News Issue 16 October 2012Chancellor’s Fund at the University of Glasgow

A bright outlook for cloud computing The Chancellor’s Fund has awarded £9,000 to the School of Computing Science to construct a scale model of a cloud computing data centre, putting the University into a leading position in research and teaching in cloud computing in the UK.

Welcome from the ChancellorWelcome to this edition of the Chancellor’s Fund newsletter reporting on how your gifts to the Chancellor’s Fund are bringing benefits to our students and staff across the campus.

Almost 2,000 donors have now given to the Chancellor’s Fund since it was set up in 1999, raising a total of £1.2m. I continue to be absolutely delighted by the response to our appeals for gifts. You may have chosen to give after being approached by one of our student callers in the telephone campaign; others of you have responded positively to this newsletter and Giving to Glasgow by donating extremely generous gifts.

Your support means that many diverse and interesting projects, which would otherwise fall outwith core funding can be supported. You’ll find details of some of the most recent projects to have benefited within the newsletter: from celebrating the 150th anniversary of the Dialectic Society to supporting the cutting-edge teaching of cloud computing systems. I hope you find them as worthwhile and as inspiring as I do.

Thank you again for choosing to support the Chancellor’s Fund.

Professor Kenneth CalmanChancellor

Cloud computing is of key importance in modern IT and describes the use of computing resources, hardware and software, delivered as a service over a network, usually the Internet. The name comes from the use of a cloud-shaped symbol used to represent the complex infrastructure it contains.

Using 60 low cost ‘Raspberry Pi’ computers, a scale model of a cloud computing data centre will be constructed – a world first – and it is hoped that eventually the Pi Cloud will contain 1,000 such devices. The resource will be used for undergraduate student projects and course teaching and will also be of benefit to the researchers developing and using it.

Professor Joe Sventek, Head of School, said, ‘Constructing a full-scale cloud is prohibitively expensive and recreating such facilities for educational and research purposes is not possible. Our project will deliver a cost-effective infrastructure to provide students with hands-on experience of cloud computing, giving them vital skills to compete in the cloud computing era.’

Currently, students and staff are designing and constructing a prototype, which will soon be completed. Final-year project students will then have the first opportunity to work on the platform, which will also be used to teach undergraduate courses beginning with Distributed systems this semester.

New computer programme aims to enhance students’ success in interviews

Undergraduate overseas expedition support programme The University of Glasgow Exploration Society has received £12,000 from the Chancellor’s Fund to support over 80 students participating in eight international scientific expeditions that took place this summer. The grant will contribute towards travel, accommodation, insurance, equipment, first aid training and publications.

The society has been helping teams of undergraduate students explore the world on zoological and geographical expeditions since 1920 and over the past 90 years hundreds of students have had the chance to undertake research in the field. The expeditions have involved projects such as conducting wildlife studies, especially of endangered species, conservation projects, and studying the geomorphology of glaciations in Iceland.

This summer teams travelled to Bolivia, Cyprus, Ecuador, Iceland, Trinidad, Tobago, Tanzania and Peru. The team travelling to Trinidad explored the reptiles and frogs of the northern rainforests, took part in marine turtle conservation work and educational projects with Trinidadian children linked to work here in Scotland.

Dr Rob Aitken, Head of the School of Life Sciences, said, ‘In planning and carrying out such activities expeditions like these help promote internationalisation and the development of good logistic and planning skills amongst the student members. They also help to develop team working, independence, confidence and problem solving – all important attributes for graduates – as well as taking the good name of the University of Glasgow with them.’

The Chancellor’s Fund has awarded £5,900 to the School of Psychology to develop a computer programme that will provide job interview practice for all undergraduate students through the University’s Careers Service.

Undergraduate employability skills are ever more important in the increasingly competitive internship and career marketplace, and the new programme aims to support students in this area.

Dr Ian Bushnell is a Senior University Teacher in the School of Psychology: ‘Typically interview training is very resource intensive and so we have been working on developing a system that can be used over the Internet. Students will be able to access sets of interview questions, which they can select based on their own requirements.

The system will be linked to social networking so that they can give peer feedback on each other’s answers based on a set of pre-defined criteria. This will enable students to access the system on multiple occasions for practice or indeed gain additional support immediately before a key interview.’

The project builds on a long-term programme of employability support already provided in Psychology and will initially benefit Psychology students before being made available to all students at Glasgow in conjunction with the Careers Service. In the longer term it is also hoped to develop this to be accessed via smart phones and move the project even further into the realm of social media where the student community can interact.

Science show starsIn May 2011 £3,000 was awarded to allow PhD students in the University’s College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences to undertake internships designed to enable them to promote research carried out in the college to the general public.

The students delivered a number of science shows and workshops at the Glasgow Science Festival in June. Dr Deborah McNeill, Director of the Glasgow Science Festival, said, ‘We are absolutely delighted with the success of the internship and thank the Chancellors Fund for its support. The ten postgraduate research students involved developed high-quality content showcasing some of the world leading research happening in the University. These activities were then delivered at a key Glasgow Science Festival event, Science Sunday, engaging with an audience of 3,000 people on campus at the University.

‘The internship has now been embedded into the college’s training options and we look forward working with a new cohort of students.’

150 years of the Dialectic Society

Celebrations were held in February to mark the 150th year since the Glasgow University Dialectic Society was re-instituted formally as a student society to promote debate and discussion on campus.

The Chancellor’s Fund provided a grant of £650 to help the society celebrate its highly colourful history with an exhibition of artefacts and original materials and commemorative leaflet.

Fiona Bowen, Vice-President of the society, said, ‘With the generosity of

the Chancellor’s Fund we were able to conduct extensive and rewarding research to compile our exhibition without the strain of worrying how it was to be financed. The students involved learned a great deal about the University Archives and Special Collections and how to curate the research into an exhibition spanning 150 years. We are now in the process of putting the exhibition onto our website for anyone to explore.’

For more information about the exhibition and the society, please see www.gudialectic.co.uk.

In 2011, £1,400 was awarded to the School of Psychology to allow a group of postgraduate students to visit local primary schools as part of Brain Awareness Week.

Brain Awareness Week is a global campaign which aims to elevate public awareness about and interest in the progress and benefits of brain research.

Laura MacFarlane is a teacher at Milngavie Primary, one of the schools visited by the Glasgow students: ‘They provided a very thought provoking presentation along with a variety of hands-on active learning sessions about the brain. The children loved it! They enjoyed the various activities which allowed them to further their understanding of the brain in simple terms.’

Postgraduate student Patrick Ross, who took part in the school visit, said, ‘The children were very receptive and seemed to enjoy themselves a great deal. It was great to talk about our research in an entertaining manner and make this link to the next generation of graduates.’

Brain power

Latest projectsThe latest projects to benefit from the Chancellor’s Fund are listed below.

Undergraduate overseas expedition support programme £12,000 To support international scientific expeditions by undergraduate students.

SKIP Glasgow orphan care project, Lilongwe, Malawi £5,000 To support students volunteering at the Orphan Care and Social Rehabilitation Centre.

The Glasgow Raspberry Pi Cloud£9,000 To construct a scale model of a cloud computing data centre allowing hands-on experimentation for teaching and research.

Using CCR diving technology to pioneer research in the mesophotic zone £9,300 To invest in a closed circuit rebreather unit enabling the University to be a world leader in scientific diving.

Formula Student advancement £10,000 To enable engineering students to participate in a competition for automotive engineering.

Environmental issues and development challenges in Tanzania £2,500 To support a joint project between undergraduates of the Universities of Glasgow and Dar es Salaam working on collaborative research projects.

Letters of sixty years: towards e-publication of the Edwin Morgan papers £5,000 To make available to students and the wider public selected letters of Edwin Morgan from the Library’s Special Collections.

Better information for study abroad £2,000 To draw together existing information on study abroad in a systematic way and present it in a freely accessible web page.

A conference on legal history in memory of Alan Rodger £5,000 To support a conference in memory of Lord Rodger of Earlsferry, alumnus and Honorary Professor at the School of Law.

The possible viral cause of ferret lymphosarcoma£5,130 To initiate novel collaborative research between veterinary and virus discovery researchers.

Thanks to all our donors... The following lists those who have given new gifts, named existing gifts or have been upgraded a level between 17 March 2012 and 31 August 2012. In addition to those listed below, there are a number of donors whose gifts are awaiting confirmation of naming or who have chosen to remain anonymous.

Major DonorDr Strathearn Wilson* (Chancellor’s Fund Chemistry)

Kelvin DonorThomas P Biggart* • Two anonymous donors

Tower DonorDr John P Kitchen* • James B Smith* • One anonymous donor

Bute DonorRev David W G Burt* • Dr Iain R Cameron* • Olive K Clark* • Janette C Crawford • Dr D L C Maclachlan* • Dr William D Martin* • Mr Bernard J McNeils* • Iain G Montgomery • Alistair W Taylor* • Francis Wong • One anonymous donor

Avenue Donor1962 Natural Philosophy and Mathematics Class • Carol Bateman* • Dr James E Bateman* • Dr Michael Bell* • Robert A Fleming • Elaine M Geddes - Gaylor • Dr Graeme K Hunter • Christopher G Kay • Ms Jessie S Reid* • Archie White* • Three anonymous donors

Gilmorehill DonorDr Malcolm H I Baird • John F Carruthers • Dr John Ian P Donald • Paul G Gay† • Professor Richard J Hamilton • Dr Linos J Jacovides†

• George King MBChB 1951 • John MacKinnon • Dr David McLean • Rev Dr Alan M McPherson • Elizabeth J Russell • Peter G R M Waddell • Robert N Wood • One anonymous donor

* denotes donors that have been upgraded a giving club level. We would like to thank all donors for their continued support.

† denotes gifts to American Alumni of Glasgow University (AAGU). We would like to thank AAGU for their support.

Sound thought 2012£2,000 To support a festival of sound and performance and associated research run by postgraduate students in partnership with The Arches bringing postgraduate research and cutting-edge music to a wider audience.

The Crichton teaching garden£10,000 To develop a teaching garden as an interactive resource for student learning and research on horticultural and plant ecology.

Groundings journal £1,500 To support for three years the publishing of Groundings journal which publishes undergraduate academic work in the Colleges of Arts and Social Sciences.

Workshop on sensory substitution £6,000 To support an international workshop attended by researchers, postgraduate and postdoctoral students in philosophy, psychology and neuroscience.

Creating material worlds: theorising identity in archaeology £5,000 To support the publication of an edited volume of research from early career researchers on the topic of material culture revealing the identity of past peoples.

Never come ashore – open events £4,000 To expand an online forum for sharing contemporary music based at the University into a series of concerts and public engagement projects.

American historic art in UK public collections £6,500 To pump-prime fund a digital cataloguing project of historic American art held in public collections providing a valuable resource for American Studies and history of Art students.

Doomster Hill: sacred space of the kings of Strathclyde£5,000 To support the making of a documentary film about Doomster Hill in Govan combining research from Archaeology and involving students from Film & Television Studies.

Enhancing interview skills in University of Glasgow students£5,900 To support a joint application between the School of Psychology and Careers Service in developing an online interview training system.

University chapel choir tour to Holland, December 2012 £6,000 To undertake a concert tour to Holland to mark the 60th anniversary session of the University chapel choir.

University of Glasgow Trust Donation FormChancellor’s Fund Newsletter – issue 16, October 2012The University of Glasgow Trust is a registered charity, No. SC008303 The University of Glasgow is a registered charity, No. SC004401

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Stocks and sharesSince 6 April 2000, individuals have been eligible for tax relief on gifts of certain shares, securities and other investments. This is in addition to capital gains tax relief on gifts of assets to charity. Tax relief for donors is based on the value of the shares on the day they are transferred to the University. If you would like to support your chosen project by gifting shares and securities and would like more information, simply call the Development & Alumni Office on +44 (0)141 330 4951.

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in the United States that has been recognised by the Internal Revenue Service as a section 501(c)(3) charitable organisation. All donations to it are deductible as charitable contributions to the full extent permitted by law. Its Board of Directors will determine the use of all gifts. Contributions should be made payable to: American Alumni of Glasgow University, 183 Wolf Harbor Road, Milford, CT 06461–1961, USA.

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The Direct Debit Guarantee (this guarantee should be detached and retained by the payer)

• This Guarantee is offered by all banks and building societies that accept instructions to pay Direct Debits.• If there are any changes to the amount, date or frequency of your Direct Debit the University of Glasgow Trust will notify you 10 working days in advance of

your account being debited or as otherwise agreed. If you request the University of Glasgow Trust to collect a payment, confirmation of the amount and date will be given to you at the time of the request.

• If an error is made in the payment of your Direct Debit, by the University of Glasgow Trust or your bank or building society, you are entitled to a full and immediate refund of the amount paid from your bank or building society. If you receive a refund you are not entitled to, you must pay it back when the University of Glasgow Trust asks you to.

• You can cancel a Direct Debit at any time by simply contacting your bank or building society. Written confirmation may be required. Please also notify us.

How to contact usEditor: Barrie BrysonTel: +44 (0)141 330 4951Email: barrie.bryson@glasgow.ac.uk

Development & Alumni Office 3 The SquareUniversity of GlasgowGlasgow G12 8QQTel: +44 (0)141 330 4951Fax: +44 (0)141 330 4647Email: campaign@glasgow.ac.uk

Produced by Development & Alumni Office and Corporate Communications, University of Glasgow. Photography supplied by the University of Glasgow Photographic Unit, Glasgow University Union, David R White and Gillian Simpson.

Printed by J Thomson.

© University of Glasgow, October 2012

University of Glasgow, charity no. SC004401

University of Glasgow Trust, charity no. SC008303

Chancellor’s Fund giving: how you can help make a differenceWe commemorate all gifts of £250 and above with an inscription as a way of acknowledging your support. Your chosen dedication will appear in our publications, such as Giving to Glasgow, and also on our Online Benefactor Wall, a web based version of the traditional donor wall. Unless you have chosen to remain anonymous your name or dedication will appear on these lists as a means of recognising your generosity. All Chancellor’s Fund donors receive this newsletter twice a year, which will include information about the initiatives made possible as a direct result of your gift.

Your vision and generosity will ensure that our students thrive in a challenging academic environment, taught by eminent academics, and benefiting from some of the best facilities that a university can offer.

Pace-setting gifts For gifts over £250,000

Major gifts For gifts over £10,000

Giving club Net gift total Monthly gift Annual gift

Kelvin Donor £5,000 £104.17 £1,250

Tower Donor £2,000 £41.67 £500

Bute Donor £1,000 £20.83 £250

Avenue Donor £500 £10.42 £125

Gilmorehill Donor £250 £5.21 £62.50

Chancellor’s Fund giving clubs