HERIOT-WATT UNIVERSITY

MINUTES of the Fortieth Annual Meeting of the General Convocation held in the Auditorium, Business School, Edinburgh Campus, Riccarton, on Wednesday, 14 March 2007, attended by the following members:

In the Chair: Baroness Susan Greenfield, Chancellor of the University

Professor Anton Muscatelli Professor Andy Walker Mrs Maggie Dunn Professor Brian Austin Mr Graeme Hendry Mr Liam Burns Ms Maureen McMillan Mr Steven Findlay Mrs Wilma Ord Mr Gavin Gemmell Mr Stewart Smith Mrs June Maxwell Mrs Bronwyn Travers Dr Alan Parsley Mrs Hazel Wheldon Professor Patrick Corbett Mr Chris Pirie Professor Bob Craik Miss Kathleen Patrick Professor Philippe De Wilde Mr Robert Marshall Professor George Stylios Professor Gordon Milne Professor Adrian Todd Professor Pauline Weetman Professor John Wilson Professor Zander Wedderburn Dr Norman Irons Professor Norman McNally Mr Robert Davis Mr John Brown Mr Malcolm Durie Ms Julia Bracewell Ms Janet Lawson Ms Kirsti Dinnis Mr Ian Phillips Mr John Stuart Mr James Rennie Mrs Eleanor Broughton Mr Robert Shorter Professor Ewan Brown Mr Michael Bates Mr David Guest

Mr Peter Wilson Mrs Lorna Kirkwood-Smith Mr Alastair Hood

Dr Roni Bamber Mr John Chambers Dr Graham Crowder Mrs Valerie Hallows Professor Phillip John Mrs Kirsty Macgregor Ms Rachel MacSween Mrs Pat McLean Mrs Lynsey O’Brien Professor John Simmons Mrs Michele Stenhouse Mr Nick Thow

1. WELCOME AND APOLOGIES

The Chancellor welcomed those present to the fortieth annual meeting, particularly those attending for the first time.

The Secretary of the University Mr P L Wilson intimated apologies for absence from 72 members.

As in recent years, interested members of the University who were not members of the Convocation had been invited to attend the meeting as observers.

1 2. OBITUARIES

The Chancellor referred with sadness to the deaths since the last meeting of a number of friends and servants of the University:

Ian Hamilton Finlay

The University had noted with sadness the death in March 2006 at the age of 80, of Ian Hamilton Finlay, the Scottish poet and artist and honorary graduate of the University (DLitt Art & Design 1993).

Ian Hamilton Finlay’s most celebrated creation was and remained the garden which he created over many years at his home, a unique assemblage of sculptures, structures and inscribed stones called Little Sparta, all embodying Finlay’s uncompromising hostility to war in all its forms, from Homer onwards. A severe sufferer from agoraphobia, Finlay was virtually confined to Little Sparta for more than 20 years and concentrated much of his creative energy on its garden.

Muriel Spark

The University had noted with sadness the death in April 2006, at the age of 88, of Muriel Spark, the poet essayist and acclaimed novelist who was an Honorary Graduate of the University (DUniv 1995). She wrote more than twenty novels although she was most widely known for ‘The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie’ in 1961, her eighth novel, following three volumes of poetry and a decade of distinguished biographical and critical work about the Bronte family, Mary Shelley and John Masefield.

Sir Ian Morrow

The University had noted with sadness the death in April 2006 at the age of 93 of Sir Ian Morrow, an honorary graduate of the University (DLitt 1982). Sir Ian’s main reputation was as a company doctor who rescued industrial companies in severe trouble. He had a calm analytical mind which sought a constructive and feasible way forward, and deservedly gained a reputation for putting companies back on their feet.

Duncan Cameron

The University had noted with great sadness the death in May 2006 at the age of 78 of Duncan Cameron, Secretary of Heriot-Watt College and University for 25 years from 1965 to 1990.

In 1966 the University entered a new era when it gained its Royal Charter and became the first of “a new breed of Technological University”. Duncan Cameron’s vision, excellent judgement and detailed knowledge made a powerful contribution to the development of the University. He played a key role in the University’s move from the city centre to its new Edinburgh Campus at Riccarton, and was involved in critical negotiations with the university grants committee to realise ambitious plans to develop world class teaching and research facilities. He also played a leading role in developing a strategy to transfer technology, techniques and ideas to industry. On his initiative in 1967 the University created one of the first chairs in accountancy and finance as the nucleus of an innovative scheme to provide professional training for graduate-entry accountants.

His performance as secretary over 25 years was characterised by professional competence, excellent judgement and an acute memory, earning him the respect of all with whom he worked; a man of authority, he had an unusual ability to see solutions to problems.

He was awarded an OBE in 1990, and in the following year Heriot-Watt conferred on him the honorary degree of Doctor of the University.

Dr Marilyn Stone

The University had been deeply saddened to learn of the death in service in December 2006 of Marilyn Stone, senior lecturer in Marketing in the Department of Business Organisation and latterly in the School of Management & Languages. Marilyn was 59 and had joined the University in 1980, serving on the Senate since 1986 and as a member of various committees and boards of the University, including the Discipline Committee and the Board of the Faculty of Economic and Social Studies

2 Professor Gareth Roberts

The University had learned with great sadness of the death at the age of 66 of Professor Gareth Gwyn Roberts, President of Wolfson College Oxford, and an honorary graduate of the University (DSc November 2005).

Sir Gareth’s distinguished academic career in the area of Applied Physics and Electronics was complemented by industrial and commercial experience. He served as Vice Chancellor of the University of Sheffield for ten years and as Chair of the UK-wide Committee of Vice Chancellors and Principals. He was recently the author of influential reports on the Research Assessment Exercise and on the Supply of Scientists and Engineers in the UK

Professor Martin Kruskal

The University had noted with sadness the death at the age of 81 years of Professor Martin Kruskal, one of the world’s pre-eminent applied mathematicians and mathematical physicists and an honorary graduate of the University (DSc 2000).

In the 1950’s he made a number of seminal contributions which laid the theoretical foundations of controlled nuclear fusion and the then undeveloped field of plasma physics. In 1960 he developed a fundamental mechanism used in the theory of relativity to explain black holes.

He was most famous for his role in starting the ‘soliton revolution’, considered one of the great mathematical advances of the latter half of the twentieth century. He and a colleague found non-linear waves which behave in many ways like fundamental particles. These waves they termed solitons, which were now known to be ubiquitous in nature, and whose properties made them useful for communications.

Professor Kruskal and his colleagues also devised an ingenious method to solve the non-linear partial differential equations underlying solitons, hitherto believed to be essentially unsolvable.

Roger Stewart

The University had also been informed, since the circulation of the notice of the meeting, of the untimely death of Mr Roger Stewart, Director of Education for Fife, and ex officio member of the Convocation.

3. QUEEN’S BIRTHDAY AND NEW YEAR HONOURS

The Chancellor referred with pleasure to the following honours conferred since the 39th annual meeting:

Queen’s Birthday Honours 2006

The University had noted with pleasure the appointment of Professor Mary Bownes, the member of the General Convocation representing the University of Edinburgh, as an Officer of the Order of the British Empire

New Year Honours 2007

The University had noted with pleasure the conferral of the undernoted Honours

David E Murray - Knight Bachelor Honorary Graduate of the University (DUniv 1986)

Evelyn Glennie - Dame of the Order of the British Empire Honorary Graduate of the University (DUniv 2002)

4. MINUTES

The Minutes of the 39th Annual Meeting of the Convocation in March 2006 were circulated with the Agenda, and were approved by the meeting.

3 5. COMMUNICATIONS FROM THE COURT

The Chancellor referred to the information set out in Agenda Paper A for the meeting, relating to additions to the membership of the Convocation and to the structure of the Court.

6. MEMBERSHIP OF CONVOCATION

The Chancellor referred to the information set out in Agenda Paper B for the meeting, relating to changes in the membership of the Convocation other than by election or co-option. These changes were embodied in the list of members as at 1 February 2007 circulated with the agenda.

7. ELECTION OF MEMBERS OF CONVOCATION TO COURT

The Chancellor referred to the information set out in Agenda Paper C for the meeting, regarding this category of membership of the Court.

The Convocation noted that this category of membership of the Court was subject to the transitional arrangements whose aim was to reduce the total number of Court members to meet the provisions of the revised Statute XII.

8. CO-OPTION TO MEMBERSHIP OF CONVOCATION

The Chancellor referred to the information set out in Agenda Paper D for the meeting, regarding the vacancies in this category of membership of the Convocation.

Present members in this category were:

Mrs E J M Broughton, co-opted for the period 31 July 2009 Mr D H Guest, co-opted for the period to 31 July 2009 The Rt Hon Lord Penrose, co-opted for the period to 31 July 2009 Professor E Brown, co-opted for the period to 31 July 2008 The Rt Hon Lord Johnston, co-opted for the period to 31 July 2008 Ms S Macpherson, co-opted for the period to 31 July 2008 Mr G Bissett, co-opted for the period to 31 July 2007 Dr J McClure, co-opted for the period to 31 July 2007. Mr A B Taylor, co-opted for the period to 31 July 2007.

There were therefore three vacancies.

The Secretary of the University reported that at the closing date for receipt of nominations, 2 eligible nominations had been received. These were

Mr Graeme Bissett Dr Judith McClure

These individuals had accordingly been co-opted to membership of the Convocation for the period to 31 July 2010.

9. ANNUAL REVIEW OF THE UNIVERSITY 2005

Principal Muscatelli presented the Annual Report and Accounts for 2005-06, welcoming his first opportunity of sharing with members of the Convocation some of the many achievements of the University which marked the past year. He alluded to the University’s solid record of achievement, to the ambitions which it held for the future, and to the undoubted challenges to be encountered in the process.

In setting a context for the Report, the Principal referred to current developments in the wider Higher Education environment, including:-

• the agreement on a new National Framework for the Modernisation of Pay Structures which brought substantive advantages in terms of staff development and job evaluation but imposed additional costs

4 • UK and Scottish funding mechanisms, including the place which Universities sought to establish in the Scottish Executive’s comprehensive spending review, and the relaxation of limits on UK/EU student numbers allowing potential increases in the University’s principal subject area of science and engineering against a national picture of decline in demand • the imminence of the Research Assessment Exercise, and the University’s investment in high quality academic appointments and in the infrastructure needed to support internationally competitive research • the increasing concentration of research funding within a research elite of the nation’s universities as a probable direct outcome of the RAE • the distinctly Scottish strategy of research pooling to sustain a critical mass of world class research and to enhance its competitiveness • the need for continuing internationalisation in teaching and for diversification of recruitment sources.

It was noted, in response to a question, that these measures should be pursued on the widest feasible international basis, but without prejudice to the focus of the University’s portfolio.

The Principal made a brief but cogent presentation on the Accounts for the year from 1 August 2005 to 31 July 2006, commenting on the individual trends in income and expenditure and emphasising the continuous improvement in recent years in consolidated outturns. The surplus of £1.1m in 2005/06 had been achieved despite shortfall in student fees against budget of around £2m and significant unbudgeted costs relating to the new Dubai operation.

Complementing the historical picture presented in the accounts for 2005-06 the Convocation noted a consolidated statement of the operating trend from 1999, projected to 2009/10 and indicating continuing modest surpluses of around £1m. It was conceded that this level of surplus did not represent a sustainable level of performance, given the need to invest resources in line with University strategy. It was noted that the University had set itself the target of achieving a 7% surplus by 2011. Convocation also noted the current operating position, and the extent of progress required to meet the budgeted performance.

In presenting the Annual Review, the Principal touched on the following topics within the main areas of Learning & Teaching and of Research:-

Learning & Teaching • establishment and development in Dubai • campus development in the Borders • postgraduate centre on the Edinburgh Campus • highly favourable verdict from the Quality Assurance Agency • participation in the National Student Survey

Research • significant progress in setting up Joint Research Institutes within the framework of the Edinburgh Research Partnership • success of a bid by the Maxwell Institute for Mathematical Sciences for funding in support of a Centre for Mathematical Analysis

The Principal completed his review with a forward look to the continuing development and review of the University’s strategy targeting the requisite surpluses for investment.

In conclusion the Principal paid tribute to the staff of the University in all categories and to the calibre of new appointments; and confirmed the high regard in which the University held its students, in terms both of their individual and collective achievements and of their contribution to the work of the Committees and Boards of the University.

The Convocation received with lively interest and appreciation a presentation by Professor Angus MacDonald on the Maxwell Institute, outlining the singular successes in the Institute’s seventeen year history and its positive prospects for the future in an environment more than ever orientated towards collaboration.

The Convocation adopted and unanimously approved the Review and Accounts.

10. CONCLUSION

There being no further business in the formal agenda for the meeting, the Chancellor concluded the proceedings.

5