News

Royal visit to pioneering Campus

(8 May 2002)

HRH the Duke of Edinburgh is to be welcomed back to the University of Durham’s Campus at Stockton on Wednesday 8 May as students, staff and regional partners prepare to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the pioneering Campus.

The Duke returns to witness the substantial progress which has been made since his last visit 9 years ago when the first academic building was formally opened by Her Majesty the Queen.

Since then, the student population has risen from 190 to 1700 full-time students and with over £40m invested in new research facilities, additional teaching, social and residential accommodation the Campus has now come of age.

During his visit the Duke will hear about the University’s success in attracting students from a broad range of backgrounds and of developing academic programmes and research which focus on the priorities of the region.

Among those he will meet are post-graduate student, Marina Sawdon from Thornaby. Marina returned to education as a mature student at the age of 29 and graduated from the University of Durham in 1998 with a first class honours degree in Biomedical Sciences. Since graduating Marina has been completing a Ph.D. in cardiovascular physiology, and is now employed by the NHS as a Research Fellow in the School of Anaesthesia at the James Cook University Hospital (formerly South Cleveland) on a joint research project in collaboration between James Cook University Hospital and the University of Durham.

Professor John Hamilton, Director of Phase 1 Medicine will describe the distinctive community-centred approach to the training of new doctors at the Campus. He will be joined by academic staff, students and representatives from the Stockton Borough Voluntary Development Agency who have helped to set up a wide range of community placements which provides students with experience of the community at first hand. The innovative teaching programme is aimed at producing more doctors with a deeper awareness of the social context of medical practice.

Students studying Sport, Health and Exercise will demonstrate equipment which tests fitness levels used to monitor an athletes performance whilst Research Scientists will demonstrate special equipment which has been developed to show how the body responds to internal haemorrhaging.

Earlier in the day the Queen and Prince Philip will have lunch at Durham Castle, also part of the University. University of Durham, Vice-Chancellor Sir Kenneth Calman said: "As we move towards the 10th anniversary, we are delighted to welcome the Queen and Prince Phillip back to the University. The Duke will witness the tremendous achievements of all those associated with the development of our pioneering Campus. We aim to build on this success and are now better placed than ever, both to serve the region and to play a vital part in the national expansion of higher education".


Notes To Editors
University of Durham, Stockton Campus

1. University of Durham, Stockton Campus
We opened in 1992 in purpose built accommodation of very high quality as a key component in the region’s economic development strategy with the general aim of making the resources of Durham University more widely available to the region. From 190 students in 1992/3 the Campus has grown to over 1,700 full-time students in 2001/2002. 35% of our students come from the region, many of them are mature coming to us other than through the traditional A level routes. Over 1500 students have graduated from the Campus since it opened.

2. Campus Expansion
Almost 10 years on, we have doubled the academic facilities of the initial development. Alongside our excellent learning resource facilities there are now over 500 first-class en-suite study bedrooms, a fitness suite, playing field, a student social centre and new dining and social facilities overlooking the River Tees.

To achieve this level of expansion the University, with the assistance of a number of funding bodies has attracted £40m of capital funding.

Wolfson Research Institute

The Wolfson Research Institute is the latest addition to the University’s thriving Campus at Stockton which will shortly celebrate its 10th anniversary. The £10m purpose-built research facility is situated on the banks of the River Tees. Funding for the building came from several sources including the Wolfson Foundation, the European Regional Development Fund, Stockton Borough Council and One NorthEast.

The 4500sq.m. building will house up to 100 researchers from several disciplines in the first phase of development. The two-storey building contains 60 offices and 23 laboratories. While the research areas are diverse, the research groups share a common interest in issues related to health and the environment, with a particular focus on regional issues.

3. Widening Access
The Teesside region has one of the lowest take-up rates in higher education in the UK The University’s Schools Liaison team is engaged in a series of activities designed to raise aspirations and widen participation across the whole University. There are two aspects to this work. We seek to encourage the brightest and best students to apply and join the University regardless of their background. Through our work with younger pupils we seek to raise their views of what they can achieve and demonstrate the opportunities education can open up for them.

In 1997 we introduced a Foundation Programme qualification which provides an alternative route for those with non-traditional qualifications for direct entry to some of our degree programmes.

We have developed a range of high quality relevant academic programmes in the following areas:-

Applied Psychology
Biomedical Sciences
Business Finance
Education including Initial Teacher Training
Environmental Sciences
European Studies
Geography and Cities
Human Sciences including Health and Human Sciences
Medicine
Sport, Health and Exercise

4. Medicine
70 students were admitted this year to our new Medicine programme, which is a joint venture with the University of Newcastle. The new medical degree will be a 5 year course with students based at the Stockton Campus for the initial 2 years and then integrated into Newcastle for the second phase of the programme. UDSC, which already runs a professionally-accredited degree programme in Biomedical Sciences, will admit 95 students to the Medicine programme next year.

The course is distinctive in its community-centred approach to the training of new doctors and a wide range of community placements have been set up to provide students with experience of the community at first hand. The innovative teaching programme is aimed at producing more doctors with a deeper awareness of the social context of medical practice.

5. Colleges
Established in 2001, UDSC students now commence their studies as members of a College. The creation of Colleges at the Stockton Campus builds on the Durham University tradition of students joining a college then remaining members throughout their studies and keeping their affiliation for the rest of their lives. Years after finishing, it is likely that they will have a special link to and special memories of their College.

Each University of Durham College has its own unique character and the Stockton Colleges are already beginning to build strong identities. The colleges at UDSC are named after eminent northern 19th century pioneers, George Stephenson and John Snow, whose own work matches the spirit of development taking place at the Campus.