from the principal ....

Many of you will read this at or around Graduation - a very special time which, for some, marks the end of a busy and eventful academic year and for others, the natural end of their student years and the start of a new life. Another group will join our readership this year. They are the University's international alumni who, for the first time, have been invited back to the campus for a Homecoming weekend.

Whichever group you belong to I hope you have found your time in Dundee stimulating, fulfilling and enjoyable. This has been a significant year in the history of the University - not just because it marks the 40th year since the Royal Charter gave Dundee university status; but also through the host of achievements of our staff and students. It would be impossible to list all of these in this short column but some key events which will characterise 2006-7 are remembered here.

The attraction to Dundee and to Scotland of the Translational Medicine Research Collaboration was a major coup - a £50m partnership aimed at tackling disease and attracted to Dundee by the calibre of our science and our excellent relationship with NHS Tayside. Our scientific strength is epitomised by Grahame Hardie who has just been elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society - joining an elite band of nine others at the University. This unique venture brings together US pharmaceuticals giant Wyeth Inc, Scottish Enterprise, NHS Scotland and the Universities of Dundee, Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Glasgow. The core laboratory has now been established at Dundee creating 50 new jobs in its start up phase with the first round of 28 research projects funded at a cost of £8m in key areas including heart disease and cancer. The TMRC is a fine example of universities benefiting society - improving the health and the wealth of Scotland; assisting the economy at local and national level.

Another landmark has been the burgeoning research success of Duncan of Jordanstone which has attracted over £1.7m from the AHRC through the work of Georgina Follett, Steve Partridge, Euan McArthur and Murdo Macdonald. Most recently Mike Press has been awarded over £400k by the EPSRC and a prestigious Creative Scotland Award was made to Pernille Spence. PhD student numbers have almost doubled in the last four years from 20 in 2002-3 to 35 in 2006-7 and Tom Inns was made Initiative Director of Designing for the Twenty First Century a major partnership initiative of the EPSRC and the AHRB.

Academically our standards reached an all time high. Capitalising on our success as a UK leader for teaching quality the University has raised entrance qualifications over the last five years by 30%. In spite of this the number of applications has risen by 28% over this period and has now found a new level. Our student appeal has grown and our dependency on clearing has halved over the last five years - all remarkable achievements. We were pleased to see that the Schools of Medicine and Dentistry were each ranked in the top three in the UK - a tribute to both. While raising the entry standards we have continued our commitment to extending access through our pioneering programmes. Many students who come through the access programmes in Dundee have shown enormous determination in difficult circumstances to overcome obstacles and achieve at the highest level.

Meanwhile our efforts to enhance the Dundee student experience began to show real results in 2006-7 with a first class e-learning environment leading the way in the sector. Our Innovative Teaching Awards - a good indicator of teaching quality - attracted an excellent field of entries. Over 1,000 new top quality student residences came on stream offering a standard of accommodation unimagined by our returning alumni. It has been hard on those who have lived through this period of campus development and have come to accept scaffolding as part of university life but they can at least take some satisfaction from the fact that the next generation of students will be able to enjoy state of the art teaching, library and sports facilities as well as new residences. Our research facilities have also been extended and the Clinical Research Centre at Ninewells will add an important new dimension to our work on translational medicine.

In conclusion I would like to thank all those who have contributed to the University's success - students and their families for their hard work and support, staff for their commitment and dedication; sponsors, funders and friends for all their valuable input; and our Homecomers, the University alumni, whom we are pleased to welcome back to Dundee 2007.

Alan Langlands