U. of Abertay Dundee Receives 3M GBP Investment for Games

In a continued effort to drive growth among Scotland’s interactive entertainment sector, the Scottish government has newly invested 3 million pounds (GBP) in the University of Abertay Dundee, the leading university in Scotland for video game development, and increasingly, a global player in the academic arena for games education. As a result, the university is to become the U.K.’s first ever university center of excellence for computer games education. Abertay’s principal and vice-chancellor professor Bernard King said in a prepared statement, “The global, interactive, creative media sector has a potential market value to Scotland of up to $68 billion by 2012. If in Scotland we are to be successful in reaping that economic growth potential, then we need to be continually producing new interactive products and upgrading our workforce’s skills. “This significant capacity-building investment by the Scottish Government establishes Abertay as Scotland's University Centre of Excellence in Computer Games Education. It recognizes that Scotland can be a global leader in this sector, and that Abertay can drive that ambition by providing graduates with the necessary world-class skills to succeed.” The majority of the funding will be used to develop teaching and learning spaces to accommodate two new postgraduate courses, which are also in development. The studio-based masters programs will be based on Abertay’s BAFTA -endorsed “Dare to be Digital” model, with 40 graduates housed in a purpose-designed, professional environment during each 12-month course. The new masters programs will focus on real-world prototyping of innovative, interactive, digital products, and graduates will work in teams comprising programmers, artists, designers, and production managers. Paul Harris, professor of screen media at Abertay said in a press release, “This major new investment by the Scottish Government is recognition of a combination of hard work from staff in establishing a portfolio of courses that are world standard, and the long term support of a number of industrial partners.”