Blog posts

Crick PhD Student Summer Symposium 2023

Blog by Sophie Kraunsoe, Research Postgraduate, Department of Metabolism, Digestion and Reproduction

On the 10th of July, for the second year running, the Francis Crick Institute hosted the Crick-partner Universities PhD Student Summer Symposium providing an opportunity to bring together biosciences students from across London. Students from all stages of their PhDs from first years to final years presented their science and had a chance to network with peers across multiple universities including Imperial College London, UCL and King’s College London.

We kick started the day with a series of excellent mini symposia on topics ranging from neuroscience to cancer and immunology.

PhD Summer BBQ event in Faculty of Natural Sciences

Blog by Xinyi Guo, Doctoral Student, PG Academic and Welfare Officer of FoNS, Centre for Environmental Policy

On the balmy afternoon of 13th July, the venue of Beit Quad played host to a remarkable gathering of academic brilliance and camaraderie – the PhD Summer BBQ event.  Approximately 100 passionate PhD students came together to celebrate a day filled with laughter, learning, and the joy of forging new connections. Free food and drinks were provided on the day of the event for all PhD students who attended. As the scent of sizzling barbecues filled the air, so did the atmosphere with an unmistakable sense of excitement and enthusiasm.

A Delicious Reunion, Pizza, and Physics Adventures!

Student Research Seminar Series 2022/23

by Giorgio Mentasti, Research Student, Department of Physics

Hey there! Welcome to our super exciting blog post, where we spill the beans on our epic return to the good old days before COVID hit. We’re a bunch of theoretical physicists who’ve weathered the storm, working on mind-boggling equations from our cozy abodes. But guess what? We’re finally back to the normal times together, ready to rock the scientific world.

Picture this: our research group, scattered and isolated during the pandemic, suddenly coming together like the Avengers assembling for a grand mission. The highlight of our triumphant reunion?

Civil & Environmental Engineering’s PhD Day Trip to Bath

by Mohamed El-Zeadani, PhD student, Department of  Civil & Environmental Engineering

Thirty-two of us, all PhD students from the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, visited the city of Bath on the 29th of April 2023. Our journey started by assembling in front of the College’s main entrance on Exhibition Road at 7:00 am. Half an hour later, we started the 97 miles journey west of London by coach. It took us about three hours to get there and the weather could not have been any better as cheerful lines of sun rays welcomed us as soon as we arrived.

On the coach preparing to head to Bath

We hurried to enter the Roman Baths to avoid missing the timeslot for our pre-booked tickets.

The Young Entrepreneurs Scheme (YES) competition: developing skills for enterprise

By Katherine Davis, PhD student in the Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology (DIDE)

During the 2020/21 academic year, I took part in the Young Entrepreneurs Scheme (YES) competition, which aims to raise awareness about how ideas can be commercialised. In the competition, teams of postgraduate students, technicians, or early career academics prepare a business plan for a hypothetical company and pitch to win prizes. In this blog, I will briefly explain how I got into the YES competition, how I found taking part in the competition, and my advice for people considering competing.

Getting into the YES competition

In the summer of 2020, I saw a post about forming a team for the YES competition on my department’s Teams channel.

Non-academic Careers Event for MRes students

I’m on the MRes in Biomedical research course and many, if not all, of the career talks, resources and email adverts are all veering towards academia. Not to say this isn’t a good thing, many of us want to go down the academic route. However, my fellow reps and I have identified that there is a sizeable proportion of our course who do not want an academic career or are yet to be successful in securing one.

With that in mind, we planned a careers event and an informal reception not catered to academia. We scouted and contacted people from our course and allied courses who are in industry, public health, or alternate careers such as consulting.

“Beauty of a more colourful world” – CEP X Dyson X ICBS PhD Flash Mob #1

Blog by Yurong Yu, PhD student from the Centre for Environmental Policy

In response to the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) and the environmental crisis, we, a few of PhD students from Centre for Environmental Policy (CEP), Dyson School of Design Engineering (Dyson) and Imperial Business School (ICBS), initiated the event, “Beauty of a More Colourful World”. The event brought together 12 PhD students from 6 departments to showcase how their research ties into addressing environmental problems. 

The event took place on Wednesday 1st of December 2021 and was a cross-departmental initiative, aiming to create a unique opportunity to gather researchers and wider college community with shared interests in conservation, biodiversity, sustainability, and climate change & the environment more broadly.

Science Writing Competition 2022 – joint 3rd Place

by Teodora Rînciog, MSc Student, Centre for Environmental Policy

Hyenas – misunderstood villains?

Hideous creatures with a demon-like laugh, hyenas definitely meet all the criteria for a classic cartoon villain. I certainly thought so when I was a child, as did all of my childhood friends. None of us even thought twice about this judgement, even into our adulthoods. But, was this fair?

Why do we hate hyenas?

 Since the premiere of the exceeding-popular cartoon “The Lion King” in 1994, hyenas were globally established as the silly enemies of the noble lion. Considering the unpleasant appearance of hyenas, the young audience didn’t find this hard to believe.

Science Writing Competition – People’s Choice Award Winner

by Soteroulla Ellina, PhD Student, Department of Brain Sciences

Lab grown heart cells: Keeping the beat up

– Sorry, I am running late at the lab so I will have to raincheck today’s meeting…

This is probably something I have said more times than I wanted… Sometimes in confidence that the other person would understand and sometimes- especially with someone that I haven’t known for long, in a more apologetic way, hoping that they would not judge me. Good for me, this time, my friend belonged in the first category- he has known me for more than 15 years- so we quickly rescheduled.