About volunteering

Why are volunteers so important?

It's important to get the public talking about science and we do this with our Public Engagement and Community Engagement programmes. These include events such as Imperial Lates and the Great Exhibition Road Festival as well as partnerships with other organisations and our community projects in White City.

We're really proud that these events engage thousands of people each year, we are a small team, and could never hope to run the programme without some help from our fantastic volunteers! You really are vital to achieving our mission to inspire and empower people. Not only do we want to inspire the public with the amazing work Imperial does, but we want them to engage with our amazing and diverse Imperial community. We want to inspire the public with the people here, as well as the research. 

Who is a volunteer?

Any internal staff or student that is helping us deliver the event on the day (rather than contributing directly to the content of the event). We encourage everybody to volunteer, so whether you have been here two weeks, two years or two decades, please get involved. One of the most inspiring things for visitors is interacting with Imperial's diverse community.

What do I need to do to become a volunteer?

We have changed our sign up process for volunteering to make it quicker and easier for you. All your details will be collected by our simple online volunteering portal. 

1. Create your account or sign in to your existing account on our new volunteer platform. 
2. You will be asked to agree to our Volunteer Approach (PDF) to start your registration.
3. Enter your details (you will only have to do this once).
4. Sign in, browse the shifts/training on offer and pick those you want to be involved in.
5. Use the same log in details to sign up for more shifts or cancel a shift you can no longer make.

What can I expect when I volunteer?

1. Before your shift you will be provided with a briefing document with all the information you will need.
2. At the start of your shift you will be met by a key member of the team who will introduce you to other volunteers other and recap information from your brief.
3. While volunteering you might be assigned various roles, which could include the below: 

• Welcoming members of the public and answering any questions they may have
• Managing tour registrations and queries
• Managing talks and performance entry and turnaround
• Supporting researchers exhibiting or speaking about their work
• Supporting workshop facilitation
• Helping us understand what people thought about the event, how they are interacting with the content and how we can improve future events
• Assisting in set up and take down of the activities or workshops

FAQs