ALUMNI EVENTS AND REUNIONS 

20 March, Perth, Australia - There will be a lunch organised by our Alumni Association in Western Australia on Sunday 20 March at twelve noon. The lunch will be held at C.Y.O'Connor Village Pub, 625 Warton Road, Piara Waters. To book your place email h.vetich@abdn.ac.uk.

22 March, Malaysia - You are invited to join the University's Vice Chancellor and Principal, Professor C Duncan Rice, at the Renaissance Kuala Lumpur Hotel (corner of Jalan Ismail and Jalan Ampang), at 7.30pm for a cocktail reception. This will be the final overseas alumni visit for Professor Rice before his official retirement from the University at the end of March. Those interested in attending should email alumni@abdn.ac.uk.

15 April, Edinburgh - There will be an informal gathering for alumni at Lulu, 125b George Street from 6.30pm. The evening will offer drinks, canapes and the opportunity to meet with fellow alumni. To book your place please email Hazel Veitch, h.veitch@abdn.ac.uk.

15 April, Washington - A small group of History department students are in DC for a three week internship at the Naval History & Heritage Command. Alumni are invited to join them for an informal get together at the Black Rooster Pub 1919 L Street NW, on the evening of Thursday 15 April, from 6.30pm, to share stories and experiences of both Aberdeen and life in DC. Please register your interest in attending by contacting Jim Day on jcday@aol.com.

26 April, Toronto - Professor Neva Haites OBE, Vice Principal and Head of the College of Life Sciences and Medicine, would like to invite you to a reception for Aberdeen alumni on Monday 26 April at Oro restaurant, 45 Elm Street, Toronto at 6.30pm. If you are able to attend, please email Lynne Anderson at l.anderson@abdn.ac.uk.

28 April, Boston - Professor Neva Haites OBE, Vice Principal and Head of the College of Life Sciences and Medicine, would like to invite you to a reception for Aberdeen alumni on Wednesday 28th April at the offices of Scottish Development International, 28 State Street, Boston from 6.30pm. If you are able to attend, please email Sarah Dingwall at s.dingwall@abdn.ac.uk.

UPDATE FROM THE STUDENT PRESIDENT, ROBIN PARKER

I'm now nine months into my term of office, and everyone is as busy as ever - both in the Students' Association as well as the students out and about around the campus.

Our remaining priority campaign at the Students' Association is to try and have a real influenceon the General Election that isn't far at all around the corner. Our aim is to try and make sure that universities are an election issue, and especially the topic of tuition fees. Both Labour and the Tories are trying to keep tuition fees off the agenda, despite the fact that there is an ongoing review of the funding of universities taking place. We are asking MPs and prospective candidates to make their position clear and sign up to the pledge to:

'Vote Against an Increase to Tuition Fees and Campaign for a Fairer Alternative.'

We are also going to be encouraging voters to support the same message, and you can too at www.voterforstudents.co.uk. I'd encourage you to sign the pledge, and to share the website with your friends and family. We'll also be making sure that students are registered to vote and we'll be hosting a range of events around the campus too.

This is also our 10th Anniversary year, and we'll be celebrating that at our 10th Anniversary Annual Dinner on the 7th of May at the Hilton Treetops Hotel. If the Students' Association or one of its predecessors played a big part in your time at University or you helped in the formation of the SA, then we'd love to have you along. Drop us an email at ausa@abdn.ac.uk and we'll send you an invite.

Finally, on the sports front, well done to the Boat Club for winning the Aberdeen Asset Management Universities' Boat Race against RGU. Also, congratulations to the Rugby Club who have placed themselves as the best University Club in Scotland by topping the Scottish Universities' League. All this was topped off by the offiicial opening of Aberdeen Sports Village, which should take University Sport to a whole new level. A group of societies have also organised Africe Month, a very successful celebration of the continent.

Building a Library from concept to Construction Construction work on the University’s new Library and Special Collections Centre is gathering pace – and you needn’t miss out by not being on campus. Watch the video 'Building a library: from concept to construction' to see how the building is developing. Click here to see the video (drawings courtesy of architects schmidt hammer lassen, photographs by Martin Sommer). The Library’s spectacular design also featured in a meeting of the Cross Party Group for Architecture and the Built Environment held at the Scottish Parliament on Wednesday 18th November which focused on the role of architecture in inspiring learning. For more, read here.