Tag Archives: international

Birkbeck School of Science Celebrated World Refugee Week 2022

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A recount of an important and community focused event held for World Refugee Week.  

A group of people in a conference room chatting animatedly

World Refugee Week honours the strength and courage of refugees and is held to cultivate compassion for others. This week, Birkbeck School of Science hosted an interactive event exploring the theme of ‘Healing,’ to celebrate global community, mutual care, resilience, and the human ability to rise above. 

The event enjoyed a full-house audience and started with a couple of short presentations to highlight some of the work going on to support refugees and forced migrants at Birkbeck. 

Stories and Supper is a refugee and migrant supper club project based in Walthamstow, East London which seeks to challenge the myths surrounding the migration ‘crisis’ and provide a welcome space for refugees living in London. Helen Taylor and Olivia Sheringham shared the journey of their project in an engaging presentation. 

Isabelle Habib then presented an outstanding success of Birkbeck’s very own Compass Project, while some students from the School of Science shared their learning journey and experiences. Staff from the School of Science attended the event and interacted with the students too. After the presentations, the community spirit continued over refreshments, where good food and stories were shared. 

Co-organisers of the event, Katherine Thompson and Sanjib Bhakta commented:  

“It was great to hear the success ‘Stories and Supper’ and ‘Compass’ projects and appreciate the enormous contribution that they are making to our diverse international community. We really hope the event leads to more support for refugees and hopefully new links at Birkbeck for such collaborative initiatives.”  

Hosts:
Katherine Thompson (AD Equalities, Diversities, and Inclusion) 
Sanjib Bhakta (AD Internationalisation and Partnerships)
School of Science 

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Celebrating the winter solstice at Birkbeck

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This month, Birkbeck’s International experience committee and Chinese Students and Scholars Association (BBK CSSA), hosted a networking event to mark “Dongzhi”, the winter solstice. The event gave Chinese students from the broader community the opportunity to share their experiences of studying in London.

In this blog, Di Luo, Chair of BBK CSSA, discusses the importance of the festival to Chinese people and how attendees marked the occasion.

Students in classroom with masks on, the people in the front row are holding up a branded bag with an orange owl on the front

In Chinese, the winter solstice is called “Dongzhi”, which literally means “the arrival of winter”. The Dongzhi Festival is one of the most important celebrated by the Chinese – as important as Chinese New Year, in fact. It is a time families come together and bond over the preparation of a symbolic dish.

The winter solstice occurs when either of Earth’s poles reaches its maximum tilt away from the Sun. This happens twice yearly, once in each hemisphere (Northern and Southern). In the Northern region of China, to celebrate Dongzhi, people eat fatty dumplings that contain meat and high Yang warming herbs such as ginger and garlic. In the Southern region of China, people gather together to make and tangyuan, a Chinese dessert made with glutinous rice flour, which symbolizes family unity and prosperity.

Due to COVID-19, this year’s celebration at Birkbeck had to be adapted. Nevertheless, we were pleased to see over 25 students from Birkbeck, SOAS, Queen Mary University and Goldsmiths University, who enjoyed the wonderful event. Attendees were served traditional British snacks and Bubble Teas, courtesy of guest Xiaoyu Chang, from Ying Tuan.Hula hoops, cheddar cheese packets and bubble tea on a table

The afternoon included a question-and-answer session with an introduction to the College’s facilities. There was also a session on how to study more efficiently, and fun things to do in London, as well as games and quizzes, such as the “who is undercover” game, and a talent show. Zoe Stephens, an MSc International Security and Global Governance student at Birkbeck, introduced herself in SIX different languages, including; English, Mandarin, Korea, Japanese, German and Dutch! It was very entertaining, and congratulations to Zoe on winning one of the prizes. The event was filled with laughs and the sharing of good wishes for 2022 from attendees.

BBK Chinese students and scholars’ association, hereby, on behalf of all Chinese students studying at Birkbeck and our alumni, wishes everyone a happy and warm winter this year, and the very best of the new year of 2022, which will soon be upon us!

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Birkbeck students embark on virtual tour of the City of London

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While we’ve been unable to head out and explore our capital city in person, Birkbeck students toured the historic City of London virtually with the help of guide Tim Kidd.

Picture of the City of London

Whilst we would all love to be together in person, Birkbeck is bringing London to its international student community.

On Thursday 26 June, Birkbeck students were treated to a fascinating virtual tour through the historic City of London.

Courtesy of Tim Kidd, a member of the British Guild of Tour Guides, the Birkbeck community was brought together to explore London’s ancient origins. As Tim explained throughout the event, the City of London has a vibrant and varied history which tells the story of our famous capital. From the Bank of England to the walls of the Tour, Tim was able to explain London’s Roman roots and their role in shaping the world of finance today.

For many of Birkbeck’s students, the City offers world-class employment prospects and a foothold into the world of banking, trading and insurance. The City of London is today regarded as one of the major financial capitals of the world, and with good reason. Tim’s tour told the tale of the City of London, exploring why it is so such a unique place within the UK and Europe. At the end of the tour, an insightful Q&A session followed.

With the international situation evolving rapidly, it’s as important as ever that Birkbeck continues to adapt its student experience. Indeed, we very much look forward to hosting more engaging virtual tours in the future.

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Challenges and opportunities for university-business co-creation: comparative perspectives from the UK and US

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Organised by the Centre for Innovation Management Research, this panel event explored how universities and businesses can build mutually beneficial partnerships from an international perspective.

On Wednesday 19 February, Birkbeck’s Centre for Innovation Management Research was proud to welcome academics and consultants alike to a guest seminar led by Professor Helen Lawton Smith and chaired by Dr Renos Savva.

The title of the discussion was Challenges and Opportunities for University-Business Co-Creation, with Adrian Day, Dr Federica Rossi, Professor Tomasz Mroczkowski and Evelyn Wilson each bringing their individual expertise to the panel.

Throughout this fascinating event, each panellist outlined their view of the ever-changing relationship between universities and private enterprise. With a focus on international perspectives; from Japan to Sweden, the US and the UK, attendees were encouraged to outline their experience of joint ventures. Moreover, in discussing the dichotomy between government policy and evolving attitudes towards innovation, the role of today’s universities was brought into the debate.

In looking to the future, this event sought to compare the varying attitudes towards university-business co-creation, with an aim to building new and sustainable partnerships throughout the academic and entrepreneurial spheres.

Thank you to everyone who attended and made this event such a success!

  • Dr Renos Savva, a Senior Lecturer in Biological Sciences at Birkbeck, and co-founder of the Birkbeck-UCL-ICR start-up, Domainex Ltd., which is now an established biotech sector SME based in the Cambridge area.
  • Adrian Day has spent over 15 years working at the interface between academia and the economy, covering all aspects from design of data systems to providing direct advice to the Minister for Universities.
  • Dr Federica Rossi is Senior Lecturer in Business Economics at Birkbeck.
  • Dr Tomasz Mroczkowski, American University, has studied and written about innovation, the management of change, and economic transition for most of his career.
  • Evelyn Wilson is a Founder/Director of The Culture Capital Exchange, established in 2011 and was Senior Manager at its previous iteration London Centre for Arts and Cultural Exchange.

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