Blog posts

Theory Group Student Seminars: Sharing Our PhD ‘Wisdom’

One of the most important skills of any physicist, second only to the ability to do research itself, is to communicate both the results and the methods of that research to a variety of audiences: students, peers, senior researchers, and to a lesser extent, the general public. All of these groups require their own unique approach, and it is to the first two that the student seminars in the theoretical physics department at Imperial are aimed. The speakers are PhD students, the audience consists of PhD and MSc students in comparable proportions. This is a pedagogical experience for all involved, albeit in different ways.

‘Breaking the Ice’ – Hammersmith Campus Postgraduate Social!

Postgraduate students based at the Imperial Hammersmith Hospital campus took to the ice for a PG student social at the Natural History Museum on Wednesday the 19th of December. This social brought together research students from the departments of Medicine, Surgery & Cancer and the NHLI in a festive skating session followed by drinks at ħ bar, allowing PG students on the campus to mingle across different departments and disciplines.

The event was a great success, bringing together research students from across departments and institutes based at the Hammersmith hospital campus, as well as other research staff that were interested in getting involved with the event (including clinical and postdoctoral fellows).

Mech Eng – Robotics Forum PhD Connect

by Eloise Matheson, PhD student in the Department of Mechanical Engineering

The first PhD networking event for robotics related researchers was held on Thursday 15th November 2018. Sponsored by the Imperial College Graduate School Research Community Fund and the supported by the Imperial College Robotics Forum (Network of Robotics), this event was aimed to connect PhD researchers across the college that face similar technical and research challenges! Robotics in general is a very multi-disciplinary topic, and with over 28 robotics labs spread across departments and faculties, this event was a great chance to bring people together. Over 50 people from 15 different labs registered for the event, with a turnout of around 40.

Football at the Molecular Science Research Hub

5-aside football at Imperial’s new White City Campus takes place very Wednesday lunch time between 12 and 1pm at PlayFootball Shepherds Bush, just A 5-minute walk away. The first event took place on the 7th November and will continue for 10 weeks. The aim of this event was to facilitate activity and departmental communication between staff, PhD students and masters students across all floors of the new Molecular Sciences Research Hub.

This summer, the Chemistry department was the first to move to the new White City Campus. The new building was designed to foster a sense of communication within the department and as the campus is still in development, there are currently little or no social areas, activity / sports spaces.

Cross-CDT Ice Skating Event

by Martin Prießner, PhD student in the Department of Chemistry

On Tuesday the 11th of December the first event of this year’s Cross-CDT event series took place. The Cross-CDT event series aims to strengthen the already established friendships and form new ones between CDT students of different disciplines across the different cohort years. By organising meetings and fun activities with an informal character, the participating students get the opportunity to exchange their PhD experiences and professional and private matters. This enables them to form long-lasting friendships which will hopefully surpass their PhD studies.

On this winter-like evening on the 11th of December a total of 18 CDT students from 4 different CDT programs across two cohort years gathered together in front of the library at Imperial College London.

St. Mary’s Christmas Party 2018

by Inne Nauwelaers, PhD student at the National Heart and Lung Institute

On Wednesday, 12th of December 2018, students at St. Mary’s School of Medicine building got together for the second building-wide party. Thanks to the financial aid of the Graduate School, we were able to organise a Christmas party, bringing people together from every department at this campus: the School of Public Health, Virology, Respiratory medicine, Infectious Diseases and Paediatrics.

The reason we took the initiative and wanted to bring everyone together, is due to the fact that there is no communal space for people to gather and therefore interaction between departments is often limited.

Workshop On Numerical methods in KomplexitY (WONKY)

Workshop On Numerical methods in KomplexitY (WONKY) 08.10.18 to 10.10.18 Amberley, South Downs Way

Our group of 13 doctoral students at the Centre for Complexity Science at Imperial College held a trip of three days in the National Park of the South Downs Way. We stayed in a bunkhouse in Amberley, where we carried out a little workshop on numerical methods and combined it with long strolls in the green countryside. We had a good time and plenty of discussions.

Some years ago, a few of us had the idea of organising a small workshop to share tips and tricks for numerical methods in our research. 

Women in Physics Go Ice Skating

Tuesday 4th of December saw 61 Physics Student go ice skating at the Natural History Museum. The event organised by the Women in Physics group and open to all genders was aimed at building a cohort of open-minded students promoting gender equality in STEM.

The event was a huge success! After Meeting in Blackett at 16:15, tickets were distributed and the group set off to the ice rink. Seasoned regulars provided tuition for the less confident, with everyone making huge progress during the hour. After some fun, some photos, and a few tumbles, the group headed upstairs to warm up, claim the free drink and share skating stories.

My experience in developing an online Allied Health Professional (AHP) research and peer support community.

by Janet Deane, Research Assistant in the Department of Surgery and Cancer

On Thursday 18th October at the MSK LAB at Imperial College London, we started the development of a secure and moderated peer support Facebook Group for AHPs in academic research.

Natasha Wallace from Trilogy Consulting, an external expert in the creation of online professional platforms was invited to provide training.  At the training session, AHPs could discuss their needs, learn how to share knowledge using innovative technologies, and collectively help to determine the vision of the group.

AHPs (Physiotherapists, Radiographers, Occupational therapists and Speech therapists) are becoming increasingly involved in research that has the potential to change the quality of lives of patients with various health conditions.

British Isles Graduate Workshop: Singularities and symplectic topology

The second edition of the British Isles Graduate Workshop took place on Jersey Island between the 14th and the 20th July. The mission of the workshop was to bring together a group of around thirty international graduate students with experienced researchers, to participate in a five-day mathematically intense exploration of a focused topic in an area of current research. The informal environment and the joyful and collaborative atmosphere was the key of its success.

A challenging project

Three years ago, Andrea, one of the organisers of BIGW, was just returning to London from an exciting conference, and was sharing his enthusiasm for it.