Nexus March 2017

Nexusonline

MARCH 2017 CONNECTING THE UNIVERSITY COMMUNITY

Designed and Activated by: The Gatehouse - Design & Print Consultancy at RGU

A Word from the Principal

Graduate Level Apprenticeships

International Women's Day

RGU Board Appointments

Celebration of Care Experienced Students

Elsick House Project

Investors in People

Entrepreneurship Events RGU Academic Visits India

Drum Castle Winner

New Paramedic Course

FLiTE

Moderism Scotland

RGU Pharmacist Takes National Council Position

Leadercast

Girls in Science

RGU:Union DofE Award

RGU:Union Shortlisted for Awards

Interim Exhibition

Main Event

NIB

Look Again

Rory Anton US Placement

Events

Partnership at RGU

A word from the Principal

All organisations, and of course all universities, are as good or as bad as the people who work there. RGU is fortunate to have a body of staff (and of course students) who show great loyalty to the institution and who often demonstrate a commitment going well beyond what could reasonably be asked of them. Particularly after a period of great change it is important to reemphasise the importance of our community of people and to review how we can support each other in the most effective way.

This year, the university will seek to renew its Investors in People (IiP) re-accreditation.

This is a significant standard which helps us, as an organisation, to improve our performance through the management and development of our people.

For the first time, a survey is included in the IiP assessment process. All staff will be invited to complete this online survey in April, after which the IiP Consultant will choose a cross-section of staff to meet to gather more in-depth views on how well they feel the university is doing when measured against the IiP standards.

Our IiP accreditation is extremely important to us and so I hope that you will take the time to complete the online survey, and to participate in the interview process if requested by the assessor.

More generally, we will look at ways in which we can further improve the working environment for all our staff and constantly reinvigorate the partnership between RGU and its community of people.

Professor Ferdinand von Prondzynski

RGU first to confirm graduate level apprenticeship offering RGU is the first university in Scotland to confirm the structure and content of its new work-based learning degrees.

The university has approved the delivery of its two Graduate Level Apprenticeships (GLAs), which it has established with funding from Skills Development Scotland (SDS) to address the national digital skills shortage.

Following a validation process, the university has delivered a detailed overview of the GLAs, which are confirmed as a BSc (Hons) IT Management for Business and a BSc (Hons) Software Development for Business.

The confirmation of our GLA structures marks a major milestone for the university and for workbased learning opportunities in Scotland

The GLAs enable participants to earn their degree while working and will be delivered in partnership with their employers over the course of four years with learners completing four modules per year, each worth 30 credits per stage.

RGU’s School of Computing Science and Digital Media will match learning outcomes with specific skills requirements and practical experience, linking with workplace projects and supported through RGU’s state-of-the-art virtual learning environment.

Professor John Harper, Deputy Principal at RGU who has overseen the approval process, says: “The confirmation of our GLA structures marks a major milestone for the university and for workbased learning opportunities in Scotland.

“Graduate Level Apprenticeships represent an innovation across teaching and learning.

We’re therefore excited to be at the forefront of confirming the degree structures, which are built around the value of time in the workplace as a learning environment.”

The university is offering 30 fully-funded places across the pioneering degree programmes and is currently seeking employers interested in taking advantage of the opportunity, which is set to begin in May. Graduate Level Apprenticeships have been developed by SDS in partnership with employers, universities and colleges and professional bodies to create stronger links between industry and education and increase graduate employability skills.

Jonathan Clark, Director of Service Design and Innovation at Skills Development Scotland said: “We are delighted to see the first university in Scotland confirm their Graduate Level Apprenticeships structure and congratulate RGU for its leading work in helping us to develop the skills employers need.”

Employers interested in securing places or looking for more information should contact Sally Charles, RGU Business Development Manager via s.charles3@rgu.ac.uk or call 01224 262218.

RGU appoints new chair and governors to its Board

The Board of Governors has elected a new Chair of the Board, and has welcomed two new Governors to its ranks.

new role as the university delivers its ambition to build on its reputation as a transformational university in the UK and internationally.

Mike Fleming, who has been a Governor for the past three years, has been elected as the new Chair for the next three years.

Mike has a 30 year oil & gas industry career, previously holding leadership positions in several technology companies. He is a former Head of Oil & Gas at Scottish Enterprise, and was a founding member of Venture Production Plc. He currently holds two non-executive appointments in the upstream sector and serves on the board of the recently established Oil and Gas Technology Centre (OGTC).

The university has also appointed Tricia Walker, a partner specialising in employment law at the Aberdeen office of law firm Burness Paull LLP, and Maggie McGinlay, Director of Energy at Scottish Enterprise, as new Governors.

Mike, who is an alumnus of the university, brings a wealth of expertise in technology commercialisation and leadership processes to the Board. He takes up his Mike Flemming, Chair of The Board of Goveners

Commenting on his appointment, Mike says: “RGU is an ambitious, progressive university set in a world class campus, operating successfully in a very challenging environment. I am excited to

be taking up the role as Chair of the Board, helping to steer the university to achieve its aims and full potential.”

Tricia Walker is a highly respected lawyer in her field, having worked with Simpson & Marwick solicitors in Aberdeen developing a specialism in employment law before moving to Burness Paull LLP as a partner in 2009.

Maggie McGinlay leads Scottish Enterprise's support for the growth of the energy sector in Scotland.

Having worked in the field of economic development for over 20 years, she has significant experience in strategy development and implementation.

Commenting on the appointments, RGU’s Principal, Professor Ferdinand von Prondzynski,

says: “I am delighted to see Mike as the new chair of our Board and warmly welcome Tricia and Maggie as Governors. They each bring qualities, expertise and experience which are of great value to the university.

“We are honoured to have attracted such a dynamic and diverse Board, whose members contribute generously and with great effect to the quality of what we do, delivering a high quality educational agenda and student experience, while playing a leading role in the region and building a growing reputation for doing smart business.”

Find out more on RGU’s Board of Governors

RGU launches exhibition to celebrate International Women’s Day ELIZABETH GAMMIE

Izzy Crawford

Josie Steed

RGU celebrated International Women’s Day with the launch of an exhibition to promote gender equality.

The exhibition celebrates women in academia, featuring a range of photographs from a series of publications which have been launched by RGU’s Women’s Network to profile the work and achievements of women at the university.

The ‘Celebrating Women at RGU’ exhibition was opened by Professor Alice Brown, chair of the Scottish Funding Council (SFC), who delivered a keynote speech at a special event on the Garthdee campus for staff and students.

Entitled ‘Be Bold For Change: Making a Difference in Higher Education’, Professor Brown’s speech reflected on her own experiences of academic life and highlighted the role that the SFC is playing to promote gender equality.

Head of Aberdeen Business School

Academic strategic lead in the School of Creative and Cultural Business

Course leader for fashion and textile design at Gray’s School of Art

Be Bold For Change: Making a Difference in Higher Education

Professor Brown says: “International Women’s Day has been celebrated since the early 1900s when early pioneers were still struggling hard for women to be accepted in universities.

It’s wonderful come to RGU on International Women’s Day 2017 to celebrate the work and achievement of women and I’m very much looking forward to opening this very special exhibition.”

The event also marked the launch of the third in the series of ‘Celebrating Women at RGU’

brochures, which profiles women at different stages of their career journey at RGU working in arts, business, law and social sciences disciplines.

RGU has been praised for the brochure series, receiving a commendation from the Scottish Parliament which congratulated the university for its work in promoting gender equality.

Alison Watson, chair of RGU’s Women’s Network, says: “Promoting gender equality is extremely important to RGU and we’re excited mark International Women’s Day with the launch of an exhibition based on our hugely successful brochure series which celebrate the important contributions women make at RGU.” RGU’s Women’s Network launched the ‘Celebrating Women at RGU’ brochure series in 2016 with the first edition profiling women working within the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) disciplines. It then released a second volume earlier this year which celebrates the university’s involvement in the Aurora Leadership Development Programme, which aims to develop future women leaders for higher education.

The exhibition is currently on display in the Sir Ian Wood building.

View the series of the ‘Celebrating Women at RGU’ publications.

RGU students design new wedding and corporate venue at Elsick House in Aberdeenshire A group of architecture students recently held an exhibition of their work to transform the grounds of Elsick House into a wedding and corporate venue.

The year two Architectural Design students were tasked with developing plans for a bespoke ballroom venue in the walled garden of Elsick Estate, capable of hosting up to 200 people.

Elsick House sits at the heart of the Elsick Estate, which is currently undergoing a complete transformation from agricultural land to the new town development of Chapelton.

Working closely with the Duchess of Fife, whose family own the estate, the students worked hard to develop a variety of creative proposals which went on display at the Bon Accord Centre, where members of the public had the chance to view and vote for their favourite proposal.

There was a special VIP event on the final evening, where members of the public who have engaged with the exhibition were invited to see the winning proposals and meet with the Duke and Duchess and the students.

Gillian Wishart, RGU lecturer who is leading the project, commented: “This has been a very inspiring project to work on with the students – a combination of a strong context and beautiful site, and the opportunity for the students to influence a project that should actually come to fruition.

“We are hugely grateful to the Duchess who has truly got behind the project and supported the students from the offset.

“Not only have the students come up with a range of exciting and creative proposals for the walled garden, but they have also designed and delivered a sophisticated public exhibition – a design project in its own right.

“We would like to thank Suki Hudson of Hudsons Catering and Lucy Mackenzie of George Watt and Stewart Architects who have been instrumental in facilitating the collaboration and helping to drive the project forward.”

The Duchess of Fife added: “We have been so impressed with the hard work and creativity of the students and the work that has been produced.

We are delighted to be able to support and celebrate the creativity and vision these students clearly have The Elsick House student project team

“The second year students were briefed several months ago and we set an ambitious project to create an eye-catching and complimentary garden room for entertaining up to 200 guests and they have achieved this with such style and professionalism.

“It is very fitting that their models and designs should be taken into

the heart of Aberdeen for all to see the results and I am sure that anyone passing through the Bon Accord centre will be impressed with their interpretations of a stylish contemporary building right alongside Elsick House in the walled garden. When we create this new space in 2018/2019 we will be drawing on many of the elements featured here."

Craig Stevenson, centre manager, Bon Accord, said: “We are delighted to be able to support and celebrate the creativity and vision these students clearly have and that’s so important for the future of our local area. We are very excited to have them exhibiting their work with us.”

RGU hosts event to celebrate care experienced students

RGU students with experience of being looked after or in care have been recognised through an awards scheme, which highlighted their achievements in higher education.

The awards provide an opportunity to highlight RGU’s responsibility as Corporate Parents, to share best practice with the partners across the North East and work together to benefit care experienced students.

As well as academic achievement, the awards also celebrate student engagement with their place of study and their journey to overcome adversity.

The awards cover two categories.

The Wider Achievement Award, which is in recognition of successfully generating interest, improvements and involvement in either extra-curricular activities or an issue or cause which is relevant to fellow students.

The second category is the Academic Achievement Award which recognises subjectbased success, where there has been a regular or considerable improvement in performance on a course that has exceeded requirements.

Two award recipients, Dale Sutherland and Efia Sulter, graduated from RGU last academic year and have gone on to secure graduate employment in London and Melbourne respectively.

The third winner, Shaun Brittain, is currently in his final year of an Applied Sports and Exercise Science degree and is set to study towards an MSc Social Work next year.

Charley Buchan, Wider Access Project Officer at Robert Gordon University, said: “I am extremely proud to be acknowledging our students and it’s been a real

privilege to work with these students and be a part of their journey.

“I want to say how fortunate we are as a university to have students who are so involved and have a willingness to use their own experiences to the benefits of others. It really is humbling.

“These awards are not intended to simply acknowledge someone’s background. The recipients have all made genuine and significant contributions in their own right and it’s only right that we shout about that.”

Rhona McComiskie, Access Pathways Lead at RGU, said: “Robert Gordon University is committed to supporting lookedafter children and care experienced students and is proud to play its part in supporting learners with care experience to access, and be successful in, higher education.”

Award winner Shaun Brittain and RGU’s Principal, Professor Ferdinand von Prondzynski

Inspiring entrepreneurship at RGU

RGU hosted a roster of events to promote entrepreneurship and enterprise to students from all subject areas. n

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The RGU Careers and Employability Centre teamed up with RGU’s Centre for Really Innovative Businesses (CRIB) and Surge Aberdeen to hold the three-day entrepreneurial event this month aimed at inspiring students to consider starting up their own enterprise.

Chloe Bruce, Careers Information and Systems Co-Ordinator at RGU, said: “At RGU we aim to inspire our students to explore the world of entrepreneurial opportunity and to develop their enterprising mindsets.

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“Local entrepreneurs play a vital part in the economy and we are thrilled to have had such a high calibre of speakers and events open to our students to help equip them to make a valuable contribution to the growth and sustainability of the business sector.”

Chris Burnett, Founder at Surge Aberdeen, added: "I started up

Surge Aberdeen after graduating from RGU, with the aim to inspire more innovative activity in the city.

On the back of these events, I’m hoping we can have more students considering entrepreneurship as a viable option to kick start their career paths.”

The programme kicked off with a Scottish Institute for Enterprise (SIE) Idea Generation Workshop. SIE offered attendees the opportunity to explore, experiment and develop their innovation skills in a safe, interactive and experiential live innovation lab.

That evening, five local entrepreneurs shared their experiences and knowledge with students.

Duncan Skinner, chairman at Social Stuff; James McIlroy, co-founder and CEO of Eurobiotix; Michelle Clark, owner at Melt; Yekemi Otaru, managing director at YO! Marketing and Hamish Blythe, founder and managing director of Twigd all shared their entrepreneurial journeys throughout the event.

An Enterprise Fair was held the following day where budding entrepreneurs met with support organisations who will help develop new business ideas such as Converge Challenge, Elevator, Federation of Small Businesses, Scottish Enterprise, RGU Careers and Employability Centre and more.

A Pitching Workshop was also held

by Converge Challenge to provide students with a template and tips on how to test the strength of a business idea and the opportunity to practice pitching it.

The third and final day of the programme featured an open day at RGU’s own business incubator.

There will be another ‘Inspirational Speaker’ event taking place on Tuesday, April 11 from 6pm-8pm in the front atrium of the Sir Ian Wood Building. The event will also be hosted by Jan Cutting and there will be five new speakers. Further information regarding this event will follow.

RGU seeks Investors in People re-approval As one of the first universities to gain the Investors in People (IiP) standard, and after more than 20 years of unbroken accreditation, RGU is seeking IiP re-approval in 2017.

Nexus has interviewed three key people involved in the process and features a Q&A spread: Willie MacColl from Investors in People, and RGU’s Lydia Ross, Director of HR and Susan MacLennan, Senior Organisational Development Specialist, update Nexus readers on Investors in People and highlight what it means for RGU and its people.

WILLIE MACCOLL is the Investors in People Specialist who will be conducting the on-site interviews in June.

What is Investors in People?

Investors in People has set the standard for better people management since 1991. The internationally recognised accreditation is held by 14,000 organisations across the world. The Standard defines what it takes to lead, support and manage people well for sustainable results.

The Investors in People Standard is based on 25 years of leading practice, and underpinned by a rigorous assessment methodology and

a framework which reflects the very latest workplace trends, essential skills and effective structures required to deliver high performance.

What benefits does being an Investor in People bring to RGU?

developed using organisations that consistently outperform their peer organisations. The performance model provides a route map for continuous improvement and future progress.

By meeting the Investors in People standard, RGU can be confident of delivering some of the best practices in people management. The accreditation process focuses on nine key indicators

Lydia Ross, Director of HR at RGU , Willie MacColl Susan MacLennan, Senior Organisatfrom Investors in People, and ional Development Specialist

RGU seeks Investors in People re-approval LYDIA ROSS is RGU’s Director of HR, responsible for overseeing RGU’s Investors in People re-accreditation

What is RGU’s approach to staff learning and development?

At RGU we are committed to supporting and promoting learning and development for all staff where that is aligned to the aims and objectives of the University. Heads of School and Department are responsible for maintaining a strategic view of their staff’s development needs, based on agreed objectives and development identified through the EPR process.

Some leadership and management development is provided centrally (see below) but responsibility for setting local staff development budgets rests with Heads of Schools and Departments.

Individual staff are expected to take responsibility for their own development, Heads of School and Department are responsible for ensuring that development is prioritised, planned and actually takes place.

What is RGU doing in terms of leadership and management development for its staff?

Some exciting initiatives have been rolled out over the last year, and there are plans for more of this activity going forward.

In 2016 the inaugural Pioneer: RGU Future Leaders’ Programme took place, and this has been a great success with great feedback from the delegates and their managers. 40% of the delegates have been promoted to senior roles either during or shortly after

the end of the programme.

We are currently working on a pilot of an Academic Leadership programme which is being delivered to a cohort of Strategic Team Leaders. This programme will be rolled out to all Academic Grade 10 staff over the next few months.

The university has recently been awarded Approved Centre status with the ILM (Institute of Leadership and Management) and we will soon be able to offer our staff the opportunity to undertake an ILM qualification in Leadership and Management. We will start with the ILM Level 5 Certificate in Leadership and Management which will be aimed at Middle Managers, and we will move onto the ILM Level 3 Award in Leadership and Management which will be aimed at junior

and aspiring managers. Look out for more information about these programmes later in the year.

What else is happening in HR/OD? Given the importance of the Employee Performance Review and how the outcome of EPR shapes the development needs of the university, we are currently undertaking a review of EPR and piloting a new form with some Schools and Departments.

We have already had some useful feedback on the effectiveness of the process is and how it can be improved.

We are very keen to embed an organisational coaching culture and will be looking at training internal coaches to increase our capacity to provide this valuable development intervention.

RGU seeks Investors in People re-approval SUSAN MACLENNAN, Senior Organisational Development Specialist, is project managing RGU’s Investors in People re-accreditation.

What will happen?

In April, all staff will be asked to complete an online survey which will ask a number of questions about their experience of working at RGU, arrangements will be made to ensure that staff who do not have access to PCs will be able to participate. After the survey closes, the results will be analysed by IiP and used as the basis for a series of onsite interviews with staff who will be selected randomly by the IiP Specialist. The information gathered by IiP from the survey and the interviews will be used in the re-approval decision. IiP will also provide the university with a Business Improvement report outlining strengths and potential areas for development.

How will you decide which questions to ask in the employee survey?

The survey will include some questions which will be set by IiP and some which will be set by RGU. The IiP questions match the key framework themes which examine how the university leads, supports and improves; the RGU questions are based on questions that have been asked in previous employee surveys, to allow for consistent analysis.

How will you select those staff who will be interviewed by the IiP Assessor?

The number of staff selected for interview is contingent on the size of the organisation and the response rate in the survey: the more people who complete the survey, the fewer will be needed for interview. The actual

selection of staff is the responsibility of Willie at IiP, and interviewees will be chosen randomly from all areas of the University and all levels.

What can I expect if I am selected for an interview with the IiP Assessor?

If you are selected for interview, you will be invited to meet with the IiP Specialist during the week commencing 12th June. The information that you pass to the IiP Specialist will be treated in confidence, and the subsequent Business Improvement report he writes will not identify you or any member of staff, with the exception of members of the Executive.

When will the results of IiP be disseminated?

RGU will receive a report from IiP shortly after the

interviews. The Principal will disseminate the contents to the Executive, the Board of Governors and staff. The recommendations made by IiP will inform the university’s continuous improvement strategy.

How can I find out more about this?

Please don’t hesitate to get in touch with me if you’d like more information or clarification about this.

I can be contacted at s.j.maclennan@rgu.ac.uk Hopefully, these interviews has given you a good understanding of what Investors in People is and why it is important that you take the time to complete the survey in April and attend for interview if you are selected.

Drum Castle visitors choose favourite tea towel design Visitors to the National Trust for Scotland’s (NTS) Drum Castle have chosen their favourite tea towel design created as part of a live project with fashion and textiles students at Gray’s School of Art. The 27 first year students each produced their own unique design inspired by the historic building, before they were put to the public vote at the popular Aberdeenshire attraction.

The most popular design, by Hannah Sargent, will now be produced and sold in the castle shop, alongside that of the runner up, Campbell McVinnie.

Hannah, who was given a year’s membership by the team at Drum Castle for her efforts, is delighted to have been chosen as the winner.

“The inspiration for my tea towel was derived from the silhouette of the Castle's varying rooftops as viewed from the tower, combined with the South facade of the Castle,” she said.

“I created a series of images exploring this design and included a colour palette taken from the Autumnal leaves at Drum.

“I am thrilled to have won the competition and thoroughly enjoyed working on this collaboration between Gray's and the National Trust for Scotland.”

As part of the project the students visited

Drum Castle to gain insight into the attraction, which is the conservation charity NTS’s oldest intact property, and enable them to capture the spirit of the castle in their designs.

They were also required to produce sketchbooks and research analysis, showing the development of their ideas, as well as a presentation board visualising the theme of their design inspiration.

Aidan McAleese, Senior Assistant at Drum Castle, added: “It has been a tremendous privilege to be in collaboration with the Fashion and Textile students of Gray's this year.

“Showcasing their work of exceptional standard has been an honour for Drum Castle and something which our visitors and members have tremendously enjoyed.

“The positive response of the public has been overwhelming, delivering a very evenly spread result in the final voting tally testimony indeed to the talent and creativity of these young artists.

“We look forward to many more years of successful collaboration with Gray's School of Art and its remarkable students.”

Drum is currently home to an outstanding collection of contemporary art on loan from the city's Aberdeen Art Gallery while the gallery undergoes a major refurbishment.

Drum Castle Winners – students Hannah Sargent and Campbell McVinnie

New Paramedic Course Developed by RGU and ORMS What makes the course unique is the consideration it gives to contexts such as remote and hazardous environments, which prepares students to work in a safe and hostile manner.

Evidence based practice and the principles of research are embedded throughout the course and students have the opportunity to apply their skills to work based projects.

The course is best suited to those who are already employed in a clinical role and are unable to commit to studying full time.

Image (L to R): Gavin Innes (RGU), Jason Williams (ORMS), Kate Goodhand (RGU), Tim Roberts (ORMS), Professor Ian Murray (RGU), Yvette la flame Willaims (ORMS), Haf Thomas (ORMS), Robin Trangmar (ORMS)

RGU has teamed up with Outreach Rescue Medic Skills (ORMS) to create a new training course for paramedics.

The course, entitled BSc Paramedic Practice – Remote and Hazardous Environments, has been designed to be delivered on a part-time, blended learning basis over six years.

Successful completion of stages one and two would make the student eligible to apply for Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC)

registration as a paramedic. From there, HCPC registered paramedics can choose to enter stage three and work towards obtaining their degree.

The face to face content of the course will be delivered by ORMS in Bangor, North Wales. There is a bespoke site with facilities which allow the students to cover working at height, enclosed spaces and water.

Most of the course will be delivered in an online format by

ORMS personnel. This will include experienced paramedics, alongside medical staff, nurses and midwives.

All students will have access to full support and services at RGU. Commenting on the new course, Professor Ian Murray, Head of the School of Nursing and Midwifery, said: “We at Robert Gordon University are delighted to be working in partnership with ORMS to bring forward this exciting course.

“The BSc Paramedic Practice - Remote and Hazardous Environments fits well with RGU’s development within remote healthcare and makes an important contribution to developing the skills and competence of paramedics who work within these sometime austere environments.

“The quality of service provided by these practitioners will be significantly enhanced by undertaking this course”

Course Leader, Tim Roberts, said: “The ORMS faculty are excited to be working in partnership with RGU in delivering a course that will develop paramedics who practice and lead in the most challenging environments and circumstances.

“ORMS, like the paramedic profession, is embracing a journey that helps practitioners develop academic skills, clinical practice and leadership principles both now and in their future careers.”

To discuss the course and individual requirements, contact the Course Leader, Tim Roberts, via enquiries@orms247.co.uk

RGU staff FLiTE success

The course is ideal for individuals working full-time within a related role who wish to extend their skills and knowledge...

RGU staff members Jacqui Nicol and Thorsten Lauterbach

Two RGU colleagues have been successful in their application to the Higher Academy’s pilot Future Leadership in Teaching Excellence Programme (FLiTE).

Jacqui Nicol and Thorsten Lauterbach’s applications managed to beat strong competition from other applicants to gain two of the limited places on the programme.

HEA Scotland, who run the programme, said: “We are delighted with the extremely strong response to the recent applications call for the pilot Future Leadership in Teaching Excellence Programme.

“We received in excess of 50 application requests and 27 full applications from across our subscribing Scottish higher education institutions.

“Allocating funded places was therefore a rigorous process, with all applications received of the highest quality.

of leadership actions, and building activity plans for addressing individual leadership challenges.

“The engagement from Robert Gordon University was very positive”

The programme allows participants to explore what good learning and teaching looks like in their own role and provides the opportunity to liaise with other leaders to identify shared issues and areas of understanding.

The FliTE Programme is designed to support the next generation of academic leaders in Scotland. Emphasising ‘leadership’ over ‘leaders’, the programme furthers the HEA belief that leadership can be demonstrated at any level, value and action driven not hierarchical in nature.

Some of the key learning outcomes from the programme include developing awareness and reflecting on current personal leadership practice, supporting learning and reflection with new modules exploring a wide variety

The programme will run throughout 2017 and may include face-to-face workshops and online sessions depending on the feedback from applicants.

The sessions will aim to examine areas such as establishing credibility and trust, making things happen differently, creating rationale for change and devolving leadership.

James Dunphy, Director of Enhancement,

Learning, Teaching and Access (DELTA), has commented: “I’m delighted that two RGU colleagues were successful in their application to the Higher Education Academy’s inaugural FLiTE programme.

“Competition for places was incredibly competitive and Thorsten and Jacqui’s success is testament to the quality of their applications.

“RGU is keen to push forward an exciting change agenda in learning and teaching and participation in programmes such as FLiTE underpin colleagues’ commitment to enhancing the quality of the student experience across our university.”

Architecture Students showcase Modernism in Scotland Exhibition

A group of Architecture students hosted an exhibition to showcase their work at the Scott Sutherland School of Architecture and Built Environment.

The exhibition, titled Modernism in Scotland, is a culmination of work produced by the fifth year Architecture students and features 34 Modernist buildings from post-war Scotland, presented through photographs, drawings and models.

Following work produced for a study of the history of Modernism in Scotland, it was decided to create an exhibition and book to collate and document the information.

The exhibition and the book focus on evoking the style of publications and exhibitions from

the period in question, particularly the work of Peter Willis.

Speaking about the exhibition, Architecture student and co-organiser of the event, Stuart Dilley, said: “This exhibition is a culmination of a lot of hard work by the year group, and we are delighted with the result, particularly with the beautiful models that are now on display.”

The buildings featured in the exhibition are divided into categories of residential, religious, recreation, leisure and educational.

The projects featured range from famous Scottish icons such as St Peter’s Seminary and the Forth Road Bridge, to the variety of

houses designed by Morris and Steedman.

The accompanying 160 page book goes into further detail about each project, and it is hoped that this will form a valuable learning resource for current and future students.

Fellow student and organiser, Neil Mair, also spoke passionately about the project: “One of the most important things to do with this piece of work was to make sure that it was formally recorded in some way so that it can and will be beneficial to others in the future.

“With that in mind, I’m delighted to have had the opportunity to bring the information presented in the exhibition together in the form of a substantial book which the school can be proud of.”

Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire pupils enjoy science workshops at RGU In recognition of the International Day of Women and Girls in Science, the School of Pharmacy and Life Sciences has hosted several science workshops for girls in local schools.

Third year girls, from Hazlehead Academy and Turriff Academy, were invited along to use the RGU labs to enhance their scientific knowledge and encourage them to pursue a future career in a scientific field.

At the event, the girls had an opportunity to participate in four workshops focusing on biology, chemistry, food science and microbiology.

Some of the areas covered in the sessions included preparing blood films, using microscopes and learning about cardiovascular disease.

Danielle Rae, Biology teacher at Hazlehead Academy, said: “This is such a good opportunity for the pupils as it is hard to do something like this in school.

“The girls here are the most enthusiastic and eager to pursue a future in science. Third year is the

perfect time for these workshops, when the pupils are having to make their choices of which subjects they will take further.

“The girls seem to be loving it!”

During the workshops, the pupils were provided with lab coats, goggles and gloves as they used the state-of-the-art RGU equipment to complete their tasks and experience working in a lab.

Hazlehead Academy pupil, Natasha Buck, said: “It’s really cool to use all of this different equipment we don’t have at school. It gives us a good insight so that we can decide what we want to do in the future.”

imbalance on subject level at RGU. Kaisa Macdonald, Project Officer for DELTA, said: “Through these workshops we hope to encourage girls to choose sciences in school and consider careers in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).

“We were delighted to see the enthusiasm of the girls participating in the activities, and hope to continue engaging with the group to encourage them into degree programmes in STEM.”

Fellow pupil, Andrea Henry, added: “I really enjoy biology and chemistry, so this is really fun and interesting for me.”

The International Day of Women and Girls in Science, celebrated on February 11th, aims to promote gender equality and provide opportunities for women and girls to participate in sciences.

The Department for the Enhancement of Learning, Teaching and Access (DELTA) co-ordinated the workshops to address gender

Girls get to grips with science

RGU partners to host 'Powered by Purpose' RGU has partnered with a leadership development company to bring the biggest one-day leadership event in the world to Aberdeen.

absolutely delighted to be involved in this year’s Leadercast Live event.

Leadercast Live 2017 brings together some of the most recognised and respected global leaders in the world and this year, Total Perspectives has partnered with RGU.

“The event brings together some of the most recognised and respected global leaders around the world and Aberdeen itself has a rich history of producing innovative and successful entrepreneurs who have made an impact on a global stage.

Leadercast Live, organised by Total Perspectives, will create avenues for leaders to learn about cutting edge principles and concepts in leadership.

“At RGU we aim to inspire our students to explore the world of entrepreneurial opportunity and to develop their enterprising mindsets.

The 2017 event will feature both local and International speakers. The live broadcast from Atlanta is streamed to over 100,000 leaders around the globe in hundreds of locations around the world each year.

“The students of today will drive the economy forward so it is important that they get the opportunity to hear from industry as part of their academic learning, helping them to build the strength of character needed to make a success of their business ideas.”

The speakers for this year’s event, which will be held on May 5 at the Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre (AECC), include; Bob Keiller, Chairman Scottish Enterprise; Ray Riddoch, Nexen UK MD & SVP Europe; Jennifer Young, Chairman and Partner, Ledingham Chalmers; Gavin Oattes, Aberdeen Host and MD Tree of Knowledge; and Kris Bachoo, Aberdeen Co-Host and Learning Programmes Director [Scotland], QA. Elizabeth Gammie, Head of Aberdeen Business School at RGU, said: “We are

Edosa Akioya, Director at Total Perspectives, said: “We’re excited to bring this unique event to Aberdeen for the 3rd year running.

This year, we’ve expanded it to a full day event, with a strong line up of both local and global leaders, including more time for delegates to network.

“At this year’s conference, we’ll be exploring what can happen when purpose connects teams and individuals, creating strong organizational culture with intentional leadership that inspires extraordinary results”

Elizabeth Gammie, Head of ABS

RGU academic visits India to explore a possible research collaboration

The focus of the trip was the exploration of possible collaboration and partnership between UK law schools and their Indian counterparts.

It also entailed lectures to Indian law students.

Dr Arnell spoke on the law of extradition in a UK and Indian context.

The students were very receptive to the talk, being particularly interested in the possible extradition from the UK to India of Vijay Mallya.

RGU pharmacist takes national council position

I am honoured and delighted to have been elected to this position

The universities visited were a mixture of public and private institutions.

Speaking of his trip, Paul, said: “There are tremendous opportunities in India, I discovered that the study of law in India is booming.

Dr Paul Arnell from the Law School, recently travelled to India to explore possible partnerships and collaboration with law schools in the country.

“From a student recruitment perspective, however, it is frustrating to have confirmed the fact that a considerable barrier to success is the policy taken by the UK Government to student visas and immigration generally”.

While there, Dr Arnell, who is a reader in Law, gave a lecture at each institution on the law of extradition. He visited eight universities in New Delhi, Kolkata and Mumbai on the British Council organised tour.

The focus of Dr Arnell’s discussions was possible research collaboration, with a number of staff in the law schools expressing an interest.

The trip, which ran from 11 to 18 February, also featured two academics from English Universities, with Paul as the only representative from a Scottish University.

He has been following up discussions with email correspondence with interested academics in India and colleagues in the RGU Law School.

A senior professor at RGU has been elected to an executive position within a national council for pharmacy education.

Professor Donald Cairns, Head of the School of Pharmacy and Life Sciences, has been named as a new member of the Pharmacy Schools Council (PhSC) Executive.

The PhSC is a body that represents school of pharmacy in the UK and it is made up of Heads of Schools from 31 different establishments.

Its primary aims are to provide a source of expert opinion and advice on matters relating to pharmacy education from the perspective of UK schools, while also working to improve and maintain the quality of pharmacy education and training.

Speaking on his appointment, Professor Cairns said: “I am honoured and delighted to have been elected to this position and look forward to working closely with members across the country to deliver pharmacy education of the highest quality.

“I believe that the pharmacists of tomorrow will have an important role to play as approachable experts in drugs, medicines and healthcare and it is important that they receive the best possible preparation.”

In addition to this new role with PhSC, Professor Cairns is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry and a member of the Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists and the British Pharmacopoeia Commission. Last year, he was also appointed as a Fellow of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS).

RGU:Union gains licence to run DofE award

RGU’s Student’s Union has become one of a small handful of Scottish universities to gain the license to run the Duke of Edinburgh Award (DofE).

The award involves students undertaking a series of activities including volunteering, skills development, fitness training and planning, and undertaking an expedition.

Activities aim to develop skills to prepare young individuals for the work place, as well as enhancing confidence, resilience and team working.

RGU:Union is the primary provider of extracurricular activities at RGU and annually engages thousands of students in projects and activities aimed at improving skills development while at university.

The new initiative will allow RGU students to participate in the Silver and Gold levels of the DofE award.

Ross Leven, student Duke of Edinburgh Coordinator said: “The Duke of Edinburgh Award is a life changing opportunity for anyone under 24 to enhance their employability and develop valuable life skills.

“I have experienced at first hand the benefits of the Awards after achieving Gold level.

“The experience is not easy as it involves physical activities, long term commitment and team building but it is also fun and assists personal development and employment and

generates an ability to overcome challenges.”

Students will have the opportunity to continue from where they started pervious awards, or sign up for the first time.

It is found students who participate in the scheme find it a highly valuable experience and a recent survey of employers found that a Duke of Edinburgh’s Award is the most highly valued experience when selecting employees.

Barry Fisher, Director for DofE Scotland, said: “I am delighted that RGU:Union has come on board as a DofE Licensed Organisation. We know that many young people are looking for a way to do their DofE beyond school and now students at RGU will be able to do just that.

“Completing a DofE Award has a positive impact on a young person’s life and employability skills.

RGU:Union shortlisted for four national awards

With big changes in the university, we have worked hard to represent student’s views and launch ground breaking new projects for new students

RGU’s Students’ Union has been shortlisted for four awards at the National Union of Students Scotland Awards 2017.

The nomination for the campaign award focuses on the launch of the RGU’s Zero Waste Community Café, which is the first of its kind in Scotland.

There are twelve university and college associations shortlisted, with RGU having the most nominations.

Edward Pollock, student President of Communication and Democracy at RGU:Union said: “This year has been incredibly busy for RGU:Union.

“The students at Robert Gordon University will now be able to demonstrate to employers the commitment and perseverance they developed by completing both a DofE Award and their studies.

RGU:Union is shortlisted for University Students Association of the Year, Officer Team of the Year, the Student Opportunities Award and the Campaigns Award.

“The Union has already inspired nearly 30 of its students to take part and they will be supported by the dozen volunteers.”

RGU also received the most nominations in 2016, when they won the Campaign of the Year Award for the Safe Taxi Scheme.

Students can find out more and sign up by visiting www.rguunion.co.uk/DofE or email DofE@rguunion.co.uk

In addition to being nominated for outstanding achievements over the year for the Union and the elected officers, RGU Go Green’s projects have been shortlisted for the titles.

“With big changes in the university, we have worked hard to represent student’s views and launch ground breaking new projects for new students, such as the Zero Waste Café, Academic Calendar Review and the Live Right Campaign.

“I am incredibly proud to see that once again the work of our team has been recognised.”

The winners shall be announced at the NUS Scotland Conference on Friday 24 March 2017, in Dundee.

RGU students organise variety of events in a bid to raise thousands for local charities

RGU Events students have organised a variety of events around Aberdeen in a bid to raise thousands for local charities.

Foundation, Alcohol and Drugs Action, Cornerstone, Clan, Inspire, Make a Wish, Marie Curie and VSA.

students have been working incredibly hard to develop a portfolio of creative and inspiring events this year all for an excellent cause.

A Scottish Ceilidh, a glamourous Hollywood night, an art trail, a magical rainforest event, a Quidditch tournament and a zombie apocalyptic survival event are among some of the events organised throughout the month.

Each group of students have been allocated a charity who will receive their profits from their event and to make the challenge a little bit more difficult, the students must design an event which does not form part of their charity’s normal events calendar but sticks to their brand and principles.

“This year there is an event for everyone, and I would encourage the local community to join us to celebrate the hard work of the students and raise some funds for our amazing local charities.”

The fundraising activities are part of The Main Event, which is part of RGU’s Events Management degree taught at The School of Creative and Cultural Business, which involves working with various local charities to raise money and awareness.

This year, there are nine groups of Events management final year students working with nine different charities; Aberlour, The Archie

The students have to produce an event template which can be gifted to their charity alongside the profits, enabling the recipient to run the event in future years.

Dr Rachael Ironside, lecturer in Events Management, said: “It is very exciting to be approaching our first Main Event. The

The events kicked off earlier this month running throughout the whole of March, beginning with a Spring Shindig for Marie Curie; One Night in Hollywood to raise funds for VSA; the Wee Wish Art Trail and Auction for Make a Wish; an Affa Fine Artisan Afternoon for Archies; Sensorfest will be held to raise awareness for Inspire; a Knock Out Quidditch Tournament to raise funds for Aberlour; The Cherry Blossom Picnic in aid of

Clan; a zombie survival event called Escape the Woods for Cornerstone and a Know your Poison event in aid of Alcohol and Drugs Action.

As well as aiming to raise tens of thousands of pounds for charity as part of this project, the students have already won an award for an event they ran in their third year.

Aberdeen Students Festival was a multi-arts and culture festival inspired and run by the students which brought an exciting collection of weekend events to the city.

They won the Student Event of the Year category at the Scottish Event Awards which are dedicated to celebrating the highly successful and creative events sector north of the border.

Gray’s students take their work to Edinburgh Gallery A group of final year Painting students from Gray’s School of Art hosted an exhibition of their work at The Edinburgh Palette Gallery in St Margaret House in Edinburgh this month.

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The interim exhibition gives the students the chance to showcase their work ahead of the Gray’s Degree Show, which takes place at the Art School in June.

As well as displaying their work, the exhibition gives the year four students invaluable experience in the management and set up of an exhibition.

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Jessica Barrie, one of the students organising the exhibition, commented: “The interim exhibition we hold each year in Edinburgh allows us to spread the word about the Painting department at Gray’s outside of Aberdeen.

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“For many of us it is our first opportunity to hold a formal exhibition and we organise everything ourselves. This has proven to be a challenge on top of our already demanding course, but one from which we have already learnt a great deal.

“It's great at this stage to get our work out of the studio. Seeing it in a gallery space allows us to see it with fresh eyes which is especially valuable before our Degree Show.”

Jack Dunnett, also exhibiting at the show believes putting on the show has given the students an important chance to work together as a group of artists, organising all of the logistics and fundraising to cover the costs.

“It's an invaluable insight into what lies ahead for contemporary artists who intend to exhibit after graduation, and to be able to do this while studying at Gray's gives us the independence and responsibility of organisation while also working in an environment where help is always at hand.

“The experience has been stressful at times, with deadlines for dissertations, examinations and study trips all seeming to come at the same time, but altogether the challenge has been rewarding.”

Annie Mulvey, another of the exhibiting students, added: “Edinburgh Palette is a great establishment to have this

interim with as they have a great community ethic and a beautiful space up for grabs in St. Margaret's House.

“It's been a long process really, the work exhibited here today really started 4 years ago, and this constant flux of development and research has geared us up for it, we really want to make the best out of it, and push ourselves.”

Keith Grant, Head of Painting at Gray’s School of Art, added: “This year marks the seventh year in a row that the exhibition has been installed at The Edinburgh Palette in St Margaret’s House, Edinburgh.

“The exhibition is organised in its entirety by the students, from logistics and marketing to curation and installation.

“19 honours year students will present a body of work that explores a diverse range of subject matter while exploring the possibilities inherent within the medium of Paint.”

Sports student lands a slam dunk placement

This experience gave me an insight into the type of career I want to go into An Applied Sport and Exercise Science student has found the placement of his dreams, as he begins working with a US basketball team.

Rory Anton is one of nearly 50 third year students who have undertaken a six-week placement as part of their Applied Sport and Exercise Science degree.

RGU is renowned for its excellent work placement opportunities, which can lead to glowing references, offers of employment and long and successful careers.

Rory, originally from Letham in Angus, managed to secure a post with the Women’s basketball team at Houston Baptist University, coached by former Scotland national boss Donna Finnie.

This placement is an opportunity for Rory to build on the successful experience he has been gaining back home, in addition to his second year placement as part of the Aberdeen Youth Games.

After playing basketball for some years, he completed his coaching qualifications and began working closely with other coaches to learn all he could. He is currently president of the RGU Basketball Club and has been coaching with the Grampian Flyers under-16 men’s team.

Rory said: “This experience gave me an insight into the type of career I want to go into and now that I am working with a highperformance coach, I can put my ambitions to the test. I am massively grateful for this opportunity to learn from her, while helping her and her staff with a busy conference schedule.”

Look Again announces impressive programme Scottish artist

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Look Again is an invitation to the world to consider and reflect upon our city.

The Look Again festival, one of Scotland’s premier visual art and design festivals, has unveiled the artists who will take part in the 10-day celebration at the end of April.

The works, which will be on show throughout the city centre, will encourage people to take a fresh look at their Aberdeen surroundings and gain a deeper understanding of the Granite City.

The festival, which showcases the very best in visual art and design, has commissioned eight internationally recognised artists to spend time in the city and create specially commissioned work that reflects the NorthEast’s culture – past and present.

Artists include London-based Thomson and Craighead, who have strong links to the northeast. The pair have had their work exhibited around the globe including New York, Miami, Paris, China and London; Stockholm designer Nick Ross, who trained at Gray’s School of Art in Aberdeen, and has had his work shown in major arts centres including: Milan, Paris, Stockholm and London; and Dundee-based Jason Nelson, who has exhibited work as far afield as Australia and also in the prestigious Royal Scottish Academy in Edinburgh.

A further four artists who have links to the North-east have been commissioned as part of the festival’s Seed Fund programme to retain and attract creative talent to the region.

Highlights of this year’s Look Again include ‘the Listener’ led by Scottish artist Jason Nelson, a set of follies which tell the story of Aberdeen. The project is both an object to be viewed and a space to be used by people, from which to hear the histories and the urban myths that form the collective consciousness and identity of Aberdeen. Large trumpet-like shapes dominate the design of the sculpture.

Professor Chris O’Neil, Head of Gray’s School of Art at Robert Gordon University, said: “It should be of no surprise to anybody that Aberdeen, one of the most unique,

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internationalist and majestic of all Scottish cities, is attracting artists of this standing and calibre.

“Look Again is an invitation to the world to consider and reflect upon our city. Look Again is also an invitation to US, the people of Aberdeen. Our city is amazing and the third Look Again Festival will help us to see it anew.”

Look Again is delivered through a partnership between Robert Gordon University (RGU) and Aberdeen-based art curators SMART. Now in its third year, the 2016 festival attracted more than 23,000 visitors in just four days

Partnership at RGU Whether it is a change to the way students are taught on their course, or perhaps developments to campus facilities, RGU believes that it can create a vibrant learning community when student and staff actively listen to each other, work together to develop solutions, and when enhancements are made - celebrate our achievements.

‘Partnership at RGU’ outlines how RGU:Union and RGU can meaningfully work together to improve the student learning experience.

Part 1 - Listening to feedback

Part 2 - Partnership in Action

Part 3 - Achieved in Partnership

At course and school level, staff and students regularly discuss opportunities for change.

The university-wide approach means that student representatives, school officers, equality champions, union presidents and vice-presidents are involved in decision making processes at every level of the university. Each year, the partnership explores and acts on thousands of comments from surveys, discussions, meetings and more to make sure student feedback always matters.

Using feedback from students throughout the year, the university and RGU:Union also agree on objectives that they will work together on. Current objectives are to define a student vision for:

Due to partnership activity, a number of key changes have been made which impact the student experience. Recent examples of enhancements made in response to feedback include:

• Assessment and feedback. In response to student feedback last year, a project has brought together students and staff through workshops to share feedback and outline new ideas on assessment and feedback. This work has resulted in recommendations including a new assessment timetable for all courses, consistent assessment briefs, standard location for assessment information on Moodle and increased used of online submission.

• Development of Union Way into a vibrant social space in the heart of campus with new furniture, student shop, meeting space, branding and more.

• Timetabling. The partnership engages students and staff to define a vision for the delivery of timetables along with timing and process for induction, exams, course and other timetables. This builds on a recent review of the academic calendar and proposals to move exams before Christmas which are currently being considered for approval for 2018/19 onwards.

• Student ‘Welcome’ project with new hubs for questions, video messages, Student Life guide, branding, Freshers events and more to give students a better arrival experience.

• Working with FirstBus to increase frequency and capacity, with coaches at peak times, increased Woolmanhill service and new U1 night bus service during 24 hour library.

Find out more about the agreement, the projects this year so far, and the achievements that have been made already through working in partnership by visiting www.rguunion. co.uk/partnership or www.rgu.ac.uk/ studentpartnership

news in brief RGU course gets Scottish FA seal of approval

RGU academic shares expertise across the globe

A new sports performance course at RGU has received a boost in the form of an endorsement by the Scottish Football Association (Scottish FA).

A RGU academic is sharing his knowledge and expertise with students across the globe.

The MSc Applied Sports Performance Analysis course has been developed at RGU and is set to begin in September 2017.

The course will allow students to gain and develop skills to be able to monitor and record sporting performances. Those who take part will have the opportunity to liaise with coaches and athletes in training and competition environments.

Dr Alan MacLennan, a lecturer at RGU’s School of Creative and Cultural Business, has joined forces with the National Library and Information System Authority of Trinidad & Tobago to deliver a new short-course to 50 of its librarians.

Dr MacLennan will teach the four-week course on Moodle, the university's virtual learning

He said: “I am honoured to have been approached by the National Library and Information System Authority of Trinidad & Tobago to provide training for 40 of its librarians in the Universal Decimal Classification, which is a bibliographic classification scheme that is widely used in scientific and technical contexts.

“I provided the materials on Moodle and now we have agreed the content outline so we are ready to launch to the first 20

and performed CPR until the ambulance arrived.

Students can also expect to learn by using the university’s stateof-the-art Human Performance Laboratory, along with elite GPS and video analysis systems.

This endorsement from the national governing body for Scotland’s biggest sport is a significant step forward for Sport and Exercise Science at RGU. Donnie MacDonald, Subject Lead in Sports and Exercise Science at RGU, said: “The endorsement from the Scottish Football Association for the new course is fantastic news for us here at RGU. To gain this recognition from the governing body of Scotland’s national game demonstrates that we are making great strides in the field of performance analysis education.”

environment. The first cohort launches next week, with a second cohort already confirmed.

His quick-thinking and actions saved the woman’s life and were hailed in the press at the time.

Lifesaving teen meets university team An aspiring nurse from Northfield Academy has been honoured by RGU after saving the life of an elderly neighbour.

Stephen Worrall was delivering newspapers to the woman, when she collapsed in front of him, in December. He leapt to her aid

Stephen, a fifth year pupil, hoped to become a children and young people’s nurse and recently took part in RGU’s Access To Nursing and Midwifery course.

Following his heroism, Stephen was invited to RGU’s School of Nursing and Midwifery last week, where he met with the Children and Young People’s team.

In addition to meeting the teaching staff he hopes to learn from soon, Stephen was presented with a signed copy of one of the course’s recommended

students.

“I am thrilled to have been asked and it reflects on the fact that on our MSc Information and Library Studies course, we still teach “traditional” skills such as cataloguing and classification in an age when other institutions no longer do.”

Special Librarians at NALIS will be equipped with the required skills to provide full bibliographic records for material published by their respective government ministries and organisations, thereby enabling the execution of NALIS’ function to create national bibliographic records.

textbooks, several chapters of which were worked on by members of the RGU team.

Alison McLennan, Head of Student Experience from the School of Nursing and Midwifery, said: “Stephen showed an incredible calmness and maturity when faced with what must have been a shocking situation for someone of his age and his modest insistence that credit go to the people who save lives every day does him a lot of credit.

“We were delighted to welcome him back to the university – after his successful completion of the Access To course – and we hope to see him again soon on the start of what is sure to be a successful career in the health care sector.”

RGU Reslife celebrates Re-Fresher’s success

RGU Reslife had a successful Re-Fresher's programme of events, which brought over 500 students together with an emphasis on targeting new arrivals to the university for Semester 2.

Providing opportunities to engage and socially integrate with other students, the programme of events included a ceilidh, SNL Ice Hockey, museum tours, a day trip to Loch Ness and much more.

A significant new initiative was working in partnership with the Aberdeen University ResLife team and the sports teams at both of the city’s universities.

This event held on the Hillhead campus was an opportunity to bring students from Aberdeen and RGU together, to compete and socialise with the emphasis of having fun.

Connor Anderson, ResLife Co-ordinator, says: “The events’ success reinforced the ResLife ethos that students welfare and enjoyment of their living experience, regardless of which institution they belong to, creates a peer network to support students through their academic career.”

Although a side issue, the event ended with a great result for the RGU ResLife team who won this year’s trophy and a unanimous vote for the Sportsmanship trophy went to RGU student Onyedika Ikedinobi (God Will).

Connor adds: “RGU ResLife would like to extend thanks to all who participated and contributed to the event. We look forward to a rematch in September which is already in the planning. Ultimately the winners of the night were the student community of both universities.”

A look at RGU events What’s Next - Postgraduate Study at RGU 23 March 2017 The Sir Ian Wood Building Come along to the front atrium and main corridor to meet with lecturers and learn more about the 20% alumni discount and changed SAAS funding options which allow Scottish domiciled students to apply for a tuition fee loan of up to £5,500 and a non-income assessed living loan of £4,500.

Nutrition and Human Health: From Molecules to Man’ 24 March 2017 Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre RGU academics and students with an interest in the field of molecular epidemiology are invited to the Molecular Epidemiology Group UK (MEGUK) spring meeting entitled ‘Nutrition and Human Health: From Molecules to Man’

Visit to Mexico 25 to 26 March 2017 Mexico City RGU will be attending the 18a Feria de Postgrado to meet with prospective students and discuss scholarships and courses available Visit to Egypt 27 to 31 March 2017 Cairo and Alexandria Jamie Hastings, Regional Manager for Africa, will be visiting Egypt to talk to prospective students about offers and scholarships.

Hermeneutic phenomenology methodology symposium 3 to 6 April 2017 University of Central Lancashire, Preston Find out about the Hermeneutic phenomenology methodology course and symposium which is a joint venture between the University of Central Lancashire and RGU.

Professorial Lecture: Artificial Intelligence and the Future 12 April 2017 Sir Ian Wood Building Professor Chrisina Jayne, Head of the School of Computing Science and Digital Media, will deliver a professorial lecture which will explain the progress of Artificial Intelligence with a focus on machine learning, the successes in practical applications and the possible challenges that lie ahead.

Visit to Saudi Arabia 12 to 15 April 2017 Riyadh David Ashall, Dean of Student Recruitment, will be attending the IECHE event to discuss scholarships and courses with prospective students.

Visit Afternoon 12 April 2017 Garthdee campus A chance in April to experience what it is like to be an undergraduate student at RGU. Future Developed - Annual Degree Student Showcase 19 April 2017 Sir Ian Wood Building Future Developed showcases the cream of the crop of Computing Science and Digital Media student work, from personal projects to coursework components they are proud of.

Visit to Ghana 29 April 2017 Accra Jamie Hastings, Regional Manager for Africa, is visiting Ghana in April where he will meet with prospective students to discuss the various courses and scholarships on offer for September 2017 and beyond. at RGU.