University of Aberdeen

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The University of Aberdeen is built on serving one of the most dynamic regions of Europe. With over 16,000 students (46% male, 54% female and 19% mature graduates) from more than 120 nationalities and over 3000 staff the University is at the forefront of teaching and research in medicine, the humanities and sciences.  Some University of Aberdeen successes include: 5 Nobel Laureates; the generation of 21 spin-off companies and mover 400 patents pending, high quality teaching with over 89% subjects rated Excellent/Highly Satisfactory; 97% of graduates entering directly into work, further study or training within 6 months; 85% of academic staff who are research active and a trebling of research income in the last decade. Capital expenditure 1999-2009 totalled £229 million, with a further £148 million to be invested in infrastructure to 2019.

The University of Aberdeen has been involved in European projects since framework 3 and has, to date, been successful in participating in more than 620 grants funded by the European Commission, 5 ERC Grants. The University has also been successful in securing a number of grants under schemes such as ESF, Socrates, Interreg, COST and Leonardo.

The Health Services Research Unit (HSRU) has a national remit to research the best ways to provide health care, and to build capacity in health services research.   The Unit is funded by the Chief Scientist Office (CSO) of the Scottish Government Health Directorates, the University of Aberdeen and competitive grant income.

Most research projects aim to find out whether developments within the health service really are effective, efficient and appropriate.

Collaborator Profile

Shaun Treweek

Shaun Treweek joined the Health Services Research Unit in January 2013 and has over 18 years experience as a health services researcher specialising in trial methodology.  He is active in the field of pragmatic trial design, the design and pre-trial testing of complex interventions, interventions to improve recruitment to trials, and theory-based methods to assess the implementation potential of interventions. 

Before HSRU he was at the University of Dundee and for the last three years there was Assistant Director of the Tayside Clinical Trials Unit, a unit he was instrumental in establishing.  At Dundee Shaun was (and still is in many cases) involved in an EC FP7 trial of treatments for a rare neuromuscular condition, lifestyle interventions for women after pregnancy, a lifestyle change trial run through the Scottish Premier League, exercise for cancer patients and a lung cancer screening trial.