Get Ready for the Vet School Staff vs Students Cyclothon on 11 March

The annual staff versus students cyclothon at the Vet School on the University's Garscube campus on 11 March will head a series of exciting events. Look out for:

  • Learn how to ride a racing bike tutorial by a British cycling coach.
  • Bike Maintenance - indoor tutorials on all things to do with bike maintenance from a professional bike mechanic.
  • Nutritionist- learn all about sports nutrition & healthy eating.
  • Cycle–to–work scheme - information supplied on the University's cycle-to-work scheme.
  • Dr Bike.
  • E-Bike trials.
  • Crafts for anyone that might not be interested in all things bike-related
  • On the indoor big screen - tour de France.
  • Music played through the PA system all day.

 

Self-defence workshop for staff

The Ferguson Bequest is pleased to introduce a one-hour workshop, delivered by Jill Saunders, to help participants in developing skills for personal safety and self-defence. Jill and her colleague will share with you how to improve your self-awareness and give you the skills to allow you to better protect and defend. Jill has previously been employed by the Royal Navy and Police Scotland.

This one-hour workshop is completely free and open to GU staff members only - you do not need to be a member of Sport to attend. Spaces are available on a first come first served basis and are available at Gilmorehill on Friday, 28 February at 1315 hours or Gasrcube on Friday, 6 March at 1300 hours. If you would like to attend, please register using one of the links below:
Gilmorehill: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/self-defence-workshop-gilmorehill-tickets-91972689791
Garscube: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/self-defence-workshop-garscube-tickets-91980880289

 

Last few tickets remaining: Mark Logan Inaugural Lecture

How Scotland becomes a leading global centre for tech start-ups

18 February, 4-6pm. Lecture Theatre 466, Main Building

Scotland was once – temporarily – labelled “The Silicon Glen”. But this was a fragile economy, with few indigenous start-ups to compensate when the large tech companies pulled out. Now, however, with hundreds of early-stage start-ups active in Scotland, and with Scottish businesses like Skyscanner breaking through to large-scale success, the environment is changing. How can Scotland dramatically strengthen and accelerate this fledgling tech start-up economy to create a true Silicon Valley in Scotland? In this inaugural lecture for his visiting professorship in the School of Computing Science, Mark will propose achievable steps to bringing about this goal and argue that the University of Glasgow has a major role in making it happen.

Mark Logan was appointed as Professor of Practice in the School of Computing Science in September 2019. Mark's appointment is supported by the Royal Academy of Engineering's Visiting Professors Scheme for a three-year term. Mark is an active advisor to and investor in start-ups and scale-ups across Scotland and beyond. He was formerly the Chief Operating Officer of Skyscanner, a Scottish tech start-up success story that was recently acquired for £1.4 billion. As part of his visiting professorship, he will be creating a new course within the School on Growth Startup Engineering.

To register for a ticket visit this Eventbrite link.

A drinks reception will be held after the lecture.

 

The Stevenson Trust Presents The Dudley Knowles Lecture in Poloticial Philosophy

Professor Cecile Fabre
University of Oxford

‘Snatching Something From Death – Value, Justice, and Humankind’s Common Heritage’

Respondent: Ranald MacInnes,
Historic Environment Scotland

Monday 17 February at 6 p.m.
Sir Charles Wilson Building

When Notre-Dame Cathedral was engulfed by fire on April 15, 2019, the world (it seemed) watched in horror. When President Trump threatened to bomb Iran's cultural sites in the closing days of 2019, in defiance of the laws of war, he elicited outrage, not just on behalf of Iranians but on behalf of the world at large. The thought that there are landmarks – some human-made, others natural, others still at the intersection of the human and the natural world – which have universal value is a familiar one. It also raises some deep concerns, not least regarding conflicting interpretations of what it means for a landmark to have outstanding universal value, and, relatedly, regarding the risks of undue cultural appropriation, particularly on the part of former colonial or quasi-colonial powers towards peoples and territories which they once held in their grip.

Nevertheless I argue first that there are cultural and natural landmarks which are universally valuable, such that they together constitute our common heritage. Second, I seek to show that the protection of humankind's heritage, qua humankind's, not only is a moral imperative: more strongly put, it is a duty of justice.

Professor Dudley Ross Knowles (1947 – 2014) was a renowned political philosopher who taught at the University of Glasgow from 1973 to 2011. He was a strong supporter of the Stevenson Trust and argued for the importance of political philosophy in the public arena.

All are welcome.

And on Wednesday, 26 February, in the Sir Charles Wilson Building:

Scotland’s Last Westminster Election: Analysis of the 2019 Scottish Election Study with Prof Christopher Carman, Prof Ailsa Henderson, Prof Robert Johns and Dr Lac Larner.

Researchers from the Scottish Election Study, which has been tracking elections and voters in Scotland since 2007, present the first findings from their 2019 surveys. They look at the impact of indyref2 and Brexit, how the parties stand in the eyes of the electorate, and where this all leaves Scotland's constitutional future.

 

First published: 10 February 2020

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