Professor Morris believes that archaeology will attract students to UHI and help the higher education network to form strong ties with local communities in the North.

The new chair of archaeology will be developing research projects to explore sites and monuments relating to the Highland Clearances and world wars, and he plans to further his work on the region's pre-Reformation religious chapels which could help to identify when the Vikings and Christians came together.

He also wants to create a database of archaeology and cultural heritage professionals across the area, hoping that UHI can form some mutually beneficial working relationships with them.

Formerly professor of archaeology and a vice-principal at the University of Glasgow, Professor Morris is back doing what he loves best – and in the place where he carved out an illustrious career. He has Welsh origins and was brought up in Lancashire, but says his heart is in the rich archaeological landscape of the Highlands and Islands. Most of his research work has been carried out here, particularly in Orkney, Shetland, Caithness and Sutherland.

The appointment at UHI has given him the opportunity to resume his field research in the region, as well as helping the proposed university to develop. He has already been working closely with Dr Jane Downes, senior lecturer in archaeology at Orkney College UHI, on plans for the potentially world-leading ESSENCE research centre into the cultural environments of Scotland and the North Atlantic countries. Orkney College UHI is also conducting the study into a proposed new BA in archaeology.

"UHI's current postgraduate programmes in archaeology are very much focused on Orkney, but there are many other important sites throughout the Highlands and Islands with the potential for being incorporated into future courses," said Prof Morris. "We are also hoping to create an undergraduate programme across the network which could also be inter-disciplinary and linked with other subjects."

He is being assisted by Rachel Barrowman from Lews Castle College UHI on the Isle of Lewis. They have worked together over many years and are co-authors of a recent book on Arthurian-period finds from Tintagel in Cornwall.

Leading archaeologist Professor Chris Morris, who is hoping to strengthen ties between UHI and local archaeology groups.

Prof Morris continued: "Archaeology is a very real and important facet of life in the Highlands and Islands, and something that can help UHI to connect with local communities.

"TV programmes like Time Team and Two Men in a Trench have helped to broaden the appeal and understanding of archaeology, which has a long tradition of attracting part-time enthusiasts to help with field work, and there are some very good groups in this region working, for instance, on a range of rural and coastal sites.

"I'd like to see archaeology become a distinctive and core part of what UHI offers because it is so central to the area. People want to know about their past and their place in it, and there is so much around them that is of considerable significance."

Professor Morris has an extensive CV and is well known and highly regarded by the archaeology community at home and abroad. He has served many prestigious organisations and is now depute chairman of the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland. He was also on the Ancient Monuments Board for Scotland for 11 years.

Glasgow-based Professor Morris is now setting up a second home near Nethy Bridge and will be working from Highland Theological College UHI in Dingwall.

"I'm delighted to be here and to get back into the research field in an area where I have worked for most of my life," he said.

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