Members' Business - Bruce Crawford MSP: Stirling University's 50th Anniversary

That the Parliament congratulates the University of Stirling on its 50th anniversary in 2017; understands that, on 18 September 1967, 164 undergraduate students and 31 postgraduates began their courses at the new Pathfoot Building and, since then, the university's alumni has grown to include over 80,000 people in 170 countries; acknowledges that many notable alumni, such as the BBC documentaries, Planet Earth and Blue Planet, cinematographer, Doug Allan, and the biotech innovator, Sunil Kadri, who founded the AKVA Group, which is understood to be the world’s largest aquaculture technology supplier, have attended the university over the years; considers that the university particularly excels in the fields of research, the environment and sport as Scotland's University of Sporting Excellence, with Scottish sporting stars, such as the Commonwealth gold-winning swimmer, Ross Murdoch, and tennis superstars, Andy and Jamie Murray, using the university’s facilities to train; notes that the university was the first genuinely new university in Scotland for over 400 years and considers that it has established itself as a desired place of study for students from Scotland and across the world; welcomes the fact that thousands of students continue to apply for and attend the university each year and believes that this is testament to the fantastic campus, facilities, courses and staff, and wishes everyone linked to the university the very best for the future.