Best in UK for English

According to the influential subject by subject assessment tables produced by The Guardian, Dundee came top out of 100 UK universities, including Oxford and Cambridge, for its English courses. Dundee was also placed in the UK top five in four other subjects: Art and Design (2nd), Biosciences (2nd), Anatomy and Physiology (3rd) and Pharmacology (4th).

Best Young Biochemist

Dr Dario Alessi has been named the most promising young British biochemist for his work on how insulin controls the processes in diabetes and he became the ninth recipient of this award from the Department of Biochemistry. Dr Alessi also received the Eppendorf Award for his work which has implications for understanding cell growth in cancers.

UK's best biology student

Luke Kontogiannis, was named best biology student in the UK in the Millennium Science Engineering and Technology Awards with the final year project on hairpin ribozymes. Luke, who graduated with a first class honours degree in molecular genetics, carried out his research in Professor David Lilley's laboratory which has an international reputation for its research into the function and structure of DNA and RNA..

Computing star

Star computing graduate Fiona Hunter immediately made her mark on the national IT scene when her honours year project scooped two Scottish awards and was one of three finalists for the Millennium Science Engineering and Technology Awards for the best computer student in the UK. Fiona investigated how the features that make computer games so popular with young people could be applied to learning materials. She is now working as a software engineer for telecommunications company Agilent Technologies.