CERN benefits and academic award: News from the College

Here’s a batch of fresh news and announcements from across Imperial.

From a new report on the benefits of membership to the organisation behind the largest particle physics laboratory in the world, to the Imperial winner of the British Federation of Women Graduates award, here is some quick-read news from across the College. 

CERN benefits 

A new report demonstrates the wide-ranging benefits generated by the UK’s membership of CERN, the home of the Large Hadron Collider.

UK scientists and their peers have contributed to major scientific breakthroughs, but the impacts also extend to UK businesses, who have won hundreds of high-value contracts. Several technology developments from CERN have also found commercial applications through UK companies.

Imperial’s Professor Geoff Hall was on the expert panel for the report. He said: “CERN is crucial to UK participation in particle physics experiments. It provides the highest energy accelerator in the world which has been made possible in Europe by sharing the costs between the 23 member states.

“It is a shining example of international collaboration, which in today’s world is absolutely vital to carry out the gigantic, challenging projects necessary to study physics on the smallest scale and understand better the origins of the universe.” 

Read more on the Science and Technology Facilities Council’s website

Dr Mike Schachter, in memoriam

The Faculty of Medicine is deeply saddened to hear of the death of Dr Mike Schachter. Mike was a Senior Lecturer (Clinical Pharmacology) in the National Heart and Lung Institute, he was a highly respected clinician, scholar and teacher, and a figure of huge significance in the School of Medicine.

Alongside his research in the treatment of hypertension, Mike was a wonderful tutor and mentor to decades of medical students; he was someone who cared deeply for the welfare of his students.

His many colleagues, peers and students alike will miss him very much, and our thoughts are with his many friends and family. If you would like to share your reflections on this sad news an online memorial board has been set up for staff and students. 

CO2 removal

Qatar’s research funding agency has awarded its largest National Priorities grant to a project that aims to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

More than $6m will go to the project, which involves Imperial’s Dr Clotilde Cucinotta, and is led by Qatar Environment and Energy Research Institute (Qeeri) at Hamad Bin Khalifa University, with partners including Shell Qatar, Qatar University and Qatar Green Building Council (QGBC).

The researchers hope that a ‘holistic approach’ to sustainability can limit the emission of greenhouse gases that cause global warming, while improving air quality, food security and the diversifying the country’s economy. They aim to channel captured carbon dioxide to agricultural greenhouses to feed crops or chemically convert it into valuable products. 

Women graduate award

Doctoral student Cristina Cecchetti in the Department of Life Sciences has won a British Federation of Women Graduates award for academic excellence. The awards are named after past members of the Federation who have contributed significantly to the scholarship funds and/or match with the field of the prize winner. 

Cristina’s award is named for Martha Whiteley, who spent her entire career as a chemist at Imperial and who, in 1913, was the second woman to receive an award from the Federation. Together with Ida Smedley Maclean she spearheaded the movement for women to gain admission to the Chemical Society, which she was elected to the Council of in 1928.

On her award, Cristina said: “It is a real honour to receive this prize, named after such an inspiring scientist. I am extremely grateful for a very motivating discussion with an extraordinary panel of experts in various fields.”

Read more on the British Federation of Women Graduates website.

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