UCL Minds

Climate change is leading to environmental crises and human calamity. In September this year, Pakistan was hit with extreme flooding due to rapidly melting glaciers. With 95,000 square meters of land submerged under water, and 33 million directly affected, the country is literally, and not only metaphorically ‘in deep waters’. The rescue and rehabilitation work post-floods is a mammoth task. In th...

Living on the edge - health inequalities and rising costs with Prof Sir Michael Marmot and Jack Monroe Join hosts Doctor Xand van Tulleken and Dr Rochelle Burgess for Season 3, Episode 1 of Public Health Disrupted: Living on the edge - health inequalities and rising costs with Prof Sir Michael Marmot and Jack Monroe How does the cost-of-living crisis affect the health of the public? What impact do...

This week we ask: if the international community can’t make states abide by their human rights obligations, what’s the point of invoking human rights?  Human rights atrocities make headlines around the world and are usually followed by a national and international debate over how the perpetrators should be punished, and how these events might be prevented in the future. The government of the count...

Intro to MBA Major Infrastructure Delivery - Join us on this podcast as we explore the thinking that shaped this new MBA and why it is an important and timely development for the industry. For more information and to access the transcript: www.ucl.ac.uk/bartlett/construction/intro-mba-major-infrastructure-delivery-podcast-transcript Date of episode recording: 2023-02-23 Duration: 00:08:54 Language...

An interview with Professor Nasser Jassem of the University of Mosul. Professor Nasser Jassem, previous head of Mosul University Library (2003-2011) and former director of the Unit for the Study of Orientalism, completed a scholarship at University College London in 2019. Professor Nasser Jassem speaks about Edward Said and Orientalism, the future of scholarship in Iraq and life under the Islamic...

Join Dr Michael Spence (UCL President & Provost) and Professor Li Wei (Director & Dean, IOE, UCL's Faculty of Education & Society) as they discuss their shared love of languages: from raising bilingual children and language learning mishaps, to preserving heritage languages and the importance of supporting language teaching in schools. Find out about learning languages at UCL’s Centre for Language...

Date of Lecture: 31 January 2023 About the Lecture: The UCL Energy Transitions Modelling Lab has developed a series of energy system models over the last 20 years that have had a profound impact on UK energy policy. The most recent model, UK TIMES, was used by the UK Government to develop scenarios for both the Clean Growth Strategy and the Net Zero Strategy. These models straddle the boundaries b...

Mehdi Baghdadi talks about alternative materials and power sources for electric vehicles, while Yuanchang Liu discusses methods for testing autonomous boats and ships in the lab. For more information and to access the transcript: Date of episode recording: 2022-02-01T00:00:00Z Duration: 00:31:40 Language of episode: English Presenter:Cassidy Martin Guests: Mehdi Baghdadi; Yuanchang Liu Producer: C...

Date of Lecture: Tuesday 24 January 2023 About the Lecture: Ukraine’s Jewish history has come into focus in multiple ways since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022. Russia has abused the history of World War II and the Holocaust in justifying its aggression, while the fact that Ukraine has a wildly popular Jewish president challenges notions of the country as antisemitic. Mean...

Date of Lecture: Thursday 19 January 2023 About the Lecture: After the Second World War new international rules heralded an age of human rights and self-determination. Supported by Britain, these unprecedented changes sought to end the scourge of colonialism. Yet in the 1960s, a secret decision was taken to offer the US a base at Diego Garcia, one of the islands of the Chagos Archipelago in the In...

Date of lecture: Thursday 12 January 2023 About the Lecture: UK science has chronic diversity issues and shortages of specialist teachers in schools. Orbyts is a multi-award-winning movement founded at UCL, and now running across the UK, that creates partnerships between scientists and schools that are proven to address these issues. The programme provides school students with relatable science ro...

This week we ask: How should politicians’ behaviour be regulated? How, that is, can we best ensure that politicians are honest, play fair, and do a decent job? Questions about politicians’ behaviour have been high on the political agenda here in the UK in recent months and years. Boris Johnson’s premiership was dogged – and ultimately ended – by allegations that he was serially dishonest and toler...

Tobias Hauser talks to Steve and Caswell about common misconceptions around OCD, what the "computational" means in computational psychiatry, and the reasons why teenagers might hold the key to understanding the origins of mental health problems. For more information and to access the transcript: www.ucl.ac.uk/research/domains/neuroscience/brain-stories-podcast Date of episode recording: 2023-01-13...

Our first episode is led by Dr Fatemeh Sadeghi, a research fellow of the UCL's and Institute for Global Prosperity's ERC Project Takhayyul. Fatemah is a political scientist who is an expert on Iran. This episode discussed how the uprisings in Iran were received in different parts of the world, specifically in China, Pakistan, India, Bahrain, Turkey, and the UK. The guests were Dr Sumrin Kalia from...

This week we’re talking about climate change. The COP27 climate conference is about to begin in Egypt. But what will be the conference’s own carbon emissions? And can the event deliver for Africa? Leaders from the worlds of politics, industry, activism, and academia will gather again – for COP27 – in Sharm El-Sheikh in Egypt. A COP taking place in Africa underlines many of the pressing issues that...

Safina Projects Director, Rashad Salim, provides an insightful overview of Iraq's water based heritage, his Ark Re-Imagined project, and the role of local agency in revitalising the country's heritage and connections to the environment. For further information on Safina Projects go to www.safinaprojects.org To access the transcript: www.ucl.ac.uk/nahrein/media/podcasts/transcript-conversation-rash...

In this two-part interview from the Department of Statistical Science at UCL, we speak with Tim Swartz who is a Professor of Statistics at Simon Fraser University. We discuss a variety of topics including: synchronicity in cricket, pulling the goalie in ice hockey, and horse racing. For more information and to access the transcript: www.ucl.ac.uk/statistics/episode-7-transcript Date of episode rec...

This week we ask: What has been the role of global tech companies during the war in Ukraine? And is better regulation needed? Russia’s invasion of Ukraine earlier this year has created Europe’s largest refugee crisis in a generation and caused major disruption to the world’s economy and energy systems. In Ukraine itself, civilian life has been transformed and, in many cases, destroyed by the confl...

Criminal Psychologist, Scientist, author, BBC podcaster & co-founder of Spot Dr Julia Shaw shares her fascinating journey in academia, her works on redefining evil; false memories and her latest book on bisexuality. She talks candidly about the challenges she has faced and overcome to create success in various areas of her extraordinary career journey. For more information and to access the transc...

Tim Hillel talks about how data on human behaviour can optimise the way we commute, while Dimitrios Kanoulas discusses using simulations to teach semi-autonomous vehicles how to drive. Date of episode recording: 2021-12-02 Duration: 00:24:15 Language of episode: English Presenter: Cassidy Martin Guests: Tim Hillel and Dimitrios Kanoulas Producer: Cassidy Martin

UCL PHD Student Lakayya Palmer shares her journey about overcoming the challenges of studying with dyslexia; imposter syndrome and the importance of mentorship and not giving up on what one strives to achieve. For more information and to access the transcript: www.ucl.ac.uk/students/support-and-wellbeing/resources-and-information/digital-resources-and-apps/remarkable-stories Date of episode record...

UCL alumni of Classical Archaeology and Classical Civilisations and graduate of MA in Musical Theatre from Mountview Academy of Theatre Beth Hinton-Lever shares her fascinating life as a West-end actress. She inspires with her wisdom and joyful take on becoming an impromptu activist and example for marginalised communities. For more information and to access the transcript: www.ucl.ac.uk/students/...

UCL student of electronic engineering Ali Issa shares his journey coming to the UK as a refugee on his own at the age of fifteen and how this challenging experience has helped to shape his aspirations to help others. He arrived with limited language skills and was moved to several foster homes before settling into his current residents. His story is inspiring, hope provoking and shows the real pow...

UCL staff, Remarkable stories host, and published author Gia Lulic talks about the release of her first book ‘Joyful Journey – A guide back to the wild self. She draws on her personal experiences to explain why she believes the principles in the book could help us all create a life that is beyond our wildest dreams. To purchase a copy of ‘Joyful Journey – A guide back to the wild self, click HERE:...

Lawyer turned Principal of Newham Collegiate Sixth Form, Mouhssin Ismail, talks about his extraordinary journey opening a school in Newham that has attracted students back to what was considered one of London’s disadvantaged areas. Mouhssin talks about the challenges and trials he faced since quitting his job as a successful lawyer and dedicating his career to ensuring students of all walks of lif...