5 reasons to check out a UCL Lunch Hour Lecture

Our latest series of Lunch Hour Lectures kicks off this week, offering the unique opportunity for you to sample the exceptional work taking place at UCL, in bite-sized chunks.

Taking place on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 13:15-13:55 in the Darwin Lecture Theatre, the free lectures cover a range of fascinating topics, from physics to philosophy.

Still undecided? Then check out five more reasons why you should bring your lunch and your curiosity to a Lunch Hour Lecture this term:

1. Be a part of an institution at UCL

UCL Lunch Hour Lectures have been running for a whopping 74 years, bringing lunchtime learning to the public since 1942. This, along with the fact that they're held at your university for free, makes it a must-do experience for any UCL student.

2. Hear about the work of the wider UCL community

There's some fantastic work being carried out across the university, and Lunch Hour Lectures are your chance to hear all about it. For example, in 'Navigating the brain: software programming for surgical planning', Professor Sebastien Ourselin will discuss his work on treatments for epilepsy, while Dr Katherine Woolf will talk about her research on why we make friends with people similar to us in 'Game of clones: why it matters if our friends are the same as us'.

3. Expand your knowledge

Whether you're a science student wanting to dabble in design or a history student curious about chemistry, the simple format of Lunch Hour Lectures make them easy to digest, even if you're completely new to the subject. Plus, drawing on UCL's emphasis on interdisciplinary learning (the idea of incorporating different disciplines into study), you could learn something that would make the ideal addition to your own piece of work!

4. Be in the know

Speakers at Lunch Hour Lectures are some of the world's best in their fields of expertise, making them a great source of information for current affairs and the global issues of today. Take, for example, 'The 2016 US presidential election: a post-mortem', which will discuss the historical and controversial election campaign, or 'Shake, rattle and roll: communicating lethal risks', which will explore how natural disaster risks and hazards are communicated.

5. Learn from the best

Not only will you learn something from the subject matter being discussed, but you could also take away some practical tips that can be used throughout your time here at UCL. Whether you could benefit from some ideas for how you to share your own research, or if you're looking to pick up some innovative presentation techniques, our Lunch Hour Lecture speakers may well provide some unexpected inspiration…

UCL Lunch Hour Lectures are free to attend, do not require pre-booking and are open to anyone on a first-come, first-served basis.

See the full UCL Lunch Hour Lectures programme.
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Image credit: Zoe Laughlin (UCL Institute of Making)