9 Nov 2017

Being Human to lift the lid on the real Gulliver’s Travels

What is the Google brain doing to our imagination? Are lie detectors always honest? What is bullet time? These are just three of the questions that experts from the arts and sciences from the University of Dundee will tackle at an event marking the 350th anniversary of the birth of Gulliver’s Travels author Jonathan Swift later this month. The Imaginarium, an expo of outrageous thought experiments inspired by Swift’s most famous book, takes place at the University’s Dalhousie Building on Wednesday 22 November. Visitors will also be able to enjoy talks, performances and family activities...

9 Nov 2017

Géotechnique Lecture honour for Dundee academic

A University of Dundee researcher has been chosen to deliver one of the most prestigious lectures in the field of Civil Engineering in recognition of his work exploring how vegetation can protect transport infrastructure against the damaging effects of natural hazards. Dr Jonathan Knappett, Discipline Lead for Civil Engineering at the University, has been chosen to deliver the 13th Biennial Géotechnique Lecture at the Institution of Civil Engineers in London on Tuesday 14 November. The talk, entitled ‘Use of vegetation in low-carbon Geotechnical Engineering’, will highlight novel cross-...

8 Nov 2017

`Wishing tree’ returns to Dundee this Christmas

Christmas shoppers in Dundee will be able to help provide the gift of reading to young carers in the city with the return of the `Waterstone’s Wishing Tree’. This is a collaboration between the retailer, Literary Dundee, Leisure and Culture Dundee and Dundee City Council. It has been running since 2014 and is a special way for shoppers to gift a book to a young person in the city who has a caring role or who is affected emotionally by a family member’s long-term illness, disability, mental health or addiction problems. Peggy Hughes, Director of Literary Dundee said, “A book is a g...

7 Nov 2017

Comics Laureate to discuss career at Dundee talk

The UK’s Comics Laureate Charlie Adlard, best-known as artist of The Walking Dead, the comic that spawned the hugely successful television series, will visit Dundee this week to discuss his career. He will be appearing at Dundee Comics Creative Space (DCCS) at 6pm on Friday 10 November. The Q&A session will be chaired by Chris Murray, Professor of Comics Studies at the University of Dundee, and is free and open to all. In addition to his work on The Walking Dead, Charlie Adlard has also worked on comics such as 2000AD and The X-Files as well as various titles for both Marvel and DC Comics, the ...

7 Nov 2017

University to honour leading figures at Winter Graduation

The University of Dundee will confer honorary degrees on three outstanding individuals at its Winter Graduation this month. The honorary degrees will be awarded to Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell, Dr Frederik Paulsen and Helen Jones. Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell is an astrophysicist, best known for her discovery of pulsars — rotating neutron stars that appear to ‘pulse’ since the beam of light they emit can only be seen when it faces the Earth. Her observation, made together with her supervisor, Antony Hewish, is considered to be one of the greatest astronomical discoveries of the twentieth cent...