Blog posts

Planning approval for Imperial West

The London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham has approved the Masterplan proposals for Imperial West, the new campus located on the former BBC site on Wood Lane. The planning permission will allow the College to bring together research and teaching facilities, postgraduate accommodation, commercial and residential space, and new retail and leisure services on the 88,000 sq m site.  The application also included plans for a 20,000 sq m business incubator, a publicly accessible square and improved pedestrian and cycle routes.

Proposals for how the College might best take advantage of the opportunities presented by Imperial West will be developed over the coming months.

Head of the Department of Chemistry

Professor Tom Welton, Professor of Sustainable Chemistry, has accepted appointment as Head of the Department of Chemistry for a second term with effect from 1 August 2012.

Professor Welton joined the College in 1993 as Lloyds of London Tercentenary Fellow following appointments at the University of Exeter and the University of Sussex.  At Imperial, following a series of promotions, he became Professor in Sustainable Chemistry in 2004. He held the position of Director of Undergraduate Studies within the Department of Chemistry from 2002 to 2007 and commenced his first term as Head of Department on 1 August 2007. His research focuses on making chemicals and related industries environmentally and economically sustainable.

Professor Welton is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry and was Ingold Lecturer of the Royal Society of Chemistry in 2007. He received the 2011 Paul Walden Award from the German Science Foundation, the DFG, for fundamental ionic liquid research and in 2012 he received a Rector’s Award for Excellence in Teaching.

Campus tours and information stand for prospective students, Wednesday 18 July – Friday 14 September

The International Office has set up an Information Stand in the Main Entrance for prospective students which will be open every weekday between 10.30–16.30 over the summer. Any prospective student, from the UK or overseas, is welcome to visit the stand to pick up information about the College, including prospectuses and self-guided tour leaflets, and to discuss any questions with a member of the student recruitment team.

In addition, student Rector’s Ambassadors will lead three campus tours per day on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, at 11.00, 13.00 and 15.00.  Advance tour booking is encouraged but not required.  For more information or to book a campus tour, prospective students should refer to the ‘Campus Tour’ section of this webpage: www.imperial.ac.uk/visit

Please encourage prospective students to make use of these services.  Any enquiries can be directed to visit@imperial.ac.uk

Call for ideas for the proposed Molecular Sciences and Engineering Building

The College is proposing to create an academic building to house molecular sciences and engineering activities on the site of the Roderic Hill building once the Department of Aeronautics moves into newly refurbished facilities in 2017. The aim would be to establish a new collaborative, sustainable, efficient and flexible environment suited to research and teaching in laboratory and non-laboratory facilities for decades to come. The project would also provide the opportunity to showcase new technology in the operation of the building.

The Project Board are looking for proposals from individuals, groups or spin-out companies at the College that can feed into the development of the new building. Ideas could include suggestions for:

  • technologies that could be applied to the infrastructure
  • how the building will operate
  • the layout of interaction spaces

Ideas that fall outside of these categories would also be welcome. Funding of up to £10,000 will be awarded to successful proposals.

The competition is open to the entire Imperial College community and expressions of interest should be sent to Emma Sharp at: e.sharp@imperial.ac.uk by 17.00 on 15 October 2012

Further details of the timeline for the call and the Expressions of Interest form are available in this PDF

Update on redevelopment of space on Level 0 of Sherfield Building

The Design Briefing Advisory Board, established to work on the next stage of design work for Level 0 of the Sherfield Building, and including representatives from the Imperial College Union, the Holland Club, Commercial Services and the Senior Dean, has now completed its work with the architects.

A design brief for the space has been prepared, incorporating input from the Board and previous committees which have discussed the facility. The brief will be used by designers as the basis for developing the concept design for the facility.

The design brief stipulates that:

  • The space should be fully redesigned to maximise its potential and ensure the best possible service to customers.
  • The primary purpose of the new facility is to provide dedicated bar, catering and social spaces for postgraduate students and members of staff.
  • Some of the catering facility will be used to provide evening meals to undergraduate students, to the extent possible without compromising the facility’s primary purpose.
  • The look and feel of the space should be of a contemporary pub, with a warm and homely feeling that creates an environment for relaxation and conversation.

During the next stage of work designers will work with a College Project Board, which will consider all existing feedback and consult more widely where appropriate.

The tendering process, inviting bids from within the College to run the catering and bar services, will conclude in August. The College will award the tender to the provider or providers which most clearly meet the relevant criteria. They will be required to:

  • Provide a quality service to meet the high expectations of staff and postgraduate students.
  • Provide a modern catering service that reflects value for money for the College population.
  • Operate a pub service that will offer a high quality service.
  • Within the constraints of the agreed service and budget, provide good quality cuisine and service, a high standard of presentation and good variety utilising quality ingredients.
  • Provide customer service that is caring, responsive and as personal in nature as circumstances permit.
  • Provide an imaginative, innovative and highly professional approach to the services specified.
  • Both the catering and pub services will need to cover all costs including labour, cost of sales, utilities, cleaning costs and replacement of light equipment. Should a small surplus be made, this shall be retained by the service provider.

Transfer of activities from Department of Humanities

The Department of Humanities will be disbanded on 1 August 2012, with its activities transferring to other parts of the College. From that date:

  • The School for Professional Development will expand and consist of three main centres:

–    Education Development and Support – incorporating the Education Development Unit and the English Language Support Programme.

–    Co-curricular Studies – incorporating the Languages Unit and the Science Communication Unit.

–    Continuing Professional Development.

  • The Translation Group will transfer to Library Services, supported by the School of Professional Development which will be responsible for the quality assurance of the Group’s postgraduate courses.

The Centre for the History of Science, Technology and Medicine has been the responsibility of Professor Donal Bradley, Pro Rector (Research), since it transferred from the Department of Humanities in February 2012.

Appointing Committee – President & Rector and Provost

The Council has established an Appointing Committee to undertake the task of identifying individuals to lead the College under the new arrangements announced in April 2012.

The Committee will identify an individual to succeed Sir Keith O’Nions as President & Rector in January 2014 and an individual to serve Imperial in the new position of Provost.

The membership of the Committee is:

Chair: Baroness Manningham-Buller, Chair of the Court and Council
Members: Sir Keith O’Nions, President & Rector (for the Provost appointment)
Professor Stephen Richardson, Deputy Rector
Professor Maggie Dallman, Principal of the Faculty of Natural Sciences
Mr Iain Conn, Council member
Mr Jeremy Newsum, Council member
Dr Jean-Lou Chameau, President of Caltech
Sir John Parker, President of the Royal Academy of Engineering
Dr Charles Vest, President of the National Academy of Engineering, US, and President Emeritus of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Sir David Wallace, Master Churchill College Cambridge
Secretary: Mr John Neilson, College Secretary and Clerk to the Court and Council

Further details of the new leadership model for the College are available here.

Dean of the Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine

Professor Dermot Kelleher FMedSci, who will be appointed Principal of the Faculty of Medicine on 1 October, has accepted the concurrent appointment as Dean of the Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine in Singapore with effect from 1 August 2012. As Dean Professor Kelleher will lead the next phase of the development of the School, a partnership between Imperial and Nanyang Technological University (NTU), which was established in 2010 to train more doctors to meet Singapore’s future healthcare demands.

Professor Kelleher will succeed Professor Stephen Smith FMedSci, the Founding Dean of the Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, who remains NTU’s Vice President of Research.

Latest Crick newsletter

For the latest news on the Crick Institute, of which Imperial is a Founder Member, read the fourth issue of the regular briefing for staff here: http://ecrick.crick.ac.uk/Issue-04

This issue includes:

  • News of how visitors on their way to the Olympic Park will be entertained and educated about the new Institute by the Crick’s science buskers
  • A link to a new video which has been created about the design of the labs in the Crick
  • Updates on how scientists from the Crick partners have been invited to join a high-throughput experimental technique interest group at the National Institute for Medical Research.
  • An interview with Amanda Towse, the new HR Director at the Crick

Further details of the Francis Crick Institute are available at: http://www.crick.ac.uk/

Warden and Assistant Warden vacancies

The College invites applications for positions to complete the Wardening Team for 2012-13. Wardens and Assistant Wardens are responsible for the smooth running of the College’s Halls of Residence and will receive rent-free accommodation in the Hall in return for pastoral and administrative duties.

The Warden has overall responsibility for the smooth running of the hall and manages inhouse staff, while Assistant Wardens are responsible for administrative tasks. Both positions require excellent organisation skills and a strong interest in helping students to develop their social life and have a balanced approach to their studies.

The locations of the vacant positions have not yet been finalised due to movements among existing Wardens and Assistant Wardens – the start dates and the duration of the positions vary with the location. The vacancies are open to all staff at the College, and the closing date for applications is Sunday 22 July.

For a copy of the roles and responsibilities and an application form, please e-mail Mrs Mickie Turner-Goble