UCL President & Provost Michael Arthur speaks at the
inaugural 2015-16 Lunch Hour Lecture

A diverse audience filled the Darwin Lecture Theatre last Tuesday (13 October) for the first Lunch Hour Lecture of the season, given by UCL President & Provost Professor Michael Arthur – as has become tradition for the opening lecture every other year.

Including staff, students and members of the general public, the audience were in attendance to hear more about the university’s recent accomplishments, its challenges and what lies ahead.

Professor Arthur began with a frank summary of his time at UCL, so far, stating: “I’ve been at UCL for two years now, and this place can throw up its challenges.” And for a university with so much reputation and history, he emphasised how important its values are to its success, adding that UCL’s current values, although a “bedrock”, are being revisited to adapt to the new challenges that it faces.

He also touched upon what it’s been like to take over from the previous UCL President & Provost Professor Malcolm Grant, explaining: “I’ve been told that there’s a difference between my style and Malcolm’s – I’ve been told that mine is more ‘managerial’, which I take as a compliment.”

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Written by Andy Kumar (MRes Biomedicine 2012-13 ,UCL Institute of Child Health)

The Symposium audience

There is no doubt about it. Medical research has come on leaps and bounds in recent years. Much of this is down to the vast amount of research being conducted worldwide, with both scientists and doctors working tirelessly to discover novel treatments for a vast array of medical conditions.

The annual Infection, Immunology and Inflammation Symposium held at the UCL Institute of Child Health showcased the research of a number of passionate UCL academics and its partners. With an almost fully packed auditorium, there was a real buzz among the attendees.

Cutting edge research
The morning session on infection contained some excellent presentations on microbial genome  sequencing of methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and the effects of antibiotic resistance upon the population delivered by Professor Sharon Peacock, as well as the genes involved in the pathogenesis of Mycobacterium tuberculosis by Dr Kristine Arnvig.

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An audience of more than 400 gathered last week in the Bloomsbury Theatre to listen to a lecture and Q&A with the man now steering the big ship UCL, new President & Provost, Professor Michael Arthur.

Professor Michael Arthur

The event was the first of the new season of Lunch Hour Lectures, as well as a first opportunity for many members of the UCL community – a collectively curious bunch – to begin to form an opinion about the man in charge.

One month into the job, Professor Arthur declared that he is “having a great time”, but it is clear that he has already begun to form a view of the university’s current strengths and weaknesses, as well as a tentative but compelling vision for its future.

It is early days, of course, and UCL is a large and complex organisation. However, this lecture made Professor Arthur’s feelings on a number of key issues clear and gave a good sense of the institutional direction of travel he anticipates – one with the student experience at its heart.

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