News in Brief
November 2007
Univation to Train TOTAL's Managers
Univation, the commercial arm of RGU, is set to provide management training for oil and gas major TOTAL E&P UK Limited. Business management modules will now be available to all TOTAL employees to address specific training requirements, and will also provide the opportunity to obtain an academic qualification.
Participants will be able to select the modules most suitable to their own development, with each module taking 12 weeks to complete. The programme includes Business and People Skills, IT, Finance, Project Management and UK Oil and Gas Law. On successful completion of four modules participants will be awarded a Graduate Certificate in Management, and on completion of eight modules, a Graduate Diploma in Management, with an option to continue studying for an MSc at RGU.
The modules will be delivered to groups of up to 20 participants by Aberdeen Business School with a blend of workshops and supported learning online via the Virtual Campus.
TOTAL will cover all training costs for their staff as well as giving them time off to attend workshops.
Roland Festor, Managing Director of TOTAL E&P UK Limited, said, "We are pleased to be working with RGU as we want to provide new possibilities for our employees to develop and broaden their business skills, and wish the participants every success."
Ian Campbell, Managing Director of Univation, added, "Univation has very strong links with the oil and gas industry. We have the skills in-house to deliver engineering and business training and the tailored corporate programmes that the industry specifically needs. The highly skilled knowledge pool from which we can draw at RGU places us at the forefront of corporate education and training for the industry."
AGR Group Offers Scholarship for Engineering Students
AGR Group, a leading provider of essential services and technologies to the international petroleum industry, is offering a Scholarship to engineering students at RGU.
The AGR Scholarship is open to third year engineering students who will have the opportunity to receive £2000 per year for the final two years of their course. The successful student may also be eligible to apply for a paid placement at AGR.
AGR Group has a worldwide reputation for its innovative, safe and environmentally-friendly solutions to key exploration and production challenges and have established a prime position in a number of sectors.
For further information on this and other scholarships, please visit:
RGU Signs Memorandum of Understanding with Pakistan's Largest Academic Institution
The Aberdeen Centre for Trauma Research, part of the Faculty of Health and Social Care, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the National University of Science and Technology (NUST) in Pakistan to forge higher education links between the two institutions.
The Memorandum will facilitate an exchange between staff and students in their respective countries for the purpose of research and training.
The Aberdeen Centre for Trauma Research has been involved in humanitarian work, as well as training and research, in Pakistan since the earthquake in October 2005. Professor David Alexander (Director) and Dr Susan Klein (Reader) were invited to serve as advisors to the Pakistan authorities, and have been contributing to the recovery programme for survivors of the devastating earthquake with a series of visits to train local mental health personnel, as well as forge academic links between RGU and NUST, Pakistan's largest academic institution.
E-Thesis Takes to the Air
Staff from the Library Service and the School of Nursing and Midwifery recently launched a research project to gauge the impact of disseminating a PhD thesis via RGU's innovative OpenAIR institutional repository system. Dr Colin Macduff's 'e-thesis' looks in depth at how, and why, the World Health Organisation Europe Family Health Nurse concept has developed as it has, and how this has influenced new Scottish health policy.
In order to capitalise on this opportunity to influence policy and practice, the thesis and its associated publications have recently been made available on OpenAIR. Dissemination is being taken forward via a customised publicity strategy. An integral research project evaluating process and impact issues will report findings early in 2008.
The project complements a growing body of research on digital theses being taken forward by Dr Susan Copeland, Colin MacLean, Sheila Scott and colleagues in the Library Service. RGU's leading work in this field will be confirmed in 2008 when the 11th International Symposium on Electronic Theses and Dissertations will be held at Garthdee. The project also forms part of the institutional repository research being undertaken by Susan Copeland, Simon Burnett and Katie Morrison at RGU as partners in the JISC funded 'Embed' project which is being led by Cranfield University.
The thesis can be accessed at:
Contact Colin Macduff via the form on the web pages or by e mail at c.macduff@rgu.ac.uk to offer feedback.
Alice’s Vision Secures Top Architecture Prize
A student at The Scott Sutherland School of Architecture and Built Environment has won a prestigious architecture award for her innovative designs of a new visitor centre at Pitmedden Garden, Aberdeenshire.
Alice Thomson won the 2007 Spectrum Awards – the Pilkington Student Awards in association with Architecture Today – for the best student project exploiting the architectural potential of glass.
Alice's fifth year project, undertaken at the School and overseen by Professors Gökay Deveci and Jonathan Woolf, employs a hierarchy of windows and sliding timber screens to create subtle connections between inside and out, landscape and building, at a new visitor centre at the National Trust owned property.
ABS Delivers Workshop to Prince Andrew in Slovenia
In September Aberdeen Business School delivered a workshop in Slovenia on lifelong learning to a senior level audience including HRH Prince Andrew, as part of the Business Gateway International Lothian Mission to encourage links with the country.
Supported by Scottish Enterprise Grampian, the Business Gateway International Lothian led 12 Scottish organisations to examine the potential for new business contacts and relationships in Slovenia from 17–21 September.
The Mission coincided with the official visit of HRH the Duke of York, the UK's Special Representative for International Trade and Investment. Participants attended a reception hosted by Tim Simmons, the British Ambassador, where Prince Andrew, local dignitaries and targeted business contacts were present. Prince Andrew also attended the workshops.
Gray's Grads Exhibit at Prestigious London Gallery
Two recent graduates from Gray's School of Art were selected to exhibit at this year's prestigious BraveArt 2007 Show, sponsored by Standard Life.
Textiles graduate, Stephanie Forrest exhibited a selection of dresses made from recycled tights, while Kevin Jamieson, a sculpture graduate, exhibited provocative social commentary on a range of topical issues at the Atlantis Gallery, Brick Lane, near the heart of London's thriving east-end art scene from 20 – 23 September.
BraveArt is now in its fifth year and, since its inception in 2003, has received much acclaim and support from the art world. Each year, members of an expert selection panel tour Scottish art schools' degree shows to select a broad, multi-disciplinary body of work. It provides the cream of graduating students from Scotland's four art schools with a unique platform to exhibit their work and establish contact with influential London gallerists, critics and art enthusiasts in order to launch their careers.
Students Put Heart and Soul into COEUR Conference
A group of staff and students from Aberdeen Business School attended a COEUR (COmpetence in EURopreneurship) Business Creativity workshop in Portugal from 17-23 September.
Lecturers Andrew Turnbull and Dr Marzena Starnawska accompanied undergraduate management students - Jordan Lyon, Keith McCrae, Jade Ferries, Angus Greenhorn, Gavin MacKenzie and Grant Keir - to the 4th COEUR student conference, held this year at a mountain top retreat, near Mafra, in Portugal.
A hectic schedule saw the students work together in mixed teams with colleagues from 5 other countries - Poland, Portugal, France, Germany and the Czech Republic - to develop and present a new business idea to a panel of entrepreneurs, academics and businessmen.
Andrew Turnbull remarked, "This year's event had special significance as it was effectively a prelude to the launch of a credit bearing Business Creativity module in the final year of the undergraduate BA (Hons) Management course. The module content and format are closely linked to, and developed directly from, the programme during COEUR week, focusing heavily on the practical aspects of how to implement solutions to perceived consumer problems. Most significantly, ABS students will again be working, this time virtually, with colleagues from partner institutions in the same 5 countries.
"ABS is also keen to acknowledge the assistance provided by the Scottish Institute for Enterprise who kindly provided generous sponsorship to offset a large proportion of the conference costs."
MSP Visits RGU
Lewis Macdonald, MSP visited the University to give a lecture to 2nd year social work students (social policy module) on Monday 1 October. Mr Macdonald discussed his role as a MSP, to offer students the opportunity of a first-hand account of the relationship between the political process and public policy making, an important requirement for social workers.
Second Cohort of PDVSA Students Enjoy Aberdeen
The second cohort of students from the Venezuelan national oil company, PDVSA, arrived in Aberdeen earlier this year to start their intensive English language training with Univation Ltd before starting their Masters programme with the Energy Centre at RGU.
Cultural visits are an integral part of PDVSA's training programme with RGU, encouraging the students to put their new found language skills into practice and giving them a chance to experience the sights, sounds and heritage that Scotland, and Aberdeenshire in particular, has to offer.
The group have been on trips to Loch Ness and the Braemar Gathering on Royal Deeside. Univation staff also accompanied the group to Offshore Europe, which provided a fascinating introduction to the oil and gas industry in Aberdeen, prior to the start of their academic studies at the Energy Centre.
Students Scoop RGU: SPORT Prizes
A prize-draw took place at RGU: SPORT on Monday 1 October for students who had purchased annual membership during September. The lucky winner of the Alpine Bikes Mountain bike was Mechanical Engineering student, Naveed Nekonam. Naveed collected his prize from Filippo Antoniazzi, Director of Sport, at RGU: SPORT on Wednesday 3 October.
There were 11 other prizes on offer: a £50 Alpine Bikes gift voucher, a £30 Alpine Bikes gift voucher, one of 4 Limar cycle helmets or one of 5 Precor goodie bags containing a T-shirt, gym towel, water bottle and pedometer. These were won by Gillian MacLeod, Euan Duff, Alistair MacCulloch, Rory Fraser, Eleanor Clinch, Angela Golder, Linda Lashley, Adam Ackers, Ewan Lutton, Lee Windrum and Robert Strachan.
Gray’s Research Project Disseminated at Scottish Parliament
Staff from Gray's School of Art successfully disseminated the outcome of their Working in Public? research project, supported by the Scottish Art Council, in the Scottish Parliament on Tuesday 25 September. The event, which was facilitated by Nicol Stephen, had over 100 people in attendance, including MSPs, local authority representatives, AHRC, artists, arts administrators and curators.
Student Activity and Lifestyle at Aberdeen
Students are being asked to participate in a study which could make a difference and increase the health and well being of their fellows.
The S.A.L.S.A@RGU study aims to understand the factors responsible for the growing problem of physical inactivity and drinking patterns. It also aims to identify factors that explain differences in behaviour and their changes over time.
Understanding health relevant behaviours and young people's views towards these behaviours is important in identifying possibilities for the University to further support a healthy lifestyle amongst students.
Vera Araujo Soares, who is leading the study, said, "Your participation is important, whether you are engaged in sport or not, whether you drink or not! We need to have a clearer picture of what is happening, and for that we need people to participate."
To take part please log on to:
