Claude and I have been working together to do more stuff since my first blog post about Claude. We’ve added a whole lot of new things to our prototype Survey of Scottish Witchcraft site including a chatbot to ask questions about the data (a challenge received by Lesley Greer), ‘stories’ …

After almost 22 years working in a variety of different roles at the University, I’ve made the decision to leave. It’s been a hard decision as there is so much I love about my job but I need a chance to catch up with myself. I’d like to have a …

This February I was back at the PHPUK conference in London. The venue this year was 1 America Square with a historic wall through the middle of one of the rooms. There were three tracks to follow so unfortunately we couldn’t go to all the talks, but managed to cover two thirds. It Depends – […]

As part of my career development I started  the Aspiring Manager Programme this past January with support from my line manager. The programme provides a framework to develop core management skills and behaviours to set aspiring managers up for success in future management roles. This post is a reflection of the programme following the core […]

I had the pleasure of attending the PHP UK Conference in London this year. It was my second time, and it was even more exciting than the last! We had three simultaneous sessions, with 19 carefully chosen speakers and a new venue to welcome over 200 attendees. We got to connect with experienced developers, newcomers […]

Estimated reading time: 5 minutes. I was recently invited to the ‘300 Faces of Edinburgh Medical School’ launch event. Marking the 300th anniversary of the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Edinburgh, this exhibition celebrates the people who have made inspirational contributions to the school.

I’ve been using ELM at work and finding it really helps speed up anything I have to write.  ELM is ‘Edinburgh access to Language Models’ and it provides secure access to a number of different LLMs. It’s available to all staff and students at the University so if you haven’t …

Reading Time: 2 minutesThe Spring Canvas UK User Group was hosted at ARU Peterborough — a brand‑new institution, opened in 2022, set up to boost local skills and employability through career‑focused education. The university was created to tackle a long‑standing skills shortage in the area, with Peterborough sitting in the bottom 10% nationally for degree‑level qualifications. Their aim […]

I moved to Argyle House when I changed job and moved to IS in 2018.   I remember being nervous about the open plan office space and wondering if I’d be able to concentrate given the general hubbub of industry.  When I arrived, I was pleasantly surprised to find I actually …

Reading Time: 2 minutesThe Short Course Platform project team were nominated for 2 awards at the 2026 IS Staff Recognition Awards. The team of the year award and contribution to the community award and unfortunately we didn’t win! Firstly, congratulations to all the winners. It’s nice to see teams and individuals get recognition for the work they do […]