Digests

Projects
An honours project exhibition will be displayed in the school of engineering showing students' research work and the project posters they have designed to accompany their innovations. Visitors will have an opportunity to look round the microelectronics laboratory, the satellite receiving station, the robotics laboratory and the electron microscopy laboratory. The event will take place in the Ewing building on 24 April.

Guide
Dundonians have been praised as "among the friendliest, most welcoming and entertaining people you'll meet anywhere in the country" in the latest edition of the Lonely Planet's guide to Scotland. The guide describes Dundee as a city "pulling itself up by the bootstraps" to reinvent itself as a destination for tourists and a centre for new industries like biotechnology.

Golf
Each year the Dow Putter is played for, by matchplay knockout, during the summer term. Last year's winner was Iain Robertson from the international office. This year's Dow Putter is likely to be as hotly contended as ever, and any members of the University wishing to compete should send their name, department, home and work telephone numbers and official golf handicap to n.j.wade@dundee.ac.uk before 15 April 2002.

Christmas
A team of staff in central services is fielding interest in a Christmas party in the Bonar Hall on Friday 20 December. For a number of years now, services departments have organised separate outings to local hotels. This year it has been suggested that central services could get together to give staff the opportunity to party with others from outside their own department. It is planned to hold a champagne reception, Christmas lunch and dancing from 2pm onwards to a live band. If your department is interested please email j.m.marra@dundee.ac.uk. First come first served.

Accreditation
Vanessa Charles and Philippa Sterlini of the Library Conservation Unit have been awarded accredited status by the Institute of Paper Conservation.

Economist
Dr Catia Montagna, senior lecturer with the school of economics, has been awarded a prestigious fellowship at Nottingham University's Leverhulme Centre for Research on Globalisation and Economic Policy. The centre is one of only a handful in Europe which conducts research into globalisation and labour markets and their effects on economic policy. Catia, who has been with the University of Dundee since 1991, said, "There is a great deal of discussion in the media about globalisation and the issues connected to it, but much less study of these topics. The Leverhulme Centre is unique in Britain and I am pleased to have been asked to contribute to expanding the research that is carried out there."

Advice
The new faculty of education and social work, in collaboration with the school of nursing, has been contracted to provide an advisory service to the children and young people's group of the Scottish Executive. They will be consulted about policy developments across a range of services, including child protection, children's rights, support for families with children with disabilities, early education and care, and about issues of planning and integration. Family Service Units Scotland, Aberlour Child Care Trust, The Profound and Multiple Impairment Service and The Institute of Child Health will be involved with them in preparing advice, to ensure wide ranging interdisciplinary perspectives.

Appointments
Dr Alex Wright, department of politics, has been appointed as an independent assessor for ministerial appointments to non departmental public bodies in Scotland for three years. His appointment to the Scottish consumer council has also been extended for another year.

Advertising
Baroness Strange raised DUSA's new sensible drinking policy in the House of Lords, asking the government whether it would consider a similar policy on alcohol advertising. DUSA is attempting to curb the culture of binge drinking by refraining from advertising DUSA exclusively as a drinking venue. Baroness Strange asked whether the government would consider limiting the form and content of alcohol advertising. Government spokesman Lord Filkin expressed that he was aware of DUSA's policy.

Prizes
Applications are invited for the 2002 Philip Leverhulme prizes for scholars under the age of 36. twenty five prizes of £50,000 will be awarded in the following disciplines: biochemistry and molecular biology, earth, ocean and atmospheric sciences, economics, software technology for information and communications systems, history since 1800. The closing date is 15 May 2002. Full details at www.leverhulme.org.uk

Medals
At the recent meeting of the Anaesthetic Research Society in Nottingham, Professor Jerry Lambert of the department of pharmacology and neuroscience was awarded the Mapleson medal by the Royal College of Anaesthetists for his work on a novel intravenous general anaesthetic. The meeting was a double success for Dundee as Dr Cameron Weir of the department of anaesthesia was awarded the Jubilee medal for his studies on general anaesthetic binding sites on the GABAA receptor.

Taiwan
Dr Yu-Fu Chen of the economics department has just returned from Taiwan where he spent a month carrying out research into working time and employment. His trip was funded by the Royal Academy, from which he received £3820 at the end of last year. Dr Chen is now preparing for a trip to Hamburg this May, where he will continue previous research at the Hamburg Institute of International Economics into the policy of lobbying for protection in the international trade".

Death
Dr John Berry, honorary graduate and former court member recently died at the age of 95. He had been a member of the RSE since 1934, was the youngest fellow to be appointed and was the oldest to die.

Historian
A success story alumnus from the department of history returned to Dundee in February to talk about his research. Alan Bell now works in the department of manuscripts and rare books at the national library of Scotland. He delivered a paper to the Abertay Historical Society entitled the Dundee carters'strike of 1911.

Gardener
Barbara Hogarth from the botanic garden has been awarded her certificate of voluntary attendance - proof that gardeners have completed a period of hard to come by practical experience in a garden. Barbara is a botanist, has been working in the botanic garden for one year and also teaches the popular "name that plant" class through the continuing education unit.

Professorship
In recognition of the growing collaboration between the University of Dundee and Zhejiang Wanli University, project manager Mike Tooze was awarded an honorary professorship in the business school during a recent visit to China."

Achtung
A group of German teachers will be brushing up on their language skills this month when they take part in a week-long English course at the centre for applied languages. The 15 primary teachers from Berlin will attend morning English language classes between March 22 and 28. Trips to local primary schools and tourists attractions are also planned for their British Council-sponsored visit.

Contact
Retired members of staff can keep in touch with all the University news by subscribing to Contact. A year's subscription to contact costs £10 and can be secured by emailing press@dundee.ac.uk with a full mailing address or calling the press office on 345108.

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