BroadeninghorizonsCelebrating our internationalstaff community – page 6

All the world’sa stageIn pictures: the Universityand the Edinburgh FestivalFringe – page 12

Cutting iton equality?Examining the role ofwomen in politics, frompast to present – page 14

Built forsuccessTalking to Royal SocietyHauksbee winner DrSharon Hannah – page 20

Competitionsand noticeboardWin a gift from Walker Slateror find a new flat or holidayapartment – page 22

SUMMER 2010

bulletinTHE UNIVERSITY of EDINBURGH

THE UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH STAFF MAGAZINE

THE UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH STAFF MAGAZINE SUMMER 20102.

welcome...

editorialbulletinPUBLICATION DETAILS

Published by: Communications andMarketing, the University of Edinburgh

CONTACT US

bulletinCommunications and MarketingThe University of EdinburghC Floor, Forrest Hill BuildingForrest HillEdinburgh, EH1 2QL

E: bulletin@ed.ac.ukT: +44 (0)131 651 4325

The University of Edinburgh is mindfulof the environmental impact ofproducing this magazine and seeks tominimise resources wherever possible.This magazine has been printed onRevive 100 Uncoated stock, whichcontains 100 per cent post-consumerwaste and is manufactured at a millthat is certified to the environmentalmanagement system ISO14001.

SUBMISSION DETAILS

If you would like to submit an idea foran article, or tell us about some news,please contact us at the email addressabove in advance of the next deadline.The autumn edition of bulletin will bepublished in October, and the deadlinefor submissions is 30 August.

To keep up to date with newsonline, visit our regularly updatedStaff Bulletin service at:www.ed.ac.uk/news/staff-bulletin.

The University of Edinburgh takes pride in its global reputation and in our

cover story (pages 6–9), we celebrate the contribution of our international

staff community in helping the University make its impact worldwide.

We also explore the ways in which the University is enhancing its provision of

academic feedback to students (pages 10–11), and speak to Dr Sue Rigby

about marketing postgraduate study (page 17).

In our opinion section (pages 14–16) politics is placed under the spotlight,

as two of our academics analyse women’s representation in the field.

You can also enter our Spot the Difference competition (page 24) for the

chance to win a prize from Scottish tweed specialist Walker Slater

(www.walkerslater.com).

Keep up with the latest University news at www.ed.ac.uk/news/staff-bulletin,

where you can sign up to receive the headlines to your inbox.

The Confucius Institute for Scotland brought theBeijing Film Academy’s A Midsummer Night’sDream to the McEwan Hall last year as part ofthe Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Turn to page 12for more Festival images.

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SUMMER 2010 THE UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH STAFF MAGAZINE 3.

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The University Court has appointedDr Kim Waldron as the University’snew Secretary.

Dr Waldron joins Edinburgh from ColgateUniversity, New York, where she has beenSecretary since 2003. An American citizen,

Dr Waldon joined Colgate as Assistant Professor of Geology inJuly 1992, where she held a range of academic and supportroles prior to her appointment as Secretary. The geologist has aPhD from Yale University and was a Postdoctoral ResearchFellowat at the University of Edinburgh from 1990 to 1992.

She said: “I am thrilled and honoured to be appointed to thisvery exciting role. I’m very much looking forward to working withnew colleagues and returning to Edinburgh.”

As University Secretary and Head of the Student and AcademicServices Group (SASG), Dr Waldron will have overallresponsibility for the central secretariat, governance andplanning functions, the registry and student services, as well asStudent Recruitment and Admissions, the International Office,Communications and Marketing and Development and Alumni.

Dr Waldron succeeds Mr Melvyn Cornish who is retiring fromthe University having served as University Secretary and Headof SASG since 2002. She will take up her post in August.

The University’s Principal, Professor Sir Timothy O’Shea,said: “I was extremely pleased to have such a strong fieldof candidates for this position. I warmly congratulate Kimon her appointment and look forward to working with her andwelcoming her to Edinburgh.”

The University Court appoints new Secretary

Four champions enter Sports Hall of Fame

An Olympic shooter, a worldchampion orienteer, a record-breaking swimmer and a

Commonwealth-medal-winning diver arethe latest sporting champions to beinducted into the University’s Sports Hallof Fame.

Joining the roll call of high-achievingathletes associated with the Universityare shooter Bob Braithwaite, orienteeringchampion Jon Duncan, swimmer IanEdmond and diver Sir Peter Heatly.

The University’s Sports Hall of Famewas launched in 2008 to mark theachievements of our sporting alumni. Todate seven leading names in sport havebeen inducted into the hall. Theseinclude Olympic cyclist Sir Chris Hoy;iconic athlete Eric Liddell and worldchampion rower Katherine Grainger.

The Sports Hall of Fame is open only tostudents, graduates and staff of theUniversity. Inductees are recommendedby the University’s Sports AwardsCommittee and approved by the Principal.

To be considered for selection,individuals must have achieved medalsuccess at the very highest level,received more than 100 seniorinternational caps, or made anexceptional and sustained contribution tothe administration of sport at the University.

Bob Braithwaite (BSc Vet Med/MRCVS, 1947)Bob, who came to study at Edinburgh at the ageof 16, has won many national and internationalaccolades in clay shooting, including, a goldmedal at the 1968 Mexico Olympic Games.

Jon Duncan (BSc Geology, 1998)Jon, a former University sports bursar, hastwice won the Vancouver Quaich in orienteeringand became the sport’s first British worldchampion in 2008.

Ian Edmond (MBChB, 2007)Ian, who took two years out of study to focus onswimming, has held multiple records forbreaststroke including two Commonwealth, oneEuropean, two British and eight Scottish.

Sir Peter Heatly (BSc Civil Engineering, 1945)Self-taught diver Sir Peter was a gold medallistat three Commonwealth Games tournaments.He also developed a distinguished career insports management.

From sports union to world stageSpanning four decades of success between them, the new inductees to the Hallof Fame all honed their talents while they were students at the University.

Ian Edmond Jon Duncan

THE UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH STAFF MAGAZINE SUMMER 20104.

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Leading literary names selected for prizes

Four former Man Booker Prizewinners and a debut novelist havebeen shortlisted for the £10,000

fiction award in the University’s JamesTait Black Memorial Prizes.

Literary heavyweights AS Byatt, AnitaBrookner, Kazuo Ishiguro and HilaryMantel have all been nominatedalongside newcomer Reif Larsen.

Contenders for the £10,000 biographyprize include works on literary figuresJohn Cheever, William Golding, MurielSpark and Thomas De Quincey, as wellas an account of the life of British balletchoreographer Sir Kenneth MacMillan.

The Prizes, the oldest literary awards inBritain, are the only book awards to bejudged by scholars and students ofliterature. This year’s winners will beannounced at the Edinburgh InternationalBook Festival in August.

THE JAMES TAIT BLACK MEMORIALPRIZES: THE SHORTLISTS

The fiction award

Strangers by Anita Brookner (Fig Tree)

The Children’s Book by A S Byatt (Chatto)

Nocturnes by Kazuo Ishiguro (Faber)

The Selected Works of T S Spivet by ReifLarsen (Harvill Secker)

Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel (Fourth Estate)

The biography award

Cheever: A Life by Blake Bailey (Picador)

William Golding: The Man who Wrote Lord ofthe Flies by John Carey (Faber)

Muriel Spark: The Biography by MartinStannard (Weidenfeld)

Different Drummer: The Life of KennethMacMillan by Jaan Parry (Faber)

The English Opium-Eater: A Biography ofThomas De Quincey by Robert Morrison(Weidenfeld)

The proposal for a merger betweenthe University of Edinburgh andEdinburgh College of Art (eca) has

been approved by Senate.

In working more closely together, bothinstitutions can potentially benefit fromadditional income streams, enhancedfacilities and services, increased publicimpact and new programmes of study.

If the merger goes ahead, a jointprogramme board co-convened by theprincipals of each institution will overseethe project. Each institution will also haveits own steering group, and joint workinggroups in diligence/transition,communications/consultation and legalissues will support the project.

The work of these groups will culminatein a recommendation to the governingbody of each institution at the beginningof session 2010–11. There will then be aformal proposal to the Scottish FundingCouncil and the Scottish Government.The earliest date for a merger would be1 August 2011.

Senate approves merger

Around 120 long-serving staff members attended a reception held in theirhonour at the Informatics Forum earlier this year. The event recognised thecontribution of employees who have been with the University for 25 years

or more. There are 518 employees at the University who hold a minimum 25years service. The University’s longest serving members of staff are GordonTurnbull of the School of Physics & Astronomy and Brian Cameron of the Schoolof GeoSciences. The pair share a 46-year anniversary having started employmentat the University on the same day.

Reception celebrates long-serving staff

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generalupdates

Students select best in teaching

The School of Informatics hasbeen named Best Departmentin the second annual EUSA

Teaching Awards.

The award was one of 13 given out incelebration and recognition of teachingexcellence at the University. Othercategories included Best Course, BestOverall Performer, Best Feedback andBest Research Supervisor.

A student panel selected the winnersfrom 3,262 nominations made exclusivelyby students. A total of 420 academic

staff, 155 courses and 55 departmentswere nominated for awards.

Professor Dai Hounsell, Vice-PrincipalAcademic Enhancement, said: “This isan absolutely magnificent initiative. I thinkit’s helped change the way that we lookat teaching in the University. It’s nudgedus into recognising the absolutelyoutstanding teaching that’s done bymany of our colleagues, but it’s alsocompelled us to acknowledge just howmany excellent teachers there are acrossthe University.”

Winners and runners-up

TEACHING REVIEWS

The following programmes will be reviewedduring the academic year 2010/2011: AsianStudies; Ecology; European Languages &Cultures; Islamic & Middle Eastern Studies;Linguistics & English Language; Medicine;Nursing Studies; and Social Work. Thereview’s focus is based on the informationsupplied by the Schools. Staff members orstudents with concerns about the review cancontact Dr Tina Harrison, Director of AcademicStandards and Quality Assurance(tina.harrison@ed.ac.uk).

AWARDS DEADLINES

The closing date for nominations for both theTam Dalyell Prize and the Principal’s Medal is10 September. The Tam Dalyell Prize rewardsstaff members who have demonstratedexcellence in engaging the public with science.Nomination details are available from Deepthide Silva Williams (deepthi.dsw@ed.ac.uk).

The Principal’s Medal recognises individualsor teams who have made a significantcontribution to support or benefit the citycommunity or beyond. More information isavailable from Jenny Buchanan(jenny.buchanan@ed.ac.uk).

BICYCLES+ EXTENDS AVAILABILITY

The University’s Bicycles+ scheme is nowopen to staff all year round. Bicycles+ is theUniversity’s cycle-to-work scheme and is nowbeing run with the assistance of Governmentinitiative Cyclescheme. It enables employeesto hire bike and safety equipment worth up to£1,000 over a 12-month period, by makingtax-free payments from their monthly salary.

CLARIFICATION

In the 2010 spring edition of bulletin, wereported that robotic project Cybraphonhad received a BAFTA Scotland award.The project was created by the FOUNDCollective, which included Professor SimonKirby and Barry (Ziggy) Campbell from theSchool of Philosophy, Psychology andLanguage Sciences.

�Best DepartmentInformatics (winner)Chemistry (runner-up)

Best CourseFinancial Services Marketing (winner)Environmental and Community Biology(runner-up)

Teaching in an International ContextYoko Takahashi, Japanese (winner)David Price, Centre for International PublicHealth Policy (runner-up)

Best FeedbackFabian Hilfrich, History (winner)Paul McLaughlin, Biological Sciences (runner-up)

E-LearningPhil Scott, Informatics (winner)Simon Bates, Physics (runner-up)

Innovative TeachingMark Aspinwall, Politics and InternationalRelations (winner) Sarah Colvin, German (runner-up)

Vitae Best Postgraduate Who Tutors Sean Brocklebank, Economics (winner) Richard Brodie, Social Policy (runner-up)

PricewaterhouseCoopers TeachingEmployable SkillsDavid Reay, GeoSciences (winner)Tonks Fawcett, Nursing Studies (runner-up)

Best Research SupervisorRichard Taffler, Business School (winner)Jan Penrose, Geography (runner-up)

Robert Kendell Award for Teaching inMedicine and Veterinary MedicineSusan Kempson, Preclinical Veterinary Sciences (winner) Graham Pettigrew, Veterinary BiomedicalSciences (runner-up)

Simon van Heyningen Award for Teaching in Science and EngineeringPaul McLaughlin, Biological Sciences (winner)Colin Anderson, Engineering (runner-up)Tom Bruce, Engineering (runner-up)

Ian Campbell Award for Teaching in theHumanities and Social SciencesDimitri Tsintjilonis, Social Anthropology (winner)Lotte Hoek, Social Anthropology (runner-up)

Overall High PerformerRichard Milne, Biological Sciences (winner)Claire Hagget, Geography (runner-up)

THE UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH STAFF MAGAZINE SUMMER 20106.

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The fresh talentNatalia Vergara Camelo (Colombia), Publications Assistant, the International Office

“My background in Colombia is in industrial design,although I was more involved with graphic design. I wanted to explore web design and newtechnologies, so I applied to the University’s MScin Design and Digital Media. I always dreamt ofdoing a masters degree abroad and I wanted toimprove my English. While I was doing mymasters I worked as a clerical assistant in theInternational Office. I had the option of stayingin Edinburgh after my degree because of theFresh Talent scheme, so when the Officeadvertised for a publications assistant, Iapplied for the job and got it.

“The fact I was a student at the Universitymeans I can offer some input into studentmatters like immigration-related topics, for example. I can also relate to theperception of international students whenthey attend recruitment fairs.

“From what I’ve seen of Scotland, I thinkEdinburgh is the best place to live. Thequality of life is very different fromwhere I’ve lived before – Bogota, thebiggest city in Colombia, and London.I’m not a big-city person.”

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From Argentina to Armenia, Senegalto Saudi Arabia, the University’sstaff community of almost 8,000 is

recruited from more than 130 countriesworldwide. The University’s ability toattract the best global talent helps it tomaintain its position as one of the top 25higher education institutions in the world.In recognition of this, the University hasoutlined in its Strategic Plan 2008–12 thatincreasing the number of internationalapplications for academic posts is animportant priority.

Sheila Gupta, the Director of HumanResources, explains: “It is vital for aresearch-led, global university to be ableto attract the very best staff and students,and to do this you need to recruit aswidely as possible. There’s a strongbusiness case to be made for drawingstaff from as wide a talent pool aspossible to build a critical mass ofknowledge. The more first-class staff youhave, the more you are able to attract.”

The 2007 Universities UK report TalentWars states that the outflow of senior-level UK academics slightly exceeds thenumber of those entering the UK highereducation sector, demonstrating why it iscrucial that the University can competefor the best international talent. Thereport also identifies that a programme ofeducation reforms across a wide rangeof countries offers increased competitionfrom the universities within the homenations of sought-after academic talent.

The University’s Human Resources teamis looking at new and innovative ways todevelop a more targeted recruitmentstrategy to attract the very bestinternational staff and to support them

from early on in the recruitment processright through to their first few workingmonths with the University and beyond.This will include the provision of adedicated and tailored website to providea wide range of information andguidance for staff as well as a morecomprehensive and structured relocationassistance programme.

Melanie Macpherson, who joined theUniversity’s HR team in April as a PolicyLead in Recruitment, says: “At themoment we are looking to develop amore consistent and comprehensivestrategy targeted at this group of staffand one which can be broken down intoa suite of policies and practicesspecifically designed to attract andsupport the international staff agenda.”

Melanie commends the current provisionfor welcoming international students tothe University and is hoping to implementsimilar support for new international staff.

“It’s about performance,” she explains. “Ifwe can help employees and their familiesget up to speed and be comfortablequickly with life in the UK, they’re goingto perform at work better in a shorterspace of time.”

Melanie adds: “While we are not yetexperiencing widespread recruitment andretention difficulties, there are growingareas where recruitment is becomingmore challenging and in the longer termskills shortages may become a very realfactor. We are not just competing againstour UK university peers but against otherworld leaders. It is an enormous globalplaying field and we need to continue toensure we are in a position to competewith the very best.”

Our internationally diverse staff community makes a vital contribution to the University’s respectedglobal reputation. Claire Simpson explores thebenefits of being an international employer and talks to six employees from five different continents.

Sethu Vijayakumar (India), Professorof Robotics, the School of Informatics

“As an undergraduate I studiedapplied maths and computer sciencein India. Then I did a masters and PhDat the University of Tokyo, Japan, andI was a postdoctoral researcher for ayear there at the RIKEN Brain ScienceInstitute. I moved to Los Angeles in2000 and was based at the Universityof Southern California for nearly fouryears before I came to Edinburgh.

“Moving from the US to Europe is abig step for an academic, particularlyin the field of robotics and computerscience, and Edinburgh, I felt, was acut above the rest. Edinburgh has oneof the top schools in the world. It isrenowned as the place where artificialintelligence research originated andtherefore has a very strong history inthe subject, and also a strong cultureof interdisciplinary research.

“My diverse academic trajectoryacross different cities and cultures hasheld me in good stead because now Ihave collaborators all around theworld. As a professor in a leadinginstitution like Edinburgh, yourresearch is constantly being judgedon an international standing and you have got to cut it with the rest of the world.

I think Edinburgh feels a bit like homenow. I have a large research grouphere and I have an exciting andengaging group of academic peers.I’m very happy with where I’m goingboth academically and socially.”

The academic nomadBroadening horizons

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The settled scholarShenxiao Tong (China), Liaison Librarian, the School of Languages, Literatures and Cultures

“I came here in May 1993 under Chinese Governmentfunding to do research and improve my knowledge ofEnglish language and literature. By the end of my one-yearvisit, I received scholarship assistance to enable me to doa PhD in English Literature. Towards the end of my studiesI was employed by the University to look after the EastAsian collection.

“My work mainly involves supporting Chinese andJapanese studies and I am especially responsible fordeveloping Japanese and Chinese collections. The rolemakes best use of my own cultural background and alsomy knowledge of the English language. I enjoy the cross-cultural contact.

“I maintain a close connection with China. In 2007, theUniversity went to Beijing for a ceremony to mark theachievements of Chinese graduates. I helped with thecommunication and interaction with Peking University.

“I am impressed by the peacefulness and beauty of theScottish landscape and the friendliness of the people.Scotland is my second home.”

“I did a PhD at the Norwegian University for Science andTechnology, also known as NTNU. In Norway, as a PhD studentyou’re a member of staff and some of the work I did wasengagement-type activity and CPD development. With Norwaybeing a small and wealthy country, you get a good grant to go abroad, so I came to Edinburgh. My supervisor hadconnections here with the Research Centre for Social Sciences,which is hosted within the University’s Institute for ScienceTechnology and Innovation Studies.

“I fell in love with the city and a colleague and decided to stay.After my postdoc I also decided I didn’t want to continue anacademic career. I wanted to do something with shorter

deadlines and quicker results and I wanted to work with people more.

“I got a job at Edinburgh Research and Innovation as ResearchDevelopment Officer and then moved on to knowledgeexchange after a couple of years. I encourage academic staff to engage more with the wider world, which includespolicymakers, practitioners, business and the public.

“There’s a lot we can benefit from in engaging globally,particularly as a small country. A university should operate on a global scale. In Norway, Edinburgh is perceived as aninternational university, and a world-leading university. I’m proudto be working here.”

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The flourishing fellowAmy Buck (US), Advanced Research Fellow, Centre for Infection, Immunity and Evolution

“I did my PhD at the University of Colarado, working on thebiophysical properties and functions of ribonucleic acid (RNA).I wanted to move this work into the area of virology andinfectious diseases and was interested in doing a postdocabroad. I made contact with Professor Peter Ghazal who is thehead of the University’s Division of Pathway Medicine.

“Peter hired me on a project related to nucleic acid biosensors,which was right up my alley and helped me gain moreexperience in technologies at the Division of Pathway Medicine.While I worked on the biosensor project I wrote a Marie CurieInternational Fellowship.

“I’ve recently been awarded an Advanced Fellowship throughthe Wellcome Trust Centre for Immunity, Infection and Evolution.This has been a very fun role because the Centre is aimed atbridging different disciplines. It’s very rewarding when otherpeople are interested in your work and you can feed off eachother, learning about other people’s systems and sharing ideas.It takes everybody further.

“I thought Edinburgh would be a wonderful place to live for acouple of years. I hadn’t planned on staying but the city and theUniversity both have a lot of appeal.”

The sought-after specialistAfeosemime Adogame (Nigeria), Professor of World Christianity, the School of Divinity

“My connection to the University of Edinburgh began when Iwas involved in research and teaching in Germany. On aLondon fieldwork trip in the mid 1990s, I was looking forliterature about different African churches in the UK and Europe.I visited all the major academic libraries in the UK – theUniversity of London, King’s College, Oxford, Cambridge – butfound nothing. My last stop was the University of Edinburghbecause I’d heard of its Centre for Christianity in the Non-Western World. I found a lot of what I was looking for here.

“It was actually in 2005 that I got to hear about the WorldChristianity Lectureship. Strangely I heard about it in Tokyo,where I was attending a conference. Colleagues from Edinburghapproached me and said they’d been thinking of me for the role.It was a big transition to go from a very obscure university town,Bayreuth in Germany, to a bigger city but it was a good one.

“I’m presently the General Secretary of the African Associationfor the Study of Religions, which is a transnational organisationthat cuts across all continents. It gives me the chance tonetwork. The Association is interested in collaboration betweenscholars on both sides of the Atlantic, building networks andrelationships and intellectual exchange.”

THE UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH STAFF MAGAZINE SUMMER 201010.

feature Forward thinking on feedback

The labyrinthian second floor of theUniversity’s William RobertsonBuilding belies the open and

accessible teaching environment that itsresident History teaching staff are strivingto create. While visitors may find thebuilding’s series of interlinking corridorsdifficult to navigate, once they reach theirdestination an open-door policy isimmediately apparent.

Fabian Hilfrich, a lecturer in AmericanHistory, remarks: “In general we are veryaccessible and although some colleaguesare more so than others, we doencourage students to come and talk to us if they have any questions.”

History’s Fabian Hilfrich has beencredited by students for his efforts in

delivering constructive feedback. Hereceived the student-nominated EUSATeaching Award for Best Feedback as aresult of introducing non-written skillsassessment into his United States andVietnam course. He marks students ontheir presentations in class, as well astheir general verbal participation.

“I’ve given students extensive feedbackon their non-written skills and I do thinkthey’ve found it helpful,” he explains.“Non-written skills have traditionally beenvery hard to second mark and externallyexamine, which is why colleagues haveshied away from doing this, but with theencouragement from our Director ofUndergraduate Studies and the College,some of us have started experimentingwith it, and students like it.”

Quality and regularevaluation of a student’swork plays a vital role intheir academic growth.Claire Simpson reportson the Universityinitiatives designed tosupport teaching staff to further the potential of their students.

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include elective feedback, wherestudents have the option to requestcomments on specific areas of their work when handing in an assignment;peer and self-generated feedback, wherestudents are encouraged to support andevaluate each other’s work in class; andexemplars, model exam answers oressays.

“It’s about working smarter rather thanharder,” Dai comments. “You canimprove the feedback you’re givingwithout making additional demands uponyourself. Feedback is intrinsic to theteaching and learning process.”

EUSA’s Evan Beswick adds: “We’re longoverdue an institution-wide refresh ofcourses to make them much morerelevant to the 21st century and to a large and diverse student body, and now is a great time to do that.”

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You can improve the feedback you’re givingwithout making additional demands upon yourself.Feedback is intrinsic to the learning process.

Professor Dai HounsellVice-Principal Academic Enhancement

Student feedback is of specific concernfor EUSA, which is working alongside theUniversity’s senior officials to improvesatisfaction in this area. The Universityhas, in the past, underperformed in theNational Student Survey in this area and,as Evan Beswick, EUSA’s Vice-Presidentfor Academic Affairs, explains, longturnaround times and variability of quality are anecdotally areas that need to be improved.

“Students who have been part of reallypositive feedback processes recognise how valuable it is,” he adds. “The valueof feedback is in the professional andexperienced analysis of a student’s work”.

Conflicting pressures brought on byresearch commitments, administrativetasks and teaching responsibilities cansometimes present obstacles to staff whowould like to devote more time todeveloping feedback processes.Professor Dai Hounsell, Vice-Principal

For the past 18 months, the Vice-Principal has been driving a number ofmeasures to help support Schools in thisarea, beginning with encouraging Headsto create a feedback action plan, specificto their subject’s own academic needs.

“The results are deeply impressive,” says Dai. “Schools are introducing animaginative array of strategies tostrengthen and enlarge the opportunitiesfor students to get quality feedback ontheir work.”

To support teaching staff, the University is launching a Feedback Standards &Guiding Principles document, which setsout an expected standard for preparingand delivering feedback. It will besupported by a planned online resourcethat will share examples of best practice.

Additionally, a review of the University’sacademic structure could help to factorfeedback into the learning process atpoints when the student can really benefit.

feedback standards

1 Every course will provide opportunities for students to receive feedback on their performance and achievements.

2 Feedback will be prompt, informative and helpful.

3 Course and programme documentationmust inform students when, where andhow feedback is offered.

4 Assessment expectations, standards andmarking criteria should be clearlycommunicated to and discussed withstudents.

5 Students are expected to take careful noteof feedback and apply it to their learning.

6 All teachers and assessors are expectedto reflect upon, review and update theirexpertise.

7 The provision of feedback must beregularly monitored in quality assuranceprocedures and issues identified must beacted upon.

Taken from the University of Edinburgh’sFeedback Standards & Guiding Principles.

For more information, visitwww.tla.ed.ac.uk/feedback.htm.

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Academic Enhancement, acknowledgesthis and has placed the improvement offeedback at the heart of his agenda.

“Part of me thinks student dissatisfactionwith academic feedback reflects thechanging nature of universities. We’ve gotstaff who are under various kinds ofpressures to achieve in many differentways. Our student population hasincreased significantly too. When I camehere in 1985, there were about 8,000students and now there are about 27,000students. That’s a huge difference.”

“With our semester-based teachingstructure, what classically happens is thatassessments crowd towards the end ofthe semester, which can create problemsfor feedback because often it does notcome back in time for the exam,” Daipoints out. “So what we’re encouragingstaff to explore is making feedback ‘feed-forward’, as it does in doctoralsupervision.”

Dai is also keen to promote teachingmethods that build feedback into thelearning process. Examples of this

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All the world’s a stage

The University’s connection tothe Edinburgh Festival Fringecan be traced to the 1950s

when a group of students opened adrop-in centre, which was used bymany performers in need of cheapfood and a bed for the night. Thefollowing year, the students set up inOld College a central box office andcafé for performers. Today, theUniversity offers space and venuesfor Fringe productions from all overthe world. Last year, 686,431University campus festival ticketswere sold by tenants includingUnderbelly, Pleasance, Assembly andC Venues. Also in 2009, 19,473attendees passed through FringeCentral at Appleton Tower.

The University’s involvement in theEdinburgh International Festival, theEdinburgh Festival Fringe and alsothe Edinburgh International ScienceFestival is coordinated by theFestivals Office. Based at PollockHalls, this team of three works allyear round, ensuring the smoothtransition from University campus toa bustling centre for one of theworld’s biggest arts events.

Clockwise from above: the Informatics Forum is atthe heart of the action;performers promoting theirshows; Bristo Squareilluminated, ready for thedrama of Festival nightlife

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Clockwise from top left: shows aplenty atBristo Square; the University plays host tothe Underbelly Hullaballoo; Chineselanterns brighten up George Square; theBeijing Film Academy’s 2009 productionof A Midsummer Night’s Dream; theMcEwan Hall gains a new neighbour

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opinion...

It was an election thatseemingly rewrote UKpolitics and promised

a ‘new politics’. But, inone respect at least, the face of Britishpolitics has remained unchanged: it islargely white and male. The new PrimeMinister and Deputy Prime Minister arewhite men, as are all but four membersof the new coalition Cabinet. The numberof women elected to Westminster did riseto a record high, but in the overall contextof women’s minority status in politics,that is not saying much: it adds up to an increase of just 16 female MPs, and a total of 142 (22 per cent). In otherwords, 78 per cent of the new parliamentis male.

The 2010 election campaign was markedby the curious absence of femalepoliticians: there were no womenpromoting party manifestos, makingspeeches or representing their parties inthe media. Senior Westminster figuressuch as Labour’s Harriet Harman andYvette Cooper, and the Conservative’s

Theresa May, were largely invisible in thecampaign. The same was true inScotland where high-profile candidatessuch as former Scottish executiveministers Margaret Curran and CathyJamieson received little coverage. Theinvisibility of political women was muchdiscussed by feminist mediacommentators and women’sorganisations, but with little discernibleimpact on the political parties.

Much of the blame rests with the‘presidential-style’ campaign forrelegating female politicians andwomen’s issues to the sidelines. The2010 election was dominated by thetelevised leaders’ debates. Based on theUS Presidential television debates, theywere introduced to inject ‘new life’ intothe election campaign process. Theywere groundbreaking as a UK media‘first’ but were depressingly familiar inother respects. The all-male UK politicalleaders and the all-male Scottish politicalleaders were put through their paces by

Yes, says Dr FionaMackay (School of Socialand Political Science)who argues that UKpolitical parties need todemonstrate a greatercommitment to genderdiversity, while Dr EstherBreitenbach (School ofHistory, Classics, andArchaeology) charts thehistorical progress ofwomen in politics.

Fiona Mackay

Cutting it on equality: are women still tied back in UK politics?

>> page 16

Illustration: Harvey Dingwall, Edinburgh College of Art

“There is substantial international researchevidence that women candidates face significantbarriers in the political recruitment process.”

SUMMER 2010 THE UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH STAFF MAGAZINE 15.

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It wasn’t until 1928that the UK achieveduniversal franchise.

In 1918 only womenover 30 got the vote,and this partial

enfranchisement was the culmination ofdecades of campaigning for women’ssuffrage. During this landmark year,women were also enabled to stand forParliament, a right they have exercisedever since, although women’srepresentation in Parliament remainedlow throughout the 20th century. Only in1997 did significant advance occur, withwomen comprising 18.2 per cent of allMPs elected, almost doubling the 9.2 percent achieved in 1992.

In 1918 several suffragettes stood forelection, among them ChristabelPankhurst in Smethwick and EuniceMurray in Glasgow, though both wereunsuccessful. The first woman elected toWestminster was Constance Markievicz,in December 1918, but as a Sinn Féinmember she did not take her seat. NancyAstor, elected at a by-election in 1919,

was the first woman to do so. MeganLloyd George and the Duchess of Athollbecame Wales’ and Scotland’s firstwomen MPs in 1922 and 1923respectively. Margaret Waring, elected in1929, was Northern Ireland’s first womanMP. Though there were few female MPs in the inter-war years, several becamegovernment ministers, with MargaretBondfield, appointed in 1929 as Ministerof Labour, being the first female CabinetMinister.

The record of women serving ingovernments is thus a long one, and theUK has of course achieved the distinctionof having a female Prime Minister, even if the legacy of Margaret Thatcher is anambiguous one. She herself was noactive promoter of gender equality,though other women MPs have beenprominent champions of policiesbenefiting women – for example, EleanorRathbone, who fought for familyallowances, Barbara Castle, who saw theEqual Pay Act through Parliament, and,more recently, Labour MPs, such asHarriet Harman, who have been active

advocates of policies to combat violenceagainst women.

Historically, women’s representation informal political institutions has been thefocus of organised action by womenacross the UK. Many suffrage societiesbecame Women Citizens’ Assocations orSocieties for Equal Citizenship after 1918,aiming to secure votes for all women,and to ensure women’s representation inParliament and local government. At thesame time women’s membership ofpolitical parties increased. As fundraisers,organisers of social events and politicalpropagandists, women played a crucialrole in sustaining party organisation.Nonetheless, a distinct gender division oflabour remained within parties, andwomen seeking selection as candidateswere often discriminated against.

Recently, the issue of women’srepresentation has become increasinglysalient. The Scottish devolution campaignof the 1990s brought it particularly to thefore, resulting in measures which led to aScottish Parliament with 37.2 per cent

EstherBreitenbach

Cutting it on equality: are women still tied back in UK politics?

>> page 16

“As fundraisers, organisers of social events and political propagandists,women played a crucial role in sustaining party organisation.”

THE UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH STAFF MAGAZINE SUMMER 201016.

opinion...

all-male media presenters. Most of thecampaign media coverage concentrated onthe party leaders, or the outfits and activitiesof their wives. Headlines such as ‘DisparateHousewives’ and ‘Election War of the Wives’signalled a step change in media interest inpolitical spouses, and the deliberate and high-profile deployment of wives as campaigning

tools by political parties. On the one hand this is modern andfurther evidence of a new presidential style; it is also the casethat the ‘First Ladies’ involved are more Michelle Obama thanLaura Bush. However, the predominant portrayal of women asspouses, playing subsidiary, traditional gender roles marks anew nadir. It does an injustice to the female politiciansairbrushed out of this campaign; and it belies the variety anddiversity of women’s lives in modern UK society.

This was an election that could have been so different and thefailure to make significant headway on this issue is a wastedopportunity. The unusually high number of MPs leavingParliament at this election – around one in five – presented aonce-in-a-generation chance to improve the diversity of theCommons, including greater gender balance. All politicalparties espoused their support and the number of womenselected for winnable seats was higher than ever before. Theoverall outcome is, however, less impressive: across theparties, the average percentage of female candidates fielded

rose only marginally from 20 per centto 21 per cent. The percentage of

women MPs elected has risen

women MSPs in 1999 (now down to 34.8 percent). In Wales, women’s representation hasturned out to be even higher – 50 per cent atthe 2003 Welsh Assembly elections, andcurrently 47 per cent. In Northern Ireland,serious political divisions and periods of directrule have made it particularly difficult forwomen to participate in formal political

institutions. However, they demonstrated both their spirit andingenuity in creating the Northern Ireland Women’s Coalition,which helped shape the 1998 Good Friday Agreement and toopen up more opportunities for women in politics.

In Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, women used theopportunity of constitutional change to good effect. Now thatthe 2010 UK election has provoked renewed debate aboutconstitutional change – concerned both with voting systems

and the distribution of powers within and between politicalinstitutions – new opportunities to claim equality of representationare likely to arise. Feminist historians have mounted a determinedchallenge to the previous historical orthodoxy that women’sgaining of the vote had little impact on political life in the UK untilthe late 20th century. Women in fact demonstrated throughoutthe century a continuing commitment to active citizenship bothwithin the sphere of formal political institutions and politicalparties and within the wider sphere of civil society, and for thisreason we can expect the demand for parity in politicalrepresentation to continue to be a feature of UK politics.

Dr Esther Breitenbach is a Research Fellow. She is a committeemember of Women’s History Scotland. Her most recent book,co-edited with Pat Thane, is Women and Citizenship in Britainand Ireland in the Twentieth Century (Continuum).

from 19.5 per cent to 22 per cent. Although the Conservativesalmost doubled its percentage of women MPs from 9 per centto 16 per cent, the party fell far short of its 30 per cent target.

The issue of women’s representation is internationally viewed as ‘shorthand’ for the normative goals of inclusive, moderndemocracy, social justice and development. There is substantialinternational research evidence that women candidates facesignificant barriers in the political recruitment process, and thatstrong ‘equality guarantee’ measures such as quotas are mostlikely to result in improvements in women’s politicalrepresentation. The results of the 2010 General Electiondemonstrate how far there is to go to achieve gender parity atWestminster, or even the levels of representation at the ScottishParliament and Welsh Assembly. If political parties in the UK areserious about making real advances, then they must make afirm commitment to further action, including the greater use ofequality guarantees such as all-women shortlists (at presentonly used by the Labour Party). A first step would be to revisitthe recommendations of the recent all-party Speaker’sconference on parliamentary representation. Until then, newpolitics Westminster-style will fail to deliver its promise.

Fiona Mackay is a Senior Lecturer in Politics & InternationalRelations. She also serves as Director of the Graduate Schoolof Social and Political Science. Her most recent book, a co-edited collection entitled Gender, Politics, and Institutions:Towards a Feminist Institutionalism (Palgrave) will be publishedin November. Her piece draws upon a longer election report co-written with her colleague Dr Meryl Kenny.

marketing or advertising to help theirrecruitment, they can use it to assesswhether a little change can help and thendecide whether a School budget mightbe charged with a more intensivemarketing campaign.

How important was the involvement ofCommunications and Marketing in thisproject?It’s been absolutely vital. What it’s begunto do is give us one model where a verylarge university can use a very small setof experts without overwhelming them.

We live in silos in this University.Academics do one thing, administratorsdo another, and people who work for thecentral support services in these expertcapacities do something else. I think ifthe University is to be all that it can be, itneeds to break these silos downbecause otherwise we’re not making the most of the talent that we have.

The Developing Successful EdinburghMasters Toolkit is available for downloadfrom the Communications and Marketingwebsite. If you would like help and advicein launching or promoting yourprogramme, contact Dr Sue Rigby(sue.rigby@ed.ac.uk) or Deepthi de SilvaWilliams (deepthi.dsw@ed.ac.uk).

SUMMER 2010 THE UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH STAFF MAGAZINE 17.

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Why is the Toolkit necessary?I think it’s now widely recognised thatpart of the University’s strategic plan is to develop new postgraduateprogrammes. It’s not that we don’talready have lots of successful masters –we’re very good at providing them – it’sjust that many appeared from valuableideas within academic niches that arenow filled. So what’s left is the next set ofmasters waiting to be developed, andthat process will involve working withSchools and Colleges and using andapplying market analysis.

Many academics are very skilled atteaching but are less experienced when itcomes to assessing what the market canbear. So, we had to take the specialistexpertise available in Communicationsand Marketing and port it much morewidely in a form that we hopedacademics and senior administratorscould absorb and apply.

How did you develop and promote the Toolkit?We spent about 10 months working on a series of guiding principles that wouldhelp people set up masters programmes.We did that with colleagues from all three Colleges and lots of differentinterest groups.

We set up a workshop and invitedacademics from all the Schools who areinvolved in running masters provision.Colleagues from Communications andMarketing gave presentations, as didacademics who had recently set upsuccessful projects. We started to see asynergy between what those academics

had done and what others wanted to do,and with what Communications andMarketing had generated with thisdocument they’d written.

How can people access the Toolkit?The document can be downloaded fromthe Communications and Marketingwebsite. We also ran a second event inScience and Engineering, offering to talkit through with anyone who wants to useit. It’s the IKEA-style ‘how to put togetheryour masters programme’, so for it to beuseful it needs some contextualisation.

How have academics reacted to it?People instantly wanted more. We’veidentified a hunger in the University formore short documents that help peopledo things. The University has become a lot more complicated in the past fewyears, and everybody’s jobs havebecome more complicated as aresponse to that, so it’s useful to have navigating tools.

Will there be follow-up work withCommunications and Marketing?A lot of academics have identified thatwhile it’s worthwhile to do marketresearch and discover a potential marketfor a new interdisciplinary masters, thereis still a need to make people outside theUniversity aware that it’s running.

We’ve produced a generic marketingpackage that’s available to anybody who runs masters programmes.Communications and Marketing will offerit on demand to anyone for low cost. It’sa minimum package but it means that if somebody is interested in trying

Mastering marketingAs Assistant-Principal for Taught Postgraduate Programmes, Dr Sue Rigby is responsible for developing the University’sportfolio of masters programmes. To support academic staff develop postgraduate provision, Sue worked withCommunications and Marketing to create the DevelopingSuccessful Edinburgh Masters Toolkit. Here, she talks us through that process.

THE UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH STAFF MAGAZINE SUMMER 201018.

people news...

people newsProfessor Currie named ‘Woman of Influence’

Candace Currie (pictured first onthe left), Professor of Child andAdolescent Health, was named a

‘Woman of Influence’ by leadingchildren’s charity Action for ChildrenScotland. She was one of 10 femaleScottish public figures to be awarded theaccolade in celebration of the charity’s10th anniversary. Professor Currie is theDirector of the University’s Child andAdolescent Health Research Unit. She isalso the International Coordinator for theHealth Behaviour in School-agedChildren, a research study conducted incollaboration with the WHO RegionalOffice for Europe.

Green champion listed

David Somervell, SustainabilityAdviser with Estates andBuildings, has been named as

one of Scotland’s most inspirationalindividuals in making Scotland moresustainable. He been selected for theScottish Green List 2010, a roll call ofthe top 20 individuals who steerinitiatives that help our environment.

From more than 100 nominations, thefinal 20 were selected by a judgingpanel that included representativesfrom business, academia, communityprojects and the media. Those whomade the list will be invited to join theScottish Sustainable DevelopmentForum and the Scottish Green ListNetwork, which will enhanceopportunities for sharing, developingand lobbying ideas.

The University of Edinburgh was oneof 25 universities to receive a first-class award in the People and PlanetGreen League 2010, and was ranked13th out of 133 UK universities.

Margaret ‘Mags’ Jordan retires from KB HouseAt the age of 76, Margaret Jordan,receptionist at EUSA’s King’s BuildingsHouse, has retired after many decades ofservice. Her manager, Margaret Gray,pays tribute to her service.

There are few individuals that are so wellknown, so well regarded, that theysurpass the need for a surname, but tothe thousands in King’s Buildings Housethat have over the years known MargaretJordan, she will always be known simplyas Mags.

Mags first came to work at the Universityof Edinburgh in 1967. Her influence andcharacter were present even in thoseearly days and she quickly made friendswith many undergraduate students ofwhom she fondly talks and with whomshe still keeps in touch. EUSA took overKing’s Buildings House in 1994 and ayoung Mags, then aged 60, chose toremain working.

Length of service may be admirable, butit is Mags’ attitude that is outstanding.She was recently awarded an honorarylife membership from EUSA, and will

always be held in great affection not onlyby those who have known her in the pastbut by those students and staff whoattend KB today.

Mags’ future plans involve spending time with her own family and possibly her adopted family of the hundreds ofgraduates who regularly invite her to visit them worldwide. She is certainly one of a kind and will be sorely missed at KB. We wish her continual happinessin her retirement.

Mags Jordan

SUMMER 2010 THE UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH STAFF MAGAZINE 19.

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What is your role at the University?

My role is to initiate, develop and advise oninitiatives and programmes to help staffdevelop their skills and expertise in leadingand managing people.

Why does the University need someone to do your job?

To enhance the overall performance of theUniversity’s employees and help them realisetheir potential.

What essential qualities and skills does aperson need to do your job?

Good listening skills, discretion, the ability toinfluence and versatility.

What are the best elements of your job?

Working with a diverse range of interestingpeople across the whole University andrealising that some initiative or programme hashelped someone to do their job better andmore confidently or has contributed to adepartment moving forward.

And the worst…?

Not having enough time to deal with all thedemands for leadership development.

In another life, what job would you do?

Sue Barker’s!!! As a sports interviewer orcommentator I could go to all the world-classsports events.

Role play

If you would like to nominate yourself or a colleague for this slot, please email bulletin@ed.ac.uk.

Name: Lorna Sinclair

Role: Director, Leadership Development

Department: Corporate Human Resources

Leadership honour for the Principal

The University’s Principal, ProfessorSir Timothy O’Shea has beenpresented with the 2009 CASE

Europe Leadership Award.

He received the award in recognition ofthe leadership ability he hasdemonstrated throughout his career,notably through achievements while atEdinburgh, such as the creation of theposition of Vice-Principal Development,and the launch of the University’s £350

million fundraising campaign, the largestof its kind in Scottish higher education.

Kate Hunter, Executive Director for CASE Europe, said: “Professor SirTimothy O’Shea is passionatelycommitted to helping students gainaccess to a quality education and hasworked assiduously to enhance theimage of the institutions he has led byimplementing development andmarketing programmes.”

Celebrated physicist views garden tribute

Peter Higgs, the University’s Emeritus Professor of Theoretical Physics(pictured centre), visited the Dumfries-based science-themed gardenof landscape architect Dr Charles Jencks, where a sculpture of the

Standard Model of Physics pays tribute to his groundbreaking work.Professor Higgs was accompanied by Professor Rolf-Dieter Heuer, DirectorGeneral of the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN), who isin discussions with the architect to design a similar garden at CERN.

THE UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH STAFF MAGAZINE SUMMER 201020.

profile...

Ensuring that things go smoothly ina research institute with hundredsof scientists is no small feat. Yet,

this is something that is all part of DrSharon Hannah’s working day.

As well as being the Centre Manager forthe Centre for Inflammation Research,Sharon plays a role in the running of theQueen’s Medical Research Institutewithin which the Centre is based andwhere some 600 researchers work.

Originally a biomedical scientist, shecompleted her PhD at the University ofEdinburgh in 1992 before becoming aPostdoctoral Research Assistant forProfessor Chris Haslett. Yet, her careertook on a different path when she wasappointed Laboratory Manager at whatwas the University’s then RespiratoryMedicine Unit.

“I enjoyed my time as a researchscientist and fondly remember that benchscience inspires feelings of incrediblehighs when things go well but incrediblelows, followed by defiance, when theydon’t, so I can empathise with mycolleagues who are following a researchcareer path,” she says. “I enjoy theorganisational side of science somanagement was a natural step for mebut my favourite moments are those thatinvolve the award of a grant or thepublication of a paper, against the odds,to colleagues in the Centre”.

Sharon has played a major role inencouraging many young scientists bothat pre-doctoral and postdoctoral level,offering advice on overcoming problems,in addition to managing an annualresearch budget of more than £10 million.

Sharon also played an instrumental rolein setting up the £50 million Queen’sMedical Research Institute (QMRI) atLittle France, which opened in 2005. This included liaising with designers,

architects, technical teams andresearchers and applying for funding.

“The ethos for the QMRI was to bringtogether groups who were separated bygeography but who could be inspirationalto each other if the boundaries could bebridged, and it is lovely to seeresearchers, who were previously basedacross sites and did not see each other,now meet up and go for coffee todiscuss ideas,” she explains.

“It has also been a pleasure and anhonour to see how Professor Haslett’sand Professor Sir John Savill’s originalidea and dream of the Institute hasworked.

“The move to QMRI was viewed byeveryone as a goal not a challenge andwe bonded together and created anInstitute despite tight deadlines. Withoutexception, everyone who moved pitchedin and made the process a joy tomanage, plus set the standard that weare an Institute and we work together.”

Sharon was also selected to receive theRoyal Society Hauksbee Award. Theaward, named in honour of IsaacNewton’s assistant Francis Hauksbee,was given out for the first time this year to 10 ‘unsung heroes’ in science as partof celebrations marking the Society’s350th anniversary.

However, she stresses that it is theteamwork of those around her that hashelped her achieve this recognition.

“I have the privilege to work with manygreat people, often behind the scenes,and the award is very much a reflectionof the unique teamwork by all the supportstaff, which takes place within theUniversity, Medical Research Councilunits, the Roslin Institute and associatedunits. I am very proud of all the teamswhich help me to do my job. The awardbelongs to all of us,” she says.

Built for successTara Womersley talks to Dr Sharon Hannah, one ofthe University’s unsung heroes in science.

DR SHARON HANNAH: CV

1984–1988: BSc Biochemistry, Heriot-WattUniversity

1988–1992: PhD, the University of Edinburgh

1992–1997: Postdoctoral Research Associate,Respiratory Medicine Unit, the University ofEdinburgh

1998: Laboratory Manager, RespiratoryMedicine Unit, the University of Edinburgh

1999–2007: Centre Manager, MRC/TheUniversity of Edinburgh Centre for Inflammation Research

2007–present: Senior Laboratory Manager and Business Manager, MRC/The University ofEdinburgh Centre for Inflammation Research

My favourite momentsare those that involvethe award of a grantor the publication of apaper, against theodds, to colleagues in the Centre.

Alec Ruthven (1953–2010)

James Scott Robson (1921–2010)

SUMMER 2010 THE UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH STAFF MAGAZINE 21.

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Alec Ruthven died athome on 4 February2010. He had morethan 40 years of serviceat the University, havingjoined the departmentof Electrical Engineering

as a junior technician after leaving schoolin 1969.

The Wolfson Microelectronics Liaison Unit was set up the previous year,establishing a research activity inmicroelectronics that continues to thisday. Alec became involved withmicroelectronics during his training andrapidly became a key player in the group,specialising in the bonding andpackaging of devices.

In addition, he helped to establish aseries of clean rooms to provide thecontrolled environment and supportfacilities for microfabrication, culminatingin the custom-designed building for theScottish Microelectronics Centre (SMC).

At SMC, Alec helped to ensure thesmooth running of the clean room facilitiesand provided technical support for theresearch activity. Alec helped hundreds ofPhD students, academics and researchstaff to advance their careers. Hisconsiderable technical knowledge wasalways freely shared and he was happyto help anyone and everyone.

Outside the University, Alec had a veryrich social life. He was an Honorary LifePresident of Carrick Knowe Bowling Club, and his tales from sea anglingexpeditions to far-flung ports such asKinlochbervie and Arbroath werelegendary.

Alec was larger than life in every sense.He had an uncanny knack for gettingthings done in a cheerful way, and hiscontribution to SMC was immense.

Tom Stevenson, Operations Director,Scottish Microelectronics Centre

James Scott Robson,Emeritus Professor of Medicine at theUniversity of Edinburgh,died on 14 March 2010, aged 88. Hisachievements resulted

from his outstanding abilities as aclinician, research worker, teacher andadministrator.

James came to Edinburgh to studymedicine at the outbreak of war in 1939.Three years later he was awarded aRockefeller Foundation Studentship andsailed to America to complete hismedical training, surviving a torpedoattack off the Canadian coast.

In 1944 he graduated MD from New YorkUniversity Medical School and continuedhis studies in Edinburgh, gaining hisMBChB with honours in 1945 and MDwith commendation 18 months later.

From 1945 to 1948 he served as aCaptain with the Royal Army Medical

Corps in India, Palestine and Egypt, andfollowing demobilisation he worked brieflyat Edinburgh Royal Infirmary ClinicalChemistry Laboratories.

During the 1950s James carried outextensive research before helping toestablish Edinburgh’s renal biopsyservice and the Acute Renal FailureService at Edinburgh’s Royal Infirmary.

He became Reader in Therapeutics in1961, Reader in Medicine in 1969, andProfessor of Medicine in 1977. Duringthis time he helped moderniseEdinburgh’s undergraduate medicalcurriculum and made a significantcontribution to postgraduate educationand training.

James was a superb bedside teacher, anexcellent lecturer and a gifted writer. Hedied quietly at home following a period ofhospitalisation. He is survived by his wife,Mary, and two sons.

His colleagues

John Adamson died on5 February 2010. Hejoined the University in1980, as a DentalInstructor in theUniversity’s formerDepartment of

Preventative Dentistry in the then Facultyof Medicine, following 13 years as anorthodontic technician with the EdinburghDental Hospital.

John contributed greatly to theorthodontic technical teaching of BDSstudents and also gave technical supportto the research activities of clinicalcolleagues in the department, as well as pursuing his own research activities in the area of development of novel types of orthodontic appliance forspecific treatments.

When the dental school closed, Johnembarked on his second universitycareer, successfully re-training to become the University’s first professionalOccupational Hygienist. John’s role, to which he took like a duck to water,allowed him to address a wide variety of issues across all campuses of the University.

Whatever task came his way, John could be relied upon to bring to bear the same combination of dedicatedprofessionalism, attention to detail, andcommitment to the wellbeing of our staffand students. These qualities helped him to become a valued member of the British Occupational Hygiene Society, for which he was latterly Scottish Coordinator.

We’ll all miss the great friend and sterlingcolleague who was John. On a personallevel, I’ll sorely miss the comfort ofknowing that any task I asked John toperform would be carried out entirelyprofessionally with the utmostcompetence.

Alastair Reid,Director of Health and Safety

John Adamson(1947–2010)

THE UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH STAFF MAGAZINE SUMMER 201022.

competitions...

The University of EdinburghVisitor CentreNext time you’re in Edinburgh, drop in and see usat the University’s Visitor Centre.Full of great gift ideas and University merchandise, there’salso a bookshop, free information and a great exhibitionpacked with interesting facts about the history of yourUniversity. We’re just next to Potterrow, between BristoSquare and George Square, at:

2 Charles StreetEdinburgh EH8 9AD

T 0131 650 2252F 0131 650 2253E university.centre@ed.ac.uk

Spot the difference

Win a unique tweedtie, courtesy ofWalker Slater, by

identifying the differences in our Spot the Differencepuzzle. Compare the twopictures on the right. Theimage on the far right differsfrom the one on its left. Youare looking for fivedifferences. Circle each oneand send your entry in byMonday 16 August. Allcorrect responses will beplaced in a draw and awinner will be selected at random and notified by email. Send your entryand email details to ouraddress on page 2. Theprevious winner was FionaMackintosh, the School ofLiteratures, Languages and Cultures.

SUMMER 2010 THE UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH STAFF MAGAZINE 23.

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ShowcaseIn every issue of bulletin we profile an item from theUniversity Collections.

Dawn and NightWorkshop of Antonio Susini after Michelangelo c.1600

This is one of a pair of reduced versions ofMichelangelo’s Dawn and Night from the MediciChapel, San Lorenzo, Florence. The originals arepaired with male figures, Dusk and Day. Many smallbronze versions of these sculptures from all periodsexist. These are good copies, and although previouslycatalogued as by an unknown sculptor, wereconvincingly reattributed by Sotheby’s in 1992 to theworkshop of Susini.

Dawn and Night are part of the Torrie Collection heldwithin the University of Edinburgh Fine Art Collectionand will feature in a forthcoming exhibition of Torriesculptures in the Main Library.