News Archive
May 2007
Stirling Climbs Up The Guardian's League Tables
Launch of Northern Ireland's First Dedicated Dementia Centre
Spring Series of Inaugural Lectures at Stirling
Local People Affected By Cancer Asked to Give Their Views on Cancer Care
TV Chef Nick Nairn and Footballer Alan Hansen Among Stirling Summer Honours
Jean-Claude Trichet Honoured by Stirling
Winning is Only the Beginning: Experts Give Insight Into Olympic and Commonwealth Games
Clay Courts Complete Stirling's £1.3 Million Expansion
Stirling's on the Ball: University to Teach Football Managers Boardroom Skills
Scholarship Support from John Smith & Son's Bookshop
Stirling Climbs Up The Guardian's League Tables
Date released: Tuesday 1 May 2007
The University of Stirling has leapt up the Guardian’s UK University rankings in recent years. The 2008 University League Tables (published today) show Stirling in 38th place overall. Last year the University was ranked 43rd and the year before that 53rd.
Stirling also fares well in the subject rankings: Education is ranked 3rd in the UK and 1st in Scotland; Media Studies, Communications and Librarianship is ranked 1st in Scotland and Politics is ranked 3rd in Scotland.
The full league tables can be found on The Guardian’s website
Lesley Wilkinson (née Pollock)
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Launch of Northern Ireland's First Dedicated Dementia Centre
Date released: Thursday 3 May 2007
Northern Ireland’s first specialist centre dedicated to dementia will be launched on Thursday 3 May at Stormont Hotel, Belfast at 9am. The Dementia Services Development Centre – Northern Ireland will work closely with local partner organisations in developing dementia services. The Alzheimer’s Society will also be presenting the Northern Ireland supplement of the Dementia UK report at this event, which documents the scale and cost of dementia.
The two-year pilot project has been made possible thanks to a generous grant of £293,000 from The Atlantic Philanthropies, which will fund a dementia centre with specific resources such as education and training, consultancy, library and information services that aim to improve the lives of people with dementia, their carers and families in Northern Ireland.
The new Centre will be set up by the University of Stirling’s Dementia Services Development Centre (DSDC) – which was established in 1989 and was the first international centre of its kind.
Director of DSDC, Professor June Andrews said: “Northern Ireland was the only region in the UK that did not have a specialist centre for dementia services. There are around 16,000 people in Northern Ireland with dementia and this number will steadily increase to reach 47,000 by the year 2051. We will work closely with many organisations including the Alzheimer’s Society, The Northern Ireland Dementia Forum, Age Concern and academic institutions. Our aim is also to create a mechanism which will enable the continuity of the Centre beyond 2009 and for us to leave behind an organisation run by local people when we withdraw at the end of the two-year project."
Glenn Houston, Chair of the local Action Group, welcomed the establishment of the Dementia Development Centre in Northern Ireland. He said:“The partnership with the University of Stirling has created a new opportunity to make a real impact on the planning, development and delivery of service to people with dementia. It also provides an opportunity to support research into dementia and to offer expert advice and consultancy to organisations striving to improve the care and treatment of people with dementia. The challenge is to make sure the Dementia Centre is sustained in the longer term, so that it can continue to make a vital contribution in raising awareness of the issues impacting on the lives of people with dementia and can provide a focal point for those who are working to improve services and raise standards across Northern Ireland.”
Claire Keatinge, Director of the Alzheimer's Society in Northern Ireland, said: “The Dementia UK report gives us a clear picture of the scale of dementia in Northern Ireland and projections for the future indicate that dementia must be made a health and social care priority for the incoming NI Assembly. Nothing less will go anywhere near meeting the needs of people with dementia and those who care for them.”
Lesley Wilkinson (née Pollock)
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Spring Series of Inaugural Lectures at Stirling
Date released: Monday 7 May 2007
The University of Stirling will host a series of inaugural lectures this Spring which are open to the public and free of charge:
Professor Sally Wyke - Wednesday 9 May, 4-5pm Logie Lecture Theatre
Professor Wyke of the Department of Nursing and Midwifery will give a lecture on "Self-Care: The Long View".
Encouraging self-care is a now a central tenet of international health policy. In this lecture, Sally will draw on 24 years' research experience to argue that from their own perspectives, people are already self-carers. They manage symptoms, medicines and side-effects of both minor and long-term illnesses. They learn from experience, from friends and family and from health professionals as they go along. However, the health service has not always recognised people’s skills and responsibilities, nor understood that people’s immediate concerns may not always reflect those of health professionals. Sally will argue that for health systems to support people to manage their own health more effectively, multidisciplinary research should focus on how services and professionals can change their approach.
Professor Chris Veld - Wednesday 16 May, 4-5pm Logie Lecture Theatre
Professor Veld of the Department of Accounting & Finance will give a lecture on "How Individual Investors perceive risk. Nothing don't mean nothing if it ain't free?"
Financial institutions generally use risk tolerance questionnaires to measure the risk attitude of their clients. Based on the outcome of the questionnaire, the investor receives advice on how much to invest in risky assets such as shares of common stock and how much to invest in low-risk assets such as money-market securities or government bonds. In his lecture, Chris Veld will present some examples of questions used in these questionnaires and he will discuss their advantages and disadvantages. He will also discuss his recent research (co-authored by Yulia Veld-Merkoulova) on risk perceptions of individual investors. This research may be useful in further improving risk tolerance questionnaires.
Professor Lisa Evans - Wednesday 30 May, 4-5pm Logie Lecture Theatre
Professor Evans of the Department of Accounting & Finance will give a lecture on "Felons and Fertilizer. Accounting and the Police in Nineteenth Century Scotland".
In this lecture Lisa Evans will examine the development of the early Scottish police from an accounting perspective. Questions of accounting, accountability and control were often at the forefront of deliberations regarding the introduction of a permanent paid police force. Such questions addressed the costs and benefits of such a force, an equitable system of taxation, the most cost-effective means of controlling vagrancy and habitual offenders, and the benefits of local versus central government finance and control. This lecture provides an overview of the issues at stake as well as examples of specific problems faced by the early police forces, in particular poor systems of accounting and cost control. It emphasises the benefits of accounting history research for illuminating the interactions between political and social forces and very pragmatic (i.e. financial) concerns, which remain relevant to the present day.
Lesley Wilkinson (née Pollock)
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Local People Affected By Cancer Asked to Give Their Views on Cancer Care
Date released: Monday 7 May 2007
Local people affected by cancer are being asked to share their views with the University of Stirling’s Cancer Care Research Centre – the UK’s only cancer care research centre that places the patient's viewpoint at the heart of its work.
A meeting will be held at the Cancer Care Research Centre (CCRC), Unit 2, Scion House, Innovation Park, University of Stirling, on Wednesday 16 May at 7pm where people who are or have been treated for cancer and their family and friends can discuss and put forward ideas on what training CCRC should provide to help people affected by cancer get more involved in the Centre.
CCRC was established in October 2003 with the aim of improving cancer care services throughout the UK. The Centre has been setting up patient and carer advisory groups throughout Scotland to find out which areas in cancer care need to be changed for the better; to discover where cancer care services are working and to allow patients and carers to influence the direction of the Centre’s research. Its research focuses on four main areas:
• The impact of cancer on children and families;
• Cancer as a long-term condition;
• Discovering new ways of assessing and managing symptoms that promote the use of self-care (e.g. using mobile phones in innovative ways).
• Understanding the experiences of older people with cancer.
Dr Liz Forbat, senior researcher at CCRC, says: “It is essential to involve people who have been affected by cancer - either as patients or relatives/friends of someone with cancer - and make sure we learn from them when we do our research. We know that in the UK as many as one in three people will develop cancer. It is vital that we seek the views of patients and their family/friends’ on how they can get involved in research. We have set up 15 local advisory groups across Scotland to help us to develop our research plans. We regularly speak with members of these groups about their experiences and views of cancer services. The groups advise our research team on what we should be researching and what needs to change in Scottish cancer care.”
Bill Culbard, who was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2000 - just 15 months after getting married - but has since been given the all clear, is a member of the Stirling Patient and Carer Advisory Group. He said: "Being part of this group has really made me feel like I can make a difference to what research is carried out by the Cancer Care Research Centre. As a group we have even met with the head of cancer at the Scottish Executive to lobby them to take the findings seriously. Attending these meetings is how I use my experience as someone who has survived cancer to try and improve cancer care."
Christine Phillips is a former cancer patient and works alongside CCRC staff as a co-researcher - she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2001. She has been working with CCRC interviewing Health Board Chief Executives about patient and public involvement. She said: “There is no other research centre in the UK which prioritises cancer care from the patient's viewpoint. To do this successfully means putting patients at the centre of our work. CCRC is unique in its way of working with people affected by cancer - they are not just the "subjects" of the research - but are actively encouraged to guide what research the team do, present findings at conferences and comment on research findings.”
People affected by cancer who are interested in coming to the meeting on May 16th are encouraged to call the Centre for more information and directions.
For further information contact: cancercare@stir.ac.uk or phone: 01786 849260. Alternatively visit CCRC’s website: www.cancercare.stir.ac.uk
Lesley Wilkinson (née Pollock)
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TV Chef Nick Nairn and Footballer Alan Hansen Among Stirling Summer Honours
Date released: Monday 7 May 2007
University of Stirling Chancellor Dame Diana Rigg will confer five honorary degrees at the institution’s summer graduation ceremonies which will be held 27-28 June in the Gannochy National Tennis Centre.
• Professor Paul Lovejoy will receive the award of Doctor of the University in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the history of Africa and of the Atlantic Slave Trade. Professor Lovejoy is one of the foremost scholars of the economic history of Africa, and a leader in the development of the field of Atlantic history. He has published a substantial body of research and, for the last 12 years, has worked in collaboration with the University of Stirling on the research project “The development of an African diaspora.”
• Alan Hansen will receive the award of Doctor of the University in recognition of his outstanding contribution to sport. Mr Hansen was brought up in Alloa, but joined Liverpool F.C. in 1977 and played in arguably Liverpool’s greatest ever side, winning the European Cup 3 times and the League Championship 8 times. He also won 26 caps for the Scottish national team. He joined the BBC Sport’s team in 1992 and is now one of their most experienced and recognisable analysts of the game.
• Dr Ian Laing will receive the award of Doctor of the University in recognition of his outstanding contribution to Neonatology. Dr Laing is a consultant in the neonatal unit at the Simpson Memorial Pavilion, Edinburgh and part-time lecturer at the University of Edinburgh. He is regarded as one of the UK leading specialists in the field of neonatalogy and also works tirelessly in fundraising for NHS Scotland.
• Nick Nairn will receive the award of Doctor of the University in recognition of his outstanding contribution to Scottish cuisine and his work in promoting healthy eating. Nick Nairn was brought up in Callander, and opened his first restaurant, Braeval, near Aberfoyle in 1986. Five years later, he was awarded a coveted Michelin star. He is well-known for his performances on television cooking programmes, but more recently has concentrated on developing the Nick Nairn Cook School at Lake of Menteith, with its emphasis on fresh organic produce.
• Mr Donald Macleod will receive the award of Doctor of the University in recognition of his outstanding contribution for services to industry. Mr Macleod was born on Lewis, but graduated from the University of Stirling in 1974 with a BSc in Economics. He joined National Semiconductor and moved to California with the company in 1981. In 2001 he was promoted to Chief Operating Officer, and in 2005 to President. He also serves on the Scottish Enterprise International Advisory Board, with the aim of advancing Scotland’s economic development.
Lesley Wilkinson (née Pollock)
Media Relations Manager
(01786) 467058
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Suzie Huggins University of Stirling Stirling FK9 4LA UK |
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Jean-Claude Trichet Honoured by Stirling
Date released: Friday 11 May 2007
The University of Stirling has awarded an Honorary Degree to Jean-Claude Trichet, President of the European Central Bank. The honour of Doctor of the University was bestowed on Mr Trichet on Friday 11 May in recognition of his outstanding contribution to international monetary affairs.
Mr Trichet has held various positions within the Treasury Department of France and has been elected Governor of the Banque de France twice (1993-1999 & 1999-2005). He held the position of Governor of the World Bank until 1995 and Alternate Governor of the International Monetary Fund until 2003. He became President of the European Central Bank in 2003.
In presenting the award, leading Scottish economist Professor David Bell of the University of Stirling’s Department of Economics said: “Jean Claude Trichet is one of the world's most powerful bankers. His every word is pored over by the financial markets looking for clues as to the future direction of interest rates in the Euro-zone. The monetary stability for which he is responsible has helped to propel the European economy into a long-overdue recovery. This has helped reduce unemployment and increase incomes in Europe's major economies.”
In accepting his award, Mr Trichet said: "I am very moved to be here in this University which has such an established reputation. It is known the world over."
Lesley Wilkinson (née Pollock)
Media Relations Manager
(01786) 467058
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Winning is Only the Beginning: Experts Give Insight Into Olympic and Commonwealth Games
Date released: Wednesday 16 May 2007
Scotland’s leading university for sport, the University of Stirling, is to host a double-bill public lecture examining the 2012 London Olympics and Glasgow’s 2014 Commonwealth Games Bid from the inside.
Derek Casey, Bid Director Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games, and Norman Turner, Executive Director (Newham Unit) for the 2012 Olympic Games, will give their unique insight into the games on Thursday 17 May in Room 2W1, Cottrell Building, 5.30-7.30pm. The event is entitled Major Sporting Events: Winning is Only the Beginning.
Professor Fred Coalter of the University of Stirling’s Department of Sports Studies said: “The motivation for bidding for large scale sports events has rarely anything to do with the development of sport. Rather, such events have become increasingly regarded as a means to regenerate areas of industrial decline and to attempt to 'rebrand' cities as tourist destinations and attractive locations for new hi-tech service industries. However, as the experience of Athens and the recent publicity surrounding the funding of the London 2012 Olympics illustrate, the processes of bidding for, and hosting, such events is fraught with difficulties, with no guarantee that the desired outcomes will be achieved. In the week after Glasgow has submitted its bid to host the 2014 Commonwealth Games this event provides an opportunity to debate the nature of the 'legacy' of such events with two speakers centrally involved in addressing such issues.”
The topics of the talks will be:
Glasgow’s Commonwealth Games Bid: The Politics of a Bid by Derek Casey – Bid Director Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games.
With the projected and actual legacies for major events coming under increasing scrutiny, Derek Casey will look at the rationale for bidding, and not bidding, for events such as the Olympic and Commonwealth Games. Increasingly, experienced observers suggest that no city should even consider bidding for such events without at least 40 percent of the necessary infrastructure being in place before the bid is submitted. In this context he will analyse the political and economic dilemmas of bidding and host cities which, initially at least, set out to avoid a mismatch between aspiration and reality in staging major events.
The Olympic and Paralympic Games: The Politics of Legacy in One Borough by Norman Turner – Executive Director, Newham Unit for the 2012 Games.
Does anything really remain as legacy for the host communities once the circus has left town? The track record of previous Olympic cities is widely interpreted and hotly disputed. But what is it really like for the people living at the heart of things? Norman Turner will review the local impact of the pre-bid, bidding, and post decision phases of the Games and will consider the key issues and interventions facing the Borough in the final lead up to the event itself and beyond.
Lesley Wilkinson (née Pollock)
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Clay Courts Complete Stirling's £1.3 Million Expansion
Date released: Thursday 17 May 2007
Scotland’s premier University for sporting excellence, the University of Stirling, will open two new outdoor clay courts today (Thursday 17 May) – the final phase of a £1.3 million tennis development, which has seen the number courts grow from six to ten.
The expansion of the Scottish National Tennis Centre has been funded by sportscotland (£500,000), the Lawn Tennis Association (£450,000), the University of Stirling (£325,000) and Tennis Scotland (£25,000).
The Centre, a national hub for training and development, provides players with the very best facilities and services to realise their potential on a single site; including six indoor courts with an acrylic surface, two outdoor floodlit hard courts and now two outdoor clay courts.
The new clay courts are made from Northern European Clay – the only ones of their kind in Scotland – which is designed to cope with intensive use and harsh climates thus extending the playing season.
University of Stirling Principal and Vice-Chancellor, Professor Christine Hallett said: “The University of Stirling has been a leading supporter of tennis in Scotland for over 25 years and more than 70 young players have benefited from our International Sports Scholarship Programme. These new clay courts, coupled with excellent coaching and sports science support, will help nurture Scotland’s finest tennis talent. Clay is an excellent surface for developing players as the ball travels slower than on other surfaces, optimising opportunities to coach strategies and tactics.”
The new courts will be officially opened by Julia Bracewell OBE, Chair of sportscotland. Speaking ahead of the launch, she said: “We are delighted to have supported the development of the Scottish National Tennis Centre with a Lottery award of £500,000 from sportscotland’s Building for Sport programme. This dedicated venue for performance training will play a key role in ensuring that talented players have the facilities they need to develop their skills and reach their full potential, helping to further Scotland’s standing on the world stage.”
Tennis Scotland Chief Executive, David Marshall added. “These latest courts will add a new dimension to the training programmes of our performance players, enabling them to gain valuable practice on a surface that plays very differently to the others that are available within the University. With the support infrastructure available on site, Stirling is in essence a ‘one-stop shop’ for our top players.”
Chief Executive of the Lawn Tennis Association, Roger Draper said: “We are committed to supporting tennis centres that are focused on developing talent and producing high performance players. The new clay courts will really enhance the existing facilities at the University and will help the team at Stirling develop our most talented players.”
Lesley Wilkinson (née Pollock)
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Stirling's on the Ball: University to Teach Football Managers Boardroom Skills
Date released: Sunday 27 May 2007
Scotland’s top sporting University has teamed up with the Scottish Football Association (SFA) to offer footballer managers lessons in business.
As part of the SFA’s UEFA Pro-licence course, managers and would-be managers from some of the country’s top clubs have signed up for the two-day course, including Ally McCoist from Rangers, Falkirk’s John Hughes, St Mirren’s Gus MacPherson and Rowan Alexander, boss of the SPL's newest club, Gretna.
The aim of the workshop (30-31 May) is to give managers a better understanding of the business side of football and to help equip them with management skills and techniques they need to help run a successful club. Included in the workshop will be sessions such as “You are the Boss? Power and Influence in Football Clubs”, “Skills in the Boardroom” and “Decision Making”.
The workshop is being led by Stephen Morrow, Stirling’s football finance expert and Head of the Department of Sports Studies, accompanied by colleagues from the Department and other experts.
Mr Morrow said: “While it is quite common for business managers to use football analogies to describe their approaches to management, in truth the role of a football manager is probably unique. Few other managers have their decision-making, motivation skills and performance scrutinised on a weekly basis; few others are held so publicly to account for their management success. But as football has developed as a business, managers now also find themselves requiring an understanding of conventional management skills and techniques in areas like budgeting, recruitment and communication. What the workshop aims to do is to provide those attending with some additional management skills and approaches which they can use to supplement their own on-the-job management training and experience.”
SFA Director of Football Development, Jim Fleeting said: "Working with the University of Stirling on this course will give the candidates the opportunity to tap into expertise that is aimed specifically to their job requirements. All of the candidates are extremely keen to learn more about their "trade" and I am sure they will be inquisitive students."
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Scholarship Support from John Smith & Son's Bookshop
Date released: Friday 8 June 2007
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:
- Colin Barr from Stirling
- Katie Bradley from Stirling
- Shirley Calder from Alloa
- Amie Cook from Alloa
- Sharon Douglas from Crieff
- Karin Farr from Falkirk
- Peta Tillman from Stirling
- Tracy Whiting from Cumbernauld
- Hannah Whitelaw from Blairgowrie
Willie Anderson, Deputy Chairman of John Smith & Son Booksellers, presented the students with their awards at a ceremony hosted by Deputy Principal Professor Sandra Marshall on Thursday 7 June.
In presenting the awards, Mr Anderson said: “John Smith's believes that it plays a significant part in the daily life of the University and has done so since the institution was founded, so we think it is incumbent upon us to demonstrate the partnership by assisting some students in achieving their academic aims. We have seen, over the past forty years, the sacrifices that some students have had to make in gaining a place at Stirling and this is a tangible way of alleviating a few pressures for some of them.”
The University bookshop is also celebrating an award of its own. The branch has been voted the second best Campus and Academic bookshop in the UK and Ireland. The award was presented by the Publishers’ Association and is highly coveted within the trade. For further information see: www.johnsmith.co.uk
Lesley Wilkinson (née Pollock)
Media Relations Manager
(01786) 467058
For further information:
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Suzie Huggins University of Stirling Stirling FK9 4LA UK |
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