Alumni told to fly flag for Aberdeen

THE principal of Aberdeen University wants staff and graduates to become fund-raising ambassadors to ensure Aberdeen's place in the top national and international league of universities, writes Olga Wojtas.

Duncan Rice, writing in the graduate magazine Gaudeamus, said: "The middle ranking of the university is unacceptable, though it obscures the fact that we do have areas of excellence."

The money to improve the quality of teaching and research across the board is unlikely to come from government, therefore fund-raising is essential, he writes.

But the sort of campaign needed to make a significant difference cannot be undertaken by a small number of academic managers or professional fund raisers.

"I will look to everyone connected with the university to act as a kind of ambassador, or as a champion for a particular project," he says. "There are few better placed to inspire enthusiasm for a project than those who have developed its concept in the first instance, or those who have set an example through their own professional careers or achievements."