Provost speaking at the reception

Written by Anastazja Grudnicka (BA History and recipient of the Sarmartian Bursary)

On Tuesday 25 February, the North Cloisters was transformed into an elegant reception venue. The reason for this metamorphosis was the biggest Scholarships and Bursaries Reception UCL has ever hosted.

This annual event, hosted by current scholarship and bursary recipients, celebrates the invaluable impact of philanthropy on the scholarships and bursaries programme at UCL.

Following an introduction by Professor Michael Arthur, President and Provost of UCL, the audience of more than 150 guests, comprising donors, the recipients of the awards and UCL friends and representatives, had the pleasure to listen to speeches from both beneficiaries and benefactors. Each speaker focused on different aspects of philanthropy and what such contributions meant to them personally.

It was incredibly inspiring to hear from the scholarship and bursary recipients themselves.  Although all three student speakers came from different backgrounds and faced obstacles of their own, they all shared a sense of gratitude for the support received.

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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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The third annual Provost’s Awards for Public Engagement were held on 25 January. Ben Davies was there to applaud the winners.

Academia, it seems fair to say, can be a little inaccessible to those outside the loop. Accusations of academics operating with an ‘ivory tower’ mentality do seem increasingly unfair, but there is still an element of the mysterious about the whole endeavour; having studied Philosophy, one of the more mysterious subjects offered at university level, I know that a subject that fails to communicate will be seen as esoteric, perhaps even a waste of time.

This is not only a great shame when the truth is that academic research is of great relevance to the public, but is also damaging to universities themselves. More than ever, public engagement is vital to higher education.

The seriousness with which UCL treats its own public engagement, therefore, can only be a good thing. The awards ceremony was organised by the university’s Public Engagement Unit, which supports staff and students in communicating with the public in a constructive way, and whose staff were thanked by UCL President and Provost Malcolm Grant for “leading on public engagement for the institution as a whole”.

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