News in brief, 9 September 2019

Published: 4 September 2019

A roundup of news from across the University

Praise for UofG’s quantum and nanotech innovation plans

The University of Glasgow held a successful event at Scotland House on the 4th September, the Scottish Government’s base in London, showcasing our strengths in nano and quantum technology.

Representatives from the University presented to industry experts and policy-makers on the planned Clyde Waterfront Innovation Campus in Govan. They spoke about the exciting opportunities the Campus will bring for industry and academia to collaborate, as well as the benefitsfor local people in Govan, Glasgow and beyond.

Senior Vice-Principal Neal Juster and Professor Miles Padgett described how the Clyde Waterfront Innovation Campus will equip Glasgow to lead the world in a range of innovative new technologies – including Quantum Technology and nanofabrication– with the potential to make the city as synonymous with the high-tech innovative industries of the 21st century as it was with shipbuilding and heavy industry in the 20th.

The event also featured a presentation by Brendan Casey, CEO of Kelvin Nanotechnology Ltd, an industry partner of the University and Challenge Director of Quantum Technologies for UKRI, Roger McKinlay.

Senior Vice-Principal Neal Juster said, “we are determined that as many of the city’s communities benefit from our world-leading work as possible- and that our University should be as open to people in Govan as to those in Kelvinside.

“We need to reimagine our entrepreneurial legacy for the 21st century and set our ambition for Glasgow and Scotland to retake our place at the forefront of international industry and innovation”.

 

8th Andrew Carnegie Lecture with Professor Dame Linda Partridge

For the eighth Andrew Carnegie Lecture, we are delighted to welcome Professor Dame Linda Partridge to the University of Glasgow on 3 October.

Professor Dame Linda Partridge - Royal Society's Croonian Prize Lecture recipient and Director of the Institute of Healthy Ageing at UCL - will deliver a lecture titled: Can we cure ageing?

Professor Dame Linda Partridge FRS FRSE FMedSci works on the biology of ageing. Her research is directed at understanding the mechanisms by which a healthy lifespan can be extended in laboratory model organisms and humans. Her work has focussed in particular on the role of nutrient-sensing pathways, such as the insulin/insulin-like growth factor signalling pathway, and on the role of diet.

https://www.evensi.uk/8th-andrew-carnegie-lecture-professor-dame-linda-partridge-sir-charles-wilson-building/325687938

 

Award for comics-based approach in the teaching of risk and crisis management

Professor Denis Fischbacher-Smith, Research Chair in Risk and Resilience, has won the Experienced Teaching Practitioner Category in the British Academy of Management Education Practice Awards 2019.

The trophy was awarded for the development of a learning and teaching strategy that created academic comics as a teaching approach. The work, entitled ‘When I grow up I want to be a comic: The use of a comics-based approach in the teaching of risk and crisis management’ was judged by the panel consisting of Business School Deans to be “highly innovative, engaging and thought provoking”. Denis was the University of Glasgow’s first principal fellow of the HEA an award made in recognition of his long standing commitment to learning and teaching and to institutional impact in learning and teaching. This BAM award marks a continuation of that commitment to research-led, innovative education. 

An engraved glass trophy and certificate was presented at the British Academy of Management 2019 Conference, Aston University, at the Awards Ceremony which took place on Tuesday 3 September.

 Denis Fischbacher-Smith

 

Senior delegation from Lower Saxony visits Glasgow

The University welcomed a senior delegation from Lower Saxony, Germany, on the 3-4 September.

The delegation was led by the State Minister for Science and Culture Mr Bjorn Thümler and was comprised of Presidents and Vice Presidents from a number of Universities in the North-Western German state, as well as Members of the State Parliament of Lower Saxony.

The German group was welcomed and hosted by Prof Sir Anton Muscatelli, and met by the Scottish Minister for Further Education, Higher Education and Science, Richard Lochhead as well as senior representatives from the University of Glasgow and from other Scottish Universities, alongside Universities Scotland and the Glasgow Chamber of Commerce.

Vice Principal, External Relations, Rachel Sandison, said “It’s great to be able to welcome this ministerial and higher education delegation to Glasgow to discuss future collaboration alongside colleagues from across the sector. Now more than ever it is important to continue to work closely with our neighbours in Europe.”

Both Minister Lochhead and his counterpart from Lower Saxony, Minister Thümler, spoke of the importance of links between Lower Saxony and Scotland. Not only is there strong cross-border collaboration between Scottish and Lower Saxon Universities in science and R&D, but also in student exchange programmes such as ERASMUS.

One example of such collaboration is the European Centre for Advanced Studies (ECAS), which is a joint initiative between the University of Glasgow and the Leuphana University of Lüneburg, which was established in Summer 2018.

Professor James Conroy, one of the Directors at ECAS, said “I hope that the European Centre for Advanced Studies can act as a conduit for wider collaboration between Lower Saxony and Scottish Universities and that our researchers and students will be enabled to continue undertaking world-class research and having first-rate experiences together.”

Despite current uncertainty surrounding Brexit, representatives from both Scotland and Germany affirmed their commitment to continue building solid relationships between academics, institutions and citizens, regardless of what may be on the horizon.

To demonstrate this, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between Universities Scotland and the Lower Saxony Universities' Alliance, committing both sides to continued and enhanced collaboration.

 

JISC Hackathon

The University of Glasgow is hosting a JISC hackathon in October. This will run on the evening of Friday 18th and on Saturday 19th of October in the Boyd Orr Building. Dinner, and accommodation if required, will be paid by JISC.

The theme is the Internet of Things (IoT) technologies, further details provided in the link below.

The aim of the hackathon is for teams to design, develop and build something using sensors that would benefit students.

Teams should have between two and four members so please encourage your students to enter. If students have a great idea but limited coding capability that is not a problem, tell them to contact mary.mcvey@galsgow.ac.uk and we can try to team your students with others that can help.

Previous students in the Digifest Hackathon won £250 between them for their efforts.

Further details can be found here https://www.jisc.ac.uk/rd/get-involved/take-part-in-our-hackathon

 

Data Pioneer award fo work on Parkinson's 

Dr Donald Grosset, Honorary Professor in the Institute of Neuroscience & Psychology, has been honoured with a Data Pioneer Award for significant contributions to Parkinson’s research.

The award was made by the Critical Path for Parkinson’s Consortium (CPP) and Parkinson’s UK, who jointly lead a major international venture designed to improve clinical trials for new treatments for Parkinson’s. This involves academic, pharmaceutical, and charitable organisations like Michael J Fox Foundation.

The University of Glasgow contributes substantially by way of Donald’s work in particular through his leadership of the Tracking Parkinson’s study, which is the world’s largest and longest ever in-depth study of Parkinson's.


First published: 4 September 2019