Category: College News & Updates

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Global Fellows Programmes 2025 (deadline EXTENDED: 17 Feb 2025)

Applications are now open for the following Global Fellows Programmes:

PhD students from the institutions and all disciplines will come together to collaborate and network in these 5-day professional development courses.

In the current scientific environment, international collaborations and networking are the basis for developing successful projects. The modern researcher requires both excellence in research and professional skills and competencies. This exciting programme is designed to facilitate participants to actively focus on the development of these professional skills and competencies.

Doctoral candidates from any discipline are invited to apply. This is a chance to challenge yourself outside of your normal working environment, meet people from other disciplines and cultures, and have fun!

Our Global Fellows Programmes are worth four credits towards the professional development attendance requirement.

Applications close on Monday 17 February 2025 (11am)

Find out more & apply

Coming Soon!

  • Imperial-Institute of Science Tokyo Global Fellows Programme
    10 – 14 November 2025 (date may be subject to change)
    Hosted by: Institute of Science Tokyo

Imperial College Union Leadership Elections (Nominations from 10- 28 Feb)

What are the leadership elections?

These are our main elections that we deliver at Imperial College Union to elect all of our senior student representatives. These include all of our paid full time officer trustee positions as well as other senior volunteer positions that students can do alongside their studies such as student trustees, Liberation & Community officers and Constituent Union positions.

What positions are available in the elections?

Full time officer trustee positions

  • President (full time paid)
  • Deputy President Education
  • Deputy President Welfare
  • Deputy President Clubs & Societies
  • Deputy President Finance & Services
  • ICSMSU President

Senior Volunteer Positions

  • LCOs x 9 (working class officer, gender equality officer, international officer, mental health officer, disabilities officer, womens officer, black & minority ethnic officer, LGBTQ+ officer, ethics & environment officer, interfaith officer)
  • CGCU President
  • RCSU President
  • RSMU President
  • Constituent Union positions
  • Student Chair (Chairs Union Council)
  • Student Trustees x 2 (Union Trustee Board)
  • Department Representatives
  • PGR Representation Chair
  • PGR Academic & Welfare Officers

Timeline

Nominations are open from the 10th February – 28th February.

5th March – Candidate Briefing

6th March – Candidate Media Day

7th March – Candidate Roadshow

Campaigning begins on the 6th March – 13th March

Voting Opens 10th – 13th

Results – 14th March with Results being announced in Metric at 6pm.

 

If you have any questions, please contact charlotte.baker@imperial.ac.uk or elections@imperial.ac.uk

 

The Representation Team

Imperial College Union

We are Imperial College Union

Imperial’s Big Step Challenge (03 Feb – 02 Mar 2025)

Imperial’s Big Step Challenge is back

We’re excited to announce the return of Imperial’s Big Step Challenge for its third year! From 3 February to 2 March, join our fun, university-wide physical activity challenge. In teams of up to 5, lace up your walking shoes and virtually walk between each of Imperial’s UK campuses. Every step counts, whether it’s striding to campus, walking the dog, or dancing in your kitchen!

Using the Big Team Challenge app, you can sync your steps, track your progress, and help us promote health, wellbeing, and sustainability – because for every 10 active users, a tree is planted!

This year, we’ve added new features based on your feedback, including separate leaderboards for teams focused on steps and those who want to include additional activities.

Team registrations are now open so gather your members, set your goals, and let’s make this the most successful step challenge yet.

Ready to take the first step? Sign up now and let’s get moving together!

Visit the website for more information and to read our frequently asked questions.

 

Learning Well Programme (10-14 February 2025)

New year, new priorities! Prioritise learning well in 2025🎓

Ready to level up your study game and take care of your wellbeing in the new year? Join us for the Learning Well Programme, running from Monday 10 February to Friday 14 February 2025 at the South Kensington campus!

Here’s what’s in it for you:

✅ Learn evidence-based strategies to make studying smarter, not harder.

✅ Get hands-on in practical workshops to develop study and wellbeing habits that actually work for you.

✅ Connect, reflect, and share ideas in supportive spaces designed to help you thrive.

This is for all students who want to enhance their learning and wellbeing. Whether you’re looking to refine your study methods or feeling like you’re struggling, it’s here to support you to strengthen your approach to learning and recognise learning behaviours linked to improved wellbeing.

💻 Find out more and grab your spot at the Learning Well Programme event. More information about the Learning Well Project can be found here.

Together, let’s champion better learning and wellbeing practices for our university community! 💪

Student Experience Survey

Help improve our student experience

Have your say and complete our Student Experience Survey. The survey runs until February 2025 and is your chance to share your thoughts and help shape the future of Imperial. We are committed to taking concrete action based on what you tell us.

Whether it’s about your academic experience, campus facilities, or student support services, we want to hear it all. Your voice matters, and together, we can make Imperial even better.

Last year, student feedback led to some changes:

  • Expanded library resources: We added new resources based on your requests and boosted our curated Libby collection.
  • Empowering women through sports: Our ‘Move Her Way’ campaign in November was a success and we are committed to providing more opportunities for women to stay active in a supportive environment.
  • Expanded Asian food options: New spots like Feast Katsu Corner, Kokoro, Lumen, and Pure Foods.

The survey takes most students around 10-15 minutes to complete.

Once you have completed the survey you will have the choice to enter into a prize draw with a chance to win one of the following 50 prizes:

  • 5 x £100 Love2shop e-gift cards
  • 10 x £50 Love2shop e-gift cards
  • 15 x £30 Love2shop e-gift cards
  • 20 x £10 Union Shop vouchers

Please take the time to share your feedback and help us improve the Imperial experience!

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 .

Postgraduate Climate Conscious Travel Fund

Introducing the Introducing the Postgraduate Climate Conscious Travel Fund 

We are excited to announce the launch of the Postgraduate Climate Conscious Travel Fund for this academic year, designed to help postgraduate students make more sustainable travel choices by supporting them with the costs associated with making greener travel choices.  

Did you know that 81% of Imperial’s carbon emissions come from external sources, otherwise known as Scope 3 emissions? Nearly half of these emissions stem from university-related travel. With the recent publication of Imperial’s Sustainable Travel Policy, we are committed to reducing our travel-related carbon footprint. However, we recognise that choosing greener travel options is not always the most affordable for postgraduate students. 

The Postgraduate Travel Fund has been created to help cover the extra costs of sustainable travel, ensuring that students aren’t left out of pocket. For instance, the fund would cover the price difference between travelling by train instead of flying, as illustrated in the table below. 

Route   Average Cost Return Economy   PG Travel Funding Provided  
   Flight   Rail     
London – Amsterdam   £130   £180   £50  
London – Frankfurt   £160   £220   £60  
London – Glasgow   £110   £140   £30  

If you’re interested in applying, please review the fund’s guidelines for details on what it will and won’t cover. Please note that funding is limited and will only be provided where no alternative funding sources are available. You can find the link to the application form here. 

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.

Access the New York Times to discover quality journalism

Access the New York Times to discover quality journalism

We are pleased to announce that we have purchased a subscription to the New York Times.  The subscription provides access to all Imperial students and staff.

Don’t miss this opportunity to stay informed and up to date with the latest news from one of the world’s most respected news sources.

You can access both New York Times website and app content, including the International, Chinese, and Spanish editions of the newspaper.

First-time users are required to register with their Imperial email address. Further details on how to register can be found on the Imperial website.

Imperial staff and students have full access to Overton

Following the College-wide trial for Overton, Imperial has now subscribed to the product.

All staff and students have full access to Overton. If you are within Imperial’s IP range, you will be able to browse Overton and see policy documents without logging in. However, we encourage to create a personal account to use all Overton’s functionalities. Get in touch with Yusuf Ozkan (y.ozkan@imperial.ac.uk) to request the registration link.

We will arrange a walkthrough session with the Overton team and let you know once the date is confirmed. In the meantime, you can check out the following resources:

1) A short video introducting Overton

2) Getting Started  section on Overton’s Knowledge Base to help get users oriented to the platform

3) You can also sign up to Overton’s newsletter  which contains new features and other useful information for users.

Overton is a policy document database and helps find the impact of academic research outputs within policy documents. It facilitates searches for policy documents, guidelines, think tank publications, and working papers. The product collects data from nearly 200 countries in various languages. Overton also tracks the impact of research outputs on policy by identifying references, people, and organisations. It reveals where research articles are cited or mentioned in policy documents.

You can contact Yusuf Ozkan, Research Outputs Analyst (y.ozkan@imperial.ac.uk) for your questions.
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