STEM Workshops in Dundee

Dundee has a rich tradition of scientific exploration and engineering innovation. The RRS Discovery, the ship that carried Captain Scott to Antarctica in 1901, was built in Dundee and now sits permanently berthed at Discovery Point in the city centre. In 1835, James Bowman Lindsay publicly demonstrated an electric light in Dundee, years before Edison's commercially successful bulb. The city's jute mills drove massive industrial growth in the nineteenth century, creating expertise in textile engineering and manufacturing that would later transfer to other industries.

James Bowman Lindsay demonstrated electric lighting in Dundee in 1835, although he did not commercialise his invention. D'Arcy Wentworth Thompson, Professor of Natural History at University College Dundee, published On Growth and Form in 1917, a groundbreaking work that used mathematics to explain biological shapes and influenced fields from architecture to computer graphics. Sir James Black, who studied medicine at the University of St Andrews and worked in Dundee, won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1988 for developing propranolol and cimetidine. Robert Watson-Watt, who studied at University College Dundee, played a central role in developing radar technology that proved decisive during the Battle of Britain.

Dundee has reinvented itself as Scotland's digital and life sciences hub. DMA Design, founded in Dundee in 1988, created Lemmings and Grand Theft Auto before becoming Rockstar North. That legacy spawned a thriving games cluster, with studios including 4J Studios, which developed Minecraft for consoles. Abertay University launched the world's first dedicated computer games degree in 1997 and continues to produce graduates for the global games industry. The University of Dundee was rated the UK's top university for biological sciences in the 2021 Research Excellence Framework, and has an international reputation for excellence in life sciences and drug discovery. The Michelin Innovation Parc, built on the site of the former Michelin tyre factory, is developing as a centre for green technology and sustainable innovation.

Dundee offers distinctive STEM career routes in both digital technology and life sciences. The games industry provides careers in programming, 3D art, game design and software engineering, with Abertay University offering direct pathways into the sector. The University of Dundee's strength in life sciences creates opportunities in biomedical research, drug discovery, medical imaging and clinical technology. The growing green technology sector at Michelin Innovation Parc is opening new roles in sustainable engineering and renewable energy. Dundee and Angus College provides apprenticeship routes in engineering, computing and digital technologies.