Imperial hosts conference aimed at widening access to university

A weekend of talks, workshops and panel sessions took place at the College last week, aimed at inspiring young men aged 16 to 24.

Supported by Imperial’s Equality and Diversity Unit and hosted at the College’s South Kensington Campus, the student conference was organised by the Amos Bursary, which supports young men of British African and Caribbean heritage from schools and sixth form colleges in London.

This is the second year that Imperial has hosted the Amos Bursary "Beyond Outstanding" Student Conference. This year's event was attended by over thirty students on 19 – 21 July. Jonathan Tinnacher, Director of Student Recruitment and Outreach, welcomed the students and offered an insight into life at university as well as information on putting together an effective application.

The Bursary was established in June 2009 in memory of Mike and Dolly Amos, parents of Baroness Amos of Brondesbury, former Cabinet Minister, and current Under Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief.

Lasting for four and a half years, the Bursary supports students to gain entry into university, ensuring they achieve their potential educationally and professionally. As well as financial assistance, the scheme facilitates access to a range of opportunities including internships, work experience and networking. Students also attend personal and professional development programmes including workshops, meetings and seminars.

Every young person has a peer and professional mentor to support and guide them. The mentors volunteer their time and come from a range of backgrounds and disciplines.

Amos Bursary student, Lequan Johnson graduated last year from Royal Holloway with a BSc in Biomedical Sciences. Lequan said: “Things like public speaking and networking weren’t really highlighted at my school but the Amos Bursary gave me the opportunity to build these sorts of skills.” The Bursary also facilitated a six month work experience placement in the Gambia as part of Prolifica, an EC funded project investigating the causes of liver cancer. Lequan is now exploring post-graduate research opportunities in virology and immunology.

Amos Bursary graduate, Richard Butler recently completed a BSc in Economics at Coventry University: “The Amos Bursary really supported me, pushing me forward to achieve my goals at university. I’ve already secured a job and I’d love to keep in contact with the Amos Bursary and become a peer mentor in the future.”

Currently five members of staff from Imperial volunteer as mentors, many of whom heard about the charity through Imperial As One, the College’s diversity forum. Dr Mark Richards (Physics) who talked about the significance of academic research and the opportunities for collaboration and Dr Sunday Popo-Ola (Civil and Environmental Engineering), gave students an insight into life as an academic.

Dr Sunday Popo-Ola said: “I first got involved with the Amos Bursary in 2011 through Imperial As One, and I volunteer as a mentor to one of the students. I believe it is really important to offer my support and share my experiences so I was delighted to be invited to speak at their annual conference and meet all of the students. The theme of the conference was ‘A World Without Borders’ and my talk, ‘Engineering Across Borders’, focused on how I have used my engineering knowledge alongside my unique cultural difference to influence engineering developments across different continents. The response from the students was very positive and they asked sensible and thought provoking questions.”

Alongside talks on higher education, the conference focused on employability skills as well as communications and negotiation techniques, with students hearing from a range of speakers including Femi Bola MBE, Director of Employability and Student Enterprise at the University of East London (UEL) and Penny Egan CBE, Executive Director of the US-UK Fulbright Commission.

Kenny Imafidon has completed his first year studying Law at BPP University College. He said: “The Amos Bursary has given me the chance to excel. Since I was accepted I’ve been on work experience placements, talked at events and met people from all walks of life. This weekend’s conference is an opportunity to hear from a range of people but it’s also given me the chance to speak to other bursary students. Hearing about what they’re doing keeps me motivated and inspired. Some of them have graduated from university now and it’s great to see they are still involved.”

The Amos Bursary is looking for volunteers to act as mentors. For more information visit the Amos Bursary website.