Research-led teaching is perceived as fundamental within the research-intensive universities.  Why might it matter and what does it mean?  How might it positively impact on the lives of our graduates? 

The lecture will include a wander through examples of my own teaching and the specific research topics that these are based on.  Some of these are from my own scientific research and some are based on stories heard at conferences and in the published work of other scientist.  Data will be presented and the audience invited to suggest scientific conclusions. 

Only a small proportion of our students of Life Science degrees will have long-term careers in scientific research.  What value is this kind of education to the majority who do not? How might it impact their learning and intellectual development? 

About the Speaker 

Professor Iain Johnstone is Professor of Life Sciences, Head of Learning and Teaching and Deputy Head of School in the School of Life Sciences.  After completing his PhD working on the genetic regulation of differentiation in the filamentous fungus Aspergillus nidulans, he obtained a European Molecular Biology Organisation Long Term Fellowship and worked at the University of California Davis and then the University of Georgia in Athens.  On returning to Glasgow he worked within the Wellcome Centre for Molecular Parasitology and started research on the worm, Caenorhabditis elegans.  After 9 years on Junior then Senior MRC Fellowships he moved to the Division of Molecular Genetics at Glasgow as a Senior Lecturer and entered the world of education.  In teaching he contributed to the degrees of Genetics and Molecular and Cellular Biology and led the Molecular and Cellular Biology degree for a number of years.  More recently he has led the integrated MSci degrees with work placements for all programmes in Life Sciences at Glasgow and is involved in the management of Life Sciences here.