Project Directory 23-24

Summary

The UG labs in chemical engineering have a long history of incorporating participatory design as a way to allow students to help design lab projects, as we believe that the student view brings a valuable insight into curriculum design. In this project you will take the lead in the continual development of the 2^nd year lab projects by testing the rigs, collect data on their performance. Using this data you will then help shape the project by getting involved with updating the handouts, modifying the equipment and updating standard operating procedures.

Overall, we have 12 projects in the 2^nd year labs ranging from separation to reaction engineering, from process control to carbon capture. You will be collecting data on all these projects, gaining experience using all the equipment, working alongside the UG lab team.

This project is ideal for those interested at exploring the intersection of education and engineering research, combining hands on engineering with curriculum design.

Project Lead

James Campbell (j.campbell10@imperial.ac.uk), Senior Teaching Fellow, Chemical Engineering

Further Details/Experience Required

One position available.  Chemical Engineering UG students.  

Six weeks full-time engagement during Summer break.  

Chem Eng Lab projects and handouts ad

Summary

You will take the lead on exciting research to develop new membrane technologies that we hope to use in the Chemical Engineering 3^rd year Membrane Separation Advanced Process Engineering Project. We have new membrane casting machinery but are looking for environmentally and economically sustainable materials to make the membranes with.

Your role will involve research suitable materials, creating and testing membranes and assessing the process suitability for the UG labs, helping to develop the standard operating procedures. Working closely with academics and technicians in the UG labs you will be given initial training in using the membrane casting machine, but alongside staff partners in the lab you will be empowered to take the lead on the project, gaining valuable experience in the development of practical teaching modules, and research skills.

This project is ideal for those interested at exploring the intersection of education and engineering research, combining hands on engineering with curriculum design.

Project Lead

James Campbell (j.campbell10@imperial.ac.uk), Senior Teaching Fellow, Chemical Engineering

Further Details/Experience Required

One position available.  Chemical Engineering UG students.  

Four weeks full-time engagement during Summer break.  

Developing Off the Shelf Membranes recruitment ad

Summary

The presence of a large number of East Asian students in UK universities has ignited conversations about their academic and social experiences. One common observation is their relative silence in classroom settings, which can sometimes be misinterpreted as disengagement or lack of understanding. This proposal outlines a research project to investigate the nature and underlying reasons for this perceived silence among East Asian students within chemical engineering. A recent magazine article from an academic in the US has triggered this discussion among the academic community in the department.

This research project aims to: • Provide a nuanced understanding of the phenomenon of silence among students from an East Asian educational background in the department/ • Identify both individual and systemic factors contributing to their silence. • Offer valuable insights for other departments/HEIs to develop targeted support mechanisms and inclusive learning environments that cater to the specific needs of students from an East Asian educational background • Promote intercultural understanding and communication between these students and their peers and faculty members.

Project Lead

Deesha Chadha, (d.chadha@imperial.ac.uk), Senior Strategic Teaching Fellow, Chemical Engineering

Further Details/Experience Required

Two positions available.  UG Chem Eng students in their 2nd or 3rd year of study.  

Two half-days for three weeks during term-time, followed by six weeks full-time during Summer break.  

Understanding silence among East Asian students in Chem End ad

Summary

Overview: Launching a new master's on Behavioural Design this academic year which requires the development of creative and practical in-classroom exercises for a brand new curriculum. This project attempts to secure practical support from our current Design engineering students and beyond, for in person and hands-on exercises for a practical Sustainability design and strategy module. The focus of this module is practical, so insights, case studies and challenges from industry will be core to this module.

Student partnership: Students will have an active role in supporting us with the identification and development of in classroom tools to resolve Sustainable leadership and Sustainable design industry challenges. For this we would want students to develop tools for active in-classroom activities (types of outputs could be a deck of cards, exercises, prompts, case studies, etc.). We will employ the following steps:

1 Familiarize students with the content to be delivered

2. Identify key points of contact where active learning is crucial and provide opportunities for students to contribute
3. Engage with relevant stakeholders to introduce new perspectives into the creative exercises
4. In classroom tool development (construct prototypes). These prototypes will serve as the first iteration of tools for use in the classroom, enhancing the overall educational experience

Skills and development for you:

• Deeper understanding of sustainability applied in business contexts and an understanding of educational strategies.
• Engaging with industry stakeholders also provides a direct understanding of the needs and wants of our current industry, offering valuable real-world exposure.
• Practical application of existing knowledge, strengthening critical thinking and creative skills—essential for design engineers and other disciplines.

Project Lead

Maria Apud Bell (maria.apud-bell@imperial.ac.uk), Senior Teaching Fellow, Dyson School of Engineering  

Further Details/Experience Required

Four weeks part-time (three days a week) with one week of full-time engagement, during July-August.  

Students ideally with knowledge on sustainable design and engineering/sustainable strategy.

Two positions available.  

Development of active learning tools for Sustainable Design & Strategy module ad

Summary

Group projects are a common feature in many problem and challenge based learning (PBL/CBL) and active learning contexts. Yet preparation and guidance for group projects and the teams undertaking work is often lacking and team members left to ‘just get on with it’. Nevertheless, there is a substantive body of knowledge available. This project will use an evidence-based approach to provide best practice guidance for educators planning or running group projects as well as group members undertaking a project.

An initial survey of project work has been undertaken and a draft Group Project Best Practice guide produced. This will be used as a basis for more in depth consideration by the student shaper(s) with support from Prof Peter Childs (interests include creativity, design, innovation, collaboration, sustainability). A key part of the project will be updating of the initial literature survey and gathering of case studies of examples of best practice projects at Imperial across all domains with support from IExplore module leads and project leads in various departments who have already offered for their modules to be featured.

Output from this project will include a Group Project Best Practice guide that can be used by educators, project managers and project team members. New exemplars of project management are expected to regularly emerge and these can be added to the documentation and portal. As the information will be available in both pdf and web formats the documentation can be updated with, for example, additional case studies readily. The studentshaper will contribute substantively by providing invaluable guidance and the student-based perspective.

Project Lead

Peter Childs (p.childs@imperial.ac.uk) Co-Director of the Energy Futures Lab, Dyson School of Design Engineering

Further Details/Experience Required

Two positions available.  Students from any department or Faculty, or degree course.  

Eight weeks full-time engagement during Summer break.  

Enabling best practice in Group Projects recruitment ad

Summary

In this StudentShapers Project, we aim at determining how the developed virtual field and lab activities created in the ESE department during and since the COVID19 pandemic have been implemented in the curriculum after the return of taught outdoor fieldwork and in-lab activities. Following this review, we will propose a plan to further implement the virtual activities in the curriculum in the aim to enhance the curriculum.

Authentic staff-student partnership will allow to combine student and staff perspectives on how already developed virtual field and lab activities can be better implemented within the curriculum. The student partner will develop ideas and strategies, following their own experience, on how the virtual activities can be further implemented to improve the curriculum (academically and from an EDI perspective). The staff partners will be able to bring their field (Valentin) and lab-teaching (Dominik) experience as well as knowledge of what can and can't be done from a financial and staff workload perspective.

Benefits for the student partner:

• Insight into curriculum design
• Transferable skills in digital & innovative teaching practice
• Improved teamwork and collaboration skills.

Project Lead

Valentin Laurent (v.laurent@imperial.ac.uk), Senior Teaching Fellow in Pedagogic Transformation, Earth Science and Engineering

Further Details/Experience Required

One position available.  UG students within Earth Science and Engineering.  

Six weeks full-time during Summer break.  

Virtual Field activities in the curriculum ad

Summary

After polling the year and its academic reps, the following issues were raised regarding the Y3 Theory & Simulation molecular dynamics coursework: They felt it was difficult to understand and complete the coursework because: -

• Each step in a simulation took too long (~20 mins).
• For each of the 20+ of steps, files had to be manually plotted, deleted, and moved.
• Displaying the molecule shape required downloading and setting up external software.
• The script struggled to save files on university computers.
• The outputted data was all unlabelled.
• It was difficult to read and understand what the code was doing.

Rewriting the code would solve these issues. It could be made to display labelled data graphs and molecule shapes live as the simulation runs. The script could be converted to one big class, so the data is stored internally without extra files. This means multiple simulations could be queued at once, or even run in parallel. The physics code could be significantly optimized with extra libraries. The code could be split up and documented, making it easier to use and understand. 

The department should receive better engagement with the module and higher marks on the coursework. Students will have an easier time completing the coursework and learn more from the module. Long-term impact will be sustained by documenting the library so it is easy to use and making sure the supervising academic is comfortable with how it is written so he can continue to update it in future.

Project Lead

Paul Tangney (p.tangney@imperial.ac.uk) Senior Lecturer, Materials

Further Details/Experience Required

Three weeks full-time during Summer break.  Student co-created and appointed.  

Summary

Portfolios are widely used in medical school programmes to showcase individual educational, research, ethical, personal, and professional development. Currently, we would like to review how we use portfolios in this way at Imperial College School of Medicine. We aim to partner with two Student Shapers who will have active engagement in this project as co-producers from the beginning.  Student partnership in the development of a portfolio is vitally important; your experiences will be crucial to making the portfolio as student-centred and engaging as possible.

Student partners from Imperial College will:

• Participate and collaborate in the planning, development, and design stages as well as the evaluation process of the portfolio.
• Use your networks to explore what your peers would like from a portfolio
• Participate in this project to suit your schedule, but must commit to working on the project roughly 3 hours a week
• Primarily work in partnership with a Clinical teaching fellow.

The successful candidates for this project would have the following attributes: ability to work both independently and within a team, proficient IT skills, flexible approach, and the ability to critically appraise research papers.

At the end of this project, you will gain a greater understanding of designing higher education learning & assessment tools. The project will help you prepare for professional practice after you graduate, as portfolios are essential to every medical professional throughout their career. By engaging in this project, you'll have the chance to cultivate invaluable professional capabilities including project management, collaborative teamwork, self-reliance, accountability, and effective negotiation within a supportive and realistic workplace environment.

Project Lead

Noreen Ryan (noreen.ryan@imperial.ac.uk), Quality Healthcare Domain Lead in School of Public Health

Esta Finesilver (e.finesilver@imperial.ac.uk) Clinical Education Fellow, Faculty of Medicine centre

Further Details/Experience Required

Two positions available, approximately a half-day a week for 30 weeks in total, between January 2024 and July 2025.  Undergraduate Medicine students from years 4 and 5.  

Student Portfolio recruitment ad

Summary

This is an exciting opportunity to influence the training of community GP Teachers who deliver clinical placements in Years 3, 5 and 6. We are aware that neurodivergent students may experience challenges during clinical placements that prevent them from maximising their learning and potential. We want to ensure that our community GP Teachers are equipped to improve primary care placement experiences for neurodivergent students.

We want to co-create resources and an online training workshop for community GP Teachers that is informed by available guidance and shaped by our students with lived experience of neurodivergence.

This project will involve two students working collaboratively with our team from January 2024. As a student shaper on this project, you will have the opportunity to

• Review the literature and relevant guidance relating to neurodivergence and clinical placements
• Co-create authentic case scenarios and questions to prompt discussion during the workshop
• Co-create short videos highlighting student experiences and perspectives on best practice
• Co-create an evaluation survey and analysis of data with potential for conference presentation

Project Lead

Sian Powell (sian.powell@imperial.ac.uk), Course Lead for General Practise

Further Details/Experience Required

Students enrolled on the MBBS in Years 3, 4, 5 and 6, and who have lived experience of neurodivergence are eligible to apply.  

Two positions available.  Working two hours a week for 16 weeks from January 2024 onwards.  

Inclusive GP placements recruitment ad

Summary

This project is within the Immunology and Inflammation module of BMB.  The main aims of this student-led project are to reduce and simplify the eModules content, thus making the IMI module more accessible for future cohorts.  Being part of this project will likely also benefit you in many ways: 
·      An opportunity to engage more deeply in an area of your education;
·      Time and space to improve the student experience for you and your peers;
·      Increased confidence and awareness of your own learning;
·      A chance to be a part of the implementation of the College's Learning and Teaching Strategy;
·      To receive financial support for the activities you undertake (£390/week)

We're looking for 3 more students, who have taken the IMI module, to join the project’s founding team to undertake this project The project will require a substantial time commitment (full-time (~35h/week)) and run online via Teams:

• Week 1: Group review of IMI online material: all students will review the modules at a high-level on the 1st week and discuss first impressions with each other to identify common themes and priorities;

• Week 2: Individual review of assigned eModules: each student will be given 2 eModules to focus their attention on - this approach will allow each student a week per eModule to map their 2 eModules onto the excel file, more specifically:

1. Review IMI eModules on Rise Articulate (https://rise.articulate.com/)
2. Use PDF versions to highlight examples of good practice and highlight confusing, repeated, too complex parts using different colour 'flags'
3. Enter this information into an excel file for further follow up

• Week 3 & 4: Source/develop new learning assets and edit the eModules; advise for face-to-face sessions (1 week/eModule)

Project Lead

Ana Costa-Pereira (a.costa-pereira@imperial.ac.uk), Director of Centre of Languages Culture and Communication

Further Details/Experience Required

Co-created with students, students selected. 

Four weeks full-time during Summer break.  

Summary

The Faculty of Natural Sciences EdTech Lab is leading a DIF-funded project, in collaboration with the Mathematics and Life Sciences departments, to enhance existing assessment data analytics tools and capabilities – to benefit students, personal tutors, and module leads. Some of the aims of the project are: to enable students to view and track their academic progress, to help them with module selection, and to allow them to use analytics to aid study time management.

For this project, we are seeking to recruit 2 Student Shapers (1 from the Mathematics department, 1 from the Life Sciences department) to co-develop and test the Assessment & Learning Activity Workload and Schedule Visualisation Tool for students. Student partners, engaged in these positions, can expect to:

• Help develop a visualisation tool that will benefit students and faculty, that can integrate within current College data infrastructure and supported software
• Collaborate with, and be supported by, project staff with data analytics, reporting, and evaluation expertise
• Share insights on which data students would want to see, and how we can improve their overall learning experience
• Co-design the evaluation process for the tool, and partner in the implementation process

At the end of the project, you will have developed a tool that will greatly improve the student learning experience and will lead to more personalized student-tutee/student-instructor conversations. You will benefit by developing professional skills such as teamwork and networking—as you will collaborate with, and be supported by, project staff who have expertise in data analytics, reporting, and evaluation processes.

Project Lead

Kiran Gawali (k.gawali@imperial.ac.uk), Education Insight and Evaluation Analyst, Life Sciences

Mishaal Husain, (mishaal.husain@imperial.ac.uk), Project Manager Assessment Data Analysis, Faculty of Natural Sciences  

Further Details/Experience Required

Two positions available - one student for the Mathematics departments, and one from the Life Sciences departments.  

Sixteen weeks part-time between September and December (two weeks full-time in September, fourteen full-time during term).  

ADA recruitment ad

Summary

First year students regularly find the transition from being an A-level/IB/AP student to being an undergraduate student challenging. 

Feedback from students and their reps confirm that student expectations, particularly early in first year, differ from those of the department. Difficulties in transition are predictive of the success and retention of students on the programme because transition impacts a student’s wellbeing and ability to focus and retain information. The smoother the transition, the smaller the impact it will have on the student.  

We are recruiting six Student Shapers to participate in partnership with Amelia Barron and Ste Cook over five weeks starting 1^st July. They will produce an online resource that familiarises students with what to expect at Imperial, reassures them about the concerns they may have, and normalises the transition experience. We value the student lived experience in identifying and shaping what needs to be included and how best to deliver information to first year Life Science students. The more students understand the environment and expectations they are transitioning into, the less they should experience shock, which will give them a better sense of wellbeing as they settle in. This resource will be a scaffold to develop students’ independence, and it will contain practical advice that will be guided by the Student Shapers and their experiences. 

As part of this project our Student Shapers will develop their project management, communication, and resource development skills as they work in partnership with Amelia Barron and Ste Cook. It would be desirable but not essential for you to have experience of creating and editing short films, websites or infographics.

Project Lead

Amelia Barron (amelia.barron@imperial.ac.uk) Undergraduate Liaison Officer, Life Sciences

Ste Cook (steven.cook@imperial.ac.uk), Principle Teaching Fellow, Life Sciences 

Further Details/Experience Required

Six positions available.  UG Life Sciences students from any department, particularly those who are the first in their family to go to University, or are from a working-class background.  

Five weeks full-time during Summer break.  

Preparing for Success at Uni recruitment ad

Summary

Direct feedback is always one of the main requests made by students in their evaluations. Our project aims at providing students with a tool that generates useful feedback instantly upon demand. Focused on creating a LLM based auto corrector for mathematics assignments, its goal is to innovate education by integrating technology and fostering staff-student collaboration.

This initiative will follow a development cycle of research, testing, refinement, and evaluation, actively involving students and educators in its evolution. We aim to integrate into the Lambda-Feedback platform a prototype application we have already developed. This application leverages the capabilities of GPT-4 to provide constructive feedback on mathematics homework, thereby supporting both students and educators. We will test the prototype with participating students, gathering feedback and insights and use this feedback for iterative improvement. Students will be given the opportunity to improve the prototype. We will then write a report on the tool collaboratively with the students who participated in the testing. This report will be submitted to a conference or journal.

This is a unique opportunity to gain experience with LLM and to take part in technological innovation in teaching and learning. Participating in this project will allow students to co-create interactive educational content, to advance and evaluate educational tools but also to build a partnership between learners and educators.

Project Lead

Marie-Amelie Lawn, (m.lawn@imperial.ac.uk), Senior Teaching Fellow, Mathematics

Further Details/Experience Required

Three positions available.  Full-time for four weeks during Summer break (June 17th-July 12th)  

Math or Joint Mathematics and Computer Science students (ideally year 2 or above). 

LLM feedback tool for Mathematics learning ad

Summary

The project will use four Student Shapers over eight weeks engaging in partnership with staff in identifying key difficulties students of underrepresented groups at Imperial face. They will then review pedagogical approaches and develop resources for pastoral environments that will stimulate conversations and reflections on key topics, such as stereotype threat, code switching and microaggression. The student shapers will decide on the best outputs of these resources, such as videos, interviews, cue cards etc. They will develop resources for students and guidance for staff that will be made available to pastoral leads such as Senior Tutors in the Faculty for them to use in the delivery of their pastoral curriculum.

The output of this project will be part of the pastoral curriculum that is delivered to students during their personal tutorials and townhall meetings. These will scaffold and provide reflective opportunities for students and staff to have open discussions about inclusivity and culture. The resource will encourage students, and by-proxy staff, to bring their whole selves to the College.

You will develop your critical thinking skills, ability to communicate and engage with others on sensitive/difficult topics and ability to use evidence to produce resources. This is an opportunity to make a positive impact on the student experience for underrepresented groups by increasing awareness and allyship in the community.

Project Lead

Amelia Barron (amelia.barron@imperial.ac.uk), Undergraduate Liaison Officer, Life Sciences 

Further Details/Experience Required

Four positions are available.

Full-time during Summer break for eight weeks.  

Bringing your whole self to uni ad

Summary

You will take the lead on enhancing and expanding the Faculty of Natural Sciences current provision of support to students from historically underrepresented backgrounds, delivered through the Changing the Face of Science Programme (CFoS). You will ultimately create and develop resources, events or initiatives, identifying which groups of historically underrepresented students would most benefit; where and by whom the initiatives should be best delivered; how to best promote them; and when in a student's academic journey they should take place (term and/ or academic year). 

This project is ideal for those interested in EDI (equality, diversity and inclusivity) and advocating for those from underrepresented groups. You will have the opportunity to create and see real change for the student experience at Imperial. Depending on your interests, you can either focus on a particular underrepresented group or a different aspect of the student journey (e.g. careers, belonging, academic skills etc.)

This is an excellent opportunity to create meaningful change within the Faculty, and to develop your teamworking, problem solving, communication and marketing skills, and to enhance your CV.

Project Lead

Emma Mattin, (e.mattin@imperial.ac.uk), Education and EDI Coordinator, Natural Sciences

Further Details/Experience Required

Four positions available for any Faculty of Natural Sciences undergraduate student, who self-identifies as being from a historically underrepresented group in STEM. 

8 weeks full-time during Summer break.

CFoS recruitment ad

Summary

Using effective learning strategies is essential for achieving academic success. However, students rarely receive any training on how to study independently and how to regulate their learning to enhance their learning performance. To maximise students’ learning performance and to prepare them to become lifelong learners, Imperial College has initiated a 'Learning How to Learn' training program for our student body. Student partner collaboration in the development of ‘Learning How to Learning’ programme is fundamentally important; your experiences as a student will be invaluable to making the training as useful as possible.

Student partners from Imperial College will

• Collaborate with a team of educational psychologists and teaching staff from Imperial College London
• Collect typical learning tasks from your Y1 courses
• Use your networks to explore what and how your peers study
• Support the development of training materials
• Participate in this project to suit your timetables, but must commit to a one-hour fixed weekly team meeting which will be determined based on your availability.

At the end of the project, you will gain a greater understanding of higher education environment in which you are studying, a deeper understanding of effective learning strategies and self-regulated learning, and hands-on experience in educational psychology research. Finally, you will benefit by developing professional skills such as self-sufficiency, responsibility, project management, teamwork, networking, and negotiation in an authentic workplace environment at the College.

Project Lead

Magda Charalambous (m.charalambous@imperial.ac.uk), Principle Teaching Fellow, Life Sciences

Luotong Hui (l.hui@imperial.ac.uk), Research Assistant, Life Sciences

Further Details/Experience Required

10 weeks part-time, Year 2 or above Undergraduates from any department, starting in Autumn term.  Extension edit: Looking particularly for students from the Department of Computing, Department of Physics, Department of Mathematics, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Department of Earth Science and Engineering, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, and students from Medical Biosciences.  

14 positions available.  

Learning How to Learn recruitment ad

Summary

The BSc Medical Biosciences (BMB) programme was newly designed with current, evidence-based teaching method utilising flipped-classroom approach for all its modules. The flipped-classroom model is heavily dependent on students’ self-regulated learning before coming to class where they apply and test their knowledge within their peer teams. This allows students to reach a deeper level of understanding that is focused on concepts and theories instead of remembering facts while also developing crucial transferable skills (I.e., communication, teamwork, etc).

Studies have shown that self-regulated learning can be supported by setting goals and monitoring progress. To help students set goals and monitor their progress the BMB programme has developed a unique tool in collaboration with Blackboard, called dashboard. This tool is hosted on the virtual learning environment (VLE) Blackboard and gives an overview over all pre-session, F2F (Face 2 Face) session, and consolidation material as well as assessment within the current 5 weeks of term. The dashboard feature automatically updates students’ progress through the material and thus is a visual aid to highlight what students have done and still need to complete.

However, the building block tools that are required for this tool will be disabled in the next AY by Blackboard. To ensure that student experience is not compromised, and students do not lose this essential support, we need to develop an alternative by the Easter break. We therefore seek to recruit two BMB students who will be working with staff and the Digital Education Office (DEO) team to develop and consult on alternative solutions. Students will subsequently give feedback on functionality and user friendliness. Once a new solution is implemented students will help communicate this change to their peers and help with transitioning towards the new tool. In this collaboration, students will shape the future virtual learning environment to make it fit for their purpose.

Project Lead

Silke Donahue, (s.donahue@imperial.ac.uk), Senior Teaching Fellow, Faculty of Medicine centre

Further Details/Experience Required

Two positions available, three hours a week during term-time, November to March.  

VLE Tool development recruitment ad

Summary

This project is a collaboration between the Digital Media Lab and the ImpVis project team and aims to develop high-quality 3D visualizations using game engines and XR technologies. StudentShapers will play a pivotal role in designing these visualizations, crucial for enhancing interactive learning experiences at Imperial College London.

Your role
As a StudentShaper, you will collaborate closely with our staff team to design visualisations for the relevant I-Explore module.  This role emphasizes participation in a collaborative environment, where your insights and perspectives as learners on the module are invaluable.  During this time you will work together with a team of Studentshapers designing similar visualisations for another module.

Outcomes
This unique opportunity will allow you to engage in educational design of advanced visualisation techniques; develop skills in interdisciplinary collaboration, working alongside experts in pedagogy and digital media; gain practical experience in applying technological solutions to real-world educational challenges.

Project Lead

Caroline Clewley (c.clewley@imperial.ac.uk), IExplore lead and STEMM Module Stream lead, CLCC.  All modules

Christian Malaga Chiquitaype (c.malaga@imperial.ac.uk), Senior Lecturer, Civil and Environmental Engineer.  Building Resilient Structures module

Further Details/Experience Required

Two students per specific module - details of requirements please see specific recruitment ad.  

Six weeks full-time during Summer break.  

Building Resilient Structures IExplore recruitment ad

Summary

This is a two-part project which will start by auditing online maths content and matching it to the content that is taught across Imperial to first year students. The second half will be presenting it in an inclusive way. As part of the Animated Inclusive Personae project, funded by the College, we will collaborate on a maths catalogue that will be useful for students who want to prepare for their course, refresh their knowledge, or have content presented in a variety of ways. 

The majority of Imperial College students study maths in their first year and those students come from all over the world. The aim of this project is to combine staff expertise and student knowledge to make it as clear as possible to new students what they will study in their first year and what resources are available to them.

Project Lead

Katie Stripe (k.stripe@imperial.ac.uk), Senior Learning Designer, Central Education Office

Phil Ramsden (p.ramsden@imperial.ac.uk), Director of Cross-Curricular Mathematics

Sam Brzezicki (samuel.brzezicki10@imperial.ac.uk) , Teaching Fellow in Applied Mathematics

Further Details/Experience Required

Four positions are available.

Five-week summer project beginning on July 8^th.

Open to any student who has taken at least one maths module and is confident that can understand the year one mathematics curriculum of programmes in the Faculty of Engineering or the Faculty of Natural Science.

Pre-arrival Maths catalogue ad

Summary

This project, funded by the Quality Assurance Agency, explores the approaches higher education institutions are taking to identify educational gain, building on extensive work across the sector to research measures of learning gain and student engagement over the past decade. Evaluating and refining measures of educational gain support universities to identify positive student outcomes and associated good practices. Broader measures of student success enable students to be active agents in their holistic student experience and account for the knowledge, skills and competencies they have gained. Provider and student submissions for the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) in September 2023 offer a unique resource to explore how institutions are accounting for the outcomes of their students.  Analysis of submissions draw oust methodological approaches for capturing discipline-specific learning, broader knowledge acquisition, skills and competencies. Further information can be found here

With our student partners, we gather insights and design a guide for students nationally to reflect on and account for their own learning and wider student experience, developed with students.

Project Lead

Camille Kandiko Hawson (c.howson@imperial.ac.uk), Associate Professor of Education, CHERS

Further Details/Experience Required

Two students from any department or Faculty.  For four weeks part-time term-time.  

Educational Gain recruitment ad

Summary

Driven by the University’s mission to prioritise students’ wellbeing in relation to their learning, and by insights from our educational research projects, we aim to take a proactive approach by creating opportunities for Imperial undergraduate students to explore different study strategies and to discuss wellbeing-related issues, and to reflect on their experiences. Essentially, we would like to develop a flexible student ‘Learning Well Programme’ that synergises new and existing resources and engages students with evidence-based learning and wellbeing strategies. The Programme aims to support students to consider their study approaches and scaffold them to recognise learning behaviours linked to improved wellbeing. This programme will also build upon the rich student focus group data collected in the project’s research phase, which has just been concluded. Your involvement as student partners in this project is essential, and your insights and experiences will play a key role in co-creating a programme that is both engaging and pertinent to the wider Imperial community.

This project will involve three undergraduate students working closely with staff and researchers at the Centre for Higher Education Research and Scholarship (CHERS) from 1^st July 2024. As a student shaper on this project, you will have the opportunity to:

• engage with and experience how the findings and pedagogical implications from educational research can be devised for practice in meaningful and useful ways
• identify gaps in current study support and wellbeing resources and develop evidence-based examples and resources
• develop your teamwork, creativity and critical thinking skills through developing pedagogical materials such as designing infographics to showcase effective learning strategies, producing podcast episodes for promoting effective learning strategies and behaviours and many more for the Learning Well Programme!
• enhance your communication skills, especially communicating the research findings to different stakeholders in higher education and via your social and academic networks
• contribute to a large, cross-College project, evidencing your ability to collaborate with multiple stakeholders

We look forward to receiving applications from a diverse range of students. Priority will be given to applicants who demonstrate a commitment to the project goals and are excited to collaborate with staff and students to co-develop practical and accessible pedagogical resources to support academic success and enhance student wellbeing. We would also be keen to hear from you if you can liaise and communicate effectively and confidently with other team members. Please highlight any other skills and knowledge you have that will contribute to the success of this project.

Project Lead

Tiffany Chiu (t.chiu@imperial.ac.uk), Principal Teaching Fellow in Educational Development, Centre for Higher Education Research and Scholarship (CHERS)

Richard Bale (r.bale@imperial.ac.uk), Senior Teaching Fellow in Educational Development, CHERS

Sue Sing (s.sing@imperial.ac.uk), Research Assistant, CHERS

Further Details/Experience Required

This is a reopened recruitment specifically looking for representation from the Faculty of Engineering, Undergraduates from Year 2 or higher.  

Nine weeks full-time during Summer break.  

Learning Well recruitment ad

Summary

The Imperial College Learning Analytics Project is a College-wide project that embeds the use of Learning Analytics into the College. ‘Shaping Learning Analytics’ is an invaluable stream of work feeding into the wider project and is advantageous for both staff and student partners.

We envision a future where reliable, safe, accurate data about our learners and their online behaviours are available to academics, educators, professional staff and students; enabling them to improve teaching and learning experiences through evidence-based evaluation, data-driven design and insights into learner behaviours. The College aims to use learning analytics to offer an enhanced student experience. The project will enable academic staff to identify patterns and trends to support students, review and evaluate teaching, make evidence-based decisions about enhancement, and facilitate high-quality staff-student interactions. Students will also be able to access their learning analytics to reflect, gain insights into their own educational experience, and be empowered to improve their own learning.

We are currently working with Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore to develop learning analytics data literacy, and support staff and students to understand, engage with and support student learning using learning analytics across institutions. Workshops and surveys on students' views of how their data is used for Learning Analytics are already underway. This section of the project will focus on developing outputs based on best practices and ethical interpretation and use of learning analytics to support student success. The project adopts a "by you for you" approach, which is student-focused and ensures that staff and students can interpret learning analytics correctly, support students in the way they prefer and understand what we are using their data for.

With our student partners, we gather insights and co-design web content, brochures and videos surrounding the following areas/outputs:

• Student-friendly policies and procedures relating to data, privacy, and ethics
• Best practice guidance for staff and students for interpreting and using learning analytics
• Innovation and ideation of further Learning Analytics project outputs
• Promote what students would like in terms of interventions and nudges and using their own data to actively improve their learning experiences.

Project Lead

Camille Kandiko Hawson (c.howson@imperial.ac.uk), Associate Professor of Education, CHERS

Charlotte Whitaker (c.whitaker@imperial.ac.uk), Learning Analytics Project Manager, Education Office

Further Details/Experience Required

One Undergraduate student from any department or Faculty.  For ten weeks part-time term-time.  

Shaping Learning Analytics outputs recruitment ad

Summary

At Imperial College, we offer a range of courses on programming, from basic to advanced levels. While coding skills are crucial for software development, there are other essential skills that are not typically taught with the same intensity at the undergraduate level. These include mastering version control systems, Integrated Development Environments (IDEs), and other vital software development tools.

This project aims to bridge that gap. As a participant, you will contribute to creating tutorials that cover the fundamentals of software development. These tutorials will become part of a larger centralized library focusing on computational and mathematical thinking. Additionally, you will have the chance to work with generative AI to customize these tutorials to meet specific user needs.

Key Benefits:

• Develop a comprehensive understanding of essential software development tools.
• Gain hands-on experience in creating educational content.
• Work with cutting-edge generative AI technology.

Project Lead

Matthew Piggott (m.d.piggott@imperial.ac.uk) Professor of Computational Geosciences, Earth Science and Engineering

Rhodri Nelson (rhodri.nelson@imperial.ac.uk) Senior Teaching Fellow in Computational Data Science, Earth Science and Engineering

Further Details/Experience Required

One position available.  UG students from any department eligible.  

Six weeks full-time during Summer break.  

Essential Skills for Software Development recruitment ad

Summary

This project, called “Developing of a VR micropipette controller to teach pipetting skills” is funded by the Imperial College Digital Innovation Fund (total funding ~£100,000). Learning how to operate a micropipette is an essential skill for every life science scientist. Micropipettes are the most important tool used in almost all research labs. However, mastery of correct pipetting is a challenging task for most students. We have secured grants to develop and produce 20 unique VR controllers that resemble the shape and function of a micropipette to train students how to correctly operate this essential tool.  

To enable students to learn this essential practical skill in a safe, low-cost environment, we have designed a VR controller add-on that can mimic the physical properties of a real micropipette with a small simulation built in Unreal Engine. The add-on consists of a micropipette model equipped with a position sensor, momentary switch, and springs. The pipette add-on can be attached to any VR controller model (i.e. PICO or Oculus), which provides the precise position of the pipette within the virtual reality laboratory simulation. Meanwhile, the add-on measures the correct operation of the micropipette and provides physical feedback.  With this controller it is possible to train motor skills (specifically finger muscles) to allow correct operation (e.g., slow and controlled release of the plunger) while providing students with real-time feedback about their performance.  

This way students can experience the full procedure without the risk of damaging the micropipette or wasting material. The combination of VR with this unique controller allows students to practice this essential skill in any classroom without any prior safety training. Therefore, reducing cost, plastic waste as well as anxieties within students that might be associated with the foreign laboratory environment. As the use of micropipettes is one of the most essential skills for researchers that is widely taught among various courses and faculties (Medicine, Chemistry & Life Sciences), this project has the potential to be widely beneficial to many students. Its implementation could also be beneficiary for MOOCs and online courses offered by the College to enable students access to some practical training. 

We are looking for a student to help us evaluate the experience and learning effect of this new VR tools. Students will be involved in the educational research process which will require them to perform literature research into the current literature, designing the research question and methodology as well as applying for ethics. Then once ethics are approved students will conduct the interviews/focus group with a small number of students to capture their experience with the new tool. This will entail conducting the VR training and data recording as well as data analysis. Finally, students will collaborate with staff to disseminate the research via a published article within a peer-reviewed educational journal.

We are hoping to recruit students that are passionate about science and education that act as a connection between staff and student and can enrich this research with their perspective and experience. As this project requires knowledge of educational practice a large amount of self-study of current literature is required that might lie without the area of their usual expertise.

Project Lead

Silke Donahue (s.donahue@imperial.ac.uk) Senior Teaching Fellow, Faculty of Medicine centre

Richard Palermo (r.palermo@imperial.ac.uk) Teaching Fellow, Faculty of Medicine centre

Further Details/Experience Required

Two positions available. Life Sciences, Biochemistry or Biomedical Science students.  

Two weeks over Summer break full-time, with 16 weeks part-time during terms 1 and 2 of Academic year 24-25.  

VR DIF Evaluating a new VR micropipette teaching tool ad

Summary

Timeliness and constructiveness are essential when providing feedback to students, both for summative and formative assessment. Equally important is analysing, in a timely and efficient manner, free-text comments from evaluation questionnaires submitted by students. With the booming of A.I. tools in almost all subject areas, Teaching & Learning can benefit from AI-driven insights that help tailor learning experiences to individual student profiles, improving outcomes and satisfaction. To this end, the specific project is formed of three sub-projects (one sub-project per interested student):

1. a) Analysis of graphs/plots submitted as a deliverable for assessment.
2. b) Sentiment analysis of feedback provided by students.
3. c) Utilisation of speech-to-text and text-to-speech software for oral assessments/presentations.

Please see recruitment ad below for detailed outline of each sub-project.  

Project Lead

Demetrios Venetsanos (d.venetsanos@imperial.ac.uk), Principle Teaching Fellow (Student Experience), Aeronautics

Further Details/Experience Required

Three positions available.  UG students from any department with advanced skills in Computing and interest in A.I. driven applications.  

Eight weeks full-time during Summer break.  

Hybrid AI recruitment ad

N.B. Please note this latest deadline extension is specifically for EEE students.  

Summary

Lambda Feedback is a web platform for self-study, developed at Imperial. It hosts course content (such as tutorial sheets) that can be viewed in the browser or by PDF. Students can receive automated feedback on their answers, including hand-writing mathematical expressions. The platform also hosts step-by-step worked solutions and comment threads.

Lambda Feedback was first deployed in 2021-22, and in the 2023-24 academic year was used in 25+ modules across 3 faculties. For the year 2024-25 we are expanding the platform across College.

We are looking for students to partner with academic staff to adapt and improve content when moving modules onto Lambda Feedback. We are also looking for students to contribute to the broader project, for example software development, algorithm development, feature design, data analytics, user documentation, marketing content.

Essential skills:

• Passion and knowledge for your own subject
• Deep appreciation for the student experience and the key needs of students
• A keen interest in content management and typesetting (md, LaTeX, images – you can learn as you go)

Project Lead

Daniel Nucinkis (d.nucinkis@imperial.ac.uk), Senior Teaching Fellow,  Electrical and Electronic Engineering

Further Details/Experience Required

8 positions available, for Undergraduate students from any department or faculty (priority given to non-completing students).

8 weeks full-time during Summer break 

Lambda feedback 23-24 recruitment ad

Summary

The overall project builds on the existing Mechanical Engineering department modules “EDI in Engineering” and “Professional Engineering Skills”. We will create resources for use in existing modules where professional skills are embedded, which are found throughout the College. The resources can also be used in the set up of new EDI in [Discipline] modules, as well as being usable in comms for College diversity days (i.e. Black History Month, International Women’s Day, etc) and in outreach sessions.

The Student Shapers part of the project will take place in June/July [starting after your final exams/submissions and finishing before August]. Students will, with support from staff, identify topics to create video resources on, research these areas for correlations with racial equality and belonging, identify relevant experts to interview, develop the interview questions and conduct the interviews on camera.

The topics selected will cover core skills, informed by student voice, but may include;

• Teamwork
• Working with supervisors, and supervising
• Communication
• Record keeping
• Confidence and belonging

We are seeking students with an understanding of the differing experiences of racially marginalised students, an empathetic approach to learning more about these differences, as well as good research and communication skills.

By participating in this student shaper project, students will gain understanding of the topic areas they propose, as well as receiving expert advice on improving on these skills. Students will also receive media training to support their role in interviewing experts on camera.

Project Lead

Chloe Agg (c.agg@imperial.ac.uk) Senior Teaching Fellow (Student Experience) Mechanical Engineering

Sophia Quazi (s.quazi@imperial.ac.uk) EDI Coordinator, Mechanical Engineering

Further Details/Experience Required

Five positions available.  UG students from any department, particularly those who feel they are from a racially or ethnically underrepresented group within Imperial.  

Two weeks full-time during Summer break.  

REET recruitment ad

Summary

Computational thinking (CT) can be described as the ability to problem solve in methodical, logically rigorous, modular, and abstract ways. The term “computational” is often used as these skills map onto coding. “Mathematical thinking” is a useful synonym to keep in mind in relation to this project where the broader underpinning skills themselves are the priority, rather than the narrow end goal of writing code. Rapidly evolving developments in AI-assisted coding have only emphasises the value of strong CT skills, empowering wider groups to be the overall architects of substantial and advanced software projects. 

All departments across Imperial teach CT skills to some degree, with the level and content tailored to the target audience. Many of the core concepts are however ubiquitous. 

The goal of these projects will be to build a central library of learning material based around CT and work with generative AI tools for targeted rapid content creation – which will include tailoring material (from the central library) for a specific module, or for an individual student. An absolutely vital step will be to “fact check” material present in the library and that outputted from the generative AI – leading eventually to trustworthy AI based “assistants” and “study-partners”. 

Project Lead

Matthew Piggott (m.d.piggott@imperial.ac.uk), Professor of Computational Geosciences, Earth Science and Engineering

Rhodri Nelson (rhodri.nelson@imperial.ac.uk), Senior Teaching Fellow in Computational Data Science, Earth Science and Engineering

Further Details/Experience Required

Up to 10 positions available.  Undergraduate students from any department or Faculty.  

Six weeks full-time engagement during Summer break.  

Trustworthy AI for Computational Thinking ad

Summary

These projects are part of the ViRSE (Virtual Reality Student Experience) project, which is developing a virtual reality platform to ease the development and deployment of ‘multi-player’ virtual reality into Imperial’s teaching across a range of departments and subjects. ViRSE is built on the Unity game engine, and all ViRSE applications (including these projects) are also built within Unity; code is written in the C# programming language. Students will not need to build a VR interface, write rendering code, or concern themselves with networking or administrative issues; these are handled by the ViRSE framework and the Unity engine. The development in this engagement will concentrate on the creation of a three-dimensional ‘environment’ specific to the project, and creating and testing the code necessary to make it function, and to interface with the ViRSE system. 

All ViRSE studentshaper engagements will commence with a two-week full time training course, which will provide the necessary grounding in the C# language, object-oriented programming, the Unity engine, the ViRSE platform, and 3D modelling tools. This course will take place on-campus July 1st-12th 2024. In subsequent six project weeks the ViRSE student partners will lead on the development of the particular applications within Unity, in collaboration with the academic lead, and with the ViRSE team providing technical support and advice. These six project-development weeks are flexible in precise timing, but should take place over summer 2024, before the start of Autumn term of the 24/25 academic year.  

The student undertaking this engagement will gain technical skills and experience in coding (in C#/Unity), and in three-dimensional visualisation. They will also gain experience in collaborative software-development as part of a professional team. 

• Seeing what lies beneath II: Seismic reflection imaging and VR with Rebecca Bell (ad here: ViRSE Seismic reflection imaging Bell ad) 1 position available
• Dynamic (modal) analysis of structures using Virtual Reality with Demetrios Venetsanos (ad here: ViRSE Dynamic Analysis of Structures Venetsanos ad) 2 positions available
• Virtual Impact Crater Table-top Laboratory and Excursion (VITAL-VICE) with Gareth Collins (ad here: ViRSE VITAL-VICE Collins ad) 2 positions available
• A virtual supersonic wind tunnel laboratory for supporting learning in Aeronautics with Maria Ribera Vicent (ad here: ViRSE SWT Ribera Vicent ad) 2 positions available.  

Project lead

Mark Sutton (m.sutton@imperial.ac.uk), Senior Lecturer, Earth Science and Engineering

Rebecca Bell (rebecca.bell@imperial.ac.uk) Senior Lecturer, Earth Science and Engineering

Demetrios Venetsanos (d.venetsanos@imperial.ac.uk), Principle Teaching Fellow (Student Experience), Aeronautics

Gareth Collins, (g.collins@imperial.ac.uk), Acting Head of Department and Professor of Planetary Science, Earth Science and Engineering

Maria Ribera Vicent (m.ribera-vicent@imperial.ac.uk), Senior Strategic Teaching Fellow, Aeronautics

Further Details/Experience Required

Two weeks full-time during Summer break, followed by six weeks full-time (specific dates to be determined upon partner selection). 

Background/skill specifications are specific to each project; please see the recruitment ads above.

Summary

This project, called “Developing of a VR micropipette controller to teach pipetting skills” is funded by the Imperial College Digital Innovation Fund (total funding ~£100,000). Learning how to operate a micropipette is an essential skill for every life science scientist. Micropipettes are the most important tool used in almost all research labs. However, mastery of correct pipetting is a challenging task for most students. We have secured grants to develop and produce 20 unique VR controllers that resemble the shape and function of a micropipette to train students how to correctly operate this essential tool.

To enable students to learn this essential practical skill in a safe, low-cost environment, we have designed a VR controller add-on that can mimic the physical properties of a real micropipette with a small simulation built in Unreal Engine. The add-on consists of a micropipette model equipped with a position sensor, momentary switch, and springs. The pipette add-on can be attached to any VR controller model (i.e. PICO or Oculus), which provides the precise position of the pipette within the virtual reality laboratory simulation. Meanwhile, the add-on measures the correct operation of the micropipette and provides physical feedback.  With this controller it is possible to train motor skills (specifically finger muscles) to allow correct operation (e.g., slow and controlled release of the plunger) while providing students with real-time feedback about their performance.

This way students can experience the full procedure without the risk of damaging the micropipette or wasting material. The combination of VR with this unique controller allows students to practice this essential skill in any classroom without any prior safety training. Therefore, reducing cost, plastic waste as well as anxieties within students that might be associated with the foreign laboratory environment. As the use of micropipettes is one of the most essential skills for researchers that is widely taught among various courses and faculties (Medicine, Chemistry & Life Sciences), this project has the potential to be widely beneficial to many students. Its implementation could also be beneficiary for MOOCs and online courses offered by the College to enable students access to some practical training.

We are looking for a student that has experience in how to operate a micropipette to support the Digital Media Lab (DML) and our controller engineer in designing a training scenario for students that helps them learn how to operate the pipette. This will include the lab environment and different tasks or games that needs to be performed. We are especially looking for students who have just recently learned how to use a pipette and can enrich this project with their experience and/or struggles they might have encountered to create a realistic scenario with instant feedback. Experience in VR/game design is not necessary but can be advantageous.

Project Lead

Silke Donahue, (s.donahue@imperial.ac.uk) Senior Teaching Fellow, Faculty of Medicine Centre

Olesea Bortniac, (o.bortniac@imperial.ac.uk), Producer, Academic Services

Further Details/Experience Required

One position available.  Life Science, Biochemistry or Biomedical science students with recent experience of learning to use a micropipette.  One position available.  

Twelve weeks part-time during term and Easter break.  

VR DIF Developing of Teaching Scenario with micropipette ad

Summary

Across Imperial, in collaboration with staff from respective departments, wiki pages containing core content from the degree programmes within each department have been developed and written by students.

The aim of such is to provide the content in an alternative flavour (for example with more focus on worked examples or on breaking down a problem into additional steps) or in a different style to that of the material provided by teaching staff. Many students have found these alternative resources to be beneficial to their learning.

These projects call upon its recruited student partners to use their skills and passion for content creation and development.  

Project Lead

Sam Brzezicki, (samuel.brzezicki10@imperial.ac.uk), Teaching Fellow in Applied Mathematics,  Imperial Wiki Initiative Lead

Ioanna Papatsouma (i.papatsouma@imperial.ac.uk), Senior Teaching Fellow in Statistics, MathWiki project

Max Cattafi (m.cattafi@imperial.ac.uk), Senior Teaching Fellow, Electrical and Electronic Engineering,  EEEWiki project

Further Details/Experience Required

Please refer to the ads linked below for the specific requirements of each project in their respective department.  

EEEWiki project recruitment ad

MathWiki project recruitment ad

Summary

In this project, we will work as a team with three student partners and one staff partner. We will also collaborate with staff from the Digital Media Lab and the ViRSE (Virtual Reality Student Experience) platform.

Together, we will create and hone a custom-made GPT and/or AI assistant to help other students learn how to create components for a Virtual Reality experience. The AI tools you help develop will be used in the I-Explore module “Virtual Reality: from Concept to Creation”. During the project we will decide together how the students’ learning can best be supported by one or more GPTs – this can range from learning relevant coding skills to design processes necessary for creating an effective Virtual Reality experience (graphics, interactive design, developing a storyline).

In early July, we will present the results of this project in a 60-min workshop at the Advance HE’s flagship ‘Teaching and Learning Conference’. This project will therefore need to start as early in June as possible, to allow us to work towards this workshop. If you take part in this project, you should be willing and available to come and co-deliver the workshop in Nottingham on the 2^nd of July. As a team, we will design and create the materials for this workshop together in tandem with developing the GPTs.

In short, by taking part in this project, you will gain an in-depth understanding of using generative AI to create innovative products and the guaranteed opportunity to present at a prestigious conference.

Project Lead

Caroline Clewley (c.clewley@imperial.ac.uk), I Explore Lead and STEMM Module Stream Lead, Centre for Languages, Culture and Communication

Further Details/Experience Required

Four weeks full-time during Summer break.  Three positions available.  

Second or third year students with experience with Chat GPT or other generative AI tools.  

Custom Made GPT recruitment ad

Summary

This project is approved pending EERP approval.  

This study aims to investigate the different cultural values and social norms that exist within three undergraduate degree programmes and understand the ways in which students position themselves in relation to these norms. Students in this project will undertake educational research in their departments through conducting focus groups with undergraduate students. Students will receive training in conducting focus groups and will have the opportunity to be part of subsequent publications. In the Autumn term students will be conducting focus groups and analysing them in the Spring term. During the two weeks following Spring term students will be writing up results and working with departments to explore implementable developments to improve student experience.

When students enter higher education (HE) they begin a process of enculturation into a specific discipline; each discipline carries its own unique set of cultural expectations, values, and norms, which can significantly influence the academic and personal lives of students. The enculturation process can be challenging, particularly for students from underrepresented or marginalised backgrounds, who often find themselves bridging the gap between their own backgrounds and the culture of HE, which tends to privilege certain norms and values over others.  The study builds on existing research undertaken by the PI in their PhD research, which investigates the social norms present in a physics undergraduate programme. Undergraduate programmes in Chemistry, Geology and Computing are chosen to represent a diverse range of STEM disciplines.

Understanding the distinctions between disciplines is crucial for several reasons. Firstly, it allows us to greater understand and appreciate the diversity of experiences among undergraduate students, helping educators to tailor support and resources more effectively to their discipline. Secondly, it provides insights into how these distinct norms – which often go unexplored - might impact students' experience and will support college efforts to increase sense of belonging for all students.  

Project Lead

Camille Kandiko Howson (c.howson@imperial.ac.uk) Associate Professor of Education

Amy Smith (a.smith21@imperial.ac.uk), Research Postgraduate 

Further Details/Experience Required

Three positions available.  

Part-time for 12 weeks during term-time, with two weeks full-time engagement following Spring term.  

Social norms and cultural experience recruitment ad

Summary

The Imperial Success Guide offers advice and resources to support all students to transition to Imperial life and succeed academically. We would like to use GenAI to create a chatbot that can deliver relevant parts of its content in response to prompts from students. The aim of the project is to make the Success Guide more accessible and interactive. It is hoped that this will increase the number of students engaging with the Success Guide and therefore improve students’ overall academic experience. As a student partner on this project, you will primarily work with staff in the central Education Office and the Centre for Higher Education Research and Scholarship (CHERS). You will also work with staff in ICT and other staff as appropriate.

As a student shaper on this project, you will have the opportunity to:

• Conduct desktop research on the use of AI chatbots in education
• Identify and work with other groups across Imperial working on similar projects
• Facilitate consultation sessions with your peers (e.g., student focus groups)
• Generate and configure prompts and test the chatbot
• Present work to key internal stakeholders
• Develop AI literacy guidance that supports others to navigate the use of GenAI tools ethically and effectively
• Support the development of a promotional and dissemination plan for the chatbot rollout

We look forward to receiving applications from a diverse group of students. Priority will be given to applicants who demonstrate a commitment to the project goals and to working effectively with other students and staff. Please also make clear any skills and knowledge that you have that will help make this project a success.

Project Lead

Ayo Oluyemi (Education Projects Coordinator), a.oluyemi@imperial.ac.uk

Kieron Creagh (Education Projects Manager), kieron.creagh@imperial.ac.uk

Tiffany Chiu (Principal Teaching Fellow in Educational Development), t.chiu@imperial.ac.uk

Further Details/Experience Required

2 UG students from any department (Eight weeks full-time during Summer break)

1 PGT student from any department (Part-time during Summer break, full hours TBC)

1 PGR student from any department (Part-time, full hours TBC)

Success Guide Chatbot recruitment ad

Summary

Providing an inclusive offering that is representative of, and appropriate for all of our students fundamental to our community. This project is part of the Animated Inclusive Personae project funded by the College to help achieve that. However, there is limited practical advice or oversight of inclusivity in education. This is true across the sector, not just at Imperial and finding ways to assess inclusivity of content and consequently providing practical, data informed, solutions to any issues that arise is going to be key for many institutions. This StudentShapers project seeks to collect baseline data for the inclusivity of educational offerings with a view to finding the gaps individuals from different backgrounds find in their student experience.

Provisional ethical approval has been applied for and during the initial two-days all students will work together to finalise the ethics submission. They will develop a framework for assessing the inclusivity of teaching content and develop a research plan to survey colleagues within their departments and select and areas of their curriculum to review. The term-time hours will be spent assessing the inclusivity of content and carrying out the research.

The final two-days will be to wrap up the project and for the student partners to collaborate again on data analysis and suggestions for what might come next. This could include further StudentShapers projects or creating a plan for sharing findings.

Project Lead

Katie Stripe (k.stripe@imperial.ac.uk), Senior Learning Designer, Central Education Office

Further Details/Experience Required

Any student from the participating departments (Mechanical Engineering, Mathematics, Physics, and the Biomedical Sciences BSc) that has completed their first year and has an interest in how students are represented in different aspects of teaching and learning.

2 bursaries are available per participating department. 

A half day a week between January and March (12 weeks) and including two full days in January and in March.

How Inclusive is your curriculum recruitment ad

Summary

You will collaborate with the RCDS staff on a project funded by the Imperial Excellence Fund for Learning and Teaching Innovation. ReCoDE (Research Computing and Data Science Exemplars) aims to develop exemplars of high-quality entry-level research computing and data science projects from various disciplines that demonstrate the use of research software best practices. The exemplars are created by GTAs in collaboration with RCDS and research software engineers. The exemplars contain programming code and creative annotation to support independent learning. The project aims to bridge the gap between classroom instruction that provides basic-to-intermediate programming skills and the development of a fully-fledged PhD project with significant computing aspects.

You will join at a point when ReCoDE contains nearly half of the planned exemplars. Your contribution will consist of reviewing the resource, suggesting and implementing improvement and designing an advertising campaign for students, supervisors and staff.

This will be an excellent opportunity for you to further your communication and research computing skills. The RCDS staff is looking forward to hearing students’ perspectives and ideas for ReCoDE.

Project Lead

Katerina Michalickova (k.michalickova@imperial.ac.uk) Principal Teaching Fellow, Graduate School 

Further Details/Experience Required

Two positions are available.  Doctoral students with knowledge of programming.

Four weeks during September (working two days a week)

ReCoDE extension ad

Summary

Imperial has close relationships with a large number of industrial partners, and one of the key benefits of this is the opportunities it gives students in terms of internships and graduate employment. However, it can be hard for students to find a list of all current opportunities, or for companies to find and contact students that might be of interest to them.

The aim of this project is to design and build a web portal that would allow companies to advertise student opportunities, and for students to post their CVs, interests, contact details etc - perhaps something like a specialised LinkedIn just for Imperial and its partners. We already have some mock-ups that could serve as a starting point, but we are looking for student partners to develop this, bringing the student point of view to make something as useful as possible for the student body.

This project is being run by the Department of Computing, with a view to replacing the old and outdated “CPP Connect” site.  But, if the project goes well then the tool could be adopted by other departments across Imperial.

Another parallel goal of this project is to test out deploying student-developed applications on Imperial’s new cloud platform.

Project Lead

Robert Chatley (r.chatley@imperial.ac.uk), Director of Software Engineering Practise, Computing

Ivan Procaccini (i.procaccini14@imperial.ac.uk), Senior Learning Technologist, Computing

Jason Bailey (jason.bailey@imperial.ac.uk), EdTech Software Engineer, Computing

Further Details/Experience Required

One position available.  Students from any degree or department with experience in web development, preferably Python or React.  

Ten weeks full-time during Summer break.  

Corporate Partnership portal recruitment ad

Summary

 Throughout their studies, most Imperial students will undertake a number of group and individual projects, working with a supervisor. Finding a project that is interesting and a good fit for the students, and making sure that projects are allocated fairly, while also spreading supervisor workload and meeting other constraints, is a difficult problem.

The aim of this project is to design and build a web application that would allow supervisors to advertise student projects, and for students to browse, search, shortlist and rank them. Staff may also have preferences about which students best suit the project.

Importantly, we want to provide various algorithms for allocating students fairly to projects according to the expressed preferences and constraints. We already have some prototype implementations that could serve as a starting point, but we are looking for student partners to develop this, bringing the student point of view to make something as useful as possible for the student body, and the staff.

This project is being run by the Department of Computing, but, the aim is to produce a tool that could be customised and adopted by different departments across Imperial. With this aim in mind, allowing for easy configurability of options will be key to success.

Another parallel goal of this project is to test out deploying student-developed applications on Imperial’s new cloud platform.

Project Lead

Robert Chatley (r.chatley@imperial.ac.uk), Director of Software Engineering Practise, Computing

Ivan Procaccini (ivan.procaccini14@imperial.ac.uk), Senior Learning Technologist, Computing

Jason Bailey (jason.bailey@imperial.ac.uk), EdTech Software Engineer, Computing

Further Details/Experience Required

One position available.  Students from any degree or department with web development experience, preferably Python or React

Ten weeks full-time during Summer break.  

Project Portal recruitment ad

Summary

GenAI is at the heart of education policy discussions across all universities in the world. The focus of discussions is primarily in understanding how teaching staff can make best use of GenAI in their classes and assessments and how to handle academic integrity policies. Russell Group principles, adopted by Imperial College and strongly supported by the Business School, emphasise the need to prepare students for a world where Generative AI tools will be a part of working life, and wider life as citizens.

We want to establish a benchmark understanding, as of 2023/24, regarding how Business School students are currently using GenAI through this Student Shapers project. This understanding will provide us with baseline context to inform the potential development of an in-house student focused GenAI training course tailored specifically to the needs of Business School students. Student partnership in this project is critically important, and your experiences will be instrumental in ensuring that the training course we develop is student-centred and engaging.

This project will involve three undergraduate and one postgraduate students working with our faculty and IDEA Lab researcher from January 2024. As a student shaper on this project, you will have the opportunity to:

• In-depth Desktop Research: contribute to foundational insights by exploring GenAI usage in education and work.
• Student-Designed Survey: design and conduct a survey guided by the researcher to unveil current GenAI usage patterns.
• Real-world Employer Interviews: Gain practical insights by engaging with employers, bridging the gap between academia and industry.
• Student-led Focus Groups: Facilitate focus groups, showcasing leadership and collaboration skills.
• Joint Data Analysis and Co-authored Report: analyse survey and interview data and contribute to a project report detailing current student GenAI usage and recommendations for support that Business School students would value on the use of GenAI.

We look forward to receiving applications from a diverse group of students. Priority will be given to applicants who demonstrate a commitment to the project goals and to working effectively with other students and staff. Please also make clear any skills and knowledge that you have that will help make this project a success.

Project Lead

Cloda Jenkins, (c.jenkins@imperial.ac.uk), Associate Dean (Education Quality) for the Business School

Nai Li (nai.li@imperial.ac.uk), Senior Educational Researcher, the Business School  

Further Details/Experience Required

3 UG students and 1 MSc student from the Business school positions available.  

For UG: 30 hours over 10 weeks part-time, plus one full-time week in June 2024 after teaching and assessments

For MSc:  45 hours over 15 weeks part-time

Gen AI for Business School learning recruitment ad