Welcome from Dean of Mathematical & Physical Sciences - Professor Ivan Parkin
Welcome back to UCL, I hope you have had a great summer and are looking forward to the new term.
We will be circulating this newsletter monthly to keep staff up to date with major discoveries and important information in relation to the faculty.
I started as the Dean of MAPS on the 1st of October, I would like to thank Prof Richard Catlow for stepping in as Interim Dean for the last three months. I would also like to thank Prof Nick Brook for his efforts over the last two years, we wish him well in his new position as Dean at the University of Bath.
For those that don’t know me, I have been at UCL for 23 years and for the last six years as head of the Chemistry Department. My research interests cover making new materials and surfaces especially by chemical vapour deposition. My group collaborates with over 20 other academics across UCL especially Electrical and Chemical Engineering, the LCN, Surgery, Crime and Security Science and the Eastman Dental Hospital. Our group have developed new gas sensors that have been commercialised and also new coatings for windows.
I am looking forward to the challenge of the Dean’s role. I have visited all departments in the faculty this summer and now appreciate the issues that each department faces- especially space. I also aim to attend staff meetings in departments to answer questions and put work from the faculty in context.
The research in the faculty is exceptional in every department, with world leading discoveries and innovations. In fact UCL comes 23rd on the recent Times Higher Education list of world universities for Physical Sciences. Our ambition is for each department in the faculty to be in the top twenty worldwide. This will be a challenge especially financially, however we have the talent in the faculty to match this ambition.
We are actively looking to improve our space and infrastructure in the faculty. To that end we are submitting bids to the college for the co-location of Maths and Statistics, to develop Physical Sciences at Harwell and to improve MSSL either with buildings on site or relocation. We have also developed plans for Quantum technology and for improving the MAPS workshop. We will also improve lines of communication between the faculty and the departments.
Departments have already been given their EPSRC DTA allocation- so we can try and get the best students now. I have also met with UCL Estates and they have agreed to make sure new teaching space has whiteboards and those that don’t will have write on boards. I do know that space allocation and lecture theatre provision has been problematic and rooming classes has been very difficult in some cases. The faculty did put in nearly 300 ‘late’ requests for rooms after the college deadlines- we will need to improve on this. Although there are often good reasons for these late requests, going forward we should have better dialogue and planning.
I am looking forward to meeting and working with you in the year ahead.
Ivan
EU Referendum
EU referendum: UCL Provost’s message to students and staff
In light of the UK’s vote to leave the European Union, UCL President & Provost Professor Michael Arthur assures UCL students and staff from EU countries that they will continue to be as valued and as welcome as before. Professor Arthur also confirms that there will be no immediate changes to arrangements for EU staff and students.
Open Days
The Faculty participates in a number of open days throughout the academic year, including the UCL Undergraduate Open Days and the UCL Graduate Open Day.
Friends of Out@UCL
Professor Ivan Parkin - Dean, UCL Faculty of Mathematical and Physical Sciences
“I fully support the aims of the Friends of Out@UCL campaign. I have personal experience of the need for such a campaign and the difficulties that the LGBTQ+ community face.” Read more…
Snapshots from Space History
Online exhibition of historic space photos from the faculty’s planetary science archives.