| University of Abertay Dundee | |
|---|---|
| Established | 1994 - granted University Status 1888 - Dundee Institute of Technology |
| Type | Public |
| Chancellor | The Rt Hon The Lord Cullen of Whitekirk KT PC FRSE Hon FREng |
| Principal | Professor Nicholas Terry (Acting Principal and Vice-Chancellor) |
| Chairman of Court | Mr Nigel Hawkins |
| Students | 5057 |
| Undergraduates | 4591 |
| Postgraduates | 466 |
| Location | Dundee, Scotland |
| Website | http://www.abertay.ac.uk |
The University of Abertay Dundee, usually known simply as Abertay University, is a modern university in Dundee, Scotland.
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The University of Abertay Dundee was created in 1994, under government legislation granting the title University to the Dundee Institute of Technology. This organisation - focussed on broadening educational access to the working classes of Dundee - was founded in 1888 as Dundee College of Technology. It was recognised as an "industrial university" by the Scottish Office as early as 1902 and gained independent degree-giving authority in the 1970s.
Abertay is situated in the centre of Dundee. The campus buildings include the historic Old College buildings of Dundee Business, an award-winning library, purposely designed scenes of crime teaching facilities, specialist Ethical Hacking labs designed for research into computer Hacking and misuse, and state of the art computer games labs in the Centre for Excellence.
As one of the nation’s smallest universities, Abertay is known for having a tight knit student community of both local talent and international students. Approximately one fifth of Abertay's students are from outside the UK. One of Abertay’s main strengths is in its size, the sense of community and ‘open spaces’approach to learning and teaching results in cross disciplinary research groups, spawning many interesting collaborative research projects, putting together for example psychology and animation, or urban water management and computer games technology.
Abertay was the first university in the world to offer a "computer games" degree in 1997. Today it remains a leader in the field with two major new developments - the creation of the UK's first Centre for Excellence in Computer Games Education, and a business support programme.[1]
The Centre for Excellence is accredited by Skillset[2][3] and has strong links with industrial partners from across the broadcast, interactive and wider digital media sectors. These partners include BBC Scotland, BBC New Media, BBC Visions, BSkyB, Channel 4, Electronic Arts, Realtime Worlds, Codemasters, Blitz, Rare, Sony Entertainment Europe, Microsoft and Disney Interactive Media.
The University has received much acclaim for its "ethical hacking" degree programs; both undergraduate and postgraduate. Recently spending substantial amounts of money upgrading its specialist laboratories, Abertay is at the forefront for research into computer security, and countermeasure development.
The findings of the latest Research Assessment Exercise (RAE 2008) showed that Abertay is the most highly rated modern university in Scotland for research in environmental sciences, law and psychology.
Abertay is also known for its work in areas such as forensic science, environmental systems, mental health and counselling, psychology, food science, biotechnology, and business management. The forensic science teaching facilities include a scenes of crime house and a bank. Abertay researchers made global headlines recently when they published results from their research into recovering fingerprints from fabrics using a technique known as vacuum metal deposition (VMD). It is the first time in more than 30 years that fingerprints on fabrics have been a major focus for research and the team have already had a number of successes using this method.
The research team based at Abertay’s SIMBIOS centre are world renowned for their work with soils and ecosystems with leading academics from around the world having joined the team in recent years. The team work across a number of areas including using soil science to understand climate change.
Abertay organises and hosts the annual international Dare to be Digital games design competition which involves teams of students from around the world competing to create a new game in the space of ten weeks. Working with industry mentors, the teams experience the same studio environment as they would working with a major company - as do the students on Abertay's courses. The winning teams are the sole nominees for a unique BAFTA - the 'Ones to Watch' Award.
Abertay famously offered the world’s first ‘ethical hacking’ degrees,[4] and is one of the foremost centres for computer hacking in the county. Other courses include computing and networking, web design and development, and engineering systems.
The ethical hacking courses, offered at undergraduate and postgraduate level, teach students to hack computer systems. The knowledge base allows students to develop countermeasures to complex security problems, and as a result produce highly powerful computer security systems. The applied approach to security is common to the other courses on offer. These include degrees in engineering systems, which teaches sophisticated computer control of manufacturing processes, and in security informatics using technology to understand and prevent major international crimes.
Abertay's Ethical Hacking Society (EHSociety), is the first student run Hacking Society in the country. Currently meeting every week on campus, it seeks to educate and enlighten members on offensive computer security; its techniques, and its impacts. The EHSociety is currently the most active, and most visible society on campus. In addition, its members represent the University around Europe at Hacking conferences such as Brucon. Securi-TAY was held on the 15th of October 2011, and was the societies first annual Hacking conference. The combination of cutting edge information security research, Ethical Hacking degree courses, and an active Society puts Abertay at the forefront of Hacking culture and education.
The Institute of Arts, Media and Computer Games has links with companies informing the contents of its courses, which range from games programming at the science and technology end to narrative-based animation at the arts end.
All the courses are Skillset accredited [1] with the Institute being awarded Skillset Media Academy [2] status. The Institute’s teaching spaces are like the studio environments used by modern creative companies – games programmers work alongside animators and visual artists, and sound technologists create content for computer games and other interactive media products.
The courses offered by the School of Contemporary Sciences include biomedical sciences, biotechnology, civil engineering, environmental studies, food science, policing and security, and forensic science.
Within the school are highly equipped laboratories for chemical analysis, building and testing engineering solutions, and training forensic science graduates using simulated crimes. The university's Rankin House - a fully furnished flat for recreating crime scenes - was named after and opened by internationally renowned crime writer Ian Rankin.
The SIMBIOS, Abertay Centre for Environment, Urban Water Technology Centre, and Food Innovation@abertay specialist centres are housed in the School of Contemporary Sciences.
Dundee Business School has links with both young and mature industries, such as new media and energy and oil, and staff from a range of academic, professional and industry backgrounds.
Courses available include a range of MBA pathways - including biotechnology, energy, finance and sports development – as well as programmes in accounting, law and marketing.
Courses on offer include psychology, nursing, counselling, sport and exercise, and sociology.
Courses offered by the Division of Psychology are accredited by the British Psychological Society (BPS). This means that students who complete a course of study and meet the requirements of the BPS, are eligible for entry to postgraduate training for professional practice.
The division of nursing and counselling has a dedicated nursing bay on campus for real clinical practice, as well as a counselling suite for students to practice their therapeutic techniques. Video recording equipments allow the review of training sessions, to encourage personal and professional development of student counsellors.
*SIMBIOS
The research team based at Abertay’s SIMBIOS centre are world renowned for their work with soils and ecosystems with leading academics from around the world having joined the team in recent years. The team work across a number of areas including using soil science to understand climate change.
SIMBIOS works collaboratively with the Abertay Centre for Environment (ACE) Eco-partnerships and the Urban Water Technology Centre. Academics and students from ACE Eco-partnerships offer expertise to SMEs to identify commercially viable environmental solutions for their waste and other outputs from products and processes. Research areas include Anaerobic Digestion (AD), Biofuels and Yeast Fermentation.
*Urban Water Technology Centre
The Urban Water Technology Centre works with academics from other areas in the University and industry experts to carry out a number of research and consultancy projects associated with wastewater and environmental management. A current major project involves the creation of a decision support tool for sustainable urban planning.
*Abertay Centre for the Environment
*Food Innovation@abertay
Food Innovation@abertay (FIA) is a practical innovation support service for the Scottish food and drink industry. Based at the University of Abertay Dundee's School of Contemporary Sciences, FIA provides food and drink companies with expert practical support and advice for innovation, as well as access to other useful services and facilities. FIA has worked with over 50 companies on a range of projects, working for example on the reformulation of products to reduce fat and salt.
The following are the main FIA services:
*White Space Research (WhSpR) - a pun, as White Space is primarily for games designers, and white space is the unimportant part of a program's code
*Scottish Economic Research (SER)
Further to the research carried out in Abertay’s Specialist Centres, the University also has research interests in a number of other areas including law, psychology and forensic science.
The findings of the latest Research Assessment Exercise (RAE 2008) showed that Abertay is the best modern university in Scotland for research in environmental sciences, law and psychology.
The latest RAE results 2008 showed that Abertay has significantly improved its overall performance since the last RAE in 2001:
• 35% of Abertay academic staff were judged to be producing research of international quality
• 10% of staff in Earth Systems and Environmental Sciences are working at world-leading standards
• 75% of staff are producing international quality research
• 80% of Law staff are working at international level
• 65% of General Engineering staff are working at international level
Home to Abertay's 4000+ students, this building was constructed in 2005 at a cost of £6 million. The Union sits at the heart of the campus. It is the focal point for student entertainment and recreation and contains numerous outlets including Aroma coffee bar, Bar One, the Sports Bar, Hideout nightclub and Campus Shop.
On the top floor of the building is the Hannah Maclure Centre (HMC), a cafe and art gallery which shows exhibitions from local, national and international artists, as well as hosting university events. The HMC also features a cinema which regularly has free film screenings, which are open to the public.
The University of Abertay Dundee Students' Association[5] (UADSA) is based in the Union on the second floor where the President and Vice-President have their offices. The UADSA co-ordinates all clubs and societies and acts as the voice and representation of all of Abertay's students. Current President is William "Mocko" Mohieddeen and the Vice-President is Simon Patterson.
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