Music Planet - exploring research through music

Music Planet explores the broadest concepts of Environment and Music. The series will draw on academic research across all disciplines from arts to social science and science to present new concepts that have an impact on all society. The series will present the research messages with reflections made through the performing arts from classical through to new contemporary music. From the comfort of the well-known to explorations in improvisation with both traditional and new composition Music Planet will challenge you to think deeper about life and your planet.

Throughout the centuries, artists have used their chosen media to reflect on nature and human reaction to it. From personal experiences to depictions of catastrophic events works have been created to try and bring sense to natural environments and our place within them. Music Planet takes its theme from these reflections. It will present a series of performance events to reflect on environment in its broadest sense. Some events will focus on Environment in terms of natural elements such as climate and societies response to changes in climate others will explore societal attempts to control environments.


Each event is co-presented by artists together with groups of academics from the arts, social sciences and sciences in order to allow relevant aspects of academic research to be explored. The events are designed to be co-participatory with public audience becoming engaged with the delivery of the event. Before, during and after each event there will be on-line information for exploring further the academic research story behind the events.

Music Planet grew out of an idea that Dr Richard Bates had to perform some of the late Sir Peter Maxwell Davis’ works and link into climate research being conducted by the School of Earth and Environmental Sciences. Sir Peter was an active campaigner on climate issues and cared passionately about the environment of his adopted homeland, Orkney. His music often explores sounds from natural environments and provides an inspiration to us all. From early discussions with the Music Centre at St Andrews and, in particular with the enthusiasm of Michael Downes, Jill Craig and Bede Williams, Music Planet was born.

The ever growing list of individuals involved in Music Planet include staff at the Music Centre, several Schools at the University of St Andrews, as well as some external organisations.

For a full listing of events, click here.

Blueprint for enhanced longitudinal studies

Longitudinal studies, mostly based on surveys relying on re-interviewing of individuals, have a long history in the UK. The Scottish Longitudinal Study (SLS), developed by a team of researchers, including Professor Allan Findlay of the Department of Geography and Sustainable Development, and medical researchers form Edinburgh and Glasgow, is a pioneering study, which combines census, civil registration, health and education data (administrative data)while maintaining anonymity within the data system. The collected records allow the comparing of individuals’ changing circumstances over time while retaining safeguards to protect personal information in a substantially more effective and cost-effective manner.
The system is used by the National Records of Scotland’s (NRS) statistical infrastructure for the production of new statistical series and by local, national government and NHS officials for policy analysis and has become a model in Scotland and other parts of the UK, which allows the linkage, holding, and analysis of personal data within appropriately strict legal and ethical constraints.

The research led to the launching in 2006 of the Longitudinal Studies Centre Scotland, which is funded by the Economic and Social Research Council.