Podcast: Dr Tim Willis talks about How to Start Up A Tech Business

I founded the business in 2008 at the end of my PhD when I got some funding. We’ve had the app out on the Android store since August 2011 and have had over 15,000 downloads. We’re hoping this will increase rapidly once we start doing some marketing soon.  Linguistics & Phonetics has been studied for millennia – according to Wikipedia (!) modern studies began to develop in the 18th Century and reached something of a golden age the century after. Read more…

Podcast: The Psychology of Sleep by Prof Ray Miller

This is a podcast and summary of ‘To sleep, perchance to dream: 30 years in the land of Morpheus’ a talk done by Professor Ray Miller, on the 7th of November:

Sleep is something we are all so familiar with that it rarely occurs to us how little we know about it. We spend around one third of our life in sleep. It is something we share with the entire kingdom of plants and animals. We can’t seem to do without it. But even basic questions like why we sleep at all are only just beginning to be answered. Read more…

Podcast: Noumenal Contouring; The Secret Of Science, The Secret Of Skill by Ciaran Healy

On the 7th of November 2013, Ciaran Healy gave a talk on ‘Noumenal Contouring; The Secret Of Science, The Secret Of Skill’.  This is a summary and podcast of the event when Ciaran was kind enough to take the time to share his thinking and inspiration with everyone:

The Philosophy Of Science is best understood as a kind of unsolved crime, but instead of a crime you have the most incredible and unprecedented advanced in understanding. But like an unsolved crime, nobody has yet accounted for why it happened, or how it happened. The philosophy of science means you undertake that investigation. Read more…

Aye Minister; What Civil Servants Do: A Podcast of Colin MacLean's Talk

On the 3rd of October 2013, Colin MacLean gave a talk on ‘what civil servants do’.  This is a summary and podcast of the event where Colin was kind enough to take the time to share his thoughts and insights with everyone:

The role of civil servants in Scotland is to support Ministers, to support the democratic process and to improve outcomes for Scotland.  These are not in conflict but they all need to be addressed.  The work of the civil service is governed by a Code of Values: impartiality, integrity, objectivity and honesty.
Read more…

Edinburgh Short Film Festival: Successful Format Piloted

Well, the night of the 12th went down very well, in fact it has generated a really positive response of support for the project.  Thanks to Paul Bruce, creator of the Edinburgh Short Film Festival, we managed to have a night of film and exploring if we could viably thread short talks amongst the films.  Well it happened, cinema and talks go quite well together.  A special thanks to Jack the technician for making sure it all happened smoothly and without hitch.  As a pilot night it proved that it could be done and over 140 people came to see the whole evening on the sunny shore of Leith. Read more…