12 Nov 2018

Poetry volume launch honours lecturer’s legacy

Colleagues of a University of Dundee lecturer who died in 2016 will celebrate his life this week by publishing a volume of his poetry. Staff of the University’s English department hosted a crowdfunding campaign to raise the £2,000 needed to publish ‘THIS’, a collection of work by Dr Jim Stewart. Despite having shown little interest in making his poems public during the early stages of his career, Jim was in the process of producing a volume of his work when he received his cancer diagnosis. However, after succumbing to his illness at the age of 64, colleagues Professor Kirsty Gunn...

12 Nov 2018

Winter Graduation to mark student success

The University of Dundee will this week mark the achievements of well over 1000 undergraduate and postgraduate students when this year’s Winter Graduation ceremonies take place at Caird Hall. Graduands will be joined by family and friends to celebrate their academic achievements, while honorary degrees will be bestowed upon world-leading scientist Professor Bob Michell, Scottish Rugby Union Chief Medical Officer Dr James Robson and leading foreign correspondent Christina Lamb. The winter celebrations are held to allow students whose courses finish after the traditional summer graduation to receive ...

9 Nov 2018

Dundee talk to trace the origins of Frankenstein

The literature that influenced one of history’s most famous novels is to be examined at the next meeting of Dundee Arts Café. Dr Daniel Cook, a senior lecturer in English at the University of Dundee, will reveal how Frankenstein was shaped by the reading habits of its author, Mary Shelley, and how other books are integral to the plot of the gothic masterpiece. Ahead of ‘Frankenstein: The Books That Made the Monster’, which takes place at 6pm on Tuesday 13 November at The McManus: Dundee’s Art Gallery and Museum, Dr Cook said, “Quite often we think of Frankenstein as a...

9 Nov 2018

Portable microwave tech used in treating skin lesions

A new method of using a Scottish company’s portable microwave technology to treat sun-damaged skin conditions is being tested by researchers at the University of Dundee. It is estimated that 1 in 3 people over 60 years old in the UK has at least one actinic keratosis (AK) lesion - the first appearance of a potential non-melanoma skin cancer. There is a small associated risk that the lesions could progress into a more dangerous form of skin cancer called squamous cell carcinoma. Patients who have actinic keratoses are also more at risk of all types of skin cancer compared to someone of the same ...

7 Nov 2018

Scientists overturn odds to make Parkinson’s discovery

Scientists at the University of Dundee have confirmed that a key cellular pathway that protects the brain from damage is disrupted in Parkinson’s patients, raising the possibility of new treatments for the disease. Parkinson’s is a disabling disorder of the brain for which there is no cure. Mutations in two genes called PINK1 and Parkin are associated with early-onset forms of Parkinson’s. Both encode distinct classes of enzymes that play a pivotal role in protecting the brain against stress. Previous research had revealed that when the ‘batteries’ of cells are damaged, PINK...