from the principal ....

The University's impressive performance in research and teaching has been nationally recognised with a series of plaudits recently. In May at the creation of the £10m Scottish Institute of Cell Signalling (SCILLS) Cabinet Secretary for Education Fiona Hyslop highlighted Dundee 's international contribution and SCILLS potential for driving next generation drug discovery. Under the leadership of Sir Philip Cohen SCILLS will add to Dundee's reputation for leading translational biology and medicine.

Other research examples in the news include Dr Sonia Lain's breakthrough cancer work, Dr Barbara Spruce's anti-cancer drug rimcazole now in clinical trials, Professor Ronald Hay's work in identifying the potential of arsenic in treating leukaemia and Professor Geoff Gadd's team's work on fungi's potential to neutralise depleted uranium. These are fine examples of academic research making a difference. Measuring research in financial terms, in addition to the £10m SCILLS pledge, since the start of this academic year the University has won an impressive £55.6m of research grants. Recent notable success include IMSAT's £353k from the ERDF and Electronic Engineering & Physics £296k from The Royal Society. Dundee's strength is highlighted in a recent Research Fortnight which placed the University in the UK's top 20 based on research awards and outpaced all UK universities in achieving the biggest rise in share of Wellcome Trust awards over the last two years.

League tables are notoriously vulnerable to a range of vagaries but Dundee's high teaching quality, as assessed by the QAA, and student satisfaction, as assessed by the National Student Survey, have contributed to excellent recent results across a range of disciplines. These include first in the UK for Dentistry (Independent and Guardian) and for Medicine (Guardian). Congratulations to all those involved. News of the Guardian "first" happily coincided with an international dentists' alumni gathering in Dundee. Other subjects to achieve high rankings are: Civil Engineering, Mathematics, Education, Art & Design, Architecture, Law, Geography, Town Planning, Computing, English, History, Pharmacology, and Politics…This is an impressive list and, however warily one takes league tables, the Guardian's ranking Dundee in the UK's top 20 universities at number 17 is helpful for student recruitment.

I am delighted to see a range of staff and students recognised at the highest levels in recent weeks. Particular congratulations to Professor Sir Philip Cohen on his election to the US's National Academy of Sciences; Professor Dario Alessi on Fellowship of the Royal Society; Professor Anne Anderson on being appointed to the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council; Professor Bill Hunter as Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences; Professor Christine Helliar as British Accounting Association Chair; computing student Suzanne Prior for first prize in a major international student research competition in Florence; and civil engineering student Ross Whiteside who won a prestigious Royal Academy of Engineering Advanced Leadership Award.

Congratulations also go to the winners of this year's Honorary Graduates Award for Innovative Teaching: Sheila Henderson, School of Education, Social Work and Community Education; Andrew Cobley, School of Computing and Drs Alistair Geddes and Edward Hall, School of Social Sciences for their first class projects. Congratulations too, to the winner of the inaugural Senate Award for Excellence in Teaching - Dr Linda Morris, Life Sciences.

Finally, as we look forward to the annual degree show, graduation and welcoming this year's prestigious list of honorary graduates, I would like to thank all staff for their commitment and hard work in supporting our students as they strive to fulfil their potential and get the most out of their experience at the University of Dundee.

Alan Langlands