Blog posts

From confinement to con(fun)ment?

Marine Coispeau

Biotechnology

Tips to enjoy the lockdown 

Ever since the World Health Organisation’s classification of COVID-19 as a pandemic, a new face of the world was unveiled to us. A world where countries are progressively shutting down borders and locking down. A world where supermarket pasta and toilet roll aisles are ravaged and international capital cities turning into ghost towns. A world that I took for granted.

Taking a step back from this exceptional sanitation crisis and with the social distancing, I realised how elements of what seemed part of a natural lifestyle were in fact blessed treasures: walking in to university daily, picnicking in Hyde Park with some friends, attending workshops, conferences, art exhibitions, socials and the list goes on!

IROP: a few words

Max Gracyk

Computing

Are you seriously considering a career in research? Do you want to discover new places while doing what you love? Or maybe you just want to spend your summer in an exciting way? The International Research Opportunities Programme (IROP) might be for you! It is an exchange programme which allows you to undertake a 2-month research internship at world-class Imperial partner institutions, with all costs covered by a bursary. This includes accommodation, food, flights and a visa!

Fighting a war against the invisible enemy

Ritvik Shyam

Electrical and Electronic Engineering

I promise you this is not going to be yet another standard blog about the medical or biological nature of COVID-19 and it’s physiological and socio-economic impact – I am sure you all have been reading plenty of well-researched, well-articulated articles across the world written by experts, including a report published by our very own Imperial College London which many news articles claim was the prime catalyst for the UK and US administrations to step up their actions against the spread of COVID-19! My intention, however, is to reflect on what I have learnt from the ancient epics and scriptures from my traditions and culture and what it taught me about the attitude and mindset one needs amidst this global war.

Part-time Work at Imperial: President’s Ambassador

Kinan Wihba

Medicine

I have done and still do a lot of part-time work at Imperial. It is financially rewarding and it feels that I am contributing to the Imperial community in some way. Last time, I spoke about working as a student caller and fundraiser with the regular giving team. This time, I am going to tell you about what the President’s Ambassador (PA) scheme is and what it is like to be a PA.

The Application Process

Hiring usually opens a few weeks into the first term of the academic year. You are required to fill a standard application form to provide your contact details, the reasons behind applying, and any previous experiences you have.

Covid-19 and wellbeing

Charlotte Day

Civil Engineering

A week ago I moved out of my student accommodation. So much has changed in this past week, and social isolation has become of utmost importance. There’s been a lot of uncertainty from the outbreak, particularly for those being made redundant, or the GCSE and A Level students. The country, the world, has felt a lot of anxiety. The Covid-19 outbreak has had the unexpected side effect of significantly worsening the world’s mental health. It’s hard enough worrying about catching coronavirus yourself, but the thought of spreading it to the vulnerable makes things all the worse. I’ve found a couple of things have really helped my mental health during this outbreak, and may well help yours too.

Imperial Has Not Fallen

Kinan Wihba

Medicine

Disclaimer: This is not an official statement from Imperial College. This is just me deciding to write a blog to update people as I ran out of things to do during isolation 🙂 

Imperial has been responding vigilantly to the COVID19 crisis. The Faculty of Medicine had been emailing us updates over the past few days detailing how we should proceed during these uncertain times. We are all trying to adapt to this fast-changing situation the best we can.

Difficult decisions were made. Clinical exams were duly cancelled. All teaching will be delivered remotely for the rest of the academic year.

Final Year Cut Short

Mathematics and Statistics

Not quite how I thought my time at Imperial would end

Last Friday night standing in Metric, waiting for the results of the Leadership Elections 2020, little did I know that that would be the last time I saw so many of my friends, the last time I stood in the Union Buildings and my last gathering of more than 5 people as an Imperial student. 10 minutes later, we received the email that told us College was due to close and that the entire community of 17,000 students and 8,000 staff would be moving online.

The world has been shaken up by Covid-19.

Fighting through the pandemic

Marine Coispeau

Biotechnology

Corona.

Recent international, governmental and institutional decisions have truly shook the face of the Earth. The empty supermarket shelves, the lack of pasta and toilet paper, the closing of universities and borders… Currently on my way home with mixed feelings, my chest seems to weigh a ton but I wanted to share the main highlights of my second term:

I have taken part in a range on events this term: creating Beeswax films with the Ecology society, debating with FemSoc, participating in the FoNS-MAD Science competition, attending the musical Dear Evan Hansen, Biochemistry Ball, Science challenge… The diversity of these have not only allowed me to forge new connections but also engage in interesting conversations such as “to what extent do quotas reflect merit?”

Pandemic, what now? International student’s perspective

Max Ting

Mechanical Engineering

In light of recent developments, I thought it’d be good to share some thoughts as an International Student here. The situation at home (Malaysia for me) and here in the UK seems to be developing at a similar pace, with numbers rising day after day. There are a lot of uncertainties at this moment, especially regarding borders; the possibility of a lock down both here and back home.

From all I can see, the expansive coverage by social media and traditional media in general, fear mongering is real and it’s undoubtedly spreading panic to the general public. What I’ve decided to do, is to limit the COVID-19 information that I am exposed to, on all my social media.

What is the role of scientists in society?

Elizabeth Chan

Biochemistry

Science is improving the world with new discoveries, but should we consider their sociopolitical implications?

I will attempt to answer that using anime. Before you cringe about how someone could compare storyline in a 2D world to our very real 3D world, the series I’m covering has not just advice relating to Imperial but on how as scientifically-minded jobseekers, the way we view the world is important.

All is One

In Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood (FMAB), alchemy is considered a field of science. The plot is set in a pre-WWII context and follows two brothers. During their training to become alchemists, they were chucked to a desolate island to find the meaning behind alchemy.

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