A cross-disciplinary team recently headed to the south-east Asian country of Malaysia to help spread the word about the University and what we offer students from all over the world…
As part of our mission to take Dundee to the world, alongside our ethos of cross-discipline collaboration, a team of University staff visited Malaysia this month to promote our offerings within the STEM and art and design subject areas.
Professor Fordyce Davidson from International College Dundee and the School of Science & Engineering, Dr Kim Dale from the School of Life Sciences, and Linda O’Neill from Marketing & Communications formed the core of the trip, attending events in schools, meeting agents and connecting with our newly-appointed Senior Recruitment Officer for south-east Asia, Vivian Chow. They were also joined for key events by Professor Daan Van Aalten and Dr David Martin from the School of Life Sciences, and Dr Chris Lim from Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design.
Dr Dale and Professor Davidson hosted events at two prestigious institutions in Malaysia — Marlborough College and Taylor’s University — which included talks about Dundee, the courses we offer, and lab activities that incorporated hands-on DNA extraction from kiwi fruit, which were led by Dr David Martin. Professor Daan van Aalten also discussed his research with a talk entitled “A new type of intellectual disability: sugars, CRISPrs and drugs”.
The Dundee team were impressed with the positive attitudes and enthusiasm demonstrated by the students attending the events, and were delighted to work with them throughout the activities.
Click through the gallery below to see photos of the teaching events.
Another important aspect of the trip was the opportunity for the team to reconnect with some of our alumni. Datuk Abu Bakar Bin Mohamad Diah and Dato Manan Bin Amir, who both studied Concrete Technology at Dundee, attended the event at Taylors University, with Datuk Abu Bakar opening the event, and Dato Manan sitting on the careers panel to discuss where his Dundee degree has taken him. Dato Manan also hosted an alumni event where our academics were delighted to meet with graduates of the University, and hear their stories of life at Dundee and beyond.
Our academics also took the time to meet with current applicants of some of our courses, and were delighted to be able to present eligible candidates with Global Excellence Scholarships, which are designed to help us bring the best and brightest students from around the world to Dundee.
“I was extremely impressed with the students that we met,” Dr Dale said. “Particularly their outstanding command of English and their ability to ask some very good probing scientific questions. The success of a trip like this incorporating many different stakeholders is only possible with the fantastic support of our Professional Services team in the International office, the Alumni office and the Marketing team, and the long-established relationship with the British High Commission in Malaysia that has been invaluable in building up our networks and helping to raise the profile of our University.”
Read more about the lab events that took place at Marlborough College, Malaysia in this article.