King's Related Oct 2012 by King's College London

King’s related Newsletter for members of King's Family

King’s Olympic success

Katherine Grainger, left, and Anna Watkins celebrate their gold win

ondon 2012 saw King’s PhD student Katherine Grainger MBE, together with rowing partner Anna Watkins, achieve their dream of taking an Olympic gold medal. The pair, spurred on by a crowd of over 20,000 at Eton Dorney, took gold in the women’s double sculls, making history as Grainger became the first British woman to win medals at four successive Olympic Games. Unbeaten since they teamed up in 2010, Grainger and Watkins completed the final over two seconds ahead of second place Australia, with Poland in the bronze position. The pair finished the 2,000-metre race in six minutes 55.82 seconds, winning Great Britain’s first-ever Olympic gold in the discipline. At the semi-final, they smashed the Olympic record by nearly five seconds.

Thirty-six-year-old Grainger is Britain’s most successful Olympic female rower, her London 2012 gold medal the crowning glory to the three silver medals earned in Sydney 2000, Athens 2004 and Bejing 2008. In addition, she holds six world titles and was recognised in 2006 with an MBE for her services to rowing. Alongside training, Grainger has pursued an academic career and is currently a doctoral student at King’s Dickson Poon School of Law. ‘The culmination of both my Olympic career and PhD is 2012 - not by design!’, she says. In addition to Grainger’s success, King’s alumna and hockey midfielder Ashley Ball (MA, Nutrition & Dietetics, 2009) won a bronze medal in her first Olympic Games, helping secure Britain’s first women’s Olympic hockey medal in 20 years.

Issue 13 | Autumn 2012

Welcome from the Principal This summer, the UK welcomed visitors from across the globe to participate, in many ways, in the spectacular Olympic and Paralympic Games. The global partnerships formed and strengthened by the Games are mirrored by King’s College London’s commitment to promote understanding of other parts of the world and to build lasting relationships. In addition to the country-specific institutes we have created during the past two years, the College is about to establish a dedicated centre for research into international development, focusing on emerging market economies, such as the rising 21st century powers of Brazil, China, India and Russia, to examine lessons that can be learned from their rapid economic growth and societal changes. In September, I headed a delegation of King’s academics and staff that visited Delhi and Mumbai to explore areas for collaboration and to develop partnerships with research institutions, government agencies, businesses and cultural organisations. We also celebrated the end of this year’s successful Study India Programme – a scheme to encourage UK university students to learn more about contemporary India. At King’s we are committed to deepening our relationship with India and acting as a bridge for the exchange of ideas. We are working with India and, even more importantly, learning from India. We are encouraging all our students to take advantage of opportunities to study in India, as that great nation of more than one billion will almost certainly play an important role in their careers. As the world becomes ever smaller, King’s truly has a global outlook. Professor Sir Richard Trainor, Principal Page 1

King’s best for graduate employment

ing’s College London is the best university in the UK for graduate employment, according to the 2013 Sunday Times University Guide. The guide refers to King’s as ‘one of the powerhouses of British and world higher education.’ The award is based on two indicators: the proportion of graduates in graduatelevel jobs and the level of graduate unemployment. King’s has a graduate unemployment rate of just 4.5 per cent, the lowest of any London higher education institution, and 91.9 per cent of King’s students secure graduate-level jobs when they leave.

King’s strong employment record was confirmed earlier this year when the Higher Education Statistics Agency published its Employment Performance Indicators (EPI) for the percentage of full-time, first degree, UK domiciled graduates in work or further study. King’s currently has the highest EPI in the Russell Group (an alliance that represents 24 leading UK universities committed to maintaining the very best research, teaching and learning experiences and unrivalled links with the business and public sector) with an employment rate of 95.2 per cent, an increase of 2.6 per cent on last year.

Events at Kings

The College extends a warm invitation to the families of its students to attend the following events across King’s and its partner institutions. Community Carols Guy’s and St Thomas’

Tuesday 11 December, time TBC St Thomas’ Hospital Chapel RSVP to gsttinfo@togetherwecan.org Denmark Hill

Wednesday 12 December, 19.30 St Luke’s Chapel, King’s College Hospital RSVP to kchinfo@togetherwecan.org Both events are free

KCLA Address 2013

Thursday 7 February 2013, time TBC Southwark Cathedral Lord Carlile will discuss Terrorism and human rights: law or politics? Guests can tour the cathedral and enjoy Evensong prior to the address. Contact alumoff@kcl.ac.uk Greek play Sophocles’ Oedipus at Colonus

Friday 8 February 2013, performance 14.30; reception 18.00 The Greenwood Theatre, Guy’s Campus, SE1 3RA The Greek Play is the only production in the country to be performed every year in the original Greek. 2013 is the 60th anniversary of the play. Contact alumoff@kcl.ac.uk Please call (0)20 7848 3053 for further details on all of these events

King’s Professional Skills Programme The King’s Professional Skills Programme is designed to help students develop an understanding of core employability competencies and to enhance their ability to present these skills to future employers. The programme is co-delivered by employers from a range of sectors, providing first-hand insights into what recruiters think about skill areas in relation to their business, and how they would assess these abilities during selection processes. Page 2

The programme covers the following topics: Thinking analytically and solving problems • Building useful relationships • Developing commercial awareness • Communicating with impact • Working in teams effectively • Identifying and developing skills for work • Influencing and negotiation techniques • Learning to lead • Improving presentation skills •

Each session is two hours long and is open to students from any School and at any level. The programme currently runs twice a year, in the autumn and spring terms. Students who attend seven or more sessions in one academic year will be awarded the King’s Professional Certificate of Attendence. For more information please visit www.kcl.ac.uk/campuslife/services/careers/ events/skills

Transforming the student experience

hanks to the generosity of members of the Family Programme, alumni and friends of the College, the Annual Fund has been able to provide much-needed funding, totaling £227,000, to 27 student organisations and academic initiatives. Annual Fund grants make a real difference to students’ lives, giving them the chance to go beyond their degree courses and learn practical and intellectual skills that will stand them in good stead throughout their careers. Here, King’s related looks at just a few of the projects that have received Annual Fund support this year. • Established by the English Department, Novelists at King’s will bring six

•

authors to the College for readings. Students will be involved in every aspect of the programme, from design to implementation, liaising with novelists and organising the logistics for each event. They will participate in readings and have the opportunity to speak to writers on a one-to-one basis. The TEAM UP programme has been set up to tackle the problem of pupils under achieving in local secondary schools, with the vision of breaking the correlation between affluence and achievement. King’s student volunteers work with pupils to provide extra tutoring in core GCSE subjects. Pupils are invited to King’s

•

events and to explore the campuses, giving them an insight into what university can offer. An Annual Fund grant will allow the student-run King’s College London Symphony Orchestra to perform more concerts throughout the year, to further establish itself as a successful society within the University and to raise its profile on a national scale.

To learn more about the Annual Fund or to make a donation to support King’s students, please visit alumni.kcl.ac.uk/giving, email giving@kcl.ac.uk or call +44 (0)20 7848 4701.

Student support services The Compass also offers a 24-hour enquiry service for students called Compass Online. The system is available to all students with a King’s login and provides access to information about their learning and living experience. Another source of information, the King’s Mobile app provides essential College information in a format suitable for tablets and handhelds. Its contents includes information on how to find a free computer, search for staff and students, learn about upcoming events and reserve books at the College’s libraries, as well as materials from the King’s College London Student’s Union. King’s Mobile will continue to be developed and feedback is welcomed from all users via the in-built feedback function.

eaving home and living in the capital can prove daunting to new students, and even those in the later years of their education need support from time-totime. The Compass Student Support Centres are the first port of call for all student welfare information, advice and guidance. They are located at the Strand, Waterloo, Guy’s and Denmark Hill campuses. Staff at the centres are on hand to advise on matters as wide-ranging as money management and debt advice; loans and tuition fees; accommodation and housing; immigration and visa advice; consumer issues; and London living. The Compass hosts drop-in sessions and special clinics, referring students to the College’s specialist advisory services when necessary.

Page 3

Amongst our College and partner hospital communities are students and staff, past and present, who have made an impact on the world of comedy.

Jo Brand (former psychiatric nurse at Bethlem Royal Hospital and the Maudsley)

Brand is known to millions as a comic and writer. She hosted Commercial Breakdown and co-wrote and starred in Getting On, which earned her a BAFTA. She has also appeared many times on panel shows such as QI and Have I Got News for You.

Rory Bremner FKC

(King’s, Modern Languages, 1984)

Bremner is a comedian, writer and impressionist, well-known in the UK for his satirical impersonations of politicians. His television shows, Rory Bremner...Who Else? and Bremner, Bird and Fortune, have received numerous awards and critical acclaim.

Dr Graeme Garden (King’s College School of Medicine and Dentisty, Medicine, 1967)

Despite his medical training, Garden never practiced medicine, pursuing instead a career in the arts. He is an author, actor and TV presenter, but is perhaps most well-known from The Goodies, a television comedy show, which ran throughout the 1970s and early 80s. He also created the long-running BBC Radio improvisation panel show I’m Sorry I Haven’t a Clue.

Dalia Malek (current PhD law student)

Malek made it through to the finals of the Chortle Student Comedy Award 2012, despite having never performed a stand-up gig before entering the competition.

Graduates’ Google investment

group of leading technology investors, including Google Ventures, have announced a $2 million (US) stake in Vungle, an app software firm founded by a pair of King’s graduates. Zain Jaffer and Jack Smith established Vungle in early 2011. The start-up company has created a platform that allows developers of apps to run video advertising on mobile devices. Jaffer, the company’s CEO, compares these videos to movie trailers, except that they’re shown on mobile devices and are typically 15 seconds long. The technology allows apps to offer HD quality videos, giving the owners of mobile devices the opportunity to see how an app works before downloading it.

‘You have to think globally from day one if you want to have an impact’ Jaffer and Smith met as members of the King’s College London Business Club, which Jaffer founded. He graduated from King’s in 2009 with a degree in Business Management. Smith graduated in 2011, earning his degree in English Language & Communications. Vungle, which has international offices in London and San Francisco, will use the funds to expand development of the product platform.

Jack Smith and Zain Jaffer

Whilst a student, Jaffer led a team of King’s students to the Philippines to build an entrepreneurial business that trained unemployed waste pickers to turn the resources around them into jewellery. He says that the experience taught him that ‘there’s a world outside of London, and you have to think globally from day one if you want to have an impact’.

Lion’s Den 2012

he Lion’s Den Challenge is for postgraduate and postdoctoral research staff at King’s. With a prize fund of £10,000, it aims to identify, reward and assist outstanding business potential, whether based on research or perceived market need.

Tom Rosenthal (King’s, Philosophy, 2010)

In good company

Having won ‘Paramount Funniest Student’ in 2009, since graduating, Rosenthal has received success and critical acclaim within the UK comedy circuit. He stars in Channel 4’s Friday Night Dinner and took his own show to the Edinburgh Festival in 2011.

Best Pitch, with an award of £1000, went to ‘In Our Hands’ created by Pooky Hesmondhalgh from the Institute of Psychiatry. She is using her research to create an e-learning service for teachers and parents supporting children with eating disorders. The prizes for Best Business Idea and Best Business Idea based on King’s Research both went to ‘CellCap Therapeutics’. Dr Zheng-Liang Zhi and medical student Shuang Song won a total of £9,000: they are proposing to transform islet transplantation (transplantation of cells from a donor’s pancreas) through nanoencapsulation (the coating of substances within another material). For the new academic year, there will be a larger prize fund of £14,000, for Best Idea, Best Idea based on King’s Research, Best Pitch and Collegiality.

Contact details: Editorial enquiries: Amanda Calberry Tel +44 (0)20 7848 4703 Email amanda.calberry@kcl.ac.uk All other enquiries: Tel +44 (0)20 7848 4701 Email family@kcl.ac.uk

King’s College London, Ground Floor, Strand Bridge House, 138-142 Strand, London, WC2R 1HH Page 4