August and September saw thousands of prospective students visit the city campus to discover what we have to offer - and we want to thank everyone who took part, providing invaluable support on the day.

These events are the most important dates in the pre-application calendar for showcasing the University to prospective students and their parents. It’s a vital opportunity for academic staff and professional service staff to engage with potential students, and Open Days are major influencers in the prospective student's decision-making process - we want to make sure they leave Dundee and decide to include us as one of the five choices on their UCAS form.

Plus, the open days highlight the reality that Dundee is in fact Scotland’s sunniest city!

Find out more about this year's open days.

Those involved in the Network Refresh project have had a very busy, active summer!

UoD IT has been working on the delivery of your new, ultrafast WiFi and more reliable wired network connection - did you know it's one of the largest network installations in the world?

Here's a quick summary of the latest milestones met:

• Moved city campus student accommodation areas onto the new network
• Launched a new service that allows residents to add streaming and gaming devices to the new network
• Successfully connected the new network to the outside world
• Switched on your new, super-fast WiFi network in the Main Library, City Campus.

Here's a taste of the comments received so far...

“I didn’t think the old WiFi was that bad till I tried the new one in the Library and it makes the old stuff look rubbish.”

“Wow, I think I'll cancel my broadband at home and move into the library - it is so much faster and free.”

Read about the next steps.

Product designers from DJCAD have developed a mirror that estimtes your age based on your reflection - and then plays music from the time you were 14!

Developed as a research prototype that uses online artificial intelligence, the ‘SelfReflector’ has also shown the potential to change the way that people interact with shops - it offers an alternative way for customers to learn more about themselves on the high street by reflecting on how they look, play with different looks, and think about who they are. 

The mirror was on display at the V&A’s Digital Design Weekend as part of the London Design Festival last month, but will be making its way home to Spex Pistols in Dundee soon. 

Read the full story.

A research collaboration led by the University and the Cancer Research UK Beatson Institute has uncovered a common underlying cause in many cases of one of the most widespread forms of skin cancer.

Dr Gareth Inman is one of the researchers from the Division of Cancer Research (School of Medicine) working on the project, which has discovered that the rate of cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (cSCC), a potentially devastating form of the disease, is rapidly rising and has more than doubled in Scotland over the last 20 years. Despite this growing problem, there is relatively little concrete understanding as to what drives these cancers to form. In order to gain a fuller picture of the processes driving cSCC, the multidisciplinary research team examined the cell type from which they originate.

Read the full story.

In September, the pioneering User Centre (part of Computing) celebrated a decade of bringing the benefits of modern technology to the elderly and adults with severe communication disabilities.

The User Centre (in the Queen Mother Building) commemorated its first ten years of innovative research with the unveiling of a plaque in memory of John Gibson, first chair and founding member of the Centre, who passed away last year. 

The event coincided with the announcement of Hollywood actor and former Rector, Brian Cox as the Centre’s first Patron.

The Centre’s research, led by Professor Annalu Waller, is based upon the interaction between the public and the University.

Read the full story.

Read all of the University news at www.dundee.ac.uk/news.

The Dundee Careers fair is a great opportunity for students and graduates to meet local and national employers, from a wide range of sectors, and organisations with further study and professional training opportunities. There will even be on-the-spot interviews! 

Find out more.

Archive Services presents an evening of oral histories, stories and music that explores the commercial world of Dundee. The evening is the third in the Oral History Project series and will feature audio clips, live music, stories and chat covering paying for your shopping through flying tubes, the early days of Groucho’s, the city’s gaming industry and much more.

Hear stories about Dundee’s Nine Trades, photographing the famous and not so famous, and the changing face of the Perth Road.

Find out more.

Back by popular demand, the free Wellness sessions started again last week. The sessions take place on Thursdays and include movement, practical neuroplasticity exercises, meditation and relaxation. The sequences are easily learned by people of all ages and abilities and no special equipment required - just bring yourself and a friend!

Thursdays 12–1pm in the Common Room
Thursdays 5–6pm in the Chapel

£4 students/£5 staff per session/drop-in.

Signing up for the full 12 weeks costs £40 students/£50 staff. 

These are just a few of the events around the University - keep up to date with all of them at www.dundee.ac.uk/events and stay tuned to the weekly What's On email on Fridays.

Books which are not on ReadingLists@Dundee or in current stock can be recommended for purchase by University of Dundee students, researchers or academic staff.

Use the ‘Recommend a Resource’ LibGuide page to make your suggestion.

Research students can now detail within PURE any publications they may have co-authored, any conferences they attended or presented at, any press they may have attracted, any prizes they may have attained, and any datasets they may have helped create. This will allow them to build a complete portfolio or online CV of their experience during the whole of their time as research students at Dundee.

Please encourage your research students to record their publications, prizes and activities on PURE.

Find out more or email the Research Services team for further details.

Last week, as part of their ongoing support for PhD students, CASTLE hosted the first University PhD Welcome Event.

This informal, informative event was attended by over 35 PhD students who began their studies within the last year. The aim was supporting effective transition to PhD study with a focus on empowering students, developing a professional approach to research, and networking.

Key staff, including Professor Tim Newman, Vice-Principal (Research, Knowledge Exchange and Wider Impact), delivered talks highlighting different aspects of the PhD journey. The students left with a strong sense of belonging to a large, supportive and inquiring community.

If you'd like to support your PhD students please encourage them to get in touch with CASTLE. (They also run sessions for staff on being an effective PG Supervisor). 

The CASTLE team has been working with other Student Services staff to produce two new orientation tools for our students. They are designed to point to key information which will help new students to LIVE Smart and LEARN Smart during their transition to university, especially in the first few weeks on campus.

Please tell your new students about these tools, and have a look yourselves as they contain a wealth of information! For more information contact castle@dundee.ac.uk.

We recently welcomed back former members of the University’s Chinese Society who studied here in the late Eighties and early Nineties. Our alumni and their families travelled from as far afield as Hong Kong, China, Taiwan and Canada with others making the shorter trip from Yorkshire and London and in one case, Dundee!

Find out more.

After 24 years of trying, the University Principal, Professor Sir Pete Downes, has won this year’s Staff Golf Competition, the Dow Putter. He recently beat Calum Sutherland (School of Medicine) 3 and 2, playing from the medal tees on the Jubilee Course at St Andrews.

Find out more.

Do you know any students that received a University of Dundee degree in the last two years? 

UoD IT has a job vacancy open to recent graduates. The IT Communications Lead role is part of a two year training programme designed to develop communication skills in the workplace.

Read the job description/apply online. 

You probably say “thank you” more often than you realise, but if there was one person in the University you wanted to thank, who would it be and why? That’s what the External Relations team wants to know as part of Giving Tuesday.

We’re looking for your stories of staff who deserve a special thank you; maybe they helped you tackle a difficult essay, fixed your laptop, gave you advice, or simply listened when you had something to say.

Tell us who you’d thank – email your story to Sophie MacKenzie.

Fourth year Textiles student Scott Hirst would be grateful to staff and students for completing his survey into sustainable swimwear.

Complete the survey.

Fourth year Neuroscience students Caitlin McKay and Kate Morrow need participants for their honours project.

Healthy participants of all ages are required for a study on memory, which will take approximately 1 hour. There will be rewards of sweets and the chance to win an amazon voucher.

Times can be arranged to suit volunteers, but there are exisiting session set up from Friday 10 October onwards.

Contact Caitlin and Kate.