USTAN was the first Higher Education Institute (HEI) in Scotland (founded 1413). Today it teaches 5508 undergraduate and 1004 postgraduate students. It is a research-led university and was ranked first in Scotland for research quality in the 2001 UK Research Assessment Exercise.  The total turnover of the University in the 2001-2 financial year was £73.2 million of which £25.9 million was from the Scottish Higher Education Funding Council.  The total value of research grants and contracts awarded to the University in 2001-2 was £25.4 million. The School of Biology is the largest in the University with 46 Professors and lecturers. Research interests of the School range from structural biology to ecosystem research. The School sponsors the Gatty Marine Laboratory an internationally recognised centre for marine biology research.  The Fish Muscle Research Laboratory (FMRG) is one of the largest groups within the Gatty consisting of 14 externally supported scientists. FMRG carries out basic and applied research on muscle growth and flesh quality using a variety of genomic, molecular and structural approaches.  Aquaculture and food orientated projects are carried out in collaboration with a wide range of industry partners ranging from small to multi-national companies.