Principal's Column

As I write this the University has just received news of the latest annual SHEFC grant allocation. The University of Dundee has done better than the majority of Scottish universities (up 5.7% against an average of 5.3%) and spectacularly well in areas such as research (up 14%) and knowledge transfer (up 37%) reflecting strength of performance. It is not bad news but neither is it the allocation we need to power the University's drive into a bold new future. Government funding is not going to lay our pathway to success. We must continue to strive for new income streams, to innovate, to energise and adapt ourselves ahead of a constantly changing world.

Meanwhile applications to study at the University of Dundee are higher than ever - up 10% on last year which was itself up 16% on the year before - and the number of students applying from outside the UK is up 45%. Some of this success is undoubtedly down to academic energy spent in devising and creating new courses, a highly valued and immensely worthwhile activity. One of our most notable new successes is forensic anthropology, news of which triggered a wave of applications even before it was formally announced. Pharmaceutical chemistry too has proven popular, enrolling 14 students on its launch and next year's dozen or so new programmes include promising areas such as e-commerce and computing, and renewable energy. It is notable that all of next year’s new degree programmes involve a mix of disciplines. Module mixing, interdisciplinarity, cross fertilisation of ideas and integration are the "mood music" for the future. And to extend the musical metaphor, the beat could be described as "techno-savvy". Tomorrow’s students - many of them today's 12 year olds - will have been brought up with mice and monitors. Their hand-eye co-ordination will be the envy of the laparoscopic surgeon. Their technological dexterity will further accelerate the rapid pace of change.

Who will our students be in 2010? What will they want to learn?
How will they want to learn? These are questions we must continue to ask ourselves.

One clue lies in the expansion of the European Union on 1 May to include the 10 accession countries Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovak Republic and Slovenia. These countries will bring a new stream of students. Projected numbers range from 10,000 to 30,000 nationally by 2010. As EU members they will be equivalent to UK students rather than international students in terms of tuition fees, and they will add a richness of culture and perspective to the environment in which we learn and work. China and India are also expected to be a continuing source of high quality students for the future.

Within Scotland, notwithstanding last year's 2% rise in the birth rate, the number of young people is projected to dramatically decrease. Meanwhile students are increasingly moving out of London, preferring more economical alternatives and the biggest falls in applications are at the new universities. These trends are in the University of Dundee's favour and Dundee's unique combination of high quality of life and low cost of living - taken along with proven academic quality - make a powerful and attractive formula. No formula, however powerful or attractive, will work without quality and committed staff who care about their students. That is the University's real pathway to success.

Alan Langlands
April 2004