Stories from the University of Dundee in 2020 - January to June
Press releases, features, and news from 2020 - January to June
January
News
Our annual Honours Project Symposium 2019 took place at the end of term in December.
Press release
Nursing students at the University of Dundee have always had a thirst for knowledge, but now their appetites can also be satisfied following the opening of a new social space.
Press release
Researchers at the University of Dundee are aiming to make a breakthrough against tuberculosis.
Press release
Mix 9,500kg of sugar, 3,772kg of condensed milk, 4,750 litres of milk and 4,750 teaspoons of vanilla essence, cook for 17 years, and raise £85,000 for breast cancer research.
Press release
A new exhibition at the Royal Scottish Academy celebrates the work of Calum Colvin, Professor of Fine Art Photography at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design and one of Scotland’s foremost contemporary artists.
Press release
A new exhibition of stunning landscape paintings by an award-winning University of Dundee graduate has gone on display at her alma mater.
Press release
University of Dundee researchers have received funding that could help re-define the way blood flow is monitored during keyhole surgery
News
Stephen Fry has lavished praise on University of Dundee staff and students who have won awards, named after the University’s former rector, for their success in sharing their work with the public.
Press release
Stephen Fry has lavished praise on University of Dundee staff and students who have won awards, named after the University’s former rector, for their success in sharing their work with the public.
News
Researchers in the Moraga group report the engineering of new tools to manipulate the immune response with the potential to treat human disorders.
News
Review of the Year 2019 took place today with the Dean, Julian Blow sharing the highlights of activity within the School from 2019. The presentation closed with the annual School prizes presentation.
News
A study published this week in the journal eLife, by a team at University of Dundee's School of Life Sciences uses a new approach to reveal the complexity and modifications of RNA that are essential to genetic control.
Press release
Some of Canada’s most exciting artistic talent is to be showcased as part of a major new exhibition at the University of Dundee.
Press release
The spines of skeletons recovered from archaeological sites provide tantalising clues as to the lives led by past populations and potentially even into their socio-cultural structure, according to a University of Dundee researcher.
News
Researchers in the School of Life Sciences at the University of Dundee have helped to uncover and understand the genome of a vitally important orphan crop, called water yam.
News
Professors Vicky Cowling and Tomo Tanaka were given Investigator Awards from Wellcome in the recent funding round.
Press release
Professor David Maguire has been appointed Interim Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Dundee.
News
The new advanced text book on Prokaryotic Metabolism and Physiology by Byung Hong Kim and Geoff Gadd has been published recently by Cambridge University Press.
Press release
A record-high prize fund is on offer to help budding entrepreneurs at the University of Dundee launch their own business.
Press release
The University of Dundee has signed an agreement that will see it work to improve outcomes for diabetes patients in Afghanistan while training local researchers to carry out future studies into the disease.
News
Esther Sammler has been awarded funding to continue research into Parkinson's disease.
Press release
Researchers at the University of Dundee have developed an unrivalled, fully automated robotic screening system which allows them to rapidly test the effect of drugs and other chemicals on human sperm
Feature
Our students have the opportunity to spend two-weeks in China through a partnership we have established with the South Western University of Finance and Economics
Press release
The University of Dundee is among more than 30 international institutions joining forces to find new drug treatments for tuberculosis.
Press release
The University of Dundee's first Go Global international jobs fair takes place next week.
Feature
After attending an employer talk on campus whilst in his final year, Hanad now finds himself working for Handelsbanken UK in a job he loves
News
Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma and Exscientia announce that a phase I clinical study of DSP-1181, that was created using Artificial Intelligence (AI), has been initiated in Japan for the treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder as an initial indication.
News
Dr. Henry McSorley has joined the School this month as a member of the Division on Cell Signalling and Immunology. He will be joint deputy head of division alongside Hari Hundal.
News
After conducting a field trial at a tomato farm near Ravenna, Italy, a team of plant pathologists and agronomists found that nitrogen fertilizers shape the composition and predicted functions of the plant microbiota.
Press release
University of Dundee researchers have shown how a natural product derived from a group of fungi that has inspired horror novels, movies and computer games works to switch on a protein known to affect cancer cells.
Press release
The next generation of economists have a duty to make global trade more ethically led, the organiser of Scotland’s largest student conference has said.
Feature
Alexei Matveyev completed his BSc Business Economics with Marketing degree and is currently working as a Digital Marketing Manager for IBM UK, a role which he started in 2012.
Press release
A nationwide shortage of nurses is fuelling an increase in the number of Nursing students at the University of Dundee.
Press release
Research from the University of Dundee has revealed the secret behind some of Scotland’s most dramatic scenery – climate.
Press release
Investment from the University of Dundee is helping to reduce the environmental and financial cost of carrying out vital medical research.
Press release
An exhibition of art, design and creative writing inspired by the natural world and our relationship with it will open at the University of Dundee this weekend
News
New research has deciphered how rogue communications in blood stem cells can cause Leukaemia.
News
Megan Bergkessel and Leeanne McGurk have been awarded funding from the Springboard scheme of the Academy of Medical Sciences, which is designed to help early career researchers establish their independent research programmes.
News
Senga Robertson-Albertyn received the prestigious RSE Innovators Prize for Public Engagement last week at the Royal Society of Edinburgh’s Winter Lecture at Wallace High School in Stirling.
Press release
Students at the University of Dundee can develop their CVs by working with Police Scotland and swapping their books for the beat.
Press release
Dundonians are being urged to show their teeth some love this Valentine’s Day for a special event hosted by the University of Dundee.
Feature
A collaborative community engagement project, co-created between Boomerang Community Centre and the University of Dundee
Press release
Academics from Ghana, Lesotho and Zimbabwe are spending three months at the University of Dundee as part of a programme helping to cement the impact of the award-winning Growing up on the Streets project.
News
This semester’s Wednesday visiting speaker series resumed on 12th February 2020 on an energetic note with a talk by Robert Miles, CEO Immersa Limited
Press release
Academics from some of the world’s leading universities are coming to the University of Dundee as part of a major global initiative.
Press release
Regular exercise following cancer treatment can speed up a return to the workplace, University of Dundee research has found.
Press release
Christopher Whatley, Professor of Scottish History at the University of Dundee, will next week give a public lecture about his critically acclaimed and highly personal study of the tiny Hebridean island of Pabay
Press release
Using moisturisers on newborn babies does not prevent eczema as previously thought, according to a major new study.
Press release
Dundonian pop star Be Charlotte will curate Scotland’s first ever all-female songwriting camp, which will take place at the University of Dundee Botanic Garden on 2-3rd March.
Feature
Ewan took full advantage of the programmes offered by Economic Futures and secured a summer internship with the Fraser of Allander Institute
Press release
Graduate Apprenticeship opportunities at the University of Dundee offer “the best of both worlds” for staff and employers, the director of a Scottish software company has said.
Press release
Resistance to collaboration, a lack of a shared sense of purpose, and basic professional jealously can all lead to disastrous development outcomes for communities, according to a University of Dundee expert in urban design.
Press release
Being asked to create a piece of art to celebrate the work of staff at a city hospital was just what the doctor ordered for one University of Dundee student.
Press release
Virtual coaches developed by the University of Dundee are to provide friendly faces in the fight to improve public health.
News
Our business challenge week offers our new master's students the chance to get to know each other, and the staff. It also gets them thinking strategy and business from day one of their studies
Press release
Study examines the reading habits of more than 1 million young people; Scottish pupils have the second highest level of reading comprehension among home nations; David Walliams, Jeff Kinney, and Roderick Hunt amongst most-read authors
Press release
Scientists behind a pioneering hand-identification research programme are launching a new app and are calling on thousands of members of the public to help.
Press release
Calum Colvin, Professor of Fine Art Photography at the University of Dundee, has followed in the footsteps of pop art pioneer Andy Warhol in creating a portrait of Andrew Carnegie.
Press release
Inspirational members of the University of Dundee community will next week share the ups and downs of their working lives at a free public event held as part of Dundee Women's Festival 2020
Press release
Some of Scotland’s brightest business prospects can plan for the future after being crowned winners of a University of Dundee competition.
News
A new collaboration hopes to improve understanding of diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.
News
Community Rights and Expectations in Natural Resource Development
Press release
Four University of Dundee academics who are helping transform lives with their work on major diseases have been elected Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE).
News
We have recently signed up to the Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME)
News
This week forty researchers completed a two-day workshop in Cryo Electron Microscopy (EM) held in the School.
Press release
University of Dundee dental students will this week reveal how their future profession is helping to solve crimes, how social media influences oral health and the links between scuba diving and dentistry, among other topics.
Press release
Student athletes from the University of Dundee will be running on fumes when they undertake a 24-hour relay across the Tay Road Bridge.
Press release
The climate emergency and how everyone has the power to make a positive contribution to it will be explored at a public lecture at the University of Dundee next week.
Press release
A University of Dundee physicist has won a prestigious Winston Churchill Memorial Trust Travel Fellowship that will see him visit two of the world’s top universities to further his ambition of developing the next generation of science superstars.
Press release
The University of Dundee will next week host a masterclass to launch its programme of events in the run up to the world’s largest climate change event later this year.
Press release
Ghanaian students at the University of Dundee are preparing to party as they mark their homeland’s Independence Day.
Feature
While scientists at the University of Dundee conduct ground-breaking research into Parkinson’s disease, transferring that knowledge into the real world is equally important
Feature
For Wan Nee Shue, being a medical student is a lot like climbing a mountain.
News
On Wednesday 4th March 2020 CEPMLP hosted Professor Gavin Hilson as the Wednesday Visiting Speaker
News
An interdisciplinary study investigating cell membrane dynamics has been published in Science Advances.
News
New research by Greg Findlay’s group in the MRC-PPU has identified a signalling system that controls embryonic stem cell development, which has implications for understanding how tissues form within the mammalian embryo.
News
Life Sciences undergraduate students are consistently named amongst the top students in the annual Global Undergraduate Awards.
Press release
A PhD student from the University of Dundee has uncovered new evidence showing how vaccine hesitancy – often thought to be a modern phenomenon – can be traced back more than 150 years in Scotland
News
new theory on collective cell migration has been published in Nature Communications this week.
Press release
The worldwide success of a University of Dundee comic raising awareness of a common but poorly understood medical condition has led to a Spanish version of the publication being launched.
Feature
Sophie Sherriff, Postdoc Research Associate, spent time in India to research water use
Press release
Two University of Dundee graduates have scooped top prize in a prestigious online competition.
News
Alan Prescott has been chosen to be the regional (Europe) EMEA winner of the Olympus Image of the Year Award 2019. This was for the submitted image with the title "The mouse’s whiskers: image from a frozen section of the head from the mito-QC mouse."
News
Students from across Scotland took part in an Apprentice Day at Edrington-Beam Suntory UK, organised by the The Marketing Society. We were delighted to see some of our own students enjoying the opportunity.
Press release
Students at the University of Dundee have come together in an effort to help the city’s vulnerable during the coronavirus pandemic.
Press release
Researchers at the University of Dundee have discovered a new function within cell division that could allow us to better understand cancer
Press release
Dr Amy Lloyd from the University of Dundee has been awarded the Jean Corsan prize by the country’s leading dementia research charity
News
Dr Amy Lloyd from the School has been awarded the Jean Corsan prize by the country’s leading dementia research charity Alzheimer’s Research UK for the best scientific paper by an early-career researcher.
News
A protocol for utilizing human peripheral blood neutrophils for research into the Parkinson’s disease associated LRRK2 kinase has been published.
Press release
The University of Dundee’s Professor Jill Belch has helped mobilise a Perthshire community in the fight against coronavirus
Press release
Scientists at the Universities of Dundee and Glasgow are combining their expertise to aid the global battle against coronavirus.
Press release
A UK-wide database of cancer patients affected by coronavirus will help to save lives, a University of Dundee expert has said.
News
Researchers from the MRC-PPU have uncovered potential cross-talk between PINK1 and LRRK2 signalling pathways linked to Parkinson’s disease.
Press release
The University of Dundee has helped establish Scotland’s central COVID-19 testing facility in support of the national response to the coronavirus pandemic.
Press release
University of Dundee researchers are studying a protein that aids the spread of COVID-19 in the hope of finding ways of blocking its function
Press release
More than 100 University of Dundee medical students will graduate early to aid the NHS in the fight against coronavirus.
Press release
University spinout, Amphista Therapeutics, has announced a multi-million pound funding package.
Press release
The University of Dundee is working with partners around the world to rapidly repurpose existing drugs against Covid-19.
Feature
eLIPS is a method for observing the language development of young children during play. This research forms a partnership with early years educators to tackle the early language difficulties that are barriers to learning, social inclusion and well-being.
Press release
The UK’s foremost annual drawing prize and exhibition will come to Dundee for the first time next year, when it is hoped thousands of visitors will be able to view the show.
Press release
NHS Tayside is working with local industry, the University of Dundee and community volunteers to produce thousands of additional sets of scrubs for frontline staff
Press release
A University of Dundee student has organised a community-based response to coronavirus in one of the city’s most deprived areas.
Press release
The University of Dundee is leading a major new clinical trial of a drug it is hoped may help to prevent the worst ravages of COVID-19
News
Despite the coronavirus lockdown, researchers from MRC PPU are continuing to attend online meetings, seminars and conferences to share ideas with researchers around the world.
Press release
A University of Dundee researcher has been awarded £1.6 million in funding from UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) to develop machine learning tools for the life sciences.
Press release
Showcasing real-life evidence of tsunamis in the UK has earned a national award for two University of Dundee experts.
News
Researchers in the School have discovered a new neurodevelopmental disease caused by genetic mutations and helped explain why patients with these mutations suffer this condition.
Press release
University of Dundee researchers have discovered a new neurodevelopmental disease caused by genetic mutations and helped explain why patients with these mutations suffer this condition.
Press release
A study by the University’s Institute of Motion Analysis and Research (IMAR) found that kinesiology tape failed to support ankles and help prevent injuries such as sprains
News
The University careers service announced the winners of this year's Dundee Plus Awards at an online ceremony last week.
News
DOLFIN founders Professor Pieter Bekker (CEPMLP Chair in International Law) and Mr. Robert van de Poll (CEPMLP Honorary Lecturer) have published a Leading Article
Press release
A research consortium featuring scientists from the University of Dundee have detailed how the genetic mutations that give rise to cancer are caused by a combination of DNA damage and inaccurate repair.
Feature
Professor Colin Reid has been heavily involved in work on the big impact that Brexit will have on the environment, and environmental law
News
Dr Xiaoyi (Shawn) Mu’s paper “Asymmetric Volatility in Commodity Markets” has recently published at Journal of Commodity Markets, a leading journal in the field
Press release
The Universities of Glasgow and Dundee have been awarded £225,000 to rapidly screen for potential COVID-19 treatments.
Press release
University of Dundee researchers are to test new diagnostic technologies they hope may help tackle the dual risks posed by Covid-19 and antimicrobial resistance.
News
Our ISSR newsletter from May 8 2020, including a message from the ISSR co-directors, items on ISSR engagement, research, impact
Press release
University of Dundee projects to help the country in the fight against Covid-19 have been awarded nearly £500,000 in funding.
Press release
To facilitate vital research on SARS-CoV-2, Wellcome and UKRI have brought together a consortium of leading centres of protein engineering and production, including the University of Dundee, to launch the COVID-19 Protein Portal
Feature
Stories of our alumni going above and beyond during the Covid-19 pandemic
News
A new toolkit website has been launched to help in the fight against Covid-19.
News
Our ISSR newsletter from May 15 2020, including items on ISSR engagement, research, and our impact
Press release
Medical students are raising money for the charity Age Scotland as they collectively walk, run and cycle the distance from Dundee to the South Pole
Press release
Dundee University Islamic Society is working in collaboration with the charity Change Makers – Yusuf Youth Initiative, to help deliver meals to anyone in the Dundee community that needs help breaking their fast during the month of Ramadan
Press release
A rapid review of recommendations to re-open dental services, led by academics from the Universities of Dundee and Aberdeen, has been praised by the World Health Organisation and the Scottish Government.
Press release
A University of Dundee researcher has uncovered why parasitic worm infections seem to protect people from developing asthma, paving the way for potential future treatments for the disease.
News
Our ISSR newsletter from May 21 2020, including items on ISSR engagement, research, impact, and our Graduate community
Feature
STAR-Dundee are an engineering space company focussed on spacecraft onboard data-handling technology
Press release
ACES at the University of Dundee, in collaboration with the University of Edinburgh, have launched an online creative project to ensure senior-phase school pupils continue to receive creative support.
News
New research uncovers part of the intricate control that takes place during the development of important members of our immune system, neutrophils.
Press release
A PhD student at the University of Dundee has developed a crafty way to entertain local youngsters during lockdown.
Feature
A collaboration between the University of Dundee, The Science and Technology Facilities Council, and CERN
Feature
The University of Dundee’s Division of Signal Transduction Therapy (DSTT) is one of the world’s most significant collaborations between the commercial pharmaceutical industry and any academic research institute
Feature
A world-changing idea: the development a completely new class of drugs with the potential to "drug the undruggable"
News
The University of Dundee’s Centre for Energy, Petroleum and Mineral Law and Policy is pleased to announce the publication of the first issue of their international journal, Global Energy Law & Sustainability
News
Our ISSR newsletter from May 29 2020, including items on ISSR engagement, research, impact, and our Graduate community
News
Over the last few weeks, the School of Business has embarked on producing a series of interviews, from our home locations
Press release
A University of Dundee student has devised a range of burial clothes made from materials such as linen, cotton, bamboo and silk to help people ensure their last act is an environmentally sustainable one.
Press release
The University of Dundee’s Drug Discovery Unit (DDU) has received €5 million of funding to develop antiviral treatments for Covid-19 and future coronaviruses.
Press release
University of Dundee experts will attempt to transform the way obesity is treated as part of a €16 million project.
News
Dr Dooruj Rambaccussing and Dr Andrzej Kwiatkowski have secured publication of their work for the special issue “Text-based data and forecasting” in the International Journal of Forecasting
Press release
At a time when parents, carers and teachers are wrestling with how to best provide education during lockdown and the classroom restrictions to follow, a University of Dundee student has devised ways of delivering learning for young people outdoors.
News
The van Aalten lab has been awarded ScotPEN Wellcome Engagement Award to run an innovative project focused on the role of science, lifestyle and one’s social circle in managing neurodegenerative diseases (NDs).
News
A raft of family-friendly activities highlighting the ‘superhero powers’ of microbes have been lined up by University of Dundee scientists to keep children engaged in science during lockdown.
Feature
Brexit called into question what many had based life choices on: that as citizens of the EU they could move, live, and work freely. Our research examined whether that citizenship is a fundamental right that people cannot be stripped of against their will.
News
Our ISSR newsletter from June 5 2020, including items on ISSR engagement, research, impact, and our Graduate community
Feature
Almost twenty years after deciphering the human genome, our understanding of human disease is still far from complete.
Press release
A University of Dundee student has created a digital experience that educates people about the shadowy world of data brokerage and the potential for companies to misuse the personal information we freely give up.
Feature
In 2020 the research landscape across the world has shifted focus to work together to combat COVID-19. In the School of Life Sciences, many of our staff and students, a group that continues to grow, have joined this collective research effort.
News
Our Biological Sciences courses have been ranked 3rd in the UK and 1st in Scotland in the newly published Complete University Guide 2021 rankings.
Press release
An exploration of how new urban neighbourhoods can be created around controversial multi-storey buildings is one of around 300 exhibits at the University of Dundee’s Art, Design and Architecture Graduate Showcase 2020, which opens tomorrow.
News
Dr Sarah Coulthurst, deputy head of the Division of Molecular Microbiology, has had her Wellcome Trust Senior Research Fellowship renewed for a further five years.
Press release
The University of Dundee is leading the clinical trial of a new anti-inflammatory drug it is hoped may reduce instances of severe lung damage and death in Covid-19 patients.
Press release
The University of Dundee has launched a major fundraising campaign to support research into coronaviruses.
Press release
PhD student Elizabeth Mills will represent the University of Dundee in a national competition challenging early-career researchers to explain their work quickly and effectively to non-specialist audiences.
Press release
Professor Anita Taylor, Dean of Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design, is among the internationally renowned artists taking part in an online exhibition in support of refugees affected by Covid-19.
Press release
A new consortium to monitor the safety and effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines has been formed, including the University of Dundee.
Press release
Twin sisters Eliza and Melanie Chiswell will this week celebrate all they have achieved at the University of Dundee, despite the cancellation of the Graduation ceremonies they had looked forward to for four years.
Press release
Students from the University of Dundee have collaborated with V&A Dundee to create a collection of writing and art inspired by the museum and its galleries.
Feature
Filip Grzybowski completed his BAcc Accountancy degree, whilst also attaining various academic achievements. He has also secured an Audit Trainee role with Henderson Loggie, starting later this year.
Feature
We’ve received the biggest response yet to our annual Science and Engineering poster competition attracting over 150 entries!
Press release
A drug which reduces the risk of people living with a chronic lung disease from needing antibiotics or emergency hospital treatment could soon be a reality, according to the results of a clinical trial.
Feature
Stephanie may have graduated from the University of Dundee with a First Class Honours degree, but she knows first-hand how challenging and unpredictable the path the academic success can be
Feature
On what should have been their graduation day, the first cohort of our BEng (Hons) Biomedical Engineering undergraduate degree are preparing themselves for life after university and as industry-ready engineers
Feature
Graduation looks a bit different this year, but we still want to celebrate the achievements of our graduates. We spoke to Ryan Mochar about his experience at CERN, the world’s largest science experiment
Press release
A University of Dundee campaign to fund research into coronaviruses has received a significant donation from a Scottish charitable trust.
Press release
Uptake of the University of Dundee’s Access Summer Schools has rocketed this year by over 80%, with over 360 degree applicants taking part in the intensive courses to help them prepare for entry to the University.
Press release
Drugs that were developed to treat Alzheimer’s Disease could be re-purposed to prevent - or even reverse - the damage done to the blood vessels in people who are obese or suffer from type 2 diabetes, according to new research