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Communications

October’s ICON day

October’s ICON Day was full, varied, and also happened to be my first as Communications Officer for ICON. Here’s a summary of what went on.

Our most recent ICON day took place in the brand new Tavistock Place 2 building (watch its introductory video), where ICON will be relocating in November.

Andriana Kostouraki and Wende Safari talking at ICON day

The team heard from Alexandra Anderson, Strategic Research Officer at LSHTM, who discussed tips and tricks for Early Career Researchers and how to write effective grant applications. They also brainstormed future research plans, looking ahead to potential projects to embark on in the next 12-18 months.

After heading to Keppel Street for the afternoon, the group were invited on a tour given by Claire Frankland, Assistant Archivist at LSHTM. Claire shared information on the school’s outer wall frieze, how the interior architecture has changed over the years, and also allowed the group a look at LSHTM’s archive material.

This included a student and staff photograph album from 1910-1921 and the notebook in which Sir Ronald Ross made the discovery of the mosquito transmission of malaria on the 20th August 1897, among other items.

The day ended with a knowledge exchange session with Shayan Yaghoobi, a civil servant who took part in the Royal Society pairing scheme with ICON’s Kai Jin. ICON and Shayan gave presentations on their work and discussed how best to engage policymakers with research.

At the end of the day, we spoke to Matthew Smith who summarised his thoughts.