Reporter

Imperial Festival welcomes thousands of visitors

11 May 2012

Thousands of visitors including members of the public, alumni, staff and students were in party mood on the College’s South Kensington Campus this weekend, as they explored the Imperial Festival – a two day insight into the wonderful and surprising world of life and research here at the College.

Organisers estimate that around 7,000 people in total came to the Festival on Friday evening and across Saturday. Over the two days visitors had the opportunity to try their hand at surgery thanks to Professor Roger Kneebone’s pop-up simulation, have a pint with a professor, meet robots and take part in hands-on demonstrations by Imperial researchers.
Nearly 1,000 alumni alone registered to attend the alumni-specific events on Saturday while good weather saw curious passers-by join science fans and families who had already heard about the Festival.

One of the organisers, Natasha Martineau, Head of Research Communications, said:
“Imperial’s first Festival went better than many of us dared to imagine, with hundreds of staff welcoming thousands of visitors to the event. Around each corner there was yet another opportunity to discover something new about the work of the College. We’re very grateful to everyone who made it all possible, and of course to the sunshine, which made a big contribution to the festival atmosphere on campus this weekend.”

See below for a Festival slideshow as well as tweets and photos from the Festival’s Storify stream.

Posted in Alumni, College, Research, Students | No Comments »

Postgraduate Graduation 2012 – As it happens

8 May 2012

On Wednesday 9 May postgraduate students and guests from over 65 countries will be taking part in Imperial’s 2012 Postgraduate Graduation Ceremonies at the Royal Albert Hall.

Congratulations to all our new graduates, and welcome to the Imperial alumni community. We hope you, your friends and family have a very memorable day. Follow the day’s events here, and share your tweets, videos and photos, using the hashtag #ImpCol.

Tags: Awards and Honours, Students
Posted in Alumni, College, Students, Uncategorized | 4 Comments »

Blog spot

4 May 2012

Student blogger Aislinn on hitting the books

“Sleeping – I’ll be the first to admit I’ve overdosed on this one this Easter. Yesterday I woke up at 15.00 and the day before, I fell asleep in the middle of revising. But no more! I got up at a respectable hour this morning (10.00, don’t you dare judge me) and got some solid work done after some gentle nudging by my dad. Do I regret my hours of staying up late and sleeping all day? Not at all. But I made a promise to myself to get back into serious study mode for at least the last two weeks of the holidays, a goal I set at the beginning of the break.”

Read the full post here

Posted in Students, Your Voice | No Comments »

Medals reward Imperial’s Olympic support

4 May 2012

It may still be over 80 days until the torch is lit at the Opening Ceremony but Imperial has already made it on to the winner’s podium for its Olympic activities.

The College collected two Bronze medals in the Podium Awards last night, which celebrates the success of colleges and universities in supporting the 2012 Games as part of Universities Week.

During the black tie event, held at Forman’s Fish Island overlooking the Olympic Stadium, Commercial Services received a Bronze Medal in the British Council Award for Innovative International Collaboration category for its work hosting athletes from six nations at Imperial, providing them with sports facilities and, in the case of the Japanese and Swiss associations, accommodation for association members.

Assistant Director of Commercial Services and Head of Sport Imperial Neil Mosley said: “Being able to host Olympians taking part in London 2012 has been an exciting opportunity for us. It’s been helpful to get the College and the wider community excited about sport, the Games and that Olympic ideal of a broader cultural understanding through sport. A lot of hard work has gone into this so we’re delighted to receive this recognition.”

The Rio Tinto Sports Innovation Challenge claimed a Bronze Medal in the category for outstanding sporting project. The Challenge has seen Engineering students develop projects to enhance the sporting experience and opportunities available to Paralympians and other athletes with disabilities.

There to collect the award were Professors Anthony Bull and Peter Childs, as well as Dr Dominic Southgate, who is Project Manager for the Challenge. Dr Southgate said: “It’s a great opportunity to celebrate an initiative that our students have gained so much from. We’re really proud of the quality of work the student teams have produced.”

Both the Imperial groups also attended a reception on Wednesday evening at the Houses of Parliament to celebrate the launch of two reports detailing some of the most interesting contributions universities have made to the Olympics. Universities, the Olympics and sport contained details of Commercial Services’ work, including Sanka Day, while Research, development and the Olympics detailed the work of Professors Alison McGregor and Anthony Bull with the GB rowing team, as well as the Rio Tinto Initiative.

The medal winners were selected by an Awards Committee at Podium, which is the Further Education and Higher Education Unit for London 2012.

— John-Paul Jones, Communications and Development

Tags: olympics, Universities Week
Posted in College, Research, Students | No Comments »

Imperial athletes on track in Olympic test event

3 May 2012

This weekend, Imperial athletes will get a head start on their Team GB counterparts by stepping on track inside the Olympic Stadium as part of the British Universities & Colleges Sport (BUCS) athletics championships.

(more…)

Tags: British Universities and Colleges Sport, Sport Imperial
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Game on for Universities Week

30 April 2012

Imperial will be celebrating its involvement in the Olympics during this year’s Universities Week, beginning today.

The week is organised by Universities UK (UUK), a lobbying group for universities and aims to highlight the broader contributions higher education institutions make to society. This year the theme reflects the forthcoming Games, an event Imperial is supporting in a number of ways.
(more…)

Tags: olympics, Universities Week
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Shortlisting success for Imperial teams

19 April 2012

Staff across the College are celebrating today, following two nominations in the 2012 Times Higher Education Leadership and Management Awards.

Staff in the Library have been shortlisted for ‘Outstanding Library Team’ following a nomination by Scott Heath, ICU President. Debby Shorley, Director of Library Services, said: “We are simply thrilled about this news. We enjoy a great relationship with our students, so we are especially delighted that it was the students’ union who nominated us for this award.”

Commenting on why he nominated the team Scott said: “This year the Library’s campaigning to see a fair deal from journal publishers has provided sector-wide savings which will benefit Imperial significantly. They have also shown a desire to provide the best service possible; they were one of the first libraries to offer 24 hour access during term time and trialled longer opening hours during the Easter break.”

Scott added: “We have also seen a real dedication to helping students with the provision of high quality study guides, greater availability of information online, frequent meetings with student officers and a consistently helpful staff team. As well as this, independent research indicated that they have given out the lowest fines of any university library.”

The Department of Medicine has been shortlisted in the ‘Outstanding Departmental Administration Team’ category in which the judges will look for evidence of excellent communication and service delivery based on the needs of students, academics and central administration.

Dr Matt Lee, Departmental Manager, who co-ordinated the entry said: “I am delighted that the excellence of the administration team has been deservedly recognised by this shortlisting. Although located across six campuses, the team is unified in its focus to provide professional, high quality support to academics and students. The strength of the team has been instrumental in the outstanding Departmental performance since its formation in January 2010 and this nomination is a testament to the hard work of every individual involved.”

Now in their fourth year, the Times Higher Education Leadership and Management Awards are designed to celebrate the sector’s leadership, management, financial and business skills. They showcase the extraordinary innovation, teamwork and commercial acumen of UK higher education institutions.

The judges will be looking for outstanding examples of best practice from the 2010-11 academic year and the winners will be announced on Thursday 21 June at a ceremony at the Grosvenor House Hotel, Park Lane.

— Simon Watts, Communications and Development

Tags: Awards and Honours, Students
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Future of microsurgery unveiled at Imperial

18 April 2012

Sir Paul Nurse, President of the Royal Society, officially opened Imperial’s newly refurbished Hamlyn Centre on 16 April. Guests were able to see the latest developments in robot assisted microsurgery – minimally invasive surgery with micro-scale imaging and manipulation – made possible by funding totalling £5 million from the Wolfson Foundation and the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR)  underpinned by the Helen Hamlyn Trust endowment.

The Hamlyn Centre, which is split across three Imperial campuses – South Kensington, St Mary’s and Northwick Park- has been refurbished with cutting edge new technologies and a pre-clinical imaging suite for clinical trials to enable clinicians and technicians to validate new surgical robots in the patient. The long-term hope is that the robots in the Hamlyn Centre will be integrated with imaging and sensing technologies to perform microsurgery, for example, on cancerous cells.

Rector Sir Keith O’Nions, said: “We are very grateful to the Wolfson Foundation and NIHR for their generous contributions to the College. It is with their help that the Hamlyn Centre, through its multidisciplinary approach, continues to be at the forefront of innovation in surgery.”

Janet Wolfson de Botton, Chairman of the Wolfson Foundation, said: “The Wolfson Foundation has a long tradition of funding excellence in science and technology and we are very pleased to support the Hamlyn Centre in advancing robot assisted microsurgery.”

Lord Darzi, Chair of the Institute and co-director of the Hamlyn Centre, said: “We are very grateful to the Wolfson Foundation and the NIHR for their generous contribution to the refurbishments of the Hamlyn Centre. This will allow us to build on our unique strengths in research and clinical application of minimal invasive surgery and allied technology by enhancing both scientific discovery and translation into clinical practice with clear benefit to patient recovery and quality of life. The new lab will also enable our multidisciplinary team to create micro-surgical tools for new surgical procedures with improved accuracy and efficacy.”

Tags: Faculty of Medicine, Hamlyn Centre
Posted in College, Research, Students, Uncategorized | No Comments »

Meet the reader: Scott Heath, President, Imperial College Union

4 April 2012

What are you doing in the picture?

I’m reading my copy of Reporter to Mike the Micrometer – the Union mascot made of gun metal which normally resides under my desk! Micrometers are used to accurately measure wires and other components. It was created in 1966 and is deliberately heavy to make it difficult to steal!

(more…)

Tags: Imperial College Union, Meet the Reader
Posted in College, Students | No Comments »

Time out: Cooking society

4 April 2012

Hot apple fritters, sweet pumpkin pie, olive bread fresh from the oven… You’d be hard pressed not to feel peckish after reading about some of the edible treats members of the ICU Cooking Society have made. The society teaches them how to cook healthy and delicious food, and to have fun while doing so.

(more…)

Tags: Bioengineering, Chemistry, Student clubs and societies, Time Out
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Blog spot

4 April 2012

Student blogger Ali on the perfect supervisor:

“Before I started my PhD, colleagues in labs I worked in described a student’s perception of their supervisor much like Marmite. You either love them, or hate them. This can be true, but it depends on one major factor: what you are looking for in a supervisor. There are a couple of people I think would make good supervisors: 1) Mr Miyagi from Karate Kid: How AWESOME would it be if there was a ‘WAX ON, WAX OFF’ equivalent to science. ‘PIPETTE UP, PIPETTE DOWN. CLONE IN, CLONE OUT!’ 2) YODA from Star Wars: Imagine that you don’t just have any supervisor? Nope, you have the oldest and most wisest of supervisors.”

Tags: Student bloggers
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Catalysis explained

4 April 2012

As explained by Antonio Torrisi, MSc Science Communication

In nature, spontaneous chemical reactions can be fast like combustion, or slow like rust formation. (more…)

Tags: Science from Scratch
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Major funding boost for PhD training

4 April 2012

The College is to receive more than £8 million in funding from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) as part of their £83 million national investment in doctoral training grants (DTGs).

This year’s investment in DTGs is the largest the EPSRC has ever made and allocations have been awarded to 42 universities across the UK. The DTGs support the provision of a range of measures related to postgraduate training, including studentships for UK, EU and overseas nationals. The grants allow institutions to be flexible in terms of the duration of the studentship; between three and four years dependent on the project. The flexibility of the DTG mechanism also allows universities to leverage funds, for example from industry, to generate more money and potentially support higher numbers of students. There is also funding to support the very best students for an additional one or two years after they have completed their PhD, to ensure that the impact of their work is more fully realised.

Professor Donal Bradley, Pro Rector (Research), said: “I am delighted that the EPSRC has chosen to support PhD students at Imperial. Without this, we would not be able to offer the scale of high-quality research training that we currently deliver to students in the engineering and physical sciences. The DTG will enable a new cohort of excellent students to strengthen their knowledge and skills, working with world-leading research teams on challenging and timely projects. Like EPSRC, we consider this to be an essential component in developing the UK’s competitiveness.”

— Simon Watts, Communications and Development

Tags: Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council
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New award scheme looks for leaders among schoolchildren

4 April 2012

Imperial is to take part in a new national award scheme to inspire schoolchildren about university study. The Russell Group’s Dux programme, announced by Schools Minister Nick Gibb MP, intends to recognise the top achievers in every secondary school in England, and those showing great potential.

(more…)

Tags: Reach Out Lab
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Union elections see highest ever voting turnout

2 April 2012

Imperial College Union has announced that this year’s sabbatical elections achieved the best ever turnout, propelling it to number one among student university unions in England and Wales.

This year 58% of undergraduates took part, a rise of 13% on last year, while 19% of postgraduates voted, up 4% on 2011.    In all, 6539 student voters took part in deciding the new Union sabbatical team and officers.

Outgoing Deputy President (Finance & Services) Michael Foster, who was the Returning Officer for the elections said he was delighted by the results:

“A high turnout in the elections is vital for the democratic process. As it is the students’ biggest opportunity to effect change in their Union, a high turnout ensures that the new team represents as many students as possible. It also gives them a larger mandate to further legitimise their presence, opinions and decisions on key College committees.”

For these elections the Union sought to engage voters with a live statistics page, using graphics to track voting activity by Faculty and Department, gender and even Halls of Residence.

Michael added: “A lot of things came together to help us achieve such a high turnout. The live statistics, especially the competitive aspect, got students interested, and the high quality and enthusiasm of candidates encouraged voters. Most importantly, we have a very engaged student body, keen to make sure their views and interests are represented at the highest levels.”

The elected student team includes students who take a year out of their studies to hold a Sabbatical position or continue with their studies, taking up an officer position. This year most of the positions were chosen in one big election for the first time.

A particularly close race saw Paul Beaumont, an undergraduate from the Department of Mathematics, triumph as Imperial College Union President. Paul previously served as RCSU Vice-President.

For the full results of this year’s elections see http://union.ic.ac.uk/marketing/elections/results.php. For more statistics see: http://union.ic.ac.uk/marketing/elections/index.php

Posted in Students, Uncategorized | No Comments »