Author: Early Career Researcher Institute

Volunteer at Bugs, Birds & Beasts Day (deadline: 16 May 2025)

Every summer we hold a nature activity day for all the family, Bugs, Birds & Beasts Day, hosted outdoors at our beautiful rural campus in Silwood Park, Ascot. Visitors find out how bugs, birds and beasts enrich our lives: watching live bird eggs develop and hatch, marvelling at falconry displays, taking part and discovering wonderful facts about the creatures all around us on bug hunts. There’s something for everyone, from pond-dipping to Jurassic Lab exhibits.

In recent years we’ve welcomed over 600 visitors to Silwood for the event, inspiring the scientists of tomorrow and enhancing their interest in nature. Each year the event becomes more and more popular, so this year we are branching out, expanding our exhibitions and stalls so that we can welcome even more visitors to our campus to find out about the fascination of science!

We can only run the event with the help of our amazing cohort of volunteers down at Silwood Park – and this year we are opening up the volunteer opportunity to ALL Imperial staff and students! It’s a great way to try something new, gain experience and enjoy an unforgettable summer’s day out in the countryside. There are roles from meeting and greeting, signposting, getting volunteers to and from the shuttle bus and helping our exhibitors with their stalls.

Volunteers will get a funky Bugs Day branded T-shirt, a delicious BBQ lunch and coach transport whizzing them to and from Silwood from South Kensington/White City. They will also get time to explore the festival and a special thank you gift.

“Bugs, Birds & Beasts Day is one of my favourite days of the academic year. It’s really rewarding and fun to share my love of science and interact with local people” – Professor James Rosindell

Want more information on what to expect?

Take a look at our promotional film

Check out the Imperial Volunteering FAQs.

Sign up to register your interest now!

Don’t miss the deadline of Friday 16 May – the earlier you sign up the more choice you’ll have in where you’ll be and what you’ll be doing; you can also volunteer with a friend by selecting the same type of shift when you sign up!

Neurodiversity Week (05-09 May 2025)

Join us for Neurodiversity Week (5-9 May), a week of celebrations of neurodiversity across Imperial. Hosted by the Faculty of Natural Sciences but open to all staff and students, the week includes talks, games, panel discussions and community events focused on inclusion, lived experience and practical strategies for supporting neurodivergent people in STEM.

Highlights include a keynote by theoretical physicist Professor Heather Logan on navigating academia as an autistic person, a hands-on puzzle challenge to explore alternative forms of learning from Imperial’s Playful Learning Group, a student-staff Q&A panel on thriving at Imperial, and a Neurodiversity Café with stalls, refreshments and space to connect.

Whether you’re neurodivergent yourself, an ally, or just curious to learn more, all are welcome. You can view the full programme of events for the week and register for them here

Make graduation magical – Volunteer on 02 June & 03 June 2025

We are excited to invite you to volunteer for Graduation Days 2025 which will take place on Monday 2 and Tuesday 3 June 2025.

We are inviting over 7,000 graduands and their guests to one of five ceremonies across the two days and we are looking for some fabulous volunteers to help the Graduation Events team deliver this exciting and special occasion.

Our mission is to create powerful, happy memories for our graduands after all the hard work they have put into their degree. The question is, can you help us achieve this?

Key Information

  • Registration is open from Friday 7 March – Friday 16 May 2025
  • Read more about becoming a volunteer on our website
  • Click on this link to find out more about shift times
  • Both staff and students are welcome to volunteer
  • Full briefings are provided prior to the event 
  • BENEFITS
    • Free lunch, free drink, and free snacks on the day
    • A Volunteer Thank You event with refreshments on Wednesday 11 June 2025
    • Every volunteer who signs-up and attends their shift will be automatically entered into a prize draw. Volunteer for both days and double your chances of winning!

Whether you can help for a full day or just a few hours, we would love to hear from you! So please sign up to support us by filling in the Registration Form.

If you have any queries at all, please contact us at graduationvolunteers@imperial.ac.uk and we’ll be happy to help.

Come and be the magic behind the moment, we can’t wait to have you on board!

Volunteer at the Great Exhibition Road Festival (Sign up by 14 May 2025)

Volunteering sign-ups for the Great Exhibition Road Festival are now open!

We’re giving all staff and students the chance to volunteer at Imperial College London’s exciting annual celebration of science and the arts on 7-8 June 2025.

We partner with iconic cultural institutions, including the Science Museum, Natural History Museum, V&A and the Royal Albert Hall, and thousands of visitors attend each year to engage with our world-leading science. But none of this would be possible without our dedicated team of volunteers!

Interested? Click here to find out more and sign up before 14 May 2025. 

Establishing the Imperial IBD Research Community – Join Us!

Are you a researcher, engineer, or clinician working on or interested in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) research? If you’re based at Imperial, Imperial NHS, or St Mark’s Hospital, we’re building an IBD research community to foster collaborations, support grant applications, and facilitate knowledge sharing and translation across all departments, career stages, and backgrounds.

Please take a moment to help us map this network by completing this short form: Join the IBD Research Community.

Save the Date for Our First Networking Event

📅 When: 24th April, 16:00
📍 Where: Hammersmith Campus

Let us know if you’ll be attending by filling out the form by 21st February, so we can secure the right venue size.

Join the new Viva Engage channel: Measuring Visibility and Impact

Join the new Viva Engage channel: Measuring Visibility and Impact

Scholarly Communications Management team has created a new Viva Engage community channel, Measuring Visibility and Impact to share insights and updates and invite discussion and collaboration on the various tools that imperial subscribes to. Tips and guidance on responsible use of metrics will also be shared.

Imperial subscribes to a number of powerful tools (e.g. Altmetric for tracking mentions of research publications on social media and news and Overton for monitoring citations on policy documents), but many staff and students are either unaware of these sources or unsure how to use them effectively. Through the Measuring Visibility and Impact channel, we aim to bridge this gap by advertising the tools, sharing updates about them, interesting case studies and organising training sessions to equip you to work with them.

The research analytics products allow you to:

  • track academic and societal impact of research publications, not only journal articles but other types of outputs such as reports, theses or preprints,
  • move away from journal-based metrics and h-index,
  • better communicate research results and increase visibility,
  • help you prepare job applications, narrative CVs, grant applications and REF submissions,
  • understand the latest research trends and key research areas in different disciplines,
  • monitor research performance of research groups, departments, faculties or institutions.

The community channel will support Imperial’s commitment to the responsible use of metrics by promoting best practice, fostering awareness, and keeping you updated about initiatives and opportunities. The channel will serve the ultimate objective of building a healthy research culture at Imperial by helping us break out of the dysfunctional culture of publish-or-perish.

Please join the Measuring Visibility and Impact community channel on Viva Engage and share this message with your contacts who might be interested.

Introduction to Mixed Methods Research Online Courses in 2025

Want to learn more about mixed methods research? Join us for an online course delivered by mixed methods experts, Dr Sarah Jasim and Dr Ruth Plackett, both senior researchers at LSE and UCL.

This course will guide you through the essential principles of mixed methods research, practical applications, and tips on how to start writing up your research. It’s an excellent opportunity for PhD students, post-docs, and other researchers to enhance their skills.

When:

  • Monday, February 24th (online)
  • Monday, October 20th (online)

Both sessions will run from 10 AM – 4 PM

Cost:

£200 for PhD students, £300 for post-docs and other researchers

Read more & Sign up here:  https://mixmethods2025.eventbrite.com

International Family Network

Are you an international student with dependants ?   Our International Family Network is for all Imperial International Students who have their dependants with them in the UK.  We arrange fun trips and events for you and your family such as theatre trips , visits to London tourist destinations and also on campus events such as the traditional Easter Egg Hunt in the College Gardens  .  See our website for further details.

Join our mailing list here or email s.markey@imperial.ac.uk .

New Trusted Research Training e-learning module

All staff with research, and academic responsibilities are expected to complete a new Trusted Research e-learning module. We encourage PhD students to complete this module too.

Research security considerations are increasingly important for universities across the UK, which includes minimising risks to national security during international research collaborations. It is crucial to ensure that everyone undertaking research at Imperial are aware of what Research Security is, its role in academia and key considerations when collaborating with research and funding partners overseas.

This module introduces Research Security, providing learners with insight into core principles including legal compliance, contractual obligations, and protective measures.

Joining instructions: You can self-enrol onto the course through the Trusted Research Module website.

Further training focused on export controls specifically will be released soon. If you are interested in being enrolled onto this module, please see the Research Security Training website for more information.

Additionally, the new Research Security website provides guidance on various areas of Research Security including the Trusted Research agenda, key legislation, and signposts other relevant areas of the university’s online guidance.