Reporter

You Tubed – Imperial channel passes one million views

10 July 2012

Anti-gravity demonstrations, molecular gastronomy and Luke Skywalker on campus are all among the hit videos that have recently pushed Imperial’s YouTube channel past the one million views mark.

Featuring almost 350 videos, the channel lets viewers learn more about the College, its research and facilities, and about student life.

Launched in April 2008, the channel now has nearly 2,000 subscribers. The most popular video, with over a quarter of a millions views alone, shows Professor Eric Laithwaite in 1983 using a gyro wheel to showcase some of the stranger principles of Physics.

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Tags: News, Research communications, Students
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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 »

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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Presenting to parliament

4 April 2012

Dr Arjun Ghosh, a cardiologist and final year PhD student at Imperial and the MRC Unit for Lifelong Health and Ageing, attended parliament on 12 March to present his work to a range of politicians and a panel of expert judges, as part of SET for Britain – an organisation which supports Britain’s early-stage and early-career research scientists, engineers and technologists. Arjun (pictured with his local MP Lynne Featherstone) describes his experience:

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Tags: Students
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Changes to teaching day

4 April 2012

Imperial’s Management Board has approved several changes to the College teaching day from next year onwards, to build in time for undergraduates to take part in activities which go beyond their discipline-based teaching.

Changes include a new time-slot on Monday afternoons for cocurricular activities and phasing out the current two-hour free period over weekday lunchtimes, with all Departments still being required to set aside at least an hour for lunch.

Professor Julia Buckingham, Pro-Rector (Education and Academic Affairs) said: “These changes will give room in the timetable to offer undergraduates classes going beyond their own areas of study, helping enhance their employment prospects in the future. We want to provide the opportunity for students to expand their perspectives and gain as much benefit from expertise around the College as possible, and this has meant carefully reviewing how the teaching day is structured.”

Two programmes, Business Imperial and Horizons, have been piloted, allowing students to engage with business and environmental issues through seminars.

The changes will be phased in, with alterations to lunchtimes and the Monday afternoon slot beginning introduced for first year students in 2012–13, taking in second years in 2013–14 and third year students and above in 2014–15.

Wednesday afternoons will continue to be free from teaching.

— John-Paul Jones, Communications and Development

See the College Notice

Tags: Management Board, Students
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Imperial students have the X Factor

21 December 2011

Eagle eyed Imperial viewers might have spotted a few familiar faces on stage in this year’s series of the ITV talent show The X Factor. Members of Imperial College Gospel Choir (ICGC) found themselves supporting one of the contestants both in the ITV studios, and at Wembley Arena for The X Factor final, in front of 10,000 people.  Choir member Genevieve Pugh told Reporter about her experiences:

 “ICGC was first asked to perform on The X Factor on Saturday 19 November, along with King’s College gospel choir because of our involvement with the University Gospel Choir of the Year competition, in which we were finalists over the summer.

 We were asked to perform with one of the contestants, Marcus Collins, “Higher and Higher” originally by Jackie Wilson, in what was crowned “the performance of the night” by Gary Barlow and later was chosen by Marcus as his performance of the series, to be performed again at the final on Sunday 11 December.

 This meant for ICGC the opportunity to walk in the footsteps of many famous faces and get the rare chance to perform at Wembley Arena, an experience I can safely say I will keep with me for the rest of my life. It is hard to express just what it feels like to see 10,000 faces watching your performance.

 On finals night, we took part in the show four times, appearing not just in “Higher and Higher” but also in each version of the winner’s single, and in the finale. The day of rehearsals to prepare for these appearances, although busy and stressful, came with the bonus of meeting the other contestants and watching the rehearsals of the other acts performing in that night’s show. All stress melted away with a front row view of Coldplay and Westlife’s sound check in a virtually empty arena.

 It has to be said that if we have learnt anything from the whole experience it is that The X Factor and showbusiness in general are comprised mostly of smoke and mirrors, but one thing that can not be faked is the buzz of the live performance.  ICGC  members will be rooting for this year’s X Factor winners, Little Mix, and all the contestants involved and hope they get the chance to keep experiencing that buzz.”

 View YouTube video from back stage with ICGC.

— John-Paul Jones, Communications and Development

Tags: prospective students, Student clubs and societies, Students
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First graduation day for new Chair

19 October 2011

During Imperial’s Commemoration Day, Baroness Manningham-Buller, as Chair of the College’s Court and Council, congratulated over 2,200 undergraduates as they received their degrees in science, engineering and medicine.

Baroness Manningham-Buller first joined the Council, the College’s senior governing body, in 2009. She became its Deputy Chair earlier this year and took up her appointment as Chair in July.

(more…)

Tags: Alumni, Commemoration Day, Commemoration Day 2011, prospective students, Students
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Commemoration Day 2011 – As it happened

18 October 2011

More than 2,200 students will be returning to the South Kensington campus on Wednesday 19 October, as Imperial celebrates Commemoration Day 2011.

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. A stream of some of the tweets, videos and photos from Commemoration Day 2011 is below. To share your content use the hashtag #ImpCol.

View “Commemoration Day 2011″ on Storify

Tags: Alumni, Commemoration Day 2011, Students
Posted in Alumni, Students | 1 Comment »

Warm welcome for new students

3 October 2011

Over 5,000 new undergraduate and postgraduate students are starting at Imperial this week. To help them settle in College, Imperial College Union and departments are arranging events throughout the week, from welcome talks by the Rector, to Tuesday’s Freshers Fair and a union ball to end the week. Volunteers from across College are also stepping in to make life a bit easier, donning turquoise T shirts and positioning themselves around campus to help the new arrivals with any questions they have. To find out what you can get involved with this week, please check out the Welcome Week 2011 timetable.

A stream of some of the tweets, videos and photos from Welcome Week 2011 will be display here throughout the week. To share yours use the hashtag #ImpCol.

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Tags: Freshers, Students, Welcome Week, Welcome Week 2011
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Moving in weekend

1 October 2011

With London basking in an unseasonal heatwave, thousands of new students are checking in to their Halls of Residence and visiting campus for the first time of term. Teams of hall wardens and seniors, the Union sabbatical officers and many other College staff and students are on hand to greet them as Welcome Week 2011 activities get underway.

A stream of some of the tweets, videos and photos from moving in weekend is below. To share yours use the hashtag #ImpCol.

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Tags: Freshers, Students, Welcome Week, Welcome Week 2011
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Imperial in your pocket

29 September 2011

New students trying to find their way around life on campus will be able to call on Imperial’s new phone app which was released in time for the start of term.

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Tags: Students, Welcome Week, Welcome Week 2011
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Wish me luck as you wave me goodbye

28 September 2011

As the College gears up for the start of term, alumni associations and Imperial College Union societies linked up to prepare new international students for studying at Imperial and living in London.

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Tags: Alumni, Freshers, hong kong, Imperial College Union, malaysia, singapore, Students, Welcome Week, Welcome Week 2011
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Build up to Welcome Week 2011

27 September 2011

With fewer than five days left before the start of Welcome Week Imperial is busy preparing for the arrival of over 5,000 new students. While the new Imperialites are still packing up their belongings staff and students are making sure everything is in place for next week, from getting the new arrivals’ rooms ready to finalising the details for Freshers Fair.

A stream of some of the tweets, videos and photos from Imperial and its new students is below. To share yours use the hashtag #ImpCol.

(more…)

Tags: Students, Welcome Week, Welcome Week 2011
Posted in Students | 2 Comments »

If I could offer you only one tip for the future

26 September 2011

As part of the recent Rector’s Scholarship Fund appeal, alumni were invited to write a message to Imperial students on the back of a bookmark featuring Sir Roger Bannister – a St Mary’s Hospital Medical School alumnus and scholarship beneficiary.

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Tags: Alumni, bookmarks, Rector, rector's scholarship fund, Students, Welcome Week, Welcome Week 2011
Posted in Alumni, Students | No Comments »

Alumni support the next generation of scholars

15 September 2011

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Tags: Alumni, donor, Rector, rector's scholarship fund, scholars, scholarships, Students
Posted in Alumni | 2 Comments »