12 Jan 2015
Stephen Fry Award 2015 shared by Five Million Questions and FIRST team
The University of Dundee's Five Million Questions (5MQ) initiative and the FIRST team led by Alyson Leslie have been named as the joint winners of the Stephen Fry Award for Excellence in Public Engagement with Research 2015. They received their awards as part of the University’s annual Discovery Days event at the Dalhousie Building, Old Hawkhill on Friday, 9th January. The FIRST: Fatality Investigation and Review Studies team have created the Ruby Review, a unique system that brings together multiple agencies to review the circumstances of every child’s death. The system, named in memory of a...
12 Jan 2015
Opposites attract: how DNA determines who suffers from eczema and who develops psoriasis
New research led by experts from the University of Dundee, working with colleagues from England, Ireland, Germany and the USA, has shown for the first time why some people develop eczema and skin allergies whilst others are prone to psoriasis. Eczema and psoriasis are among the most common skin conditions. Eczema affects up to one quarter of school-aged children in the UK and 1 in 50 people may suffer from psoriasis. These skin conditions may appear to be similar – they both produce red, itchy, scaly patches on the skin – but specialists know that patients very rarely have both the conditions ...
9 Jan 2015
‘Predicting Auroras’ – Café Science Extra on 14th January
The first Café Science Extra of 2015 is set to light up the New Year by exploring the wonder of auroras. Dr Alex Russell, a researcher in the University of Dundee’s School of Engineering, Physics and Mathematics, will talk about ‘Predicting Auroras’ at Dundee Science Centre from 6pm on Wednesday, 14th January. “Auroras, or northern lights, are one of our planet's natural wonders,” he said. “Usually a polar phenomenon, they are visible from the Dundee area only a couple of times each decade, but this winter our chances of seeing them are significantly better than...
9 Jan 2015
Exhibition turns the clock back on a city in transition once again
Image is copyright of Phil Thomson and should be credited accordingly. Are you one of the children in this photograph or can you help identify them? If so, then the artist behind a new exhibition of striking black-and-white images of a city in transition would like to hear from you. The 22 pictures were taken by Phil Thomson during a single month in 1968 when he was studying at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art. Originally exhibited at a highly successful show in Birmingham, ‘mono 68’ will now open at the University of Dundee’s Lamb Gallery on January 16th. Phil, now a desig...
9 Jan 2015
Healthy shelfies to promote cancer prevention
January is a time of year when many people traditionally look to become a bit more healthy, starting out on diets or just eating more healthily as part of their New Year resolutions. Many may not realise it but by doing so they are taking significant action to prevent cancer. A healthy diet has been shown to have positive benefits in helping to reduce the risk of cancer developing. Now the Scottish Cancer Prevention Network (SCPN) is asking people to help raise awareness of the benefits of a healthy diet by posting pictures of their fridges - `healthy shelfies’ – on social media. The hashtag...