Celebrating our UofG world changers
Professor Sheila Rowan has been honoured with the Philip Leverhulme Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of her outstanding research in gravitational physics and unstinting contribution to the physics community. The Professor of Natural Philosophy is director of the University’s Institute for Gravitational Research. Her research focuses on studies of optical materials for use in gravitational wave detectors. This award recognises two aspects of her stellar career: her landmark work on advancing the detection of gravitational waves and her exemplary scientific leadership and broader contributions to the scientific community and beyond.
Honours, awards and prizes
Gravitational-wave researcher Dr Christopher Berry has been named winner of the Fowler Award from the Royal Astronomical Society. The Fowler Award recognises early career scientists who have made outstanding contributions to their field in astronomy within a decade of completing their PhD. The Society’s citation for Dr Berry’s award reads: “Since the first detection of gravitational waves in 2015, Dr Christopher Berry has made outstanding scientific contributions to the LIGO Scientific, Virgo and KAGRA Collaborations. He has consistently demonstrated world-leading expertise in both data analysis methodology and the astrophysical interpretation of results.”
Professor Quintin Cutts of the School of Computing Science has been named as a Distinguished Member of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) for Outstanding Educational Contributions to Computing. The ACM is the world’s largest educational and scientific computing society, uniting computing educators, researchers, and professionals to inspire dialogue, share resources and address the field’s challenges. As Professor of Computer Science Education, Quintin has long championed the importance of computing in schools for pupils of all ages and worked to understand and address the challenges inherent in learning the discipline.
Glasgow academic Dr Ornela Dardha has been awarded the inaugural ‘Science, She Says!’ award by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation. The award recognises an outstanding young female scientist, not of Italian descent, who has remarkably contributed to the advancement of science and technology and has strong connections with the Italian scientific community. The award is given to candidates from five regions across the world, with Dr Dardha winning the Europe award. Dr Dardha is a Senior Lecturer in Computing Science. Her research concerns programming language foundations.
Professor of Biological Chemistry Jesko Koehnke is one of the finalists of the Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists in the UK. The annual awards celebrate the past accomplishments and future potential of the UK’s most innovative scientists and engineers. Professor Koehnke’s award recognises his work in investigating how life performs the complex chemical reactions leading to the formation of natural products. He uses biochemistry and structural biology to study and exploit the biosynthesis of these valuable compounds, which could be used to make new molecules. Those molecules could create novel types of diagnostics, smart materials, and therapies, including materials to evade antibiotic resistance and treat cancer more effectively.
A Glasgow data scientist has picked up a prize at the first annual Analysts Awards, administered by the Institute of Analytics (IoA). The IoA is the professional body for analytics and data science professionals. The awards were created to celebrate data’s positive impact on business and society and were judged by a panel of data analytics and education experts. Dr Colin Torney, a senior lecturer in the School of Mathematics & Statistics, has been named as the winner in the category ‘Innovative Research and Application’ category for his ground-breaking work on ecological data analytics. His research, which uses machine learning to investigate the movement and population dynamics of wildebeest herds in the Serengeti, will help inform decision-making around conserving and promoting wildlife in the face of human disturbance.
Prestigious fellowships
Two leading Glasgow researchers have been awarded prestigious fellowships from the Leverhulme Trust. Professor Michael Brady and Professor Catherine Steel, both of the School of Humanities, will take up Leverhulme Major Research Fellowships from September 2023.
Professor Michael Brady’s two-year project will focus on the philosophy of post-traumatic growth: He says: “Post-traumatic growth has long been of interest to psychologists and clinicians. And the idea that people can experience positive change as a result of dealing with adversity is a staple of theological traditions, and of art and literature. But philosophers have not given the phenomenon as much attention as it deserves. My project aims to rectify this, and to help us understand better an important claim about human life and human experience.”
Professor Catherine Steel’s three-year project is entitled ‘The Senate of Republican Rome: a new history’. She says: “Republican Rome was a military superpower, and a hugely influential model in later periods of how a society might be successful without monarchs. But we still don’t really understand how its political system combined democratic power with an apparently dominant elite, and this project will, I hope, allow me to show how the Senate played a pivotal role within this complex system.”