Professor Tim Ebbels - Biomedical Research

Meet Professor Tim Ebbels

What course do you teach on and what is your role?

I am the Programme Director for the MRes in Biomedical Research and Co-Lead for the Data Science stream.

How has your career led you to teaching?

I trained as an astrophysicist and came into biomedical science by applying my computational and statistical knowledge to molecular biological data. I have always felt that teaching and research are integral parts of an academic career and that they can both inform and benefit each other. Research can benefit teaching by training students in cutting edge techniques & knowledge, while innovative teaching methods can benefit how we communicate our research, so it is a two-way street. In addition, I have benefited in the past from fantastic teachers and mentors and feel it is an obligation to give some of this back. Ultimately the greatest legacy we can have as researchers is the scientists of the next generation that we have trained.
 

What aspect of the course do you enjoy teaching the most?

As Programme Director, I get a buzz out of seeing students through the full trajectory from when students apply through to graduation. It is wonderful to see them mature as scientists and go on to successful careers in research and beyond. We keep up with our alumni, many of whom now hold senior positions around the world. In the course itself, I really enjoy the interactive teaching sessions in my own subject (Data Science) as well as the grant writing course where students are challenging themselves to do something most have never done before.
 

What do you hope your students will go on to achieve on completion of this course?

The aim of the MRes in Biomedical Research is to train future leaders in biomedical science. Students learn not only the science (the cutting edge of their own field) but, importantly, the skills of how to succeed in the modern professional science world. For example, how to write a research grant proposal, how to peer review the literature, how to use statistics and bioinformatics to analyse data, how to publicise your science. Most of our students go straight on to further research (e.g. PhD), but some opt for jobs related to science in industry (e.g. tech firms) or government.
 

What is your favourite part about teaching at Imperial College London?

Imperial has an outstanding reputation for world leading research. Combine this with its emphasis on innovative,  interactive teaching, and you have the ideal recipe for a programme like ours which is a training in research. In particular, recent years have seen the college raise the profile of the quality of teaching, with better training for staff and better recognition, which means we take pride in providing a high quality experience to students. A critical aspect important for a course like ours is our strong emphasis on student support: where students are having difficulties with their project, supervisor, lab, or non-academic life, we will help them get through this to achieve the best outcome possible in the masters year. There is a strong teaching focussed community at Imperial and we support each other and share best practice.