Birkbeck University Receives Visit from Vice-President and Lord Mayor of London, Alderman Professor Michael Mainelli

Birkbeck was delighted to welcome its Vice-President, Alderman Professor Michael Mainelli, Lord Mayor of London on a visit earlier this week.

The Lord Mayor in his honorary role as Vice-President spent time with academics from the Faculty of Science, firstly viewing the electron microscope under the supervision of Carolyn Moores, Professor of Structural Biology. The Lord Mayor showed a great interest in the work of the team and the operations and applications of the microscope were discussed.

In a round table discussion, the Lord Mayor highlighted his Mayoral theme ‘Connect to Prosper’ and the importance of connectivity to the City of London. Issues around life sciences and how the City is looking into the future around the insurance of space craft and space exploration were explored. He also heard about the student experience from William Sarenden, Education Sabbatical Officer and Chair of the Board of Trustees of Birkbeck Students’ Union.

The latter part of the visit saw the Lord Mayor hear presentations from academic colleagues Dr Eleanor Jennings and Dr Andrew Rushby, Lecturers in the School of Natural Sciences, and Matt Kimberley, Impact and Knowledge Exchange Manager, and in particular heard more detail about the MSc Astrobiology degree being delivered by Birkbeck. The Lord Mayor was particularly intrigued by the software and microscopes which can be used for distance learning and asynchronous teaching which is the only lab of its kind in the UK.