Category: Master’s Students

Our experience of the Early Academic Talks (EAT)

By Clara Finnigan, Postgraduate Student, Department of Metabolism, Digestion and Reproduction

Research is all about collaboration and communication. However, it can be daunting to meet new researchers, especially those outside of your immediate environment. We set up Early Academic Talks (EAT) to provide a space for Imperial Early Career Researchers (ECRs) to connect and present their research, helping break down barriers for collaboration and communication. Our fourth EAT session took place on Thursday, 24th of April.

This talk series is a cross-sectional initiative, aiming to oGer the opportunity for ECRs to meet and learn about the research at Imperial in a friendly and informal environment.

From Labs to Lunch: How the I&I PhD Networking Event Brings Us Together

By Sophie Ball and Katrina Fordwor, Department of Immunology and Inflammation

PhD students can easily get caught up in their projects, labs and work and not have the opportunity to network with other students, whether these students are from the same floor or other labs. The department for Inflammatory and Infection is spread over multiple floors, so it is easy for students to become siloed and not to interact with one another across the whole of their PhD. This is why we set up a monthly initiative to bring PhD students together in a relaxed setting. The Graduate School has granted us the opportunity to fund a monthly lunch.

Life Sciences – Living Planet Data Challenge

By Agnes Szwarczynska, PhD Researcher at Schroeder Lab at Silwood Park

Recently, I came across a Nature article titled “Reproducibility trial: 246 biologists get different results from the same data sets.” It got me thinking — what if Imperial students, with expertise spanning from animal communication to microbial science, took on the same challenge? That’s how The Living Planet Data Challenge was born — an exciting three-day event that, for the first time, brought together master’s and PhD students at Silwood Park to tackle a real-world data problem.

In the first week of February, participants applied their skills in data analysis, coding, and research to address a question at the intersection of ecology, evolution and environmental conservation.

School of Public Health Harmony Night: A Melodic Celebration of Culture and Community

By Sunyuntao Xu, MSc Epidemiology, Academic Representative, School of Public Health

On June 4th, 2024, we hosted the inaugural School of Public Health Harmony Night Karaoke party at Kungfu Restaurant. This vibrant social event, organized by the School of Public Health, brought together postgraduate students for an evening of singing, dining, and networking. This student-led initiative aimed to strengthen community bonds and promote well-being, encouraging cultural exchanges and interpersonal connections beyond the academic setting.

Karaoke is an entertainment culture that originated in East Asia, gaining immense popularity in China, Japan, and Korea. Over time, this engaging pastime has spread to Europe and America, thanks to cultural mixing and globalization.

Vaccine Chronicles: Experiences from Imperial’s Vaccine Student Research Network Seminar

On January 15th, we had the pleasure of hosting the Vaccine Bioscience Seminar, part of the Winter Seminar Series. This was the first event we organised—a kick-off for the Vaccine Student Research Network. Our aim was to provide an interdisciplinary perspective on vaccine research for postgraduate students and offer a first glimpse into the breadth of science taking place at Imperial.

While the COVID-19 pandemic now seems to be behind us, this seminar helped us to reflect on these years and the crucial role of vaccine technology. Throughout the afternoon, we discussed public health and pandemic management through various lenses.

The event drew big name speakers, each of whom contributed a significant piece of a big-picture discussion.

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.

The SynBIC goes to the Isle of Wight

By Javier Cabello Garcia, PhD Student, Department of Bioengineering

After a really tough year, the members of the SynBIC decided to organize a trip to bring back together PhD and Master’s students. This way, we could give a proper welcome to the new arrivals in the team! After thinking about what the best place for our meet and greet would be, we reached the logical conclusion that there is no better place than a garlic farm! So, we headed to the Isle of Wight to visit its garlic farm and the island surroundings.

The day trip to the Isle of Wight took place on Friday 2nd of July, 2021.