Imperial Graduate School Blog

Read Two minutes with… Humera Ansari (Student Programme Leader – Research Communication Programme) in full

The Graduate School has appointed Student Programme Leaders in order to give doctoral students the opportunity to engage with our Professional Development Programme and shape its design and delivery.

In our new ‘Two Minutes with….’ series we will be introducing you to our current SPLs and finding out their thoughts so far on the role!

Name: Ester Anaya-Boig

Department: Centre for Environmental Policy

Introduce your research: I am studying what aspects of the built and the social environment influence in people’s cycling behaviour

Student Programme Leader: Professional Effectiveness Programme

Why did you choose to apply for this particular SPL role?

I had attended quite a few courses and a couple of retreats from the Graduate School and I had found them really useful. I found that the courses within the professional effectiveness programme were the ones that had made the bigger positive impact in my PhD life.

I thought I was motivated to review the programme in-depth, working with the team that created the courses and representing the views of my fellow students in order to contribute to how this programme is delivered.

Three things you’ve found interesting:

• Knowing the contents of the courses in-depth and sometimes even do a bit of research about some specific aspect
• Getting to know how the courses are created
• Thinking about how to take into account the diversity of Imperial students that attend the courses.

Three things you’ve enjoyed most:

• Providing feedback that is appreciated and recognised by the Grad School team
• Working with a highly professional and knowledgeable team, that knows very well what they are doing!
• Reading the feedback about the courses and extracting the highlights that I think can help make them better

What impact have you had on the programme?

Apart from the feedback evaluation, I have provided suggestions on the contents and on the structure of the course. Also I have provided notes on how it is delivered. Observing in one of the courses was really helpful and helped me provide feedback in detail.

What advice would you give to other students thinking of applying for the SPL role in future?

It’s a great opportunity to learn how the Graduate School creates their programmes, how they are delivered and also to train you in how to reach the diversity of the student population. You realise you can contribute with more than you thought and that your contributions are valued by the team.

Why do you think professional development training is important?

I have experienced how it has helped me and kept me grounded. It also provides you with resources available for whenever you need them, it’s like a safety net that you create by attending these courses. The professional development courses provide you the space and the tools to make you aware and reflect on how you do things and then be able to create change. Sometimes the courses can help you change your habits or introduce a new habit in your life.

Read Two minutes with… Ester Anaya-Boig (Student Programme Leader – Professional Effectiveness Programme) in full

The Graduate School has appointed Student Programme Leaders in order to give doctoral students the opportunity to engage with our Professional Development Programme and shape its design and delivery.

In our new ‘Two Minutes with….’ series we will be introducing you to our current SPLs and finding out their thoughts so far on the role!

Name: Katia Hougaard

Department: Life Sciences

Introduce your research: My PhD project focuses on the innate defence responses of plants against aphids, an economically important insect pest.

Student Programme Leader: The MasterClass workshop series with Dr Helal Ahmed

Why did you choose to apply for this particular SPL role?

While a MRes student at Imperial, I benefited greatly from the free Master Class programme offered to all Masters students. Based on my very positive experience as a student in the classes, I wanted to give back to the programme that helped me learn a variety of transferable skills. In addition, I am interested in gaining experience of being in an educator role for postgraduate students since one of my career interests is higher education.

Three things you’ve found interesting: 

Analysing and implementing student feedback, discussing wording and visual appeal of slides with Dr. Ahmed, and designing my own slides are 3 interesting aspects of this role.

Overall, being in the teaching role has been a new perspective on the learning experience.

Three things you’ve enjoyed most:

I enjoy co-delivering workshops on public speaking and presentation skills with Dr. Ahmed. Through this activity, I’ve gained experience in managing and leading a large group of students.

I also enjoy the planning discussions with Dr. Ahmed and other members of the graduate school.

I’ve additionally enjoyed reaching out to fellow students to learn their opinions on past and current Graduate School courses.

What impact have you had on the programme?

My contributions have made the public speaking / presentation skills workshop more interactive and hopefully more entertaining. I am also working on arranging a focus group to learn what students wish to see from the programme in the future.

What advice would you give to other students thinking of applying for the SPL role in future?

I would highly encourage any postgraduate student who is interested in being an educator to apply for this role. I would advise to approach the role with an enthusiastic and cooperative attitude to get the most out of working with your supervisor.

Why do you think professional development training is important?

I feel it is extremely important for postgraduate students to develop their transferable professional skills for any career they choose after their education at Imperial. The free courses are a valuable addition to any postgraduate studies, and an opportunity to meet students from across disciplines at Imperial.

Read Two minutes with… Katia Hougaard (Student Programme Leader – Master’s Programme) in full

The Graduate School has appointed Student Programme Leaders in order to give doctoral students the opportunity to engage with our Professional Development Programme and shape its design and delivery.

In our new ‘Two Minutes with….’ series we will be introducing you to our current SPLs and finding out their thoughts so far on the role!

Name: Marie Rider

Department: Physics

Introduce your research:  I work in the condensed matter theory group, and I study topological nanophotonics, where we’re working to understand how light interacts with topological materials at the nanoscale.

Student Programme Leader: Graduate Teaching Assistant Programme

Why did you choose to apply for this particular SPL role?

GTAs are a crucial bridge between students and academics. We can have a massive impact on the student experience and the GTA programme provides vital training on how to approach the role. We’re the next generation of academics, and the approach to teaching and learning we develop now will stay with us throughout our careers so I really wanted to be part of the professional skills programme teaching those skills.

Three things you’ve found interesting: 

1. The way the GTA role is defined varies massively between faculties and departments, so it’s an interesting challenge to make the programme relevant and useful for GTAs across college.
2. GTAs have really different experiences of teaching and there’s as much to learn from each other as from the programme leads.
3. Co-leading sessions for the GTA programme is a lot different from teaching a STEM subject!

Three things you’ve enjoyed most:

1. Working with SPLs from other faculties.  Under ordinary circumstances we might never had met!
2. Getting the opportunity to co-lead some of the programme sessions. Peer-run sessions are really fun and very different to the usual teaching I get to do
3. Working with the programme leader, Richard. He’s so passionate and informed about what he does, so it’s been great to learn from him

What impact have you had on the programme?

We’ve been collating information from all departments across college on how they define their GTA roles and what skills they want their GTAs to have, so that we can tailor the content of the programme courses better

What advice would you give to other students thinking of applying for the SPL role in future?

Do it! Find a programme you’re passionate about and jump in.

Why do you think professional development training is important?

Being a scientist or engineer is about much more than our technical skills. The things you learn in professional development training help you grow as an academic and as a person.

Read Two minutes with… Marie Rider (Student Programme Leader – GTA Programme) in full

The Graduate School has appointed Student Programme Leaders in order to give doctoral students the opportunity to engage with our Professional Development Programme and shape its design and delivery.

In our new ‘Two Minutes with….’ series we will be introducing you to our current SPLs and finding out their thoughts so far on the role!

Name: Daryl Ma

Department: Electrical Engineering

Introduce your research: Designing monolithic wireless electrochemical sensors for biomedical applications for blood or sweat monitoring.

Student Programme Leader: Graduate Teaching Assistant Programme

Why did you choose to apply for this particular SPL role?

I enjoy GTA work as I find teaching quite fun. I felt that applying for this role allowed me to learn more about other aspects of teaching.

Three things you’ve found interesting: 

1. Speaking to other departments in the engineering faculty on how they run their GTA programmes.
2. Understanding the different roles played by various GTAs in different departments.
3. Conducting lectures for the GTA program.

Three things you’ve enjoyed most:

1. I liked how different departments had their various viewpoints on how GTA work should be like.
2. Talking about more in-depth teaching techniques applied, which probably bordered the field of psychology.
3. Speaking to fellow GTAs and learning from their experiences.

What impact have you had on the programme?

We’ve managed to make some changes to the GTA program across departments by simply comparing them and explaining to these departments what the college standards are.

What advice would you give to other students thinking of applying for the SPL role in future?

Do it, it’s fun!

Why do you think professional development training is important?

It provides you with the soft skills required to perform your required administrative roles in whichever field your career path takes you.

Read Two minutes with… Daryl Ma (Student Programme Leader – GTA Programme) in full