Letter from the Head of the Institute

CHRISTMAS CARDIOVASCULAR HACK COMPETITION

We are looking for the best cardiovascular product created at the Advanced HackSpace at White City.  The competition is sponsored by the Imperial Centre for Cardiac Engineering, Imperial Hack and NHLI.  

• Judging will take place in Spring 2019 (very Christmassy!)
• Prize money £500

Cardiovascular Hack induction – the next Hack-Mondays in January are on Mondays 21 and 28 January.

Contact Professor Nick Peters with any enquiries or visit the Hackspace website.

IGHI STUDENT CHALLENGES COMPETITION

The Student Challenges Competition gives students the opportunity to showcase and develop their ideas to bring about positive change to global health. You can win funding towards implementing your idea to improve world health. Each year, a Dragon’s Den-style event is hosted in London to find the winner who will be awarded £5,000. 

What are we looking for? Applications can cover any aspect of global health innovation, for example:

• Aiding patients with physical disabilities in the developing world;
• Improving sanitation and hygiene;
• Tackling chronic diseases;
• Finding new diagnostics for infectious diseases in remote areas;
• Enhancing and reshaping global health policy and processes

If you think you have the winning idea, visit our website and find out how to apply. If anything is unclear, don’t hesitate to email us at ighi@imperial.ac.uk.

Applications open on 7 January 2019 and close on 30 January 2019.

INTRODUCING THE NIHR ACADEMY

The NIHR Trainees Coordinating Centre is conducting a series of roadshows to promote the establishment of the NIHR Academy which launched in October 2018. The NIHR Academy funds a range of training and career development awards in health-related topics, including fellowships, for academic and clinical professionals.  
 
We are hosting a roadshow event on Monday 11 February 2019 at Hammersmith Hospital Campus and we would like to invite you to attend. This afternoon session (12:30-15:30) is aimed at existing and future applicants of the NIHR Academy based in Imperial College London and will provide you with the opportunity to hear about recent specific changes and ask questions to experienced staff from the NIHR Academy.

To confirm your attendance, please register in advance via the Eventbrite page.

APPLY FOR MEDTECH BUSINESS ACCELERATOR

As a participant in the MedTech SuperConnector, you will work with teammates to devise and commercially develop a new technology aimed at improving mental health, wellbeing and happiness: Think a diagnostic tool, robotic device, data-driven solution, or wherever your ingenuity takes you. 
 
The programme is open to postdocs, PhD students and Master’s students in all Departments.
 
With access to entrepreneurship training and generous financial support, your team will have a chance turn an idea into a successful venture in just six months.
 
You will get:

• The opportunity to form a team with researchers and postgrads in other disciplines on an exciting venture which can use your business or science expertise to achieve important social benefits.
• The chance to develop your entrepreneurial skills through masterclasses, specialist resources and practical experience developing a new technology startup.
• Financial support of up to £60,000 per venture (equity free) and a £1,000 per month stipend for each participant.

Eligible applicants from Imperial and other partner institutions will be invited to an initial two-day hackathon, where they will have the chance to team up with fellow researchers and postgrads with complementary skills and formulate initial technology ideas. Following the hackathon, selected teams will be invited to join the full six-month project, with a time commitment of at least 15 hours per week.  
 
To learn more and apply: see the MedTechSuperConnector website.

Application deadline: Sunday 20 January 2019. 
 
Applications take 20 minutes. Postdoc applicants must be supported by their Principal Investigators.

NOMINATE A COLLEAGUE FOR A PRESIDENT'S AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE

Nominations are now open for the President’s Awards for Excellence, the nomination period runs until Friday 8 Feb 2019. Please consider nominating fellow staff for any of the categories below.
 
The awards have been refreshed to reflect the wider Imperial community, now recognising the achievements and hard work of all staff at the College, across research, teaching and professional services roles.
 
Within the President’s Awards for Excellence there are four award streams each with different categories:

• The President's Awards for Excellence in Culture and Community (new this year)
• The President's Awards for Excellence in Education
• The President's Awards for Excellence in Research
• The President's Awards for Excellence in Societal Engagement

 
More information about all the awards is on the website.

Wider media:

Professor Stuart Elborn heads to Queens University 

Stuart Elborn, Professor of Respiratory Medicine, is leaving NHLI to take up the position of Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Medicine, Health and Life Sciences), at Queens University Belfast.

Jane Davies, Professor of Paediatric Respirology and Experimental Medicine said "We congratulate Stuart on his new position but are very sad to see him leave. Over the last two years Stuart has made major contributions to cystic fibrosis clinical trials and in establishing a programme of digital care for adult patients".
 

Tweets from the @ImperialNHLI account have earned 75,000 impressions in the last 28 days. Our top tweet with 3,680 impressions and 81 engagements was about the upcoming Athena lecture on diversity in STEM.

For December we have asked for staff and postgraduate students across the Faculty to contribute their #ChristmasGiftForScience and shared them out as a Twitter advent - catch up with all suggestions so far.