Author: Bethan Ritchie

School of Public Health Harmony Night: A Melodic Celebration of Culture and Community

By Sunyuntao Xu, MSc Epidemiology, Academic Representative, School of Public Health

On June 4th, 2024, we hosted the inaugural School of Public Health Harmony Night Karaoke party at Kungfu Restaurant. This vibrant social event, organized by the School of Public Health, brought together postgraduate students for an evening of singing, dining, and networking. This student-led initiative aimed to strengthen community bonds and promote well-being, encouraging cultural exchanges and interpersonal connections beyond the academic setting.

Karaoke is an entertainment culture that originated in East Asia, gaining immense popularity in China, Japan, and Korea. Over time, this engaging pastime has spread to Europe and America, thanks to cultural mixing and globalization. The School of Public Health is a wonderfully diverse department, with students from all around the world. As student representatives, our goal was to
find the best social activity to enhance this multicultural atmosphere within our department.

The SPH Harmony Night was more than just an evening out; it was a carefully curated experience designed to enhance community well-being. By stepping away from the rigours of academic pursuits, this event offered a refreshing break that fostered mental and emotional well-being.  Participants had the opportunity to engage in cultural sharing through music and cuisine, enriching their understanding and appreciation of diverse backgrounds. The informal setting encouraged
students and staff to build lasting professional connections, enhancing their future careers and research collaborations.

We strategically scheduled the event after our research project background presentations, aiming for everyone to relax and celebrate the accomplishment of this milestone in our master’s program. Participants contributed songs in English, Mandarin, Cantonese, Korean, Mongolian, and Yi, significantly enhancing cultural communication among students. Everyone immersed themselves in enjoying the collision of different traditions and forms of vocal arts, and surprisingly we got a chance to see many excellent singers in our community. This event highlighted the power of music  and social interaction in bridging cultural divides and fostering a sense of community. As the organiser of this event, it was heartening to see everyone enjoying delicious food and drinks while singing their hearts out. The SPH Harmony Night not only strengthened our community bonds but also promoted well-being and cultural exchange, making it a memorable evening for all.

Comments From Participants:

  • “Togetherness in class, academically, is good, yet togetherness outside class is also important! A sharp heart is a sharp mind. Thank you, team.” – Naesilla (MSc Epidemiology)
  • “I enjoyed the event last night, had lots of fun with my course mates and enjoyed spending time with them outside of the academic environment.” – Bridget Pickard (MSc Epidemiology)
  • “It was fantastic. I had such a great time with my colleagues, and it was great to see everyone outside academic settings. These moments brought us closer and made our time at Imperial much more enjoyable. Thanks to everyone who participated!” – Xiaoming Xu (MSc Health Data Analysis and Machine Learning)
  • “It seems everyone enjoyed themselves. And the interactions between students of different majors just created interesting connections. It was a successful event and thanks to the organisers.” – Yiying Meng (Master of Public Health)

This event played a multifaceted role in enhancing both soft skills and community spirit within the School of Public Health. By breaking down barriers, fostering interpersonal connections, and encouraging creative expression, karaoke significantly contributes to a positive and productive research culture. It also provides valuable networking opportunities. We hope to make this event an annual tradition, offering more enjoyable cultural experiences for students in the future.

Acknowledgement: Thanks for the help from the Graduate School for providing financial support this this activity, and thanks to the School of Public Health Epidemiology course team for providing information circulation support. 

An Afternoon at the Transport Museum: Connecting Minds in Transport Research

by Leah Camarcat and Surabhi Ojha, Research Postgraduates in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering.

To foster collaboration and networking within the PhD cohort in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Imperial College, we recently organized an event at the Transport Museum for PhD students. This gathering, held on May 25, 2024, brought together bright minds from the transport research group and various other research groups in the department, providing a platform for knowledge exchange and networking.

The Transport Museum’s exhibits provided an excellent icebreaker, sparking conversations about the history and future of transport. The feedback from attendees was positive, with many expressing a desire for similar events in the future.

My experience as a 3rd year PhD student at Imperial’s Rising Scientist Day 2024

Blog by Angelos Manolias, Research Postgraduate in the Department of Metabolism, Digestion and Reproduction

In May 2024, I attended the Rising Scientist Day. The day included 2 sessions of poster presentations from 2nd and 3rd year PhDs, a 3-minute thesis presentation competition, talks from Imperial PhD alumni and networking events. In this blogpost I give my opinions on the events of day, highlight the benefits of attending such an event as a PhD student and give a few ideas for improvement in the next years.

Rising scientist day has many benefits for PhD students that attend it. Starting from the poster presentations, this is a great opportunity to gain experience with presenting your research in poster format but also learning what research is going on around the college by postgraduate students. Personally, by presenting my poster I gained experience in designing it in relevant software (a skill that I will need for future conferences), getting feedback on it by my colleagues and supervisors and ultimately presenting it in a wider audience whilst answering their questions. This is particularly useful for people like me who just entered their last year of PhDs and will start presenting in conferences. The 3-minute thesis presentations were very interesting as well, as I had the opportunity to learn about the research of my colleagues across departments in brief talks presented in lay terms. Since I was nominated by my department, I was also able to take part in the competition, which benefitted me by engaging in exciting discussions regarding my project that may help me for the rest of my studies. For the same reasons I enjoyed the networking events during lunch and afternoon coffee. Lastly, the career talks were very interesting to me personally as they came from two Imperial PhD alumni who stayed in academia, which matches my personal career goals. The talks motivated me and gave me some insight into a young researcher’s early career steps, which I found very engaging.

Overall, Rising Scientist Day is a very enjoyable and productive event for postgraduate students that acts as an internal “friendly” conference helping all students to gain experience in presenting their work. Coupled with talks and, potentially in the future, workshops and seminars, this event has the potential to be particularly educational and productive. I would urge all postgraduate students to attend the event at least once during their PhDs!

Our experience organising the first inter-collegiate colloquium on psychedelics in addiction research

Blog by Rayyan Zafar, Mark Sweeney, Orla Mallon, Research Postgraduates in the Department of Brain Sciences and Institute of Clinical Sciences

Psychedelic drugs, such as psilocybin, ketamine, DMT and LSD are the subject of increasing research as potential novel treatments for addiction. Some of the most innovative work is being conducted by researchers in the UK.

My colleagues and I organised the first colloquium on psychedelics in addiction research, which took place in May 2024 at the Centre for Psychedelic Research at Imperial College London. The event provided a space for leading researchers in the field to meet, present their work and identify opportunities for future collaboration between institutions. Attendees were present from Imperial College London, University of Exeter and UCL, with senior academics from each group presenting their work.

The conference started with a talk from Dr David Erritzoe and Prof David Nutt, two of the founders of the Centre for Psychedelic Research. They discussed their experiences of conducting research in addiction over their varied careers, the current treatments available and the potential which psychedelics, such as psilocybin, demonstrate as potential novel treatments followed by a talk by Dr Rayyan Zafar on the use of neuropsychopharmacology techniques in addiction research. Their talks sparked a discussion on the scale of unmet clinical need and knowledge gaps related to mechanism of action which provided an inspiring start to the day!

Next, Prof Ravi Das presented on his groups work at UCL. They discussed their work investigating dimethyltryptamine (DMT) on mood, language processing and memory functioning and an upcoming trial for alcohol use disorder. They also discussed the use of behavioural techniques such as reward memory reconsolidation that have previously been found to reduce drinking urges and drinking days following ketamine infusion in heavy drinkers and their plans to use similar paradigms with DMT in patients with AUD.

After lunch, Prof Celia Morgan and her team from the University of Exeter presented their work on the use of ketamine to reduce relapse in alcohol use disorder. They started with results from their completed KARE trial which provided an insightful discussion on the trial design and how this provided the basis for future work. They went on discuss the upcoming MORE-KARE trial – an investigation of ketamine-assisted psychological therapy in increasing abstinence in people with severe alcohol use disorder. It was incredibly valuable to hear experience from the team in setting up a large, multicentre study. On a personal note, it was inspiring to see how a concept had come from pre-clinical research to a large phase 3 study with nationwide recruitment, which could provide a much-needed treatment option for people with alcohol use disorder.

The final session explored options for collaboration in future research and provided a forum to transfer knowledge between our groups. Several areas for collaboration were identified, including developing and validating neuroimaging measures and exploring the views of participants, clinicians, and commissioners on bringing these treatments to the NHS. These discussions and collaborations are valuable to ensure that the specialist knowledge and expertise in each group is harnessed and built on.

The event concluded with a networking event and dinner which was a great way to round up the day and network in a more informal setting.

The event was a fantastic way to meet others working on similar research with the shared goal developing new treatments and therapies for addiction. Organising the event took a different set of skills to our usual research, but it was rewarding to present our work and identify potential areas which can be made more valuable through collaboration. All parties left feeling inspired, excited for several new meaningful opportunities for collaboration and looking forward to the next meeting!

The organisers would like to thank the Graduate School for providing sponsorship for this event.

Prof David Nutt, Imperial College London
Professor Ravi Das, UCL

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Prof Celia Morgan

Attendees

Inside Rising Scientist Day 2024: Posters, Presentations and PhD Networking

Blog by Chryso Christodoulou, Research Postgraduate, Department of Infectious Disease

Hi, I’m Chryso, a third year PhD student in Dr Clarke’s group, studying how programming of innate immunity by the microbiota influences host responses to inflammation. On the 8th of May I had the opportunity to present my work at the Rising Scientist Day organised by the Faculty of Medicine. It’s an event I’ve enjoyed participating in since my first year of studies, as it’s a great opportunity to see some of the amazing research other PhD students have been working on and exchange ideas – all within a friendly and sociable environment.

From HIV to Embryotic Stem Cells, this year was packed with a myriad of fascinating research topics. Working on a PhD, I think it’s easy to become engulfed in your topic and miss other interesting research happening in the wider scientific world, so I particularly enjoyed talking with people of different disciplines and learning about their work.

The day began with poster presentations. Students, me included, designed a poster outlining the main areas of our research, and as attendees circulated the room, we engaged them with our presentations. Browsing around the conference myself, I was impressed to see the exceptional quality of the posters on show. I found it to be a great opportunity to exchange ideas, and the conversations I had even prompted me to think about new approaches I could take for my own research.

Once the poster session finished, lunch was provided which was a great chance to socialise with peers in a more informal setting. Later on in the day, it was back to the science as other students gave three-minute presentations showcasing their work. This was undoubtedly a tough task, but everyone involved delivered fantastic presentations. It was mutually beneficial for us watching their work, as it gave insights into how others communicate their research ideas, engaged with an audience and structured content to deliver information on their work with clarity and effectiveness.

While the whole day didn’t count towards our PhD, nor were we officially graded, all posters and presentations were judged, and the day ended with the names of the winners. Since this was my last year of attending, I was particularly eager to present a more well-rounded and comprehensive overview of our work, and I was lucky enough to be one of the day’s winners for best posters. Based on the judges words, it was a hard decision so congratulations to all the attendees and the rest of the winners for their amazing work.

Overall, Rising Scientist Day was a rewarding experience, offering a blend of inspiration, networking, and skill development. To my fellow PhD students, I highly recommend attending and sharing your work.

Thank you to all the dedicated staff members who played a pivotal role in organising this event and to the Graduate School for their funding.

A celebration of Imperial geotechnics spanning six decades of researchers and staff

By Pishun Tantivangphaisal, Research Postgraduate, Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering

On 12th March we welcomed six decades of researchers and staff from the Imperial Geotechnics back to the Civil Engineering department building. With over 100 sign-ups, this highly anticipated event welcomed researchers spanning graduates from the 1970s all the way to current PhD students, post-doctoral researchers, administrative, technical, teaching and research staff. With a long legacy of pioneering research in the section, we felt it was important to maintain and foster links between current researchers with the giants on whose shoulders we now stand.

We showcased on-going research through poster presentations, caught up with our recently graduated friends and established new links with our distinguished alumni, many of whom now hold prominent positions in industry and academia. We also took the opportunity to celebrate the latest achievements in the section, most notably Prof. Zdravkovic as the 62nd Rankine Lecturer.

Figure 1 Imperial College Geotechnics reunion

We welcomed our alumni guests into the Mezzanine lab at 6pm after an afternoon cleaning, clearing and setting up the event space. On arrival, we asked everyone to place a pin on a map of the world (geological, of course) so we could highlight the geographical diversity of the section’s current and former members. We were all pleasantly surprised by how far some have travelled to attend the reunion (and of course the annual Rankine lecture on the next day), with strong showings from Europe, East Asia, and Latin America.

Fourteen research posters, showcasing the forefront of the section’s current research, were pinned up along one wall of the room. These attracted plenty of attention and prompted a host of discussion topics amongst current researchers as well as former members of the section. As many hails from technical roles in industry and academia, soil mechanics and engineering geology are highly relevant disciplines in their day-to-day work which resulted in a healthy cross-pollination of ideas.

Enabled by the support from the Graduate School, a catered fork buffet and a selection of alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks were enjoyed by all in attendance soon after. We (the PhD students) did have to do a few rounds of washing wine glasses (before the event and the morning after!), as budget constraints meant we had to be resourceful with the drinks provision. However, with help from our brilliant technical and administrative staff Prash, Jess, Luke and Piotr, the hard work all paid off in the end with many sending us messages of gratitude after the event.

We rounded off the evening with a presentation of gifts for Prof. Lidija Zdravkovic who had been invited to deliver the 62nd Rankine Lecture the following day. This is the preeminent technical lecture in the geotechnical engineering field, and she follows a long tradition of members of Rankine Lecturers from Imperial College.

Figure 2 Geographic diversity of some of our alumni and current research group

This event brought the whole research section together and provided what felt like a family reunion for many former members of the section! Anecdotes from many former doctoral journeys were fondly reminisced upon over the evening, despite the ample sweat and tears shared with colleagues from years past. For us as the current cohort of researchers, the event was not only an opportunity to showcase our work but also highlighted the myriad possibilities in our own future careers and trajectories.

The Graduate School’s Research Community Fund helped to cover a portion of the costs associated with the research posters and catering. We also received generous funding from the section which enabled us to host such an enjoyable and fruitful evening of discussion and networking.

Figure 3 Happy faces in front of snippets of the geotechnics section’s current research

A Delicious Reunion, Pizza, and Physics Adventures!

Student Research Seminar Series 2022/23

by Giorgio Mentasti, Research Student, Department of Physics

Hey there! Welcome to our super exciting blog post, where we spill the beans on our epic return to the good old days before COVID hit. We’re a bunch of theoretical physicists who’ve weathered the storm, working on mind-boggling equations from our cozy abodes. But guess what? We’re finally back to the normal times together, ready to rock the scientific world.

Picture this: our research group, scattered and isolated during the pandemic, suddenly coming together like the Avengers assembling for a grand mission. The highlight of our triumphant reunion? You guessed it—pizza! And not just any pizza, my friend. Our Italian comrades made sure to choose the most delectable slices in town. It was like a cheesy, tomatoey celebration of life, reminding us that some things never change, no matter the circumstances.

But hey, let’s be real. Our journey back to normality wasn’t a walk in the park. We found ourselves in uncharted territory, trying to navigate the treacherous waters of hybrid meetings. You see, blending in-person and online interactions was like juggling quarks—tricky, to say the least. Our trusty computer systems decided to give us a hard time, playing pranks and causing hilarious technical hiccups. We laughed, we facepalmed, but we soldiered on, determined to make our meetings kick some serious scientific butt.

And guess what? We didn’t just stick to our cozy little bubble. Oh no, we went big! We managed to bring in some stellar speakers from other universities, all through the magic of the digital realm. Can you imagine the excitement? We sat on the edge of our seats, diving into mind-bending talks that expanded our universe even further. From mind-blowing calendars and categories to dynamical massive gravity (seriously, that’s what one of us does for a living), we explored the cutting edge of physics with gusto.

The excitment became a challenge where the phd group had the chance to choose a topic and two of the bravest phd decided to prepare a seminar in 24h!

As we wrap up this rollercoaster of a year, we can’t help but feel a renewed sense of purpose and camaraderie. Our reunion wasn’t just about pizza and shenanigans (although they played a major role, let’s be honest). It was about reigniting our passion for unraveling the secrets of the cosmos. We faced the challenges head-on, adapting and innovating like true science warriors. And you know what? We came out stronger, wiser, and more connected than ever before.

So, what was there on our mind-bending agenda? Well, the variety of topics was only limited by a finite number of time slots. We kept pushing the boundaries of knowledge, armed with quirky titles like:

  • “The Leggett-Garg Inequalities & Tests of Macrorealism”
  • “A Non-Local Vacuum for Curved Spacetime”
  • “Riding on Regge Slopes”
  • “The Hubble Tension and how the Astro+Theo Community can (try to) solve it”
  • “Dynamical Massive Gravity; or What I Actually Do For A Living”
  • “Does this theory smell off to you? EFTs and amplitudes”
  • “The weak field limit of classical-quantum gravity: We’ll dive into mind-boggling bi-form symmetries and charges in gravity, because, hey, why not? The universe is our playground, and we’re ready to rock it!”

We’d like to give a massive shout-out to the Graduate School for being our partners in crime throughout this epic adventure. Their support and sponsorship have made all of this possible, and we’re forever grateful for their commitment to fostering a vibrant and collaborative research environment.

Civil & Environmental Engineering’s PhD Day Trip to Bath

by Mohamed El-Zeadani, PhD student, Department of  Civil & Environmental Engineering

Thirty-two of us, all PhD students from the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, visited the city of Bath on the 29th of April 2023. Our journey started by assembling in front of the College’s main entrance on Exhibition Road at 7:00 am. Half an hour later, we started the 97 miles journey west of London by coach. It took us about three hours to get there and the weather could not have been any better as cheerful lines of sun rays welcomed us as soon as we arrived.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On the coach preparing to head to Bath

We hurried to enter the Roman Baths to avoid missing the timeslot for our pre-booked tickets. Soon after, we dispersed in that Saturday morning crowd and spent the next two hours roaming around. Aquae Sulis, as Bath was known back then, was one of the Roman settlements established after 60 AD. The baths were designed for public bathing and were used until the end of Roman rule in Britain in 500 AD.

Walking along the terrace facing the Great Bath, we were greeted by a collection of statues standing one next to the other. One of those was Julius Caesar (100 BC – 44 BC), who made the initial attempts to conquer Britain. Beside him stood other famous Roman emperors and generals including Claudius (10 BC – 54 AD), Hadrian (76 AD – 138 AD), and Constantine (272 AD – 337 AD).

The Great Bath

Julius Caesar (Centre) and Claudius (Right)

 

Navigating the walkways of the Roman Baths we saw the Frigidarium (cold pool), Hippocamp mosaic and the more famous Gorgon head. The latter has over the years become the symbol of the city. We also walked on the grounds of what was previously an indoor gym. A projector showed images of Romans clad in gym clothes exercising. Who would have thought that they had their own Ethos back then!

Gorgon Head

 

Before leaving the Roman Baths, we tried the spring water from a fountain towards the end of the museum. The Romans drank from this same water and believed it had healing powers. The water tasted a bit metallic, which turns out to be due to its high sulphur content.

In front of Bath Abbey after leaving the Roman Baths

 

We then decided to grab something to eat and made our way to Sally Lunn’s Eating House to get some of the famous buns sold there. After having lunch nearby, we walked around the city centre for a while and then headed to the Jane Austen Centre. The writer of Sense and Sensibility (1811) and Pride and Prejudice (1813) lived in Bath between 1801 and 1806. Unbeknownst to us, as we walked into the centre, we were treated to a journey back in time where all staff could have been mistaken for characters from the movie Pride and Prejudice. A young lady dressed in Regency costume, speaking as if in the movie with the constant “my dear” acting as a full stop to every third sentence, gave us an informative background about Jane’s family and upbringing.

Outside Sally Lunn’s Eating House

 

We then walked around the centre, seeing some of Jane’s portraits and trying some of the games she played. Apparently, Jane enjoyed the cup and ball game which she could do for a100 consecutive times without a mistake! There was also a chance to try some of the Regency costumes available on display.

Inside the Jane Austen Centre

 

An hour and a half later, we left the Jane Austen Centre and walked around for a bit to eventually stop at Pulteney Bridge. We enjoyed the tranquil scenery of water running under the bridge and birds peacefully flying around it. Clouds soon began to form as if anticipating our daytrip is nearing its end, bidding us farewell with the occasional drizzle. We headed to the coach and at 5:30 pm sharp we started our journey back to London.

Pulteney Bridge

 

Our group was diverse, covering different research sections in our department, including transport, environmental and water resources, geotechnics, structures, fluid mechanics and materials. The daytrip was a perfect opportunity to socialise outside the department and get the know each other a bit better. We are grateful to Graduate School for the Postgraduate Community Fund which covered some of the transportation costs for this trip. We also thank our department for their generous support.

Group picture in Bath Before Leaving

 

The Young Entrepreneurs Scheme (YES) competition: developing skills for enterprise

By Katherine Davis, PhD student in the Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology (DIDE)

During the 2020/21 academic year, I took part in the Young Entrepreneurs Scheme (YES) competition, which aims to raise awareness about how ideas can be commercialised. In the competition, teams of postgraduate students, technicians, or early career academics prepare a business plan for a hypothetical company and pitch to win prizes. In this blog, I will briefly explain how I got into the YES competition, how I found taking part in the competition, and my advice for people considering competing.

Getting into the YES competition

In the summer of 2020, I saw a post about forming a team for the YES competition on my department’s Teams channel. From the description, the competition seemed like a great opportunity to learn new skills and meet interesting people. We had been in lockdown for a while and I was looking for something fun and different to do, so I quickly decided to join the team.

To get started, my team met on a video call. There were four of us: three PhD students from the Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology and one from the Department of Surgery and Cancer. We found that we got on well and decided to apply together for the competition. Fortunately, the application process was quite simple. You don’t need to have a business idea or business experience at the start of the competition, so the information that we needed to provide was straight forward.

Taking part in the competition

It wasn’t long before we got the news that our application had been successful and began to attend online YES training sessions and have meetings with experts from industry. The training and meetings provided a crash course in entrepreneurship and business, which introduced us to topics like sourcing and managing funding, protecting intellectual property, and marketing our products. This was very useful, and we learnt a lot that isn’t typically taught to PhD students.

As a team, we also met once a week to start developing an idea of our own. It was fun to get together, chat, and consider how we could approach the competition. At the beginning we had a lot of different ideas, and it was difficult to decide which we should take forwards. We ended up having a mini-pitch competition just to select our final concept!

With an idea chosen, it was time to take roles within our business. Each of us took charge of one key area and we started setting out our strategy. I really enjoyed seeing our business plan become more real as we built our pitch deck, and it was great to have something new to look at during our meetings each week.

When our training period ended, it was time for the final three-day competition. The first two days were set aside to make last minute changes to our pitch deck, meet with experts, and rehearse. We were quite busy, and the time quickly disappeared, leaving us to face the judges. Our pitch to the judges included a presentation, followed by a question-and-answer session. It was a nerve-wracking experience, but it was also great to see our hard work pay off! We received some excellent in-depth questioning from the judges, and we were very proud of how far we had come as a team. While we didn’t win the competition, we received useful feedback and had a lot of fun.

Advice for students considering competing

Having finished the YES competition, I would like to share some advice for students who might be considering applying.

  1. Go ahead and apply 😊

The YES competition is an enjoyable and different experience, so I would really encourage you to apply.

  1. Make the most of expert advice.

The YES competition experts have years of combined experience and can help your idea to stand out from the crowd. Try to make the most of the time you have with them.

  1. Be organised.

Time flies by in the competition, so try to ensure that you stay on top of what needs to be done. If your team meets regularly then it’s easier to keep track of what’s happening and help each other. This makes life a lot simpler from day one to the final pitch.