Annual Review 2024

Achievements

We take great pride in the achievements of our university community. The past year has seen our students and graduates receive prestigious recognition from a host of organisations – for their coursework, their research, their extracurricular activities, and for using their skills and knowledge to make a tangible difference to the world. Our talented and inspirational staff continue to be celebrated for excellence in their respective fields, appointed to national and international organisations and winning prestigious awards.

With more than 4,800 knowledgeable, talented, and work-ready graduates celebrated at Stirling graduation ceremonies across the year, alongside five inspirational honorary graduates, we were pleased to see our global Stirling family grow to more than 113,000 alumni.

We were delighted to be recognised with an institutional Athena Swan Silver award for the important steps we have taken towards gender equality and inclusion. At the time of the award, Stirling joined just four other higher education institutions in Scotland and 38 in the UK in holding a Silver institutional award. At the prestigious Times Higher Education Awards, we received four nominations, including for the top award of University of the Year, and were proud to win Outstanding Marketing and Communications Team of the Year.

We retained an overall five-star rating in the QS Stars University Ratings and ranked top 30 in the UK for postgraduate teaching and learning in the Postgraduate Taught Experience Survey. In recognition of our excellence in business education, we were accredited by AACSB International.

Sporting triumphs

As Scotland’s University for Sporting Excellence, University of Stirling athletes continued to compete – and triumph – at the highest level of their sports over the past year. 

Among the highlights were the Olympics in Paris, where eight University of Stirling swimmers competed and brought back three medals, including gold for Duncan Scott and Jack McMillan in the Men’s 4 x 200m Freestyle Relay. Duncan also won silver in the 200m Individual Medley, which saw him become Scotland’s most decorated Olympian. In recognition of an incredible year, Duncan was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the New Year Honours List, for services to swimming. He also won Scottish Sportsperson of the Year at The Scottish Sports Awards, Swimming Athlete of the Year at the Aquatics GB Awards, and Swimmer of the Year at the Scottish Swimming Awards, where University coaches Steven Tigg and Bradley Hay also won Coach of the Year. 

Golf scholar Lorna McClymont enjoyed another phenomenal year, including winning the coveted Curtis Cup with Great Britain and Ireland, and the Scottish Women’s Amateur Championship. Just weeks later, fellow Stirling golfer Alexander Farmer won the Scottish Men’s Amateur Championship. After graduating in June, Lorna secured qualification for the professional Ladies European Tour 2025. In tennis, scholar Anna McBride won the women’s singles and doubles competitions for the second consecutive year at the Australian Open’s players with intellectual impairments event.

Research

Our researchers continue to take a mission-oriented, collaborative, and interdisciplinary approach to tackling the increasingly complex challenges facing our world, and 2024 saw major projects make important progress – from health and wellbeing to social care, the circular economy to pollution, and workplace policy to the environment. 

In October, the University brought together partners – including entrepreneurs, researchers and global statespeople – to launch the DOORS (Developing Optimal and Open Research Support) Black Sea Special Interest Group, which aims to drive regeneration of communities on the coast of the Black Sea. Our mathematicians developed a new model which predicted a significant increase in the prevalence of ticks across Scotland, and microbiologists studying marine plastic pollution identified rare bacteria that could assist in degrading plastic.

Stirling-led studies found that monetary rewards can incentivise men to lose weight, while experts in healthy ageing recommended policy changes to ensure an age-friendly UK.  

In the Faculty of Social Sciences, researchers presented options and key considerations for Scotland’s first drug checking services; a study revealed that it is taking years for Scotland’s most vulnerable children to be placed in permanent homes; and a separate project enabled children in care to preserve and access their childhood memories. 

Our business experts found that systemic changes are needed if Scotland is to achieve a more circular economy. The Faculty of Arts and Humanities won a £3.98m Leverhulme International Professorship grant – the first to be awarded to a Scottish institution – to establish a new Centre for the Sciences of Place and Memory. 

Our preparations for the Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2029 are underway, and we are proud to have three of our staff appointed to the REF pilot panels.

International activity and partnerships

Internationalisation is a key strategic focus for the University and over the year we continued to build and strengthen relationships across the globe – expanding our transnational education activity, collaborating on major research projects, and enhancing our respected learning and teaching partnerships. 

A record 158 students graduated from the Singapore Institute of Management, with whom we have a longstanding and hugely successful partnership. Among them were Dr Lee Ton Nge, who received an honorary degree for his service to Singaporean education and business.  

Our unique collaboration with the University of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (UCASS) in Beijing continues to grow; the Doctor of Management degree run jointly by UCASS and our Management School welcomed a new cohort of 30 students. Notably, it is the first Sino-UK joint professional doctorate programme in management to be approved by the Chinese Ministry of Education, and in December we welcomed a senior delegation from the Ministry to the Stirling campus. Also in China, there are now more than 1,000 students enrolled in double degrees with Stirling and our partner institution Chengdu University. 

In September, I visited British University Vietnam – the site of our first strategic partnership in the country – where our inaugural student cohort is enrolled in BSc Data Science and Artificial Intelligence. And we were proud to become a member of the global University of the Arctic network, which focuses on research in the natural and social environment of the Arctic. 

Our projects under the Stirling and Clackmannanshire City Region Deal continued to progress. A ceremonial steel signing signalled completion of the first stage of construction of our National Aquaculture Technology and Innovation Hub, funded through the Deal and due to open in 2025. In December, Keith Brown MSP tabled a parliamentary motion in support of Forth Climate Forest, an initiative led by Scotland's International Environment Centre (SIEC) at the University. Also funded under the Deal, the initiative will see millions of trees planted across the Forth Valley. The motion was signed by 22 Members of the Scottish Parliament.

Sustainability and the future

The University was proud to be ranked in the top 100 institutions in the world for our contribution to meeting 10 of the 17 United Nations Sustainable Goals (SDGs), and top 20 in the world for three of the SDGs: Zero Hunger, Reduced Inequalities, and Sustainable Cities and Communities. Notably, the Times Higher Education Impact Rankings placed Stirling in the top 2% for SDG 2 (Zero Hunger), SDG 10 (Reduced Inequalities), and SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities).

Our researchers continue to provide leadership in supporting the world’s transition to net zero, particularly through the work of SIEC and the Scotland Hydro Nation Chair programme. We are working to make our campus more sustainable too, and over the past year have announced plans for the installation of solar panels, LED lighting and air-source heat pumps.

I am proud of everything we have accomplished in 2024, and with our new Strategic Plan to guide us, the University is well-positioned to build on this success, with groundbreaking research, excellence in the education we provide, impactful partnerships, and delivery of an exceptional student experience.

Professor Sir Gerry McCormac
Principal and Vice-Chancellor
University of Stirling