Month: October 2024

Grantham Institute Annual Lecture – 29 Oct 2024

Caroline Lucas| From crisis to hope: how bold climate action can combat populism and rebuild our communities

29 October 2024 | 18.00 – 21.00 | South Kensington

Can climate action be an antidote to the rise of populism? In the 2024 Grantham Institute Annual Lecture, trailblazing politician, activist and author Caroline Lucas will explore the complex interconnections between our environmental and political crises and offer a hopeful path forward — one that can rebuild communities, foster resilience, and neutralise division. Her keynote will be followed by a panel discussion with climate justice expert Professor Tahseen Jafry, social changemaker Jon Alexander, and youth leader Zamzam Ibrahim. This thought-provoking evening will close with a networking reception, offering an opportunity to engage with leading voices in climate action and policy.

Tickets are free but registration is required. Get yours here.

Call for volunteers – Confront Educational Inequality mentoring programme

Do you want to contribute to making higher education accessible for all students, but don’t know how? Then we have just the program for you!

Confront Educational Inequality’ is a grassroots-driven, EDI seed-funded, mentoring programme, providing 6th form students from a school in a socioeconomically deprived area of London with extra support. We have partnered with Ark Academy in Wembley and now for the first year Barnet Pioneer for the last 5 years to assist highly motivated students (Year 12) in:

  1. Creating a scientific poster in the mentee’s topic of choice.
  2. Applying to universities.

Partnered with the Ark Academy in Wembley, and Ark Pioneer, Barnet the CIE (Confronting Inequality in Education) programme provides support to Year 12 students studying STEM subjects. The initiative aims to foster a nurturing environment for scientific exploration, and to equip students with a diverse set of skills to strengthen university applications.

The programme involves:

  • Matching an Imperial postgraduate student or staff member (mentor) with a Year 12 student (mentee), according to mutual research interest where possible
  • 1-2-1 remote meetings between the mentor and the mentee, with three face-to-face meetings. A time commitment of about 4h / month for the duration of the programme. You do not need to be based in London but we do ask you to try to come meet your mentee during the face-to-face meetings (see dates below) whenever possible to benefit mentor-mentee relationships
  • Until Spring 2025, supervise your mentee to make a scientific poster on a topic of their choice, that will be presented at the final showcase at Imperial College. Afterwards, support your mentee on career aspirations and university applications

Provisional Dates 2024-2025

  • w/c 2nd December, late afternoon/ evening: Career speed-meeting to meet your mentee and give them insights into your studies and/or career path. Location: Ark Academy, Wembley or Ark Pioneer, Barnet (depending on your allocated mentee)
  • Mid to Late January, Afternoon: Crash course for mentees on how to make a scientific poster. Location: Imperial College (South Kensington or White City campus) – this is optional for mentors
  • Late April, Afternoon: poster presentations by mentees to their peers, mentors, and other interested parties. Location: Imperial College (South Kensington or White City Campus)
  • Summer: mentees write personal statement for UCAS applications with mentors support
  • Autumn / winter: Interview preparation.

The students (Y12) are taking courses in Maths, Chemistry, Physics, and/or Biology, and we are looking for mentors whose research has a base in any of those topics, including Engineering.  We are looking for mentors, ranging from PGT students to PIs – everyone is welcome to join!  Any additional experiences (a day in the lab, running a small experiment) that you could give your mentee, would be the cherry on top!

Register to become a mentor here: https://imperial.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_a9LkJlOM6D8CcXc

This year we have a record number of mentees signed up, and it would be fantastic if we were able to support them all.  If you have any questions, please get in touch with ciementoring@imperial.ac.uk

Friday Forums

The Good Science Project is delighted to announce its new series of Friday Forums. Friday Forums are congenial in-person lunchtime discussions, with lunch provided, on some topic concerning research culture. They are open to all College members, and are a good opportunity for researchers to step back from their busy day for a short hour, gain new perspectives on their work, and meet researchers from other departments.

The first Friday Forum on October 25th may interest in particular those of you who work with animal models. The second Friday Forum, on November 8th, may interest in particular those of you who seek to make links in your work with the social sciences and the humanities.

More details and registration details are below:

  1. Animal research at Imperial – looking back, looking forward. With  Robert Floyd, John Meredith, Victoria Male and Richard van Arkel. October 25. Room 121 SAFB. Register here.
  2. Celebrating the social sciences at Imperial. With Dr Mike Tennant, Dr Diana Varaden and Prof. Steve Fuller, Comte Professor of Sociology, University of Warwick. November 8. Room 122 SAFB. Register here.
  3. Measuring science, seeing virtue. With Prof. Mary Ryan; Prof. André Spicer, Dean of Bayes Business School, City University; and Prof. Stephen Curry. December 13. Room 122 SAFB. Register here.
  4. Scientific research as a public activity. With Katherine Mathieson, director of the Royal Institution and Clare Matterson, CEO of the Royal Horticultural Society. January 31. Room 122 SAFB. Register here.
  5. Faith in research. With the Very Rev. Dr. Mark Oakley, Dean of Southwark and Professor Ian Walmsley FRS, Provost of Imperial College. March 14. Room 122 SAFB. Register here.

 

Be part of the 2025 Great Exhibition Road Festival! (Deadline: 03 Nov 2024)

This year’s Festival welcomed over 50,000 visitors to South Kensington to enjoy a diverse programme of workshops, experiments, talks, and performances – and we want next year to be even bigger and better!

Imperial’s Public Engagement team are kicking off the countdown to next year’s Festival, which will take place on 7-8 June 2025, with an open call for proposals from across our Imperial community. The team are hosting an advice session on Thursday 17 October if you would like to discover more about being part of the Festival and discuss your ideas (however big or small at this stage!) Sign up here

Interested? Find out more about how to get involved (and make sure to read the Festival Proposal Guidance in full before submitting your proposal online before 11:59pm on Sunday 3 November)!  

International Family Network

Are you an international student with dependants ?   Our International Family Network is for all Imperial International Students who have their dependants with them in the UK.  We arrange fun trips and events for you and your family such as theatre trips , visits to London tourist destinations and also on campus events such as the traditional Easter Egg Hunt in the College Gardens  .  See our website for further details.

Join our mailing list here or email s.markey@imperial.ac.uk .

Activate Mentoring Programme (deadline: 25 Oct 2024)

The Activate Mentoring Programme has been established to enhance the experience and provide an open space for minority ethnic and disabled PhD students.  It seeks to:

  • enhance your experience at Imperial – “I could share all my worries about my PhD life and I got a lot of advice for time management, communication with my supervisor and how to overcome frustration.”
  • support you to clarify your purpose and productivity – “The mentor has helped me achieve my goals that I set during my year at Imperial and also helped me to organise my outlook for the future.”
  • build your motivation and confidence – “I met people with similar shared experiences and background as me, allowing me to realise that the difficulties I am facing are not single to me, but reflective of a wider issue experienced by many others.”
  • develop a peer community for you to engage with – “I had regular meetings with my mentor during the programme. She is very nice and caring. Our regular meetings made me feel supported and valued at Imperial. I appreciate the opportunity Activate has offered to help students develop connections at Imperial and feel the support from community”
  • develop your focus and preparation for study and research and for your future career/academic aspirations – “My mentor encouraged me to apply explore career options and apply for internships to gain experience and confidence in the application processes, specifically interviews. It also helped me learn how to navigate my disabilities”
  • create a deeper sense of belonging – “Having a mentor from a minority group felt more relatable. He also was ideal for the advice I was seeking. The speakers at the events were also very good and some of their words have stuck with me. Also nice to meet other mentees and mentors, it was a comfortable space to talk and felt like a community”

Through Activate you will have the opportunity to be matched with a trained mentor who has insight and understanding of the educational experience of under-represented groups of students and the challenges faced within education and navigating Imperial life.​

We offer up to 50 places on the programme to support minority ethnic PhD students and up to 20 places on the programme to support disabled PhD students.

If you are selected to be mentored through Activate, you will be supported through dedicated training, cohort activities and an opportunity to attend the flagship Activate end of year celebration event.

Find out more about the Activate mentoring programme and how to apply here:  Activate Mentees | Imperial students | Imperial College London

Applications are now open and will close 5pm, 25 October 2024