5 Dec 2018

New elite barley could be a budding success

New gene combinations in barley could prove a budding success for breeders and brewers across the world, according to a new study by plant scientists at the University of Dundee and the James Hutton Institute. The study, published in New Phytologist, suggests new barley lines created by bringing together novel genetic variation, could dramatically benefit the brewing and distilling industries by offering improved grain quality. Barley can have heads with either 2 or 6 rows of grain. Currently, the malt industries in the UK prefer 2-row barley due to its grain uniformity, but this could change following t...

30 Nov 2018

Dundee wins the Times Higher Education DataPoints Merit Award

The University of Dundee lifted the THE DataPoints Merit Award trophy at this year’s Times Higher Education Awards last night (Thursday 29 November 2018). These awards, now in their 14th year and widely referred to as the “Oscars of higher education”, shine a spotlight on the exceptional achievements of individuals, teams and institutions working in the HE sector today. For the DataPoints Merit Award, Times Higher Education looked at how research performance matched outcomes in global reputation surveys. THE said worldwide reputation has become vitally important for universities, espec...

30 Nov 2018

Student nurses star in major incident simulation

Nursing students from the University of Dundee took centre stage during a major aeroplane crash simulation this week as they played victims and survivors for Dundee Airport’s ‘Airex’ exercise. More than 40 students from the University’s Nursing degrees took up their roles during the simulation to help the accident and emergency services control the simulated incident. With more than five emergency services and agencies present, the students helped test the initial response times and got a front row seat to see the firefighting and search and rescue tactics employed during the simu...

29 Nov 2018

A Bollywood dance a day might keep diabetes away

In a novel twist, school-children from Madras College in Fife will help researchers from Madras Diabetes Research Foundation in Chennai, India and researchers at the University of Dundee to see if high-intensity interval training (HIIT) Bollywood dancing can hit the spot in a global effort to reduce the number of teenagers and young adults with type 2 diabetes in India. More than 20 pupils from Madras College in St Andrews will join Bollywood choreographer Mr B Santosh, who has been working in the film industry in southern India for over five years, as well as researchers from Chennai and Dundee to develo...

29 Nov 2018

Official memorial significantly underestimates number of war dead

The number of staff, students and alumni of University College, Dundee who died during World War I may be more than double the number previously thought, according to new research from the University of Dundee. While the official war memorial recorded 37 staff, students and alumni who died, Dr Kenneth Baxter has discovered that far more than that number lost their lives. University College was the forerunner of the University, where Dr Baxter works as an archivist. The revelations came in Tayside at War, a new book published by Abertay Historical Society. Dr Baxter, President of the Society, is one of ni...