Tag: Doctoral Students

Quality Management Systems (QMS) for Medical Devices Online Course

The MedTechONE team is excited to announce launch of our new course, Quality Management Systems (QMS) for Medical Devices — designed to support professionals working across the medical device lifecycle. 

Developed by experts at Imperial College, this course provides a clear and practical introduction to the policies, processes, and procedures manufacturers implement to ensure medical devices are safe, effective, and fit for their intended use. Whether you’re new to QMS or looking to strengthen your understanding, the course offers a strong foundation. 

What to expect from the course:

·                Engaging video-based learning, narrated by an AI avatar 

·                Downloadable lecture notes to support deeper understanding and further reading 

·                Light assessments throughout to help reinforce key concepts as you progress 

The course is designed to be flexible and accessible, allowing you to learn at your own pace while building confidence in QMS principles relevant to the medical device sector. 

Watch our short introductory video to explore what the course covers. 

Enrol Here: Imperial College staff and students can self-enrol via Blackboard using their Imperial credentials only — no additional registration is required. 

1:1 Research Communication Coaching

Strengthen your research communication through personalised 1:1 coaching

Are you an Imperial doctoral researcher wanting to express your ideas more clearly, confidently and impactfully? Book a personalised 1:1 meeting with a CfAE coach to identify your most important areas for development and get targeted guidance to elevate your writing or speaking.

You can either discuss a sample of your research writing or prepared speech, or just come for advice on your writing or speaking in general. You’re welcome to take advantage of these meetings throughout your time at Imperial and can usually book a couple each term.

Here are some of the questions you might want to ask:

  • I’m struggling to organise my points in this part – how can I make it clearer?
  • I’m not sure what information is relevant for my audience here?
  • My literature review reads like a shopping list – how do I create a narrative to hold it together?
  • I feel I don’t sound ‘professional’ enough – how can I improve that?
  • I’m not sure how to speak with my own ‘voice’

And here’s what some of our attendees have to say:

“Already after yesterday’s meeting I feel much more confident and like I suddenly know what I am doing.”

“I just wanted to say a big, big thank you for the advice you gave me in our meeting. I just got some feedback from the second examiner of my Late Stage Assessment. I have passed the assessment, and the examiner found that my writing was much improved, compared to my earlier LSA attempt.”

For more information and to book, go to the CfAE 1:1 advice webpage.

Able network for disabled staff, research postgrads and allies

Able is a disability network that creates a supportive community for disabled staff, postgraduate research students and allies. The network welcomes those who live with a disability and/or physical or mental health condition, whether life-long, newly acquired, self-identified or diagnosed, regardless of whether they identify as disabled or not. They also encourage allies who are supportive of disability equality and equity in the workplace.

Each Friday morning at 9.00am the group meets for a virtual coffee and chat, where members can discuss topics relating to disability, share their lived experiences and become part of a community.

Find out more about the Able network and sign up by completing the online form.

Access to Food Banks – Advice Service & Working-Class Network

Our Advice Service and Working-Class Network are working collaboratively to ensure all students at Imperial College experiencing short term financial hardship have access to food banks across the UK.

If you’re struggling to afford food, especially given the current cost of living crisis, you can now reach out to our Advice Service who will be able to issue an e-voucher for your local  The Trussell Trust food bank.

A typical food parcel may contain long life milk, pasta, tinned vegetables and fruit, tea or coffee, biscuits, and soup. If you cannot access your nearest food bank, delivery may be available although not guaranteed.

The Advice Service and Working-Class Network will also be able to signpost you to the relevant long term financial support services at Imperial College to help you get back on your feet. All requests are strictly confidential.

Please remember you are not alone and it’s okay to reach out for a bit of extra support – rising living costs are affecting students across the UK. We are here to ensure that you always have access to food and that you are not disadvantaged in your studies because of a lack of essentials.

How it works

  1. Fill out this form from the Advice Service
  2. The Advice service will send you an e-voucher
  3. You can pick up your parcel at your local Trussell Trust Food bank. You can find the locations here
  4. For further financial assistance, please reach out to Student Finance Support Team

Royal Society Fellowships 2026 Full List

Schemes opening in 2026

Scheme Open date Close date Decision
Royal Society Wolfson Fellowship 7 January 2026 4 March 2026 July 2026
Royal Society Wolfson Visiting Fellowship 7 January 2026 4 March 2026 July 2026
International Exchanges Global Round 1 15 January 2026 18 March 2026 June 2026
JSPS Postdoctoral Fellowship 15 January 2026 18 March 2026 July 2026
Newton International Fellowships 15 January 2026 11 March 2026 August 2026
Research Grants 29 January 2026 26 March 2026 July 2026
Industry Fellowships 4 February 2026 1 April 2026 July 2026
Short Industry Fellowships 2 April 2026 28 May 2026 July 2026
Kan Tong Po Visiting Fellowships 9 April 2026 4 June 2026 October 2026
Royal Society Wolfson Fellowship 6 May 2026 1 July 2026 November 2026
Royal Society Wolfson Visiting Fellowship 6 May 2026 1 July 2026 November 2026
University Research Fellowship 14 July 2026 9 September 2026 May 2027
Industry Fellowships 22 July 2026 16 September 2026 March 2027
Short Industry Fellowships 12 August 2026 7 October 2026 December 2026
Dorothy Hodgkin Fellowship 1 September 2026 28 October 2026 July 2027
Faraday Discovery Fellowships – Stage 1 August 2026 September 2026 November 2026
Leverhulme Trust Senior Research Fellowships September 2026 November 2026 April 2027
Career Development Fellowships 22 September 2026 18 November 2026 June 2027
Faraday Discovery Fellowships – Stage 2 December 2026 February 2027 July 2027

CfAE Guided Activity Sessions on Speaking Skills (Spring Term 2026)

Are you coming up to an assessed presentation? Are you keen to work on your public speaking skills? Do you want to improve your ability to interact in seminars?

Whether you’re an undergraduate or a postgraduate, our guided activity sessions for speaking can help you achieve success on your academic journey and beyond. Sessions are designed to give you the space and opportunity to prepare and rehearse for both everyday and high-stakes activities here at Imperial. Each session includes input tailored to academic STEMM settings and structured practice opportunities. There will be expert feedback and peer review to help you hone your skills.

The live, 50-minute, interactive sessions are held at different times and on different days throughout term, so you can access what you need, when you need it. We offer both on-campus and online options; check out the schedule. You can do as many as you like.

New Work and Professional Experiences Webpage

Keen to secure professional experience this winter break?

Our new Work and professional experiences webpage is the perfect place to explore all the ways you can get hands-on experience while studying from internships and part time work to shadowing and volunteering

Learn about different types of experiences, how to prepare for work experience, and where you can find opportunities here.

New Doctoral Theses: access and alerts

Looking for Imperial theses? Explore and download theses via the Library’s guide:

Stay updated with Spiral

  • Imperial users can subscribe to collections (e.g., departmental PhD theses) and receive daily, weekly, or monthly digests of newly added items.
  • Log in with College credentials to subscribe.
  • External users can follow updates via RSS for the same collections.

How to subscribe (Imperial users)

  1. Go to Spiral: https://spiral.imperial.ac.uk
  2. Open the collection you want to follow (e.g., “Physics PhD theses”).
  3. Click “Subscribe” and choose your preferred frequency.
  4. Manage your preferences here: https://spiral.imperial.ac.uk/subscriptions

Introducing dAIsy – Imperial’s New GenAI workspace

dAIsy is Imperial’s new Generative AI platform, designed to give you safe, easy access to multiple AI models (such as GPT, Claude, Deepseek, and others) through a single interface.

dAIsy is built to support teaching, learning, and research while ensuring data protection and institutional compliance.

Why use dAIsy?

  • Private and secure – your data stays protected. All your prompts and chat history are stored securely in Imperial’s cloud.
  • Build your own agents – You can define instructions or behaviours suited to your specific needs.
  • Advanced developer role available on request – if you want to go deeper.

Imperial offers licensed AI models to promote equitable access and, alongside Microsoft Copilot, dAIsy supports our commitment to harnessing AI’s transformative potential responsibly and effectively.

Further support

Join a new PhD Participatory Research Network!

A group of PhD students has set up a PhD Participatory Research Network (funded by LISS-DTP) to connect PhD students interested in participatory methods – approaches where people with lived experience are active partners in shaping all stages of the research process. Each month, we’ll meet to explore a different theme through interactive workshops, peer discussions, and guest speakers. Together, we’ll build a collective toolkit of resources and guidance by PhD students, for PhD students.

Our first session will be held at REACH Space, 3rd Floor, Surrey Street East Wing, Strand Campus, King’s College London, on Wednesday 5th November, 2pm-4pm. Our network is open to all PhD students from King’s College London, Queen Mary University of London, and Imperial College London. If you are based elsewhere but would like to join, please email Emma (e.hayashibara@qmul.ac.uk). As spaces are limited, please register your interest via Eventbrite to secure your place. If you can no longer attend, kindly cancel your registration so that someone else can take your spot.

For any questions about the network, feel free to contact Emma (e.hayashibara@qmul.ac.uk).