Month: September 2024

Postgraduate Climate Conscious Travel Fund

Introducing the Introducing the Postgraduate Climate Conscious Travel Fund 

We are excited to announce the launch of the Postgraduate Climate Conscious Travel Fund for this academic year, designed to help postgraduate students make more sustainable travel choices by supporting them with the costs associated with making greener travel choices.  

Did you know that 81% of Imperial’s carbon emissions come from external sources, otherwise known as Scope 3 emissions? Nearly half of these emissions stem from university-related travel. With the recent publication of Imperial’s Sustainable Travel Policy, we are committed to reducing our travel-related carbon footprint. However, we recognise that choosing greener travel options is not always the most affordable for postgraduate students. 

The Postgraduate Travel Fund has been created to help cover the extra costs of sustainable travel, ensuring that students aren’t left out of pocket. For instance, the fund would cover the price difference between travelling by train instead of flying, as illustrated in the table below. 

Route   Average Cost Return Economy   PG Travel Funding Provided  
   Flight   Rail     
London – Amsterdam   £130   £180   £50  
London – Frankfurt   £160   £220   £60  
London – Glasgow   £110   £140   £30  

If you’re interested in applying, please review the fund’s guidelines for details on what it will and won’t cover. Please note that funding is limited and will only be provided where no alternative funding sources are available. You can find the link to the application form here. 

New Trusted Research Training e-learning module

All staff with research, and academic responsibilities are expected to complete a new Trusted Research e-learning module. We encourage PhD students to complete this module too.

Research security considerations are increasingly important for universities across the UK, which includes minimising risks to national security during international research collaborations. It is crucial to ensure that everyone undertaking research at Imperial are aware of what Research Security is, its role in academia and key considerations when collaborating with research and funding partners overseas.

This module introduces Research Security, providing learners with insight into core principles including legal compliance, contractual obligations, and protective measures.

Joining instructions: You can self-enrol onto the course through the Trusted Research Module website.

Further training focused on export controls specifically will be released soon. If you are interested in being enrolled onto this module, please see the Research Security Training website for more information.

Additionally, the new Research Security website provides guidance on various areas of Research Security including the Trusted Research agenda, key legislation, and signposts other relevant areas of the university’s online guidance.

Adult Education Classes – Arts, Languages, Humanities and Science – Open to all!

Evening Sessions starting in October – Arts, Languages, Humanities and Science – Open to all!

The Centre for Languages, Culture and Communication is now enrolling for its new adult education classes starting in October. The classes are open to all Imperial staff, students and the general public, and include courses in languages, practical arts, science, the arts and humanities.

Courses this year include Practical Gardening for Beginners, Art Therapy, Abstract Strategy Games, as well as courses such as Art History, Classical Music, Philosophy, Second World War History and Learning to Play Acoustic Guitar (to name but a few!)

There are also language courses for beginners and the more advanced, and an array of courses in practical art, to both excite and relax you.

For most courses you do not need any previous experience and you are welcome to join a class for mental stimulation, to improve your skills, or simply to make new friends and have fun. Everyone is welcome.

For full details visit http://www.imperial.ac.uk/adult-ed

Exhibit at the Summer Science Exhibition 2025 (deadline: 31 Oct 2024)

The call for proposals for next year’s Summer Science Exhibition (1-6 July 2025) is now open! The exhibition is the Royal Society’s flagship public engagement event, which takes place in July every year at the prestigious home of the Royal Society in central London.

Get more information on how to apply and the benefits of taking part for researchers and institutions. A information webinar is also running on 1 October at 12pm, you can find out more and register here: Summer Science Exhibition 2025: Call for proposals (online session and Q&A). Applications are open until 31 October 2024.

If you are a Royal Society-funded researcher, you are also eligible to apply to their Public Engagement Fund (opening on 7 October 2024) to support the funding of exhibits.

 

Introduction to Mixed Methods Research Online Course – 12 Nov 2024

Introduction to Mixed Methods Research Online Course in November 2024

Are you eager to deepen your understanding of mixed methods research? Join us for an engaging online course delivered by mixed methods experts, Dr Sarah Jasim and Dr Ruth Plackett, both senior researchers at LSE and UCL.

This course will guide you through the essential principles of mixed methods research, practical applications, and tips on how to start writing up your research. It’s an excellent opportunity for PhD students, post-docs, and other researchers to enhance their skills.

When: Tuesday, November 12th, 2024, 10 AM – 4 PM (online)
Cost: £200 for PhD students, £300 for post-docs and other researchers

Sign up here: https://mixedmethodsjoin.eventbrite.com

Data Science and AI PhD Internships – Turing Institute (deadline: 08 Oct 2024)

Now in its 10th round of recruitment since launching in 2020, The Turing Internship Network offers doctoral students currently enrolled in a PhD at a university in the UK or Ireland the opportunity to undertake exciting and unique 3 to 12-month placements at the Alan Turing Institute or one of the Turing’s partners, with an indicative start date of January 2025.

In this new recruitment round, there are 8 paid internship opportunities across the justice, clean energy, data engineering, insurance, defence & security and airspace sectors. We are offering opportunities at Ministry of Justice, Ember Climate, Marsh, The Alan Turing Institute (Project Bluebird) and much more.

Find out more about the internships, the eligibility and how to apply, or contact internshipnetwork@turing.ac.uk. The deadline for applications is 11:00 on Tuesday 8 October.

Imperial Academic Writing Sessions

Do you struggle to focus and get down to the task of writing due to the many other distractions of work and everyday life?

Academic writing is challenging. Even more challenging is focusing on writing with all the other work-related tasks that researchers and academics have to contend with. Frequent emails, meetings, teaching, capturing and analysing data, and of course other distractions such as social media, phone calls, etc. When it comes down to focusing on writing, it’s easy to procrastinate.

The Imperial Academic Writing Sessions team run a series of fortnightly sessions on Thursdays, 09:30-12:00, to give you dedicated time to work on a writing task of your choice, alongside a community of other Imperial researchers.

Our next session will be held online on the 3rd of October

Find out more and sign up here:

https://imperialcollegelondon.github.io/writing-sessions/

Or email us: writing-sessions@imperial.ac.uk

Call for PhD students: present your 3Rs work at the next Animal Forum

Call for PhD students: present your 3Rs work at the next Animal Forum

Following last year’ success, PhD Students, will have a chance to present their work at the Poster Display Session and be selected for the Best Poster Award. We are particularly interested in PhD students who are not working with animals but whose projects have a direct replacement impact. The Forum is an opportunity to highlight your project’s 3Rs impact, gain recognition from your peers, and network with experts from all Imperial departments. You can find examples of last year’s posters on the 3RsHub website.

If you are a PhD student and want to present a poster or have more information, don’t hesitate to contact Anna Napolitano. This year’s Animal Research Forum will be held on November 22, 2024 from 1pm to 6pm at White City Campus.

Virtual ‘Introductory Medical Statistics’ course – 21-22 November 2024

Dear Colleagues

I am pleased to inform that registration for the above course, to be held on Thursday 21 (pm) to Friday 22 November (am) 2024 – one day in total – is now open.

Registration fees are as follows (VAT doesn’t apply):

  • MSc/PhD Students: £120
  • Academic/NHS/Charities: £190
  • Corporate/Other: £240

Booking link:

https://estore.imperial.ac.uk/product-catalogue/faculty-of-medicine/nhli/virtual-introductory-medical-statistics-course-november-2024

It is suitable for doctors (including trainee grades), nurses, allied health professionals, clinical research fellows and postgraduate students.

It will be held and recorded on Microsoft Teams, and recordings circulated afterwards.

Further details can be accessed via the website: https://www.medstatscourse.co.uk/ .

Please note that places are offered on a ‘first-come, first-served’ basis, and that we can accommodate 45 delegates only.

6 CPD points are currently being sought.

I hope this event will be of interest.

Best wishes

Magda Wheatley

Course Administrator

National Heart and Lung Institute,

Imperial College London

Fetch.AI x I-X Hackathon for PhD Students – 30 November & 01 December 2024 (Register by 21 October 2024)

Fetch.AI x I-X Hackathon

Fetch.ai Hackathon

Introduction

Fetch.ai’s vision is to create a marketplace of dynamic applications. We are empowering developers to build on our platform that can connect services and APIs without any domain knowledge. Our infrastructure enables ‘search and discovery’ and ‘dynamic connectivity’. It offers an open, modular, UI agnostic, self-assembling of services.

Our technology is built on four key components:

  • Agents – AI Agents are independent decision-makers that connect to the network and other agents. These agents can represent data, APIs, services, ML models and people.
  • Agentverse – serves as a development and hosting platform for these agents.
  • AI Engine – enables humans to interact with the dynamic agent marketplace using natural language to execute the objective.
  • Fetch Network – underpins the entire system, ensuring smooth operation and integration.

 

What is agent technology? 

Fetch.ai is developing a platform to enable the development of an AI empowered decentralized digital economy. Agents are programs that can make choices on their own for individuals, companies, and devices. Agents are the actors, and the heart of Fetch.ai ecosystem.

Agents are flexible problem solvers, capable of not just completing tasks but also tackling difficult issues across several domains. Agents have the adaptability to handle different activities inside the decentralized economy, whether it’s improving supply chain logistics, maintaining solid record-keeping systems, executing computational tasks, or enabling buying and selling interactions. They might even book a hotel room for you.

We couple agents with AI-Engine, the AI system that understands human input and turns that into actionable events empowered by agents in the network. AI-engine is an intelligence system which create dynamic agent workflows. Agentverse offers cheap agent hosting, and the Fetch Network provides an open layer of trust.

 

Fetch AI’s agent technology at Imperial’s PhD Hackathon Event 

Build your own AI-application start up with Fetch AI’s uAgents at the PhD Hackathon Event hosted by I-X (Imperial College London, White City Campus) on the 30th of November and the 1st of December starting from 08:00 AM.

Real industry challenges will be provided near the deadline. To get our hackers better acquainted to the Fetch AI technology, we invite all participants to join us for an online technical workshop one week before the hackathon. Two additional workshops shall be presented during the hackathon.

 

Registration

If you are interested in participating in the Hackathon please register here.  The registration deadline is 21 October 2024, by 5pm (GMT). Since places are limited, we encourage you to register as soon as possible to secure your spot.

 

Prizes

  • Winner Team Fetch Ai Beyond Boundaries AI Agent Prize
  • Second Prize Smartest AI Agent Prize
  • Third Prize Team Best use of Fetch.Ai Tech

* Runner ups will be shortlisted for a career opportunity at Fetch AI.

 

 

Check out Fetch.ai’s past events here: https://fetch.ai/events