Education

  • Two top physics students presented with Higgs Prize

    4th October 2019 by

    l-r Higgs Prize 2018 winners Jane Ambler and Agnijo Banerjee at CERN

    Agnijo Banerjee and Jane Ambler were awarded the 2018 Higgs Prize for achieving the top scores in the 2018 Advanced Higher physics exam. The prize is named after Edinburgh-based Nobel prize winner Professor Peter Higgs CH, whose work has advanced our understanding of how the particles that make up the world around us are held...

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  • Guest blog from Maths Olympiad Agnijo Banerjee

    18th September 2018 by

    As Maths Week 2018 draws to a close, we welcome a guest blog from Maths Olympiad Agnijo Banerjee. Agnijo won gold at this year’s International Mathematical Olympiad in Romania receiving a perfect score of 42 out of 42 in the 2-day/nine hour-long competition, he was one of only two out of 594 contestants to achieve a perfect...

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  • DFM joins Pitlochry pupils for magical maths show

    12th September 2018 by

    Deputy First Minister John Swinney visited Pitlochry High School today for a special Maths Week Scotland performance by ‘International Mathemagian’ Andrew Jeffrey. A professional magic show with a twist, the show was entirely based around mathematics and learning with tricks using numbers, shapes, money, mind-reading and illusions. "You are all smarter than a calculator" Andrew...

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  • Enigma legacy lives on in codebreaking challenges

    11th September 2018 by

    More than 70 years after Alan Turing and his colleagues cracked the Enigma code, helping to save many millions of lives during World War II, their story remains an inspiration to budding mathematicians around the world. Throughout Maths Week Scotland students in Angus will be given the chance to step into Turing’s famous shoes and...

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  • Numbers add up as Maths Week kicks off with hundreds of events

    10th September 2018 by

    A maths magician, a guitar physicist and a codebreaking team from Bletchley Park are among the highlights of Maths Week Scotland, which starts across the country today. It is #MathsWeekScot 2018 and I am delighted to launch the first of seven daily puzzles I will be tweeting this week. For help, check out the videos...

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  • Developing the digital skills to change career

    22nd January 2018 by

    Last week Minister for Further Education, Higher Education and Science Shirley-Anne Somerville visited CodeClan, the UK’s first accredited digital skills academy. Claire Smith, a graduate of CodeClan’s 16-week software development course, writes about her experiences as a career changer moving into the digital sector. “After University I was lucky enough to get work in an...

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  • Gender balance in STEM

    26th January 2017 by

    Today the Minister for Further and Higher Education and Science, Shirley-Anne Somerville, led a roundtable discussion with Scotland’s Chief Scientific Adviser, Sheila Rowan, about gender inequality in STEM fields. They were joined at the Scottish Parliament by representatives from across the sector to discuss actions to tackle the issue as part of the ongoing STEM consultation but...

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  • Nobel Prize in Chemistry

    5th October 2016 by

    Following the announcement that Jean-Pierre Sauvage, Sir J. Fraser Stoddart and Bernard L. Feringa have been awarded this year’s Nobel Prize in Chemistry the Minister for Further Education, Higher Education and Science, Shirley-Anne Somerville has offered her congratulations. The team won the prize in recognition for their pioneering work in nanotechnology, in particular the design and...

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  • World Teachers’ Day

    5th October 2016 by

    It’s World Teachers’ Day and Education Secretary John Swinney marked the occasion with a visit to Dalgety Bay Primary School, where he met teachers and pupils and opened the school’s new Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics (STEAM) laboratory. While there he said: “I would like to take the opportunity this World Teachers’ Day to...

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  • Nobel Prize in Physics

    4th October 2016 by

    Minister for Further Education, Higher Education and Science, Shirley-Anne Somerville, has congratulated David Thouless, Duncan Haldane and Michael Kosterlitz – the team awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics – for their work on strange forms of matter.  Two of the winners – David Thouless and Michael Kosterlitz – were born in Scotland. Ms Somerville said: “Congratulations...

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