Students and academics from the University of Strathclyde have faced each other in an edition of BBC Radio 4’s quiz series, The 3rd Degree.
The series, hosted by Steve Punt, sees a team of university students compete against a team of the ‘dons’ who teach them. The questions are a combination of general knowledge and specialist rounds based on the students’ and academics’ subjects.
The general knowledge questions covered subjects from Scotch whisky brands, explorers and funeral music to superhero films and the origins of words.
Other questions also referred to some of Strathclyde’s most celebrated alumni, including one about the first broadcast by television pioneer John Logie Baird, who studied at Glasgow and West of Scotland Technical College, a forerunner of Strathclyde.
The competitors were: Dr Rodge Glass, Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing and his student, Bryce Drennan; Dominic Finn, Teaching Fellow in Management Science and his student, Sami Ahmed; and Professor Zoe Shipton, of Strathclyde’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and her student, Emma Robinson.
The contest ended with at 23-13 win for the dons, despite them being disadvantaged in the specialist rounds. In these rounds, students had the chance for an extra point if academics did not answer a question – but academics were not given the same opportunity.
The programme was recorded at Strathclyde’s Students’ Union in February.