 2014 bid, she is also currently a board member of UK Sport and the Scottish Institute for Sport, as well as being chairman of the Scottish Hall of Fame Selection Panel.

Sir Keith O’Nions will be awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Science in recognition of his outstanding contributions to the development of the UK’s academic research base.  After a distinguished career as a researcher in earth sciences, including posts in Canada, Norway, the USA and at both Cambridge and Oxford Universities, he became chairman or member of a number of Research Council committees.

He was a member of the Council of Science and Technology from 1998-2000. He was Trustee and Chairman of the Natural History Museum from 1996 to 2005, and received a Knighthood for services to Earth Sciences in the 1999 Queen's Birthday Honours.

Professor Bernard King CBE, Principal and Vice-Chancellor of Abertay University, said:  “We are honoured to be able to recognise the achievements of two such successful individuals.   Louise and Sir Keith’s careers are eloquent testimony to what the combination of talent, passion and commitment can achieve.

“When they ascend the Caird Hall’s stage next week, I am sure that their examples will inspire the hundreds of other Abertay graduates alongside them.”

Pictures of the Honorary Graduates are available by contacting Jill Dempster on 01382 308223 or j.dempster@abertay.ac.uk.

 
LOUISE MARTIN CBE

Louise Martin became a national heroine earlier this month when Glasgow won the right to host the 2014 Commonwealth Games, was elected the Hon Secretary of the Commonwealth Games Federation for a second term at the General Assembly in Jamaica in 2003.  The first woman to hold a post on the CGF Executive, she was also the first woman Chairman of the Scottish Commonwealth Games Council, being re-elected for a further term in May 2003. She represented Scotland in the 2012 Olympic Bid Regional Group and was appointed to lead Scotland’s Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games Bid from the start.

Louise has been involved in the Games both as a competitor and an administrator, competing in the 1962 Commonwealth Games in Perth, Australia where she made the swimming finals in 100m and 200m backstroke.  She was also a silver medallist in the 1967 World Student Games.

After retiring from her international sporting career, Louise trained in nutrition at what is now Queen Margaret University in Edinburgh, and spent some 20 years working as a teacher, examiner, specialist regional adviser and latterly lecturer in home economics and nutrition in Edinburgh, Fife and the Highlands.

Since retiring from competitive sport Louise has held various positions in a number of sporting areas. She is currently board member of UK Sport and also the Scottish Institute for Sport, as well as being chairman of the Scottish Hall of Fame Selection Panel.  She has also served on the boards of Scottish Gymnastics, the Sports Aid Foundation Grants Committee, and sportscotland.


SIR KEITH O’NIONS FRS

Professor Sir Keith O'Nions is Director General, Science and Innovation in the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills.  He was previously Chief Scientific Adviser at the MOD from January 2000 to July 2004 and Director General, Science and Innovation and Chief Scientific Adviser in DTI from 2004 onwards.

Keith O’Nions was born on 26 September 1944, attended the University of Nottingham, gained a PhD in Earth Sciences from the University of Alberta and became a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Oslo.

From 1971 to 1975 he was Demonstrator and then Lecturer in Geochemistry at the University of Oxford. He became Professor of Geology at Columbia University in 1975, and Royal Society Research Professor at Cambridge University from 1979, before returning to Oxford as Head of Earth Sciences in 1999.

Keith O'Nions has enjoyed extensive participation in a broad range of academic and technological committees. He became a Fellow of the American Geophysical Union in 1979, and a Member of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters in 1980. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society (1983), Honorary Fellow of the Indian Academy of Sciences (1998), Fellow of the Indian National Science Academy (2001), and Honorary Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering (2005). 

He has been the chairman, or a member, of a number of Research Council committees over the last 25 years and a member of the Council of Science and Technology from 1998-2000. He was Trustee and Chairman of the Natural History Museum from 1996 to 2005, and received a Knighthood for services to Earth Sciences in the 1999 Queen's Birthday Honours.


20 Nov 2007

Lewisham College Annual awards celebrate student success



Lewisham College celebrated the outstanding achievements of its students recently with its annual awards ceremony attended by dignitaries from the world of business and politics. Over 150 students were recognised for their accomplishments, all receiving awards from Minister of State for Trade and Investment, Digby, Lord Jones of Birmingham.

 

Douglas Hands, the Chair of Governors congratulated all the students on their achievements and spoke of his pride in Lewisham College’s double Beacon status and reputation as an innovative leader in further education.

 

Award winner Sally Bland said she was thrilled and surprised to win the Dermalogica All Round Beauty Student of the Year award adding: “All my family were so pleased and it makes me feel like I have really achieved something special. It will also look great on my CV!” Having completed her course, Sally is now looking forward to putting her qualification to good use whilst travelling the world.

 

Fashion student Kassandra Forster, who was presented with the School of Performing and Creative Arts Award for Excellent Progress said: “Winning the award really means a lot to me. It is confirmation that I have finally found my perfect niche.”

 

Principal Dame Ruth Silver said that the College’s links with employers gave our students not only the skills and professionalism required for the working world but also the drive to be successful.

 

The award ceremony follows an exceptional year of student accolades for the College including a London Apprentice of the Year award for Painting and Decorating student Megan Parry, from the Learning and Skills Council. Other prizes have included a Millennium Volunteer of the Year award for Care student Kellye Ann Gordon; a silver medal at the UK Skills competition for Beauty student Pirisse Hunt and a Youth Build Young Builder of the Year runners up award for Ramone Edwards.

19 Nov 2007

Falmouth University Exhibition 29 Nov - 8 Dec


Designite
 
Created by 3rd- year students of BA(Hons) 3D for sustainability and Spatial Design, this exhibition explores themes of innovation, community and environment. Featuring drawings, digitals and models, exhibits include conceptual and experimental projects ranging from hand-held items to large scale interiorscapes and landscapes.
 
Venue: The Poly, Church Street, Falmouth TR11 3EG

Date: Thursday 29 November 2007 to Saturday 8 December 2007

Time: 10:00 - 16:00 (closed Sunday)
Admission free 
 

 
 
 

UNIVERSITY OF DUNDEE TO HOST BBC RADIO RECORDING

Drugs to treat disease are becoming increasingly sophisticated and it
is possible to treat more diseases than ever before. However, they're
also more expensive, which raises the question, is there a limit to how
much a public health system should spend on treatment per patient? How
do we decide which drugs to pay for and who should get them? Are some
patients more deserving than others?

Members of the public are being invited to air their views on all these
questions as part of a new BBC Radio Scotland programme to be recorded
at the University of Dundee later this month.

BBC Radio Scotland's new series of `In The Balance' is looking at
different aspects of medical ethics. The programme to be recorded in
Dundee will be on `Economics of Healthcare: The price of life: what's
the right way to spend the cash on healthcare?'.

The programme will feature a number of expert commentators joining the
debate hosted by presenter Claire English. The audience will also be
asked to give their views.

The programme recording will take place in the New Teaching Block, Old
Hawkhill, on 29th November from 6 pm to 7.15 pm, preceded by a drinks
reception from 5.15pm. Tickets are available by contacting
events@dundee.ac.uk or from the Tower Reception desk at the
University.

A Letter of Concern From Dundee University Students' Association on SNP budget Announcement to MSP's at Holyrood



The following letter was sent to all MSP’s at Holyrood; it refers to the SNP Budget announcement on Tuesday and the university/ student funding aspect of it. Dundee University Students Association has felt so concerned over the direction that the government is heading in terms of higher education in Scotland that they have felt compelled to email all MSP’s calling for them to review their decision.  Dundee University Students’ Association is working on this issue with St Andrews University Students’ Association and Glasgow University SRC who have also sent similar letters to MSP’s voicing concern over recent budget decisions by the SNP which will affect students first rate education.

 

For more information contact Milan Bogunovic on 07879697076 or 01386386002 or David Macleod on 07739964572

 

Dear Member of the Scottish Parliament
 
As
President of Dundee University Students’ Association and elected representative of our student body it is my duty to bring to your attention the disappointment and anger faced by Dundee University students in relation to the recent SNP budget announcement.

 

In May 2007 thousands of students across Scotland voted in the Scottish Parliament elections.  Many were attracted by promises of scrapping student debt and pledges to provide more Government support for Universities. Now, in the light of the budget outlined on Thursday, many students have real concerns about the future funding of higher education in Scotland.   
 
Across the campus in the past two days students have queried just what support they can expect from the SNP Government in the future if this is the way they have been treated so far.  Students are concerned not just about the here and now but also the future of Higher Education in Scotland when stories circulate in the press that Universities will have to reduce student intakes and make potential cuts to services.
 
The financial position of the
University of Dundee and the concerns of students about this are well known to many MSP's. Students are asking themselves to what depths will this neglect reach and could the Government not have done more to assist institutions across Scotland that are struggling? The answer among the student body is yes they can, but they choose not to realistically address all aspects of funding in higher education and put their heads in the sand and clam that the problems do not exist.
 
 

For the sake of current and future students in Scotland I urge you to consider your response to this when debates regarding the budget next occur in Parliament. Scottish Universities produce highly skilled, professional and dynamic graduates who contribute so much to the society and economy of Scotland as well as act as ambassadors for Scotland and our universities around the globe.  Do we as a nation want to jeopardise all this? 
 
Yours sincerely
 
Milan Bogunovic

President of Dundee University Students’ Association

 

 

 

 





 

16 Nov 2007

Iraq whistleblower to talk at University of Wolverhampton


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Iraq whistleblower to talk at Uni

A former British diplomat and whistleblower on the Iraq war is to visit the University of Wolverhampton to talk about his new book.

Carne Ross spent 15 years at the British Foreign Office and was in charge of the Iraq dossier in Britain’s UN delegation in the run-up to the Iraq war.

It was his job to prepare the evidence on weapons of mass destruction and to negotiate resolutions on sanctions. But, as his new book reveals, the more he worked on the issue the more he realised that Washington and London were engaged in what he describes as a “gross exaggeration of what we knew”.

In September 2004, the 38-year-old highly-rated diplomat resigned, giving up everything - income, power, status.

Now he has published a book about his experiences, entitled Independent Diplomat, and is to make a rare public appearance at the University of Wolverhampton on Tuesday, November 20.

Event organiser and Senior Research Fellow in Conflict and Terrorism, Dr George Kassimeris, said: “In his fascinating new book, Ross writes that as he watched the move to war, he drafted many resignation letters but did not send them. But the suicide of David Kelly - a British weapons inspector and a colleague and friend of Ross’s - appalled and enraged him. In the summer of 2004 Ross gave a scathing testimony to Britain’s “Butler Inquiry” into the use of intelligence on Iraq’s WMD. This evidence was, in effect, his letter of resignation.

 
“In a rare public appearance, Ross will be talking at the University of Wolverhampton about life in the Foreign Office, Iraq and whistleblowing.”

The talk is open to the public and will take place in MC228, in the Millennium City Building at the Wolverhampton City Campus, from 1pm to 2pm on Tuesday, November 20.

Notes 

 
Carne Ross served in the British Foreign Office for more than fifteen years. Between 1997 and 1998, he was speechwriter to the British Foreign Secretary. He then spent four and a half years in the UK delegation on the UN Security Council, where he was the UK delegation's Middle East expert, holding the rank of First Secretary, and later served as Strategy Coordinator for the UN in Kosovo (UNMIK), advising the Secretary-General's Special Representative on diplomatic and political tactics. In 2005, after founding Independent Diplomat, he was named by Britain's Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust as one of its seven “visionaries for a just and peaceful world.”

 
 




University of Kent working with Islamic leaders to improve conservation

University of Kent working with Islamic leaders to improve conservation

 

A unique project from the Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology (DICE) at the University of Kent is aiming to improve Sumatran biodiversity conservation by raising awareness of Islamic teachings about conservation.

 

The project, led by Stuart Harrop, Professor of Wildlife Management Law at DICE and Deputy Head of Kent’s Department of Anthropology, and Matthew Linkie, a researcher at DICE, also aims to improve local livelihoods through sustainable natural resource use in forest-edge communities and to develop an innovative model for Indonesian community-based conservation.

 

The Indonesian archipelago contains about 10% of the world’s tropical rainforest, which plays a critical role in regional watershed protection, as well as in global efforts to conserve biodiversity and to sequester carbon. However, Indonesia currently experiences one of the highest rates of deforestation in the world and the multiple threats that biodiversity faces in Indonesia show little sign of waning.

 

Indonesia, with its diversity of traditional culture, also supports the world’s largest population of Muslims whose religion has a strong influence on their daily life. Islamic philosophies underpin biodiversity conservation in a number of ways principally through the doctrine of Khalifa (stewardship). Furthermore other traditional belief systems similarly hold a wealth of practices and beliefs that further conservation strategies. Taken together there is much scope for enhancing positive community attitudes for effective natural resource conservation.

 

Professor Harrop said: ‘This project presents a unique opportunity to work with Indonesian Islamic leaders in national Islamic religious institutes and their subsidiary colleges in rural areas, who have been prominent in promoting Islamic ideas and teachings. Working with communities in this capacity provides an ideal opportunity to increase their support for biodiversity conservation through integrating key religious concepts and traditional conservation approaches into conventional management plans and conservation strategies.

 

Matthew Linkie said: ‘The project will take place around Sumatra’s Kerinci Seblat National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site that is vital to biodiversity conservation. Kerinci Seblat is surrounded by farming communities who live in close proximity to wildlife, and suffer losses from human-wildlife conflicts, such as crop-raiding or livestock depredation incidents. These conflicts reduce local tolerance towards wildlife and local support for biodiversity conservation. So the Department of Forestry, in partnership with local and international NGOs, has implemented a human-wildlife conflict management strategy for Kerinci, but no formal project, as of yet, has attempted to forge strong links with the local communities. So there is an urgent need to work more closely with the forest-edge communities to improve both local livelihoods and biodiversity conservation prospects.

 

Their local partners include GreenLaw Indonesia, an NGO that has run community conservation and development projects in Sumatra and elsewhere in Indonesia since 2003. The project is funded by a Darwin Initiative and a Rufford Small Grant for Nature Conservation.

 

Notes

 

(1)

 

DICE (located within the University’s Department of Anthropology) is dedicated to building capacity and undertaking research necessary to conserve biodiversity and the functioning ecosystems upon which people depend. In support of its mission, DICE has now trained postgraduates from over 70 different countries, and many occupy increasingly influential positions in conservation.

 

The Institute’s MSc in International Wildlife Trade and Conservation provides students with the knowledge base to address trade regulation and management at both the national and international levels. The programme provides information on the workings of CITES and how this complements other multi-lateral environment agreements.

 

It also provides students with the knowledge to: minimise the negative effects of trade on species; increase the effectiveness of regulatory and market measures to promote conservation of species in trade and use; ensure that local communities dependent on wildlife products are respected and have their interests taken into account when managing species for use and conservation; and to integrate the planning and management of international trade and biodiversity conservation.

 

The programme is relevant to the work of national management and scientific authorities, international and national NGOs, consultancy firms and contractors, international agencies and donors.

 

Website: www.kent.ac.uk/anthropology/dice/dice.html

 

(2)

 

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs’ Darwin Initiative was announced by the UK Government at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in June 1992. Its key objective is to provide grants for projects that draw on British expertise relevant to biodiversity to assist local partners in countries rich in biodiversity and poor in financial resources. The Darwin Initiative has supported over 400 projects in 100 countries since its inception, and has a current budget of £7 million per year. The Committee is made up of leaders in scientific fields including zoology, plant science and environmental policy and advises the Secretary of State on which projects the Darwin Initiative should support each year. The Darwin Initiative has supported several projects run by DICE since 1992, which include projects that seek to: reduce conflicts between people and wildlife around the Masai Mara National Reserve in Kenya; conserve the legendary axolotl in Mexico; and co-ordinate transboundary planning across the Maputaland centre of endemism, which straddles South Africa, Mozambique and Swaziland.

 

Website: www.darwin.gov.uk

 

(3)

 

The Rufford Maurice Laing Foundation is a private grant-making trust based in the UK. The Rufford Small Grants for Nature Conservation (RSGs) are aimed at small conservation programmes and pilot projects.

 

Website: www.rufford.org

 

(4)

 

The University of Kent is one of the UK’s most dynamic universities. The first institution within the county to be granted a university charter, it now has over 16,000 students studying at Canterbury, Medway and Tonbridge and is a major educational, economic and cultural force throughout Kent.

 

In the 2007 National Student Survey, the University was ranked not just top in the region for course satisfaction, it was among the top ten nationwide. It also has a strong international presence and, according to the 2007 Sunday Times University Guide, it ‘can claim to be Britain’s only international university’ as a result of recent developments including the University’s expanding Brussels campus and its ‘involvement as one of five partners (and the only non-French one) in the bilingual University of the Transmanche’. The Guide ranked Kent 42 out of 123 participating higher education institutions in the UK, an increase of four places from the 2006 printed edition.

 

More than 80% of research staff work in departments which contain research of national or international levels of excellence and the University’s commitment to its research activities was recognised by the shortlisting of one of its academics for Young Researcher of the Year in the 2007 Times Higher Education Supplement (THES) Awards.

 

The University’s Law Clinic was also shortlisted in the Outstanding Contribution to the Local Community category. Last year, Kent was one of only five UK universities shortlisted for the THES Institution of the Year award.