A former Labour MSP has won the job of championing the cause of science and technology in the Scottish Parliament.

The Royal Society of Chemistry and Royal Society of Edinburgh have jointly appointed chemistry graduate Bristow Muldoon, former MSP for Livingston, as their first Scottish-based parliamentary liaison officer.

The two societies stressed the appointment was non-political and said the new post had been created to make it easier for MSPs and researchers of all parties to tap into their knowledge and expertise.

Meanwhile, a former SNP and independent MSP who stood down four years ago has become an honorary professor of journalism at Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen.

The university said of the appointment of Dorothy-Grace Elder: "Professor Elder exposed numerous injustices and scandals, from tracking down paedophiles in Scotland to highlighting appalling conditions in Russian prisons."