Author: Corinne Tomsett

Joanna Plested, Administration Officer, Security Services 

“Balancing the apprenticeship with my day job wasn’t too challenging in the end. My manager was very supportive and helped me to find time to work on it when I needed.” 

My current role involves overseeing the administrative side of the Security team’s office. This involves booking annual leave, registering sickness, plus ordering and invoicing. More recently, I have also become a ‘training champion’ which involves helping other members of the team with any training needs.  (more…)

Stephanie Ludwig, Learning and Development Administrator, Human Resources

“We have just launched our new LDC course programme for 2020-21 and our workload has really picked up as we’ve been planning and organising the teaching.” 

In January I started as an Administrator in the Learning and Development Centre (LDC) where I support the admin and organisation of the programmes run by the centre. This is mostly processing bookings for courses, answering enquiries and liaising with internal and external course tutors. 

After I left school, rather than going to university I decided to start working. While studying for my A-levels I found there wasn’t a subject I wanted to study at university, and I knew I definitely didn’t want to go to university just for the sake of it. Initially I didn’t even think about an apprenticeship and just wanted to get a job, but without experience finding one was very difficult. Eventually, I looked into apprenticeships and found that I could study for a Level 3 qualification in Business Administration while working at Imperial’s Graduate School. I started the apprenticeship in September 2018 and after receiving a distinction, I started my new role in the LDC in January this year.   (more…)

Promise Ahante, Taught Postgraduate, Department of Earth Science & Engineering

“The pandemic was initially very disruptive, but Imperial really helped to reduce the negative impact.” 

I’m a Master’s student in Petroleum Engineering in the Department of Earth Science and Engineering. I did my first degree in Petroleum and Gas Engineering in Nigeria, which is where I’m from. The major resource we have in Nigeria is petroleum so I was influenced by my surroundings.  

When I graduated in 2016, I worked for a short while, but I wasn’t able to get a job directly in the energy industry. I decided to go back to university to build some skills. As an international student the fees were very expensive but fortunately, Shell sponsored me for my Master’s. Imperial is a fantastic university and particularly well-regarded in the industry, so it was a great opportunity for me.   (more…)

Leon McFarlane, Research Technician, Department of Infectious Disease

“We started with animal studies and in June, began human clinical trials – that’s the quickest we’ve ever been able to move a vaccine candidate from the lab to the clinic.”

I’m currently working in Professor Robin Shattock’s lab. My background is in biomedical science, but I made the transition into infectious diseases research when I completed an internship with the Sanjeev Krishna group at St George’s, looking at malaria drugs and inhibitors.  

I worked there for a year and a half, but I knew I was more interested in the immunology side of the research. I completed my MSc in the Immunology of Infectious Diseases at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Following this, I started an internship at Imperial at the International Aids Vaccine Initiative working on HIV clinical trials, which connected me with Professor Shattock.  (more…)

Naveeta Bhatia, Social Media and Campaigns Officer, Student Recruitment and Outreach

“Amplifying student voices, particularly those of our EU and International students, is a key part of my work and I didn’t want this to stop because of the pandemic, so I’ve had to find different ways of finding and talking to students.” 

I always wanted to work in marketing or communications, so when I finished university I started working as a copywriter. I had a couple of different jobs in marketing and communications over the next few years. I worked for the British Transport Police as their Social Media and Campaigns Officer for a while – that was a great job! After I changed roles, I found I missed social media and content creation. That’s when I applied for my current position as Social Media and Campaigns Officer in Imperial’s Student Recruitment and Outreach team.   (more…)

Rebecca Sie, Teaching Facilities Manager, Faculty of Medicine


“The COVID-19 pandemic has added a new layer of complexity to my role given the changes it has brought about – changes that I could never have anticipated six months ago! 

I worked for several years as a research scientist before making the transition to laboratory management, first joining Imperial in 2014 as a Trainee Laboratory Manager in the old Department of Medicine. I then spent some time working in Oxford and returned to the College just before Christmas last year. I had only been back for a few months when the College closed in response to the COVID-19 outbreak!  (more…)

Camille Foncel, Student Hub Advisor, Campus Services

The whole team has worked hard on ways to make ourselves available so students can come to us with questions and concerns.” 

I joined Imperial in May 2017 and work as a Student Hub Advisor. I enjoy the variety in my work and talking to people from many diverse backgrounds. A snapshot of my day can include supporting a student whose landlord is threatening to evict them, creating a webpage in HTML or holding a presentation for prospective students.  (more…)

Sirvan Almasi, Research Postgraduate, Department of Computing

“Being involved in the army reserves during the pandemic has meant that I’ve been able to give back to London and the community where I live.”

I am a PhD student in the Centre for Cryptocurrency Research and Engineering and a member of the Army Reserves. I joined Imperial when I began my PhD in 2018. After my Master’s, I worked in finance for a short while before deciding that I wanted a change in career. I knew I wanted to return to academic research but also wanted to maintain my interest in finance and management, and now my PhD in blockchain identity systems and information security combines both these interests. (more…)

Neil Taylor, Teacher of English, Centre for Academic English

“We needed our online classes to allow us to help academically but also to be a supportive, social space.”

I work part-time at Imperial as an Academic English Teacher in the Centre for Academic English where I support students and staff with the written and spoken communication of their research. Alongside this I teach part-time for the Victoria and Albert Museum. On July 14 I published my first novel The Miseducation of Evie Epworth, fulfilling my long-standing goal of publishing a book. (more…)