Category: Research students

Mindful Scientific Writing Workshop

by Vivienne Groner, Research Associate in Microclimate Modelling, Department of Life Sciences 

Writing sits at the heart of academic life. It is how we shape ideas, apply for funding, progress in our careers, and share our work with the world. Yet for many of us, writing feels heavy – something to squeeze in between experiments, meetings, and deadlines. It is rarely taught as a skill to be practised mindfully or sustainably; more often, it is something we dread, delay, or approach under pressure. In an increasingly competitive academic environment, writing can all too easily become a source of stress, burnout, and self-doubt.

IGHI PhD Christmas Social 2025

by Tricia Tay, Clinical Research Fellow, Department of Surgery & Cancer

We would like to thank Early Career Researcher Institute for funding our Christmas social. The original plan was to a research presentation where we provide updates of our PhDs in the morning to the group followed by lunch in a nearby café. We applied for funding for the lunch. However, our supervisor cancelled the research meeting after we had obtained funding.

Our team went ahead with the lunch and shared informally updates of our PhDs and lives in 2025. Our team of 18 PhD and Clinical Research Fellows work across various campuses including White City, St Mary’s and South Kensington.

Student seminar series at the Abdus Salam Centre for Theoretical Physics

By Jaeha Park & Elias Van den Driessche, Department of Physics

The student seminar series is designed to give PhD students at the Abdus Salam Centre for Theoretical Physics an opportunity to present their ongoing research. As opposed to other seminars organised in the group, student seminars are organised in an accessible and informal setting. This gives an opportunity for PhD students and early-career postdocs to gain valuable experience in scientific communication, but also for MSc students and early-year PhD students to be exposed to the range of topics explored within the group.

The goal of the student seminars is far beyond individual talks.

Faculty of Medicine’s Rising Scientist Day

Rising Scientist Day is an event hosted by the Faculty of Medicine, celebrating the innovative research and achievements of postgraduate students. It provides a valuable platform for students to present their work, exchange ideas, and foster interdisciplinary collaboration across the scientific community.

The following post summarises key highlights and reflections from the day.

Yuan Wang, PhD Student

I was honoured to present my poster on how the gut microbiome modulates metabolic diseases through its metabolites. My research focuses on integrating metagenomic and metabolomic data to better understand host–microbiome interactions. It was an exciting opportunity to share my findings with peers and faculty, and I’m grateful to have received a prize for my work.

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.

PhD Student Welfare Evening – Bowling at All Star Lanes

by Lucy Edwardes, Scarlett Brown and Helen Figueira, PhD students from the MRC Laboratory of Medical Sciences at the Institute of Clinical Sciences

On the 23rd November the LMS PhD student committee organised a bowling social at All Star Lanes in White City. The aim of the event was to provide an opportunity for students to meet fellow students across different groups within the LMS away from the lab and in a relaxed and fun environment. With the hope to encourage better scientific collaboration between research groups and build support networks for students outside of their lab groups.

25 students came along and were mixed into 4 teams and played 2 games.

Bringing Together Imperial’s Social Scientists: A Flagship PhD and ECR Event

By Lauren Shields, PhD Student in the Centre for Higher Education Research and Scholarship.

On Monday 10th June 2024, over 20 PhD and Early Career Researchers from across all four Imperial faculties met in a first-of-its-kind networking event. As a PhD social scientist in a STEMMB institution, it can be hard to find other researchers conducting similar research to you. We are often either isolated in departments or are lacking targeted training or collaboration sessions with others in the same institution. I wanted to host an event that would bring these researchers together, to form connections and learn from each other, as well as celebrate the hugely important offerings that social science can bring to physical science.

An Afternoon at the Transport Museum: Connecting Minds in Transport Research

by Leah Camarcat and Surabhi Ojha, Research Postgraduates in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering.

To foster collaboration and networking within the PhD cohort in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Imperial College, we recently organized an event at the Transport Museum for PhD students. This gathering, held on May 25, 2024, brought together bright minds from the transport research group and various other research groups in the department, providing a platform for knowledge exchange and networking.

The Transport Museum’s exhibits provided an excellent icebreaker, sparking conversations about the history and future of transport. The feedback from attendees was positive, with many expressing a desire for similar events in the future.

My experience as a 3rd year PhD student at Imperial’s Rising Scientist Day 2024

Blog by Angelos Manolias, Research Postgraduate in the Department of Metabolism, Digestion and Reproduction

In May 2024, I attended the Rising Scientist Day. The day included 2 sessions of poster presentations from 2nd and 3rd year PhDs, a 3-minute thesis presentation competition, talks from Imperial PhD alumni and networking events. In this blogpost I give my opinions on the events of day, highlight the benefits of attending such an event as a PhD student and give a few ideas for improvement in the next years.

Rising scientist day has many benefits for PhD students that attend it. Starting from the poster presentations, this is a great opportunity to gain experience with presenting your research in poster format but also learning what research is going on around the college by postgraduate students.

Our experience organising the first inter-collegiate colloquium on psychedelics in addiction research

Blog by Rayyan Zafar, Mark Sweeney, Orla Mallon, Research Postgraduates in the Department of Brain Sciences and Institute of Clinical Sciences

Psychedelic drugs, such as psilocybin, ketamine, DMT and LSD are the subject of increasing research as potential novel treatments for addiction. Some of the most innovative work is being conducted by researchers in the UK.

My colleagues and I organised the first colloquium on psychedelics in addiction research, which took place in May 2024 at the Centre for Psychedelic Research at Imperial College London. The event provided a space for leading researchers in the field to meet, present their work and identify opportunities for future collaboration between institutions.