Welcome to Felix Science
The team wishes all students and staff members a warm welcome back to Imperial for the brand new academic year.
Felix isn’t your ordinary newspaper, it’s a space where we share Imperial related stories and engage with knowledge that goes beyond your textbooks. The science section stands as a gateway between you and the innovation here at Imperial and around the world.
Last year, we welcomed many new writers to the paper, and as a team we covered lots of interesting scientific news stories and met with some inspirational staff and students who shed an insight into the work they’ve being doing whilst at University.
We began our year as a Science team with an interview by myself and Felix’s new editor, Mohammad Majilisi, with Professor Michele Dougherty. Michele is the PI of the magnetometer device onboard this spacecraft, which will be arriving at Jupiter in 2031 to ascertain the possibility of live existing on its
Galilean moons. This interview followed after the launch of the JUICE spacecraft in April 2023. Since then, Professor Michele Dougherty has been recently appointed Executive Chair of the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC).
Taylor Pomfret
Our new science writers who joined as freshers last year contributed massively to the paper! Elizabeth Glasson and Eleanor Goulding spoke with Daniel Khosravinia, a 3rd year Biochemistry student who published his DNA double helix model on Lego Ideas. Emily Wentworth interviewed research associate Dr Robin Lamboll on his Nature paper studying the Earth’s remaining carbon budget. Regular columnists James Desmet and Jasmine Marenzi wrote some excellent articles on the pharmaceutical industry and proteins. Lastly, Tejas Gupta contributed several noteworthy pieces to the paper, including an interview with academic Dr Quentin Smith on his research in CRISPR-CAS9 drug therapy.
One of the highlights of the year was when Professor Brian Cox came to visit Imperial to honour the late Abdus Salam, former Physics Professor at Imperial and Nobel Laurette, whom the central library is now named in his honour. What touched me most was the article a science writer, and dear friend of mine, Neha Yasin, published following the event. The piece was a touching tribute to Salam, who despite winning the Nobel Prize and becoming the first Muslim to do so, was persecuted in his home country of Pakistan simply because of his faith. Neha belongs to the same sect of Islam as Salam, and her narrative and reflection on this shared experience were particularly moving.
As we look into a new academic year, we have lots of exciting science to look out for. The Nobel prizes in Physics, Chemistry and Medicine are soon to be awarded. Imperial’s Great Exhibition Road Festival will also be back again this academic year. The annual celebration in June welcomed a record breaking 50,000 visitors across campus. The festival highlights some of the amazing research and outreach staff and students do through exhibits, delivering informative talks, and hosting a series of creative workshops.
To write for us and cover stories like these, head to our Welcome Fair stall on Tuesday 1st October! We welcome new writers, as you’ll have the chance to grow and work with us and produce some amazing writing and content!
