Avenue

28
WHAT’S ON AT:
The General Council
Paper A: Report by the Principal
As I reported in June, we were preparing to finalise and approve our new strategy,
Inspiring People – Changing the World. The strategy was launched in October 2015. Its
focus is People, Place and Purpose, and it is aimed at bringing inspiring people together to
create a world-class environment for learning and teaching, with a desire to discover and
share the knowledge we create to make a difference.
Our strategy plans to take the University to
even greater heights, following our successes
in the last five years, and the story over recent
weeks has already begun to put flesh on the
bones of these ambitions.
The South Glasgow Hospital was opened
by Her Majesty the Queen in July 2015, and
named, significantly, The Queen Elizabeth
University Hospital (QEUH), Glasgow, marking
the University’s important presence on the
site. As previously reported, the QEUH is now
the base for the University-led £20m Stratified
Medicine Scotland Innovation Centre (SMS-
IC), and the site of the £60m University clinical
academic campus.
On 26 October, Jo Johnson, Minister of State
for Universities & Science, visited the QEUH
and announced that the SMS-IC had been
selected as one of six UK regional centres
of excellence by the Precision Medicine
Catapult. The Catapult, established in April
2015 and funded by Innovate UK, is the
UK’s new national innovation centre for
precision medicine. Its aim is to make the
UK the most attractive place in the world
in which to develop precision medicine
tests and therapies. The Scottish centre of
excellence will be led by the University with
investment from all of Scotland’s medical
schools, NHS Research Scotland, and industry
partners Aridhia Informatics, ThermoFisher
Scientific and Illumina. On the same day, the
Minister undertook the ceremonial ‘breaking
ground’ for the new £32m Imaging Centre of
Excellence, housing the UK’s first 7-Tesla MRI
scanner on a clinical site.
Moving to Garscube, the Sir Michael Stoker
Building, a new £23m facility for virus research,
was officially opened. It is home to the Medical
Research Council–University of Glasgow
Centre for Virus Research, one of the UK’s
largest groupings of human and veterinary
virologists.
These developments encapsulate the Place
and Purpose of our strategy, but first and
foremost, they represent the achievement of
our People: without their drive the University
would not be what it is today. And there
are many other examples. They range from
an exciting new collaboration between our
mathematicians and clinicians to create the
Engineering & Physical Sciences Research
Council Centre for Multiscale Soft Tissue
Mechanics, to the important work being
done by the College of Arts through the Arts
& Humanities Research Council project to
compile the first ever Historical Thesaurus
of Scots, and to the work of GRAMNet in
the College of Social Sciences to address
practically, academically and internationally
migrants, refugees and asylum seekers.
While our strategy recognises the value of
our research stars, it also recognises the
value of all our colleagues and the important
part everyone plays in creating a working,
learning and research environment of quality.
Continuing success in the student experience
bears this out. The University was ranked top
in Scotland and third in the Russell Group in
the National Student Survey 2015 as measured
by overall satisfaction.
And as a University, we are committed to being
a good employer and so we were delighted
that the University received formal confirmation
of our accreditation as a Living Wage
Employer in August. The University is also
committed to the Scottish Business Pledge,
a Scottish Government initiative which aims
for a fairer Scotland through more equality,
opportunity and innovation in business. The
Living Wage is part of this initiative and a
formal announcement of our commitment to
both was made on 2 November 2015.
Our international developments in China
with the University of Electronic Science &
Technology of China (UESTC) and Nankai
University are also progressing. We have now
established the University of Glasgow–Nankai
University Joint Graduate School, the first
postgraduate higher education programme to
be set up on a Chinese university campus in
partnership with a UK institution. The school
opened in August, with its first intake of
postgraduates. During her visit to China, the
First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, was present
at a signing to extend our collaborations with
Nankai.
At the UK–China Education Summit in London
in September, Professor Li Yanrong, President
of UESTC, and I signed an agreement in the
presence of the Vice-Minister for Education
China and UK ministers, confirming our
commitment to establish the Joint Educational
Institute (JEI) in Engineering with the UESTC.
The JEI is expected to become a substantial
entity with an anticipated 2,500 students
enrolled (in steady state) in the three new
undergraduate degree programmes.
All of these achievements continue to be
recognised in the wider world. The University
was shortlisted as University of the Year in
the Times Higher Education Awards for the
second consecutive year and we were placed
once again in the top 100 world universities by
both the QS World University Rankings and the
THE World Rankings, the two key international
league tables. In September, the University
received the award of a five stars plus rating
in the QS Stars University Ratings, the first UK
university to achieve this.
‘ I am confident that with our new strategy in place, and our
commitment to follow through on its ambition and targets, we will
continue to progress and strengthen our position as one of the top
UK and world universities.’
1
CURRENT EXHIBITIONS
COMIC INVENTION
18 March to 17 July 2016
Hunterian Art Gallery (Admission charge)
This new exhibition explores the cultural and
historical background of the graphic narrative
and how we tell stories in pictures. Taking us
from the world’s oldest comic to Scooby Doo
and Batman, Comic Invention also reveals
new material central to the history of comics.
Browse treasures from the ancient Greeks to
Hogarth as well as contemporary items.
MOMENTS IN HISTORY
10 March 2016 to 29 January 2017
Hunterian Art Gallery (Admission free)
Explore William Hunter’s outstanding collection
of over 900 16th to 18th century British medals
– a collection considered to be one of the best
in the world. This is the first substantive display
of these medals and it captures moments in
history such as the Reformation, Mary Queen
of Scots, the Union of the Crowns, the victories
of Queen Anne’s reign, Bonnie Prince Charlie
and the Enlightenment.
COMING SOON
SKELETONS: LIFE STORIES
19 August 2016 to 8 January 2017
Hunterian Art Gallery (Admission free)
Come face-to-face with reconstructed
skeletons and discover the impact of life
through the ages as these skeletons reveal the
effects of various living conditions and chronic
diseases on bones. Some of the skeletons
are on loan from the Wellcome Collection in
London and others from different areas in
Scotland.
NATIONAL & INTERNATIONAL LOANS
You can experience items from our collection
in locations throughout the world through our
loans programme.
NETHERLANDS: DRENTS MUSEUM
20 September 2015 to 7 February 2016
Exhibition: The Glasgow Boys: Pioneers of
Scottish Painting.
On loan: three works on paper and fish-knife
and fish-fork by Charles Rennie Mackintosh.
UK: THE BRITISH MUSEUM, LONDON
24 September 2015 to 31 January 2016
Exhibition: Celts.
On loan: Poster for the Glasgow Institute of
the Fine Arts by Margaret MacDonald.
UK: NATIONAL LIBRARY OF SCOTLAND
10 December 2015 to 31 May 2016
Exhibition: Plagues.
On loan: two pieces of medical equipment
and four wet specimens.
UK: NATIONAL GALLERIES OF
SCOTLAND (SCOTTISH NATIONAL
GALLERY OF MODERN ART)
7 November 2015 to 26 June 2016
Exhibition: Modern Scottish Women:
Painters and Sculptors 1885–1965.
On loan: three paintings including Bessie
MacNicol’s Lamplight.
USA: WASHINGTON STATE HISTORY
MUSEUM
16 September 2015 to 23 March 2016
Exhibition: Arctic Ambitions: Captain Cook
and the Northwest Passage.
On loan: 10 Native American/First Nations
artefacts collected on Cook’s voyages.
ABOUT THE HUNTERIAN
The Hunterian is one of the leading university museums in the UK
and one of Scotland’s most important cultural assets. Founded in
1807, it is the country’s oldest public museum and home to one
of the largest collections outside the National Museums.
OPENING TIMES
Tuesday to Saturday 10am to 5pm
Sunday 11am to 4pm
Free admission to the Museum, Art Gallery and The Mackintosh
House. Admission charge for some special exhibitions (free to
University of Glasgow staff and students with valid staff/student
card).
The Hunterian, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ
Tel: +44 (0)141 330 4221
For updates on programmes and events, see
www.glasgow.ac.uk/hunterian.
2
SUPPORT THE HUNTERIAN
The Hunterian Friends scheme offers members
a range of exclusive benefits, including
unlimited access to charged exhibitions.
Hunterian Friends give vital support and make
a direct contribution towards new exhibitions
and galleries, our education and conservation
work, and to new acquisitions. To join, visit our
website: www.glasgow.ac.uk/hunterian.
About the artworks:
1.Comic Invention:
Cover of The Looking
Glass, 1825
2.Comic Invention:
Pablo Picasso, Sueno
y Mentira de Franco
Plate 1, 1937.
All © The Hunterian,
University of Glasgow 2016