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In profile: Dr Ceyda Oksel, Postdoctoral Research Associate

For the latest edition of our Staff Profile series, we spoke to Dr Ceyda Oksel about postdoc life, and her views on how we can create a better working culture for early career researchers in the Department.

What is your role in the Department?

I’m a Postdoctoral Research Associate, working as part of a multidisciplinary research team consisting of data scientists, statisticians, clinicians and geneticists. My research focuses on implementing machine learning models to develop personalised asthma management strategies and tools, through understanding the underlying pathological mechanisms and the genetic and environmental factors that cause or contribute to asthma.

I’m a Departmental representative for postdocs and an active member of the postdoc reps committee. I work together with Imperial’s Postdoc and Fellows Development Centre (PFDC) on facilitating communication between postdocs across the College, highlighting the opportunities and resources that are available to them. I’m also a Staff Supporter, providing confidential assistance on a range of issues from queries about career advice or flexible working, to concerns about the behaviour of a colleague. Additionally, I’m a personal tutor for a group of Year 1 students, and provide scientific mentoring and support to high school students undertaking British Science Association CREST Awards.

Outside Imperial, I’m involved in a range of charity work and activities, and currently volunteering as a mentor for the Social Mobility Foundation (SMF) scheme, which aims to help high-achieving young people from low-income backgrounds to progress into Higher Education and employment. (more…)

Good working practices for reducing stress in the workplace | MHAW 18

For this year’s Mental Health Awareness Week (14 – 20 May 2018), we’ve compiled a list of tips and best practices to help reduce stress levels for both you and your colleagues in the work place.

Emails

  1. Think about the purpose of the email and who needs to know about it. Apply this when deciding who to copy into emails.
  2. Copy people in on a “need to know basis”
  3. Consider whether it might be easier to go and speak to the individual concerned, and follow up afterwards with an email.

(more…)

Deadline for 2018 Summer Job Level Review: Monday 18 June

The deadline for the next round of Job Level Review applications is Monday 18 June, 9am. Applications should be submitted via e-mail to Leah Grey (leah.grey@imperial.ac.uk). The Job Level Review process is designed to review whether a job has grown sufficiently in its scope to be re-graded (it is a separate process to pay level/relativity review). (more…)

In profile: Nicola Thompson, Divisional Operations Assistant

In the first edition of our Staff Profiles series, we spoke to Nicola Thompson, Divisional Operations Assistant for the Divisions of Brain Sciences and Experimental Medicine.

What does your role entail?

A variety of admin tasks to assist with the day-to-day operation of the Brain Sciences and Experimental Medicine Divisions. This might include processing Honorary associations, administering timesheets, processing finance forms or editing the Brain Sciences newsletter. I work closely with the Divisional Manager and Section Managers. (more…)

DoM PhD students shine in Three Minute Thesis Competition 2018

Three Minute Thesis Competition Winners, Judges and Host 2018

Congratulations to Department of Medicine PhD students Maria Lucey and Hannah Maude, who were awarded second and third place respectively in the Graduate School’s Three Minute Thesis Competition 2018.

The competition took place at Imperial’s South Kensington Campus on 24 April. Participants were challenged to condense their doctoral research in to a talk of 3 minutes or less, convey it to a diverse audience, whilst demonstrating the relevance of science in society, and the contribution their research makes to our day-to-day lives.

We asked Maria and Hannah to tell us more about the competition in their own words. (more…)

#PressForProgress – International Women’s Day 2018

As part of International Women’s Day 2018, members of the Department expressed their support for this year’s theme – #PressForProgress

The general aim of the campaign was to encourage individuals to continue to push for gender parity through local advocacy work, and keep issues such as the gender pay gap at the top of the political agenda.

Professor Martin Wilkins, Head of Department
Professor Martin Wilkins, Head of Department
Members of the Departmental Senior Admin team
Members of the Departmental Senior Admin team

 

 

Gallery: Rising Scientist Day 2018

The Department hosted its annual celebration of PhD research on 5 February 2018. Rising Scientist Day gave students the opportunity to showcase their work in the form of poster presentations and talks.

The day also featured insights from early career researchers, who discussed their transition from PhD to postdoc. Find out what they had to say on the Imperial Medicine Blog.

Browse photos from the day below

(more…)

Watch: DoM hosts inaugural Athena SWAN lecture

On 1 February 2018, the Department of Medicine hosted its inaugural Athena SWAN lecture.

The lecture – ‘Driving Performance via Generational Culture Change’ – was delivered by Professor Alexandra Beauregard (Middlesex University Business School).

The talk discussed a number of topics, including:

  • the presence of bias in organisational processes
  • how businesses can benefit from a gender-balanced workforce
  • what a work-life balance means to the modern worker

Watch the lecture in full via YouTube: https://youtu.be/x9yt2LcaKj0