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George Daniels legacy gift to support students

City University London has launched the George Daniels Educational Trust scholarships, to support students and benefit research in measurement and instrumentation.

Watchmaker George Daniels, who was famous for creating the co-axial escapement, attended City’s predecessor the Northampton Institute and will now have his desire to support students realised. 

Through a generous donation of funds bequeathed to the George Daniels Educational Trust, City University London will award two doctoral studentships and five undergraduate scholarships to students taking Electrical Engineering and Instrumentation courses in the School of Engineering & Mathematical Sciences during the 2013/14 academic year. The University is also considering accommodation bursaries in order to offer more support to students.

Daniels was said to have directly linked his time as a student to his horological successes and to have been sensitive to the difficulties faced by university students in accessing grants, scholarships and reasonably-priced accommodation in London.

It is in order to support students with these same difficulties that the George Daniels Educational Trust has administered the substantial funds he bequeathed to provide support for City’s students and to benefit research in measurement and instrumentation at the University.

The George Daniels Educational Trust has also granted funds toward establishing the George Daniels Chair in Scientific Instrumentation and the George Daniels Research Lectureship in Measurement and Instrumentation.
Speaking about the scholarships, chairman of the George Daniels Educational Trust and close confidant of Daniels, David Newman said: "I am pleased that the George Daniels Educational Trust has been able to administer the substantial funds bequeathed by George to provide scholarships for City’s students who will benefit considerably from education and research in measurement and instrumentation. George was passionate about enabling promising students who would otherwise face difficulties and the Trustees have worked painstakingly to ensure that this benevolent aspect of George’s legacy will come to fruition."

An inaugural George Daniels lecture is taking place on September 18 to celebrate the life and work of the watchmaker.

In a lecture called Optical Atomic Clocks – Light Years Ahead? Professor Patrick Gill from the National Physical Laboratory will look to the future of highly accurate time measurement and will address the issue of a future redefinition of the second.

At the event, the University Clock in the College Building will be renamed The George Daniels Clock.

 

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