In summer 2016 the late Queen Elizabeth visited the Leverhulme Research Centre for Forensic Science to mark its official opening.
Flanked by Prince Philip and the now First Minister John Swinney, her attendance signified the importance of this department at a university wanting to attract the very best.
Then led by Professors Dame Sue Black and Niamh Nic Daéid, Leverhulme symbolised the the University of Dundee’s ambition — a world leader in academic excellence, an institution at the forefront of discovery.
Its work is important, not just for the university’s standing, but wider society.
In the wake of arsonist Mick Philpott’s horrific killing of his own children, Professor Ni Daéid and researchers worked to develop smoke alarms which could be better heard by youngsters.
The academic herself is a world leader. Giving evidence to the Grenfell Inquiry and working with the International Criminal Court.
Having that kind of reputation associated with Dundee is an undoubted benefit for the university and the city.
Dundee University was firmly on the map as an institution that could attract the best of the best.
But now, less than 10 years on, the centre is set to be scrapped.
University’s £30m budget hole
Dundee University stands at a precipice. There is a £30 million black hole in its budget.
It has suffered a catastrophic lack of leadership from its executive group, the highest of whom have vacated their posts.
Staff look on aghast, searching for guidance, accountability and a plan for how the university hopes to get out of the mess it has found itself in.
And yet once again, just as they did when the crisis first unfolded, workers find themselves blindsided by a decision made from on high.
Just a day before The Courier broke the news the centre faces closure, Leverhulme staff had been front and centre of a press release calling them “heroes”. The proud face of a university looking for a win at a time of great difficulty.
Unions representing Dundee lecturers and staff have warned up to 500 jobs could be lost as the university desperately tries to balance the books.
Closing a department like the Leverhulme Centre shows nothing is off the table, no school or subject safe from reform or swingeing cuts.
How this impacts Dundee University’s standing will be difficult to quantify immediately.
For an institution used to being at the forefront of achievement, revered worldwide in areas as diverse as art, science, medicine and teaching, it will be a bitter pill to swallow if diminished.
And what staff need, most of all, is management and leadership as capable as the ground-breaking work carried out within its hallowed walls every single day.
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