Becky Middleton, Director of Education and Student Experience in the Faculty of Natural Sciences, outlines in this blog some of the activities that the Education Team have planned for this Autumn term.
Now that term is well underway, we wanted to give a quick update on some of the exciting Education Team-led initiatives and events that are happening this Autumn term.
The final of our Faculty of Natural Sciences Make-A-Difference competition (FoNS-MAD) took place on 22 October- where 6 teams of undergraduate students had the opportunity to showcase their innovative project ideas and competed for the top prize of £7,000. The winners were team D-View, Arda Kancal (Design Engineering) and Idil Igde (Physics), who developed a drone-based search-and-rescue system equipped with geophones – sensors that detect vibrations caused by trapped earthquake survivors. Runners-up were team ANA. Many congratulations to all of our teams this year!
We look forward to launching FoNS-MAD 2025/26 on 12 November and to seeing what enterprising and innovative ideas this year’s teams bring to the competition.
We would like to thank Ramon Vilar Compte for his leadership in Chairing the FoNS-MAD organising committee for the past 11 years. We now welcome Thibault Bertrand and Jose Jimenez Zarco as our new co-Chairs.
We had a great time at our first Bridges event of the year – Speedfriending in October – with over 60 students joining the fun! Students can now book Peer Guide appointments through the Bridges App, and we’re looking forward to our next event, Adulting 101, on November 6.
The week, starting 27 October, was our first-ever Social Mobility Week – five days of celebrating, exploring, and promoting social mobility. Big thanks to everyone who came along and got involved!
‘Confronting Inequality’
The Confronting Inequality in Education (CIE) programme is launching again this December, supporting Year 12 students studying STEM subjects. The initiative aims to create a supportive space for scientific exploration and to help students develop the skills and confidence to strengthen their university applications. Now entering its seventh year, the programme continues to grow, now expanded to two schools the 2024/25 cohort saw a record 69 Year 12 students actively engaging with the programme!
AV updates
In AV Support Team news, we have recruited 36 students who will form our team of Student AV Assistants this year, and have been trained by the FoNS AV Support team to assist staff with basic AV systems knowledge in our teaching rooms. The support of these volunteers is always invaluable and much appreciated by staff- we look forward to working with this year’s team!
Department Student Reps
We are also looking forward to meeting this year’s Department Student Reps at our upcoming Faculty Student Staff Committees, and to hearing their feedback and thoughts on their experience so far this year.
FoNS outreach
In outreach news, the FoNS Science & Innovation competition has launched for this year, where teams of young people are asked to develop a new and innovative solution to one of the UN’s sustainable development goals. The competition has expanded from Secondary schools, to include a Primary school category along with an ‘Open’ category, for organisations of multiple age groups, such as the Scouts and Girl Guide associations. Last year we received over 200 team entries and we are looking forward to seeing fantastic ideas the UK’s young people come up with this year. More information can be found here
Due to Imperials global reach and reputation, we have decided to introduce an international strand of the competition, for schools and organisations outside the UK. In addition, such has been the interest in certain global regions, we have started country specific competitions, such as the India STEMathon.
With the aim of reaching new audiences, we have been working with Drama company C&T to develop online STEM based drama activities. Our first resource is called ‘Mission Control’ a space-based drama activity aimed at immersing young people in a space mission. The students taking part are invited to participate in the launch of a network of satellites to study the Sun, when an undetected solar storm strikes, knocking out communications with the satellites, endangering the mission and requiring the students to save the day!
The activity combines STEM disciplines, educational drama techniques and video games methods to create an immersive experience that teaches and explores some of the key facets of space science. It is designed for use in classrooms with students and teachers at Key Stage 2 and 3. It draws on the world-leading expertise of theatre and digital tech company C&T and Space Scientists from Imperial College London.
The core FoNS Education Team are made up of myself, Becky, as well as Chris K, Emma, Simon, Niels, Chris W, and Michael, plus our ‘honorary’ members, Paul and Kaitlin, the FoNS Marketing and Recruitment team.
You can find out more about who we are and what we do here.