Photo opportunity 1.30pm, Friday 29 November, Younger Hall, North Street, St Andrews
The first graduates from the newly forged partnership between the Universities of Dundee and St Andrews will graduate this week with a post graduate research degree in environmental biology.
The thirteen students will be the first graduates to receive a parchment bearing the crests of both Universities side by side. The graduates are the first cohort of students to complete a joint course under the partnership initiative which has seen the universities combine their expertise to create new and cutting edge undergraduate and postgraduate courses.
The students took a one year post graduate research degree in environmental biology. Allyson Ritchie who has now secured a PhD place at the University of Dundee explained: "Having lecturers from both universities gave us a fantastic breadth of experience to learn from." Another of the students Iain McWilliam said: "It was the most wideranging course available. It covered every aspect of environmental biology and has equipped me with many research skills."
Bringing together the next generation of environmental biologists with diverse scientific perspectives was a goal of NERC, which awarded over £400K in fellowships to the partnership programme.
The partnership between the Universities has seen further development this week with the announcement of a new interdisciplinary research institute to tackle health problems. The Universities are combining their complementary strengths across a wide range of disciplines in the bold venture to create the Social Dimensions of Health Institute (SDHI).
The venture is the latest - and the most ambitious so far - to come out of the Promoting Partnership Initiative agreed between the two universities launched with a grant from the Scottish Higher Education Funding Council in 2000. Through the SDHI over 50 researchers across the social sciences, medical research and practice will work together to tackle issues of widespread public and political concern.
Contact Claire Grainger on 01334 462530, mobile 07730 415015 or Gayle Cook on 01334 467227, mobile 07900 050103.
By Jenny Marra, Press Officer 01382 344910 j.m.marra@dundee.ac.uk