News Archive
June 2006
Stirling Perfects its Times Tables
OU Honour for Stirling Deputy Principal
Scholarship Support from Bookshop
Forth Valley Pupils get Taste of Life on 'CAMPUS'
Two Major Donations for University Library
Stirling Perfects its Times Tables
Date released: Friday 9 June 2006
The University of Stirling has been ranked 5th in Scotland and 37th in the UK in The Times Good University Guide 2007.
Stirling also scores well in the subject rankings: 1st in Scotland for Communication and Media Studies (14th in UK); 2nd in Scotland for Education (6th in UK); 2nd in Scotland for Environmental Science (19th in UK); 3rd in Scotland for Philosophy (14th in UK); 4th in Scotland for Accounting and Finance (19th in UK) and 4th in Scotland for Hospitality, Leisure, Recreation, Sport and Tourism (15th in UK).
For further details see: www.timesonline.co.uk/section/0,,716,00.html
Principal and Vice-Chancellor, Professor Christine Hallett said: “This is great news for Stirling and reflects our commitment to excellence in learning and teaching.”
The University was also recently ranked 5th in Scotland and 43rd in the UK in The Guardian’s University league tables. In the Guardian’s subject listing Stirling is ranked 1st in Scotland for both Media Studies, Communications & Librarianship and Sports Science; 2nd in Scotland for Education; 3rd in Scotland for Social Policy and Administration; 4th in Scotland for Theology and Religious Studies and 5th in Scotland for English and Philosophy.
Lesley Pollock
Media Relations Manager
(01786) 467058
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Lesley Pollock University of Stirling Stirling FK9 4LA UK |
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OU Honour for Stirling Deputy Principal
Date released: Monday 12 June 2006
The Open University has presented University of Stirling Deputy Principal Professor John Field with an honorary doctorate for “path-breaking research” into lifelong learning and “high profile advocacy” on behalf of adult learners - areas of special educational concern to the Open University and the University of Stirling. The ceremony took place on Friday 9 June in Bridgewater Hall, Manchester.
In presenting Professor Field with his award, Mary Thorpe, Professor of Educational Technology at the Open University, said: “John Field knows adult education from the inside. He took his first degree as a mature student at what was then Portsmouth Polytechnic, validated by the Council for National Academic Awards, following this with a doctorate at Warwick in Economic and Social History. His career has all the signs of an enthusiast for adult learning. First in 1978 a lectureship at Northern College, a residential college dedicated to the education and training of men and women without formal qualifications and seeking to return to learning. He then took up a lectureship at the University of Warwick in Adult and Continuing Education, later becoming the first UK professor of Lifelong Learning there in 1998, after various posts leading Continuing Education provision at the Universities of Bradford and Ulster. He is now Deputy Principal and Director of the Division of Academic Innovation and Continuing Education at the University of Stirling.”
She added: ”Professor Field’s career has always combined path-breaking research with teaching and the development of provision and high profile advocacy for adult education. As a researcher he has explored the relationship between adult learning and social development and change, through analytical studies of participation and the social characteristics of adult learners themselves. Just some of the themes in his extensive publications are access and equity, mature students in higher education, vocational learning and qualifications, the Learning Society and the European Union, civic engagement and lifelong learning. His voice has often been raised in critical but always constructive commentary on current policies concerning the provision and funding of adult education and training, and he is a familiar contributor to practitioner journals such as the Times Educational Supplement and the National Institute of Adult Continuing Education’s journal, Adults Learning.”
Under Professor Field’s direction the University of Stirling is committed to widening access and continuing education. The University offers a wide range of access programmes whatever an applicant’s age or qualifications and was ranked 1st in the UK for widening access to Higher Education by the Times Higher Education Supplement in 2002. For further information on access programmes please call: 01786 467940.
Lesley Pollock
Media Relations Manager
(01786) 467058
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Professor John Field University of Stirling Stirling FK9 4LA UK |
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Scholarship Support from Bookshop
Date released: Monday 12 June 2006
Ten access students at the University of Stirling have each received £100 in book vouchers from John Smith & Son Booksellers to help support them in their studies:
• Alice Barr from Stirling
• Neil Corsie from Airth
• Graham Coupethwaite from Stirling
• Natalie Davis from Clackmannan
• Kirsty McKeown from West Lothian
• Tony O’Reilly from Bo’ness
• Neil Sievwright from Tillicoultry
• Josh Stallard from Aberfoyle
• Ashley Thomson from Cowie
• Alan Tully from Stirling
Mr John Gray of John Smith & Son Booksellers presented the students with their awards at a ceremony hosted by Principal and Vice-Chancellor Professor Christine Hallett on Wednesday 7 June 2006.
Lesley Pollock
Media Relations Manager
(01786) 467058
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Khlayre Mullin University of Stirling Stirling FK9 4LA UK |
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Forth Valley Pupils get Taste of Life on 'CAMPUS'
More than 100 pupils from fifteen Forth Valley high schools descended on the University of Stirling on Monday 19 June to experience the CAMPUS (Central Area Motivational Programme for University Study) Summer School.
The project allows pupils to participate in a number of workshops over a three day period. A diverse range of topics were covered from running a radio station to forensics. There were also contributions from the University Careers Advisory Service, Association of Chartered and Certified Accountants, Careers Scotland and the Royal Bank of Scotland.
In order to give the pupils a true taste of University life, the group also had an overnight stay on campus, sampled the sports facilities and watched at movie at the MacRobert.
The pupils will go onto Forth Valley College (Falkirk) on Friday 23 June to participate in a range of workshops including Social Science, Care, Sports Coaching and Multimedia.
Lesley Pollock
Media Relations Manager
(01786) 467058
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Carole Mooney University of Stirling Stirling FK9 4LA UK |
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Two Major Donations for University Library
Date released: Monday 19 June 2006
Law and literature students at the University of Stirling are to benefit from two recent major donations to their library.
Retired judge, Lord Penrose has donated his entire law collection to the University while the family of the late literary critic, poet and academic, Professor David Daiches have donated 5000 books from his personal library. Both men hold honorary doctorates from the University of Stirling.
Professor Gavin Little of the University of Stirling’s School of Law said: “The School of Law is very grateful to Lord Penrose for his generous donation of rare case reports and texts to the Law Library. They will be put to good use by both students and staff in the years to come and are an important addition to our Scots Law holdings."
Head of the University's Department of English Studies, Professor Ruth Evans said: “Professor Daiches is a particularly important figure in modern Scottish writing; he almost singlehandedly revived critical interest in Robert Louis Stevenson, for example. His collection contains some remarkable books in its own right — first editions and rare volumes — many to do with Scottish literature. But it is Daiches’s annotations in these books that are particularly fascinating to literature students. These marginal notes and comments reveal how one highly trained and influential twentieth-century reader responded to the literary works that he found significant, providing a rare insight into the processes of critical writing. The collection has given to the University Library both a significant addition of rare books and a research resource on one of the most prolific and creative critics of his time.”
The Daiches collection was presented to the University by his daughter Jenni Calder, who said: “The books reflect my father's own eclectic interests: 20th century literature, Jewish history and literature, American literature, critical history, as well as Scottish culture generally. He decided to bequeath his books to Stirling University because at the time it was Scotland's youngest university and he felt it would have most need of material to build up a good teaching and research library. As a founder member of staff of the University of Sussex, he took a keen interest in Scotland's new generation of universities.”
Lesley Pollock
Media Relations Manager
(01786) 467058
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Gordon Willis University of Stirling Stirling FK9 4LA UK |
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Making the Face Fit
Date released: Wednesday 21 June 2006
Facial composites, or photofits as they used to be known, are pictures of criminal faces constructed by witnesses or victims. They are an important part of a criminal investigation for serious crime, but recognition rates are low. In an attempt to improve their success rate researchers at the universities of Stirling and Edinburgh are studying what makes an effective composite.
In three experiments the researchers looked at a large number of composites that had been constructed as realistically as possible. They assessed the quality of the internal face features such as eyes, nose and mouth versus the quality of the external face features including hair, ears and neck. While the internal features are the most important to recognition, the researchers found that they were of poorer quality – which goes some way to explain why composites are identified so badly.
Dr Charlie Frowd of the University of Stirling said: “The result of the experiments demonstrated that the most useful information was contained in the external features: the internal parts contributed little to the overall quality of a composite. This goes some way to explain why composites are identified so badly, since it is the internal features that are the most important part for recognition. Even more worrying was that people were no better at constructing the internal features in a composite when they were highly familiar with the face. The reason for this, we believe, is rather unexpected: the presence of the external features is putting people off when they try to get the internal features correct. Basically, people cannot ignore the external parts of a face.”
Current work is exploring ways to overcome the negative effect of the external features, for example by removing or blurring the external features when selecting the features of the inner face.
Lesley Pollock
Media Relations Manager
(01786) 467058
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Dr Charlie Frowd University of Stirling Stirling FK9 4LA UK |
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Stirling Summer Honours
Date released: Wednesday 28 June 2006
More than 1,100 students will graduate from the University of Stirling this summer. The University Chancellor, Dame Diana Rigg will also present eight honorary degrees. This summer’s honorary graduands include: Timothy Rix, Martin Haldane, Ian Richardson, Tam Dalyell, John Barnes, William Barnes, Sir Bill Gammell and Frank Hitchman.
Wednesday 28 June – 10am
• Timothy Rix will receive the award of Doctor of the University in recognition of his outstanding contribution to international publishing. Mr Rix is currently the Chairman of Edinburgh University Press Ltd, the leading Scottish academic and trade publisher, and Chairman of the Advisory Board of the Centre for Publishing Studies at the University of Stirling. In the past, he has held posts of Chief Executive Officer of Longman Publishing Group and President of the Publishers’ Association. He was awarded a CBE in 1997.
Wednesday 28 June – 2.30pm
• Martin Haldane of Gleneagles will receive the award of Doctor of the University in recognition of his outstanding service to the University of Stirling. As well as having an active business life (he trained and qualified as a Chartered Accountant), Mr Haldane has also played an active part in cultural affairs. He has held the post of Chairman of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and Chairman of the Queen’s Hall (Edinburgh) Ltd. He is the 26th Laird of Gleneagles.
• Ian Richardson will receive the award of Doctor of the University in recognition of his services to the performing arts. Ian Richardson was born and brought up in Scotland and studied acting at Glasgow’s College of Dramatic Art. His first roles in both the big and small screen followed his Shakespearean roots – he has been working for the Royal Shakespeare Company since 1960 and has taken part in more than 30 productions. He was awarded a CBE in 1989.
Thursday 29 June – 10am
• Tam Dalyell will receive the award of Doctor of the University in recognition of his outstanding services to public life. He has taken a close interest in the University of Stirling since it was first proposed as Scotland’s new University in the 1960s. A political writer and columnist, he has written a weekly column in the New Scientist since 1967. Mr Dalyell was the Father of the House of Commons from 2001-2005 in recognition of his unbroken service.
• John Barnes and William Barnes will each receive the award of Doctor of the University in recognition of their outstanding contribution to early British cinema history. The twin brothers’ lifelong endeavours represent an important phase in the discovery of, and research into, early cinema. After serving in the Royal Navy they operated a successful bookselling business specialising in material relating to cinema – an enterprise which led to them founding the Barnes Museum of Cinematography.
Thursday 29 June 2006 – 2.30pm
• Sir Bill Gammell will receive the award of Doctor of the University in recognition of his outstanding contribution to Scottish business – including the business of sport. Sir Gammell is Chief Executive of Cairn Energy – a company he founded in the 1980s. He was an undergraduate at the University of Stirling where he was introduced to rugby. He went on to play for Edinburgh Wanderers and later Scotland. He is Chairman of the Scottish Institute of Sport Foundation and a Director of the Scottish Institute of Sport. In the 2006 New Year Honours List he was awarded a knighthood for services to industry in Scotland.
• Frank Hitchman will receive the award of Master of Arts in recognition of his services to the Dementia Services Development Trust and to the University of Stirling. Mr Hitchman is a retired accountant who has over the years given invaluable time and expertise to the University’s Dementia Services Development Centre. He has devoted his retirement to a range of charities including the National Trust for Scotland, Friends of Paintings in Hospital and the Equity Benevolent Fund, to name but a few.
Lesley Pollock
Media Relations Manager
(01786) 467058
For further information:
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Lesley Pollock University of Stirling Stirling FK9 4LA UK |
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Wimbledon Doubles Debut
Date released: Wednesday 28 June 2006University of Stirling sports scholarship student Colin Fleming will make his Wimbledon debut this week (see www.wimbledon.org for schedule of play) when he plays in the men’s doubles with partner Jamie Murray (elder brother of Andy Murray) against Spanish duo Feliciano Lopez and Fernando Verdasco.
The Lawn Tennis Association spotted Colin and Jamie’s potential, gaining them a wildcard into the main draw of the men’s doubles. Colin (21) has been a British Universities Sports Association singles and doubles champion; while he and Jamie (20) have won eight titles at future and satellite levels.
Colin, who hails from Linlithgow, is taking a year out from his studies to concentrate on tennis. The move has boosted his ATP Indesit world rankings, he is ranked 392 in singles and 214 in doubles.
Speaking ahead of the game, Colin said: “I am feeling great and can’t wait to get into it. To play at Wimbledon is every tennis player’s dream.”
Colin’s coach, Euan McGinn of the University of Stirling said: “This wildcard will give Colin and Jamie the opportunity to shine in a big event. Any draw at Wimbledon is a tough draw and it will be a difficult match, but if they play to their potential there is no reason why they can’t win.”
In order to boost their game in the lead up to Wimbledon, the pair have enlisted the help French Canadian coach Louis Cayer who is known internationally as the top doubles coach in the world.
Lesley Pollock
Media Relations Manager
(01786) 467058
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Euan McGinn University of Stirling Stirling FK9 4LA UK |
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