Projects landing page

[[{"fid":"16832","view_mode":"large","fields":{"height":"500","width":"800","class":"media-element file-large","format":"large","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"Close up of the Micrarium, consisting of a small space surrounded by backlit slides containing insect specimens","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":"Micrarium","field_caption_heading[und][0][title]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][url]":"","field_caption[und][0][value]":"%3Cp%3EThe%20Micrarium%2C%20Grant%20Museum%20of%20Zoology.%20%C2%A9UCL%2FMartin%20Vickers%3C%2Fp%3E","field_caption[und][0][format]":"","field_float_left_right[und]":"none","field_file_image_decorative[und]":"0"},"type":"media","field_deltas":{"1":{"height":"500","width":"800","class":"media-element file-large","format":"large","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"Close up of the Micrarium, consisting of a small space surrounded by backlit slides containing insect specimens","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":"Micrarium","field_caption_heading[und][0][title]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][url]":"","field_caption[und][0][value]":"%3Cp%3EThe%20Micrarium%2C%20Grant%20Museum%20of%20Zoology.%20%C2%A9UCL%2FMartin%20Vickers%3C%2Fp%3E","field_caption[und][0][format]":"","field_float_left_right[und]":"none","field_file_image_decorative[und]":"0"}},"attributes":{"height":"500","width":"800","class":"media-element file-large"}}]]Across the 2023–2025 academic years, the Public Programmes team in UCL Museums & Cultural Programmes are creatively exploring building common and equitable futures from past traces.Taking a multi-perspective, cross-disciplinary and subject-led approach to this central question, we are considering what it means, and the tools required to realise equitable futures through collaborative programmes.The collections and physical spaces of UCL Museums are central to this, as are partnerships with UCL teaching and research departments, UCL professional services staff, students, families and groups who we share localities and interests with. Thematic explorationsEach term of the academic year has an overarching theme for exploration, stretching across the three Bloomsbury-based museums: Grant Museum of Zoology, Petrie Museum of Egyptian and Sudanese Archaeology, and UCL Art Museum.Term 1: People and CulturesHow have people’s cultures across different geographies represented in UCL Museum Collections come to be understood through time? What role do curators as custodians have in carrying the stories across time? How do the peoples these cultural belongings come from, and their descendants, take ownership of object histories to tell stories of indigenous knowledges?Museum in Focus: Petrie Museum of Egyptian and Sudanese Archaeology[[{"fid":"16833","view_mode":"large","fields":{"height":"500","width":"800","class":"media-element file-large","format":"large","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"Close-up of two small gold-coloured cymbals with pale fabric handles attached","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":"Replica finger cymbals","field_caption_heading[und][0][title]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][url]":"","field_caption[und][0][value]":"%3Cp%3EReplica%20finger%20cymbals.%20%C2%A9UCL%2FMary%20Hinkley%3C%2Fp%3E","field_caption[und][0][format]":"","field_float_left_right[und]":"none","field_file_image_decorative[und]":"0"},"type":"media","field_deltas":{"1":{"height":"500","width":"800","class":"media-element file-large","format":"large","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"Close-up of two small gold-coloured cymbals with pale fabric handles attached","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":"Replica finger cymbals","field_caption_heading[und][0][title]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][url]":"","field_caption[und][0][value]":"%3Cp%3EReplica%20finger%20cymbals.%20%C2%A9UCL%2FMary%20Hinkley%3C%2Fp%3E","field_caption[und][0][format]":"","field_float_left_right[und]":"none","field_file_image_decorative[und]":"0"}},"attributes":{"height":"500","width":"800","class":"media-element file-large"}}]]Term 2: Habitats and EnvironmentsHow can we better understand the impact of our planet’s rapidly changing environments through climate change? What role do we as humans have to stem further habitat loss for animal species? Why? What actions can we take to increase the biodiversity of our local environments? Do we need to work harder to address this in urban areas? What does hopeful visioning of habitats and environments look like?Museum in Focus: Grant Museum of Zoology[[{"fid":"16834","view_mode":"large","fields":{"height":"500","width":"800","class":"media-element file-large","format":"large","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"Wooden case displaying rows of pinned moths, mounted against a dark blue background","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":"Pinned moths","field_caption_heading[und][0][title]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][url]":"","field_caption[und][0][value]":"%3Cp%3EPinned%20moths.%20%C2%A9UCL%2FJames%20Tye%3C%2Fp%3E","field_caption[und][0][format]":"","field_float_left_right[und]":"none","field_file_image_decorative[und]":"0"},"type":"media","field_deltas":{"1":{"height":"500","width":"800","class":"media-element file-large","format":"large","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"Wooden case displaying rows of pinned moths, mounted against a dark blue background","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":"Pinned moths","field_caption_heading[und][0][title]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][url]":"","field_caption[und][0][value]":"%3Cp%3EPinned%20moths.%20%C2%A9UCL%2FJames%20Tye%3C%2Fp%3E","field_caption[und][0][format]":"","field_float_left_right[und]":"none","field_file_image_decorative[und]":"0"}},"attributes":{"height":"500","width":"800","class":"media-element file-large"}}]]Term 3: Imaginary Worlds (Dreamings)How do we maintain the capacity to dream, to hope for an alternative future different to the trajectory predicted for us through dominant, powerful voices? Can we embrace speculative imaginings of “what if?” to question current social and cultural norms? Are there art forms that can be utilised as tools for imagining new possibilities for world building? How can UCL Collections be part of inspiring hopeful futurity?Museum in Focus: UCL Art Museum[[{"fid":"16835","view_mode":"large","fields":{"height":"500","width":"800","class":"media-element file-large","format":"large","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"Visualisation showing a large spherical frame supported by a three-pronged base, set in the middle of a lake and surrounded by fountains","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":"Unisphere. Mr Jonathan Gardner, Institute of Archaeology, UCL Doctoral School, Research Images as Art Competition entry 2014-2015","field_caption_heading[und][0][title]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][url]":"","field_caption[und][0][value]":"%3Cp%3EUnisphere.%20Jonathan%20Gardner%2C%20Institute%20of%20Archaeology.%20UCL%20Doctoral%20School%2C%20Research%20Images%20as%20Art%20Competition%20entry%202014-2015.%20%C2%A9UCL%2FJonathan%20Gardner%3C%2Fp%3E","field_caption[und][0][format]":"","field_float_left_right[und]":"none","field_file_image_decorative[und]":"0"},"type":"media","field_deltas":{"1":{"height":"500","width":"800","class":"media-element file-large","format":"large","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"Visualisation showing a large spherical frame supported by a three-pronged base, set in the middle of a lake and surrounded by fountains","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":"Unisphere. Mr Jonathan Gardner, Institute of Archaeology, UCL Doctoral School, Research Images as Art Competition entry 2014-2015","field_caption_heading[und][0][title]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][url]":"","field_caption[und][0][value]":"%3Cp%3EUnisphere.%20Jonathan%20Gardner%2C%20Institute%20of%20Archaeology.%20UCL%20Doctoral%20School%2C%20Research%20Images%20as%20Art%20Competition%20entry%202014-2015.%20%C2%A9UCL%2FJonathan%20Gardner%3C%2Fp%3E","field_caption[und][0][format]":"","field_float_left_right[und]":"none","field_file_image_decorative[und]":"0"}},"attributes":{"height":"500","width":"800","class":"media-element file-large"}}]] Collaborative student projectsAs part of our exploration of Architecting Futures from Past Traces, Public Programmes is collaborating with UCL teaching and research departments to creatively interrogate UCL Museums’ Collections. Topics include how we navigate physical and metaphysical space through the remnants of ancient deities, how we examine historically revered figures and the contentious legacies we’re left to grapple with, and ways of enabling better access to collections through groundbreaking digital technologies.Otherlands (October 2023 - January 2024)‘Otherlands: Museum for a Museum’ is a collaboration between the Bartlett School of Architecture’s Year 1 students and the Petrie Museum of Egyptian and Sudanese Archaeology’s collection displays. The playful exploration of the interplay between ancient deities in their material forms, museum space and empiricism are realised through six otherworldly installations which form a spectacular transformation of space.Exhibition listingStudent Review: OtherlandsReimagining Flinderella (January – May 2024)‘Reimagining Flinderella’ is a three-event series humorously and critically interrogating the legacy of the father of modern archaeology Flinders Petrie and the practice of contemporary public archaeology.Reimagining Flinderella project pageNews story: Call for participants (deadline has now passed)News story: Call for roundtable case studies (deadline 7 April 2024) Family audiencesEvery month we run intergenerational workshops suitable for family audiences in the Grant Museum of Zoology and the Petrie Museum of Egyptian and Sudanese Archaeology. Often these are developed in partnership with artists, educators and cultural producers.Term 1 workshopsSeptember: Collage Club with Steph Hartman at the Petrie MuseumSeptember: Fossil Hunting with Dr Ruth Siddall across UCL Bloomsbury CampusOctober: Customise your Amulet with Francesca Chinnery at the Petrie MuseumOctober: Bring a Fossil Back to Life in the Object Based Learning Lab, UCLNovember: Play Senet with Jaquie Feldman at the Petrie MuseumDecember: Origami Gifts with Dr Lizzie Burns at the Petrie MuseumTerm 2 workshopsFebruary: Paper Basketry and Weaving with Clare Sams at the Petrie MuseumFebruary: Wild – A Biodiversity Story with Joseph Bolt at the Grant MuseumFebruary Half Term: Imaginary Habitats with Steph Hartman at the Grant MuseumFebruary Half Term: Model Boat Making with Rosie Fuller at the Petrie MuseumMarch: Tombs of Tarkhan with Joseph Bolt at the Petrie MuseumMarch: Reimagining Coral Reefs (VR experience) at the Grant MuseumTerm 3 workshopsDetails TBC Partnerships formed by shared localities and interestsGlobal GenerationPublic Programmes are partnering with Global Generation based at Story Garden, Somers Town to respond to matters of water-based life. The Grant Museum of Zoology’s new interpretative displays dealing with biodiversity loss and the importance of invertebrate life will form a content showcase for Global Generation’s Fellows to engage with on their terms.Helen Bamber FoundationPublic Programmes are continuing their relationship with the Camden-based photo collective Fotonomads at the human rights charity Helen Bamber Foundation to photographically explore themes of movement, homelands, language and culture through UCL Museums’ collections and spaces, and the city of London. 

Following receipt of the largest number of applications ever received, UCL Engagement is funding 11 projects from across UCL that will engage with public groups as part of research and teaching. The projects represent different methods of engagement; from using art-based practices to co-create knowledge, to participatory workshops and place-based intervention. In all cases these projects are bringing people together to exchange knowledge, skills and perspectives.The successful projects are working with communities across London, the UK and beyond, many of whom are not often heard in academia. Over the 2022-2023 academic year, UCL Engagement will support these projects, ensuring that learning is captured along with beneficial impacts on both research and teaching within UCL and on the people and communities we engage with.This year saw many postgraduate students both applying for and being awarded a Beacon Bursary. This enthusiasm from those starting out on their research careers helps make a reality of UCL Engagement's ambitions to enable brighter ideas through deeper connections.[[{"fid":"16216","view_mode":"small","fields":{"format":"small","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"2022/23 Group of funded Beacon Bursaries with UCL Engagement Staff","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][title]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][url]":"","field_caption[und][0][value]":"","field_float_left_right[und]":"none","field_file_image_decorative[und]":"0"},"type":"media","field_deltas":{"1":{"format":"small","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"2022/23 Group of funded Beacon Bursaries with UCL Engagement Staff","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][title]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][url]":"","field_caption[und][0][value]":"","field_float_left_right[und]":"none","field_file_image_decorative[und]":"0"}},"attributes":{"height":"480","width":"640","class":"media-element file-small"}}]]Below are our projects. For additional information, please contact UCL Engagement on:  publicengagement@ucl.ac.ukLondon Ladino: Co-creating Judeo-Spanish voices with local Sephardic JewsDr Carlos Yebra Lopez, Department of Hebrew and Jewish StudiesCo-Applicants: Tamara Gleason Freidberg, Alejandro Acero Ayuda The main aim of this project is to reconnect Sephardic Jews living in London with Ladino (Judeo-Spanish), i.e., the language of their ancestors, which is currently classified by UNESCO as severely endangered. Sephardim in London will have the chance to acquire the fundamentals about the language of their ancestors (Ladino), thus granting them access to a fundamental part of their ethnic background, culture, and religion, plus the possibility to communicate with many other Sephardim around the world. Additionally, the UCL Department of Hebrew and Jewish Studies will have the chance to expand its research and teaching portfolio on Sephardic Jews and Ladino. Offensive BSL (British Sign Language) Signs in the UK Deaf CommunityIndie Beedie, Division of Psychology and Language SciencesCo-Applicant: Sannah Gulamani    This project aims to address the use of offensive signs in BSL and provide an opportunity for Deaf BSL signers who are Black, Asian and other ethnic minorities to discuss their views and feelings about what BSL signs are offensive. Offensive BSL signs are signs that perpetuate racist, ableist and other oppressive ideologies which cause emotional and social harm. We hope to improve engagement with these groups who have been routinely oppressed in white-dominated public discourse about BSL as well as improve the impact of our BSL research for these groups, particularly when asked to research or comment on topics related BSL preservation, which the community have tied up with debate on offensive signs, sign language variation, and language attitudes. Finally, we aim to comment with more knowledge and gain further understanding of the issue. Ethnic Health Inequities and Data Justice – A Conversation with Young People     Joseph Lam, Department of Population, Policy and Practice, UCL GOS Institute of Child HealthCo-Applicants: Amy Spiller, Professor Katie HarronWe aim to explore how ethnicity is understood, experienced, asked and recorded for young people from refugees and migrant backgrounds, and how ethnic identity belongingness may change over time and across settings. Through this project, we hope to empower Young Leaders with knowledge of ethnic health inequalities as an outcome of the exclusion of minoritised ethnic communities in health research and promote awareness of what they can do about health data hesitancy. Lastly, as part of this project, we will inform researchers about young people's views on the use of ethnicity category clusters and the meaning of such categories to young people from minoritized ethnic communities in their analytical practices. Shaping future research for Better Conversations with Parkinson’s    Philippa Clay, Division of Psychology and Language Sciences    Co-Applicant: Professor Steven BlochBetter Conversations with Parkinson’s (BCP) is a speech and language therapy intervention, co-produced at UCL, that aims to improve the success and enjoyment of everyday conversations for people living with Parkinson’s. We aim to identify clear priorities for future research into BCP from the perspective of key stakeholders. We will engage in particular with people with communication difficulties resulting from Parkinson’s – voices seldom heard in research. The BCP intervention is currently undergoing a feasibility study. Through public engagement we will ensure future BCP research addresses the key priorities of those providing and receiving this novel therapy approach.  Maths Attitudes, Truths and Happy/Horror Stories (MATHS)Donna-Lynn Shepherd, IOE - Psychology and Human DevelopmentCo-Applicants: Dr Jo Van Herwegen, Dr Laura Outhwaite, Dr Liz HerbertThis project aims to raise awareness, recognition and understanding of dyscalculia, mathematical learning difficulties and maths anxiety with the general public and create a better understanding of the of lived experiences of dyscalculia and mathematical learning difficulties in the wider public through the co-creation of novel materials for our ADD UPP awareness campaign. Paths to Public History    Dr Anna Maguire, Department of HistoryCo-Applicant: Vicky PriceThis project asks what a community access course or module for public historians living and working around UCL East would look like. With the establishment of a new MA in Public History and the Urban Room and Memory Workshop at UCL East, and building on the work of The New Curators Project at UCL Special Collections, we will undertake community-engaged research to think about how we at UCL East can support the ongoing public history work of our surrounding communities and develop our curriculums in response. Social prescribing for female asylum seekers in Camden     Dr Joanna Dobbin, Primary Care & Population HealthCo-Applicants: Dr Fiona Hamilton, Dr Eleanor Turner Moss, Medact Migrant Solidarity Group, Hopscotch Women’s CentreThe aim of the project is to explore the barriers, utilisation and need for social prescribing for female asylum seekers living in contingency accommodation in Camden through an interdisciplinary workshop. This workshop aims to connect women living in contingency accommodation, community groups, primary care health care professionals, and the social prescribing hub. Through an interactive, exploratory workshop (with an optional group walk), we aim to explore what local community activities that could impact health are available, the role of social medicine, and what community health means to those attending. The work will act as a springboard for future work on social prescribing for marginalised groups at UCL Primary Care & Population Health, and for community integration and health for those seeking asylum. Youth Conference – Amplified VoicesDr Toyin Agbetu, Department of AnthropologyCo-Applicant: Hackney AccountMany young people in East London, especially those of African heritage, experience unjust, racialised profiling. This results in the excessive use of force and repeated stop and searches by Metropolitan police officers. Hackney Account is a youth-led group that has been challenging this abuse of police powers. This project, resulting in a youth conference between community stakeholders, students and staff based at UCL’s Department of Anthropology is designed to facilitate their working together to identify solutions. They will explore how to give those victimised by such police practices, the support and confidence to record, document, analyse and share their traumatic experiences with rigour, outside any existing police complaint mechanisms.  Special Podcast Series with Teenagers & Young Adults, Radiation Researchers & Therapeutic Radiographers    Dr Jamie Dean, Department of Medical Physics and Biomedical EngineeringCo-Applicants: Dr Catarina Veiga, Dr Lisa WhittakerTeenagers and young adults (TYAs) diagnosed with cancer often find themselves too old for children’s services but among the youngest in adult services. This project builds on another public engagement project, Radiation Reveal, which highlighted less is known about radiotherapy compared to other cancer treatments, and that TYAs highly value but often lack peer support. We will bring together TYAs and radiation researchers funded by CRUK RadNet City of London to co-produce a special series of the podcast RadChat. We aim to increase awareness of radiotherapy, TYAs experiences of cancer, impactful PPIE and promote UCL’s cancer research to new audiences outside of the academic domain.Nafasi Kati: A care-centred approach to co-creating narratives with bereaved families of recently-deceased children Callie Daniels-Howell, Institute for Global Health This project supports the work of my doctoral research in Kenya, co-producing family narratives of the space between life and death for nine children who died from cancer within the last six months. The aim of this public engagement project is to understand how best to co-construct knowledge with recently bereaved families in a mutually-beneficial, anti-extractive manner that prioritises care for families and affirms their power as owners of the narrative of this highly sensitive and intimate life experience. This will be explored through three workshops with the family members of these nine children where professional grief support will be provided. Families will conduct open-ended, small-group narrative constructions with one another, and group discussions will be held to learn from families what impact they would like their child’s life to have, who should hear their story, and how they can work together to leverage the space of this research to contribute that change.  Breaking down stigmatization of mental health and breaking barriers to recruiting ethnic minorities individuals into mental health research    Dr Harpreet Kaur Sihre, Institute of Epidemiology & HealthCo-Applicant: William LammonsEthnic minority groups are at higher risk for developing mental disorders but demonstrate lower uptake in mental health research in the UK. There is a need to collaborate with ethnic minority groups to devise innovative and culturally sensitive mental health research recruitment strategies. The aims of this project are to: 1) improve ethnic minority groups' impressions and conceptions of mental health research 2) increase participation of minority groups in UCL's mental health research. We will organise a "community cafe" with members of the public in aim to produce a framework to improve minority groups' participation in mental health research.Further Information on UCL Engagement: UCL Engagement takes a collaborative approach to enabling brighter ideas through deeper connections. We focus on equipping UCL to listen and respond to community need, locally and globally. We spark ideas of how drawing on community-based experience and assets can lead to collaborative success in solving challenges and creating positive change together. We expand the conversations which inform UCL’s research and teaching, particularly to include those whose voices are heard less often or have been drowned out in the past. Importantly, we are committed to sharing what we learn about how to work with others to achieve more with government (national and local), UKRI and other funders, the Higher Education sector and beyond.UCL Engagement is based in the Office of the UCL Vice-Provost, Research, Innovation & Global Engagement (OVPRIGE) within Library, Culture, Collections & Open Science (LCCOS).The Beacon Bursary funding round is also support by UCL East’s Community Engagement programme supporting projects taking place in east London.UCL Engagement was established in 2008 as the Public Engagement Unit. Since then, UCL Engagement has awarded over £290,000 of funding to 175 projects through the Beacon Bursary scheme. This was the final Beacon Bursary round.  

Beacons for Public EngagementThe UCL Public Engagement Unit was created in 2008 as one of six in the United Kingdom to be funded by the beacons for public engagement programme set up by HEFCE, Research Councils UK and the Wellcome Trust.Beacons funding was intended to help the staff of UCL:To work with audiences that UCL has not traditionally talked or listened to, including socially excluded groups.To better connect UCL with London, through work with local communities and creative organisations in the local area.To find new models and opportunities for dialogue between academic and non-academic groups in all of UCL's subjects.To increase the amount and quality of public engagement work undertaken at UCL.This report captures and describes the activities that have taken place under the UCL-led Beacon as part of the BPE programme. The Public Engagement Unit (PEU) was established within UCL to support staff and students to involve members of the public in their work. Achievements from May 2008 to December 201191 public engagement projects have been funded through various grantsOne Beacon Fellowship has been completed and five public engagement mentors have been appointedA total of 237 partner groups/organisations have been linked to the programmeCreation of the Annual UCL Provost’s Awards for Public EngagementCreation of the Annual UCL Public Engagement SymposiumOver 37,560 people have attended programme and project activitiesOver 1600 UCL staff and students and 530 people outside UCL, have taken part in training and mentoring on public engagement£98,136 additional funding has been received from external agencies to support projects facilitated by the PEUAdvice and support has been provided on 47 public engagement and research funding applications to external bodies. These have been awarded funding totalling over £10 million37 Bright Club events have been delivered, and attended by approximately 3,933 people60 Bright Club podcasts have been created with an average download figure of 1,955 per episodeCreation of the Bite-Sized Lunchtime Lecture series featuring 44 speakers over three academic termsDevelopment and approval by the UCL Senior Management Team and UCL Council of a UCL Public Engagement StrategyPublic engagement is now included as a requirement in the UCL academic staff promotions criteriaThe PEU has had a long term impact in supporting institutional commitment to public engagement. It has been successful in creating an independent structure and model for public engagement, and has addressed many barriers traditionally faced by HEIs undertaking public engagement. The PEU has also driven a culture change at UCL both at a strategic and grassroots level, which has led to a longer term commitment to public engagement through the continuation of the unit. The PEU can now build upon the success that the Beacons for Public Engagement programme has allowed, and focus on a more targeted approach within the Schools and Faculties.You can find out more about the Beacons for Public Engagement Programme on the National Co-ordinating Centre for Public Engagement's websiteYou can download the final report on Beacons for Public Engagement Programme by going to our resources section.

The Bloomsbury Festival is an annual celebration of the diverse communities that live and work in the Bloomsbury area.UCL hosted a hub for the festival in 2016 and 2017 and it has been a fantastic opportunity for UCL staff and students to engage with communities in the Bloomsbury area.[[{"fid":"4735","view_mode":"small","fields":{"format":"small","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"Man with book","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][title]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][url]":"","field_caption[und][0][value]":"","field_caption[und][0][format]":"limited_html","field_float_left_right[und]":"none","field_file_image_decorative[und]":"0"},"type":"media","field_deltas":{"1":{"format":"small","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"Man with book","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][title]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][url]":"","field_caption[und][0][value]":"","field_caption[und][0][format]":"limited_html","field_float_left_right[und]":"none","field_file_image_decorative[und]":"0"}},"link_text":null,"attributes":{"height":"300","width":"450","class":"media-element file-small"}}]]In 2016, UCL Culture supported 14 research teams to set up stalls and activities across campus with the theme of “Language”. We discussed topics ranging from using baking to tell stories about dementia, speaking to cephalopods and the language of data. The campus was host to dance troupes, theatre companies and artists, as hundreds of attendees arrived to find out more about the work going on at UCL.UCL Culture is looking forward to again hosting a hub in 2017, working on the theme of “Independence”. For more information, sign up to the UCL Culture mailing list and keep an eye on the Bloomsbury Festival website.

Bright Club is the thinking person's comedy night, where UCL researchers become stand up comedians. Run by the UCL Public Engagement Unit, Bright Club aims to bring UCL researchers together with a new audience: 20-50 year olds who have no existing relationship with academia.Our next live performances are on Friday 9 and Thursday 22 February 2018 at Stratford Circus. Book your tickets now!Buy tickets[[{"fid":"7107","view_mode":"super_xl","fields":{"format":"super_xl","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"Bright Club 2018","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][title]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][url]":"","field_caption[und][0][value]":"","field_caption[und][0][format]":"limited_html","field_float_left_right[und]":"none","field_file_image_decorative[und]":"0"},"type":"media","field_deltas":{"1":{"format":"super_xl","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"Bright Club 2018","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][title]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][url]":"","field_caption[und][0][value]":"","field_caption[und][0][format]":"limited_html","field_float_left_right[und]":"none","field_file_image_decorative[und]":"0"}},"link_text":null,"attributes":{"height":"664","width":"2893","class":"media-element file-super-xl"}}]]It's a great opportunity for UCL staff to get experience of sharing what they do with a friendly, informal audience. So that they're pitch-perfect on the night, presenters are trained in performance skills by experts in stand-up comedy.Bright Club started in May 2009. Since then we've tackled subjects like London, Time, Light, Metal, Film, Crime and Sea, and we've received financial support from the  Science and Technology Facilities Council and The Wellcome Trust. 

Bright Club is the thinking person's comedy night, where UCL researchers become stand up comedians. Run by the UCL Public Engagement Unit, Bright Club aims to bring UCL researchers together with a new audience: 20-50 year olds who have no existing relationship with academia.Our next live performances are on Friday 9 and Thursday 22 February 2018 at Stratford Circus. Book your tickets now!Buy tickets[[{"fid":"7107","view_mode":"super_xl","fields":{"format":"super_xl","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"Bright Club 2018","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][title]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][url]":"","field_caption[und][0][value]":"","field_caption[und][0][format]":"limited_html","field_float_left_right[und]":"none","field_file_image_decorative[und]":"0"},"type":"media","field_deltas":{"1":{"format":"super_xl","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"Bright Club 2018","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][title]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][url]":"","field_caption[und][0][value]":"","field_caption[und][0][format]":"limited_html","field_float_left_right[und]":"none","field_file_image_decorative[und]":"0"}},"link_text":null,"attributes":{"height":"664","width":"2893","class":"media-element file-super-xl"}}]]It's a great opportunity for UCL staff to get experience of sharing what they do with a friendly, informal audience. So that they're pitch-perfect on the night, presenters are trained in performance skills by experts in stand-up comedy.Bright Club started in May 2009. Since then we've tackled subjects like London, Time, Light, Metal, Film, Crime and Sea, and we've received financial support from the  Science and Technology Facilities Council and The Wellcome Trust.Personas are a research tool used to bring together and represent key users or audience groups' needs or experiences. Personas are commonly used in design and marketing. We have created personas is to capture the experience of academics who have taken part in Bright Club. They are not based on an individual, but are a fusion of experiences of those people who have taken part in Bright Club. The important factors to note are:They are fictitious characters, but based on knowledge captured through interviews undertaken those who have been involved in Bright ClubThey have been edited from narratives of actual experiencesThey provide a snapshot of combined experienceThey convey information to explain motives, experience and outcomes from being involved in Bright Club[[{"fid":"6675","view_mode":"small","fields":{"format":"small","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"Charlotte Barrow performing at Bright Club ","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][title]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][url]":"","field_caption[und][0][value]":"","field_caption[und][0][format]":"limited_html","field_float_left_right[und]":"left","field_file_image_decorative[und]":"0"},"type":"media","field_deltas":{"1":{"format":"small","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"Charlotte Barrow performing at Bright Club ","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][title]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][url]":"","field_caption[und][0][value]":"","field_caption[und][0][format]":"limited_html","field_float_left_right[und]":"left","field_file_image_decorative[und]":"0"}},"link_text":null,"attributes":{"height":"399","width":"600","class":"media-element file-small"}}]]Bright Club is back!We are hosting two very special Bright Club performances in east London on the 9th and 22nd of February 2018. The themes are  'Year of the Mind' and a celebration of 10 years of the Public Engagement Unit at UCL. Stay tuned for updates - and if you have any questions email bright-club@ucl.ac.uk.