Professor Nicola Veitch
- Professor of Bioscience Education and Parasitology (Parasitology)
telephone:
01413305143
email:
Nicola.Veitch@glasgow.ac.uk
pronouns:
She/her/hers
B208 Sir Graeme Davies Building, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, G12 8QQ
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9583-3915Biography
I am a Professor in Biomedical Sciences and Parasitology’ in the School of Infection and Immunity in the College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences (MVLS) at the University of Glasgow with a focus on Learning, Teaching and Scholarship.
My research background is molecular parasitology and genetics, and I currently teach broadly in the topics of Microbiology and Molecular Biology. I am the programme coordinator for the final year Microbiology degree and a Senior Adviser of Studies. Across all the Life Sciences subjects I coordinate the Level 3 Molecular Methods course and the Schools/Education Outreach final year projects.
I am an active participant in the Athena Swan committee within my school and over the past four years have held grants to collaborate with colleagues and student interns to develop Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) strategies to enhance the student experience.
I am a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and I have many interests in terms of Scholarship of Learning and Teaching; publishing on student-staff collaboration in EDI, embedding employability and the use of digital technology to enhance learning.
I have an active interest in science communication, where I am using alternative strategies to engage communities using outdoor street theatre.
Research interests
I am a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and I have many interests in terms of Scholarship of Learning and Teaching. I lead a project developing and embedding Virtual Reality into teaching, designing a Disease Diagnostics VR lab with the company Edify for use in undergraduate courses. This work was supported by Innovate UK.
This work has led to a collaborative scholarship study with colleagues in College of Arts and the College of Social Sciences to understand how Virtual Reality supports learning and the student experience.
Due to my interest in EDI, I work in collaboration with students and staff to develop EDI resources and embed them into the curriculum. This work started in 2021 and has been supported by the Wellcome Trust and Learning and Teaching Development Grants. This work has led to the development of an Equality and Diversity App, that is a freely available L&T resource:
The projects have won both internal and external teaching awards.
Teaching
I coordinate courses and teach broadly across Microbiology and Molecular Biology subjects. I actively develop innovative new teaching strategies and resources with the aim of improving and enhancing the student experience.
I have developed two Molecular Methods apps that are embedded into my teaching:
Molecular Methods App
PrimeIt App:
Current roles:
- Undergraduate Lead for School of Infection and Immunity
- Programme Lead for Microbiology BSc (Hons)
- Course coordinator, Molecular Methods level 3
- Course Coordinator Final Year Outreach Local Schools and Education projects
- Contribute to teaching for undergraduate years 2 to 4
- School of Infection and Immunity Athena Swan member, MVLS Equality, Diversity and Inclusion working group, MVLS Decolonising the Curriculum working group, MVLS Employability working group.
- School of Infection and Immunity Senior Adviser of Studies
- Athena Swan external reviewer for Advance HE
- National Teaching Fellowship Scheme reviewer for Advance HE
- Mentor for Early Career Development Programme, Athena Swan Mentorship programmes and Recognition of Excellence in Teaching Fellowships.
Professional activities & recognition
Research fellowships
- 2017 - to date: Higher Education Academy
Professional & learned societies
- 2021 - to date: Scottish Branch Committee Member, Royal Society of Biology
Public Engagement
I have an active interest in science communication, and I am a lead coordinator in the international project Parasite Street Science, with the aim of increasing understanding of African Trypanosomiasis research across local communities. This is a collaborative project between Wellcome Centre for Parasitology, School of Infection and Immunity, Surge, Kamuzu University of Health Sciences and Voices Malawi.
This work has taken place in Glasgow and Malawi, enabling local communities to engage with scientists to discuss parasitology research, with the aim of enhancing trust in science. This project won the 2023 MVLS Public Engagement Award and was supported by ScotPEN Wellcome Trust Engagement Award, Microbiology Society Education and Outreach Grant, MVLS Engagement with Research Fund, University of Glasgow Wellcome Centre for Integrative Parasitology and Creative Scotland.
The project has received media attention:
Listen: BBC World Service radio show
NPR: 'A man dressed as a tsetse fly came to a soccer game. And he definitely had a goal'
The Brilliant: Performance art throws spotlight on deadly, neglected disease