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Running at UCL since 1942, Lunch Hour Lectures are an opportunity for anyone to sample the exceptional research work currently being undertaken at the university. Speakers are drawn from UCL's wide-ranging academic departments and lectures frequently showcase new research and recent academic publications.


Lunch Hour Lectures - Spring 2013

Lectures

Xtreme

Lunch Hour Lectures - Spring 2013

Dr Sue Black, Senior Research Associate, UCL Department of Computer Science

Bletchley Park is the historic site of secret British codebreaking activities during World War II and the work carried out there by Alan Turing and others led to the birth of the modern computer. How did we get from Bletchley Park to modern software engineering? Dr Black discusses how the use of social media can leverage capability in very diverse areas, from campaigning for a historical site to improving the quality of software.

UCL is consistently ranked as one of the world's top universities. Across all disciplines our faculties are known for their research-intensive approaches, academic excellence and engagement with global challenges. This is the basis of our world-renowned degree programmes. Visit us at ucl.ac.uk.

From Bletchley Park to modern computing: the value of Twitter (8 Jan 2013)

Lunch Hour Lectures - Spring 2013

Prof Richard Dennis, Professor of Human Geography, UCL Geography

The world’s first underground railway, the Metropolitan, steam-powered and running underneath Euston Road, opened in January 1863. The early history of underground travel in London was beset by the problems of asphyxiation, inadequate lighting, accidents, explosions and crime; countered by the opportunities for improved connectivity, speed and intimacy. This lecture will focus on the 19th and early 20th century history of the Underground, as seen through the lens of UCL’s local station.

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UCL is consistently ranked as one of the world's top universities. Across all disciplines our faculties are known for their research-intensive approaches, academic excellence and engagement with global challenges. This is the basis of our world-renowned degree programmes. Visit us at ucl.ac.uk.

Gower Street to Euston Square: A local history of the Underground (15 Jan 2013)

Prof Iwan Morgan, Professor of United States Studies, UCL Institute of the Americas

Barack Obama won a second term as US president with the support of women, the young, blue collars, African Americans and Latinos. The Republicans, in contrast, retained the support of their habitual white base that is mainly middle aged and older and largely Protestant, in essence representing America's demographic past. The United States remains a politically polarized nation. The Republican party's control of the House of Representatives still enables it to block many of the president's initiatives and as a consequence, Prof Iwan will argue that it is difficult to see the United States making great progress in the next four years towards solving its fiscal and debt problems, tackling climate change, and renewing a schools system on which the nation depends for its future human capital.

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UCL is consistently ranked as one of the world's top universities. Across all disciplines our faculties are known for their research-intensive approaches, academic excellence and engagement with global challenges. This is the basis of our world-renowned degree programmes. Visit us at ucl.ac.uk.

Obama's America: The significance of the 2012 elections (17 Jan 2013)

Lunch Hour Lectures - Spring 2013

Prof Muki Haklay, Professor of GIScience Extreme Citizen Science (ExCiteS) research group, UCL Department of Civil, Environmental and Geomatic Engineering

Public participation in scientific research is not new. Many people are involved in scientific activities in their free time, from bird watching to weather or astronomical observations. Moreover, trends in education and technology are ushering in a new era of citizen science. The lecture covers the history of citizen science, explore the current trends and demonstrate a model for extreme citizen science, in which any community, regardless of their literacy, can utilise scientific methods and tools to understand and control their environment.

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UCL is consistently ranked as one of the world's top universities. Across all disciplines our faculties are known for their research-intensive approaches, academic excellence and engagement with global challenges. This is the basis of our world-renowned degree programmes. Visit us at ucl.ac.uk.

Science for everyone by everyone - the re-emergence of citizen science (22 Jan 2013)

Lunch Hour Lectures - Spring 2013

Dr Ned Gilbert, Research Leader, UCL Centre for Altitude Space and Extreme Environment Medicine (CASE)

Following their successful ascent of Mount Everest in 2007, UCL's Centre for Altitude, Space and Extreme Environment (CASE) Medicine will be returning to Everest in March 2013 to continue with their novel approach to medical research. Their work aims to investigate the effects of low oxygen on the human body, with the ultimate goal of identifying mechanisms that may lead to the successful treatment of critically ill patients. Dr Ned Gilbert marks 60 years since Hillary attained the summit by setting out what they hope to achieve at Everest this Spring.

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UCL is consistently ranked as one of the world's top universities. Across all disciplines our faculties are known for their research-intensive approaches, academic excellence and engagement with global challenges. This is the basis of our world-renowned degree programmes. Visit us at ucl.ac.uk.

Xtreme Everest 2 research expedition (24 Jan 2013)

Lunch Hour Lectures - Spring 2013

Dr Christian Boehmer, Lecturer, UCL MAPS

Within theoretical physics the gravitational force is the odd one out. It is much weaker than the other forces, its mathematical formulation is different and we are struggling to understand it. In this talk Dr Boehmer outlines a new approach to understanding the gravitational force which is motivated by ideas from material sciences and in particular the study of crystals.

UCL is consistently ranked as one of the world's top universities. Across all disciplines our faculties are known for their research-intensive approaches, academic excellence and engagement with global challenges. This is the basis of our world-renowned degree programmes. Visit us at ucl.ac.uk.

Gravity and continuum (5 Feb 2013)

Lunch Hour Lectures - Spring 2013

Dr William MacLehose, UCL Department of Science and Technology Studies

In recent years, there has been much discussion of the influence of classical Arabic science on the Western scientific tradition. Yet these achievements have been variously ignored, overlooked or occasionally overstressed. This lecture discusses the impact that scholars from the Islamic world have made in the fields of medicine, astronomy, optics, geography, mechanics and many other disciplines. What role did the Arabic world have in the history of science? And how did Baghdad, Cairo and Islamic Spain preserve and expand the scientific tradition?

UCL is consistently ranked as one of the world's top universities. Across all disciplines our faculties are known for their research-intensive approaches, academic excellence and engagement with global challenges. This is the basis of our world-renowned degree programmes. Visit us at ucl.ac.uk.

The influence of Islam on science (7 Feb 2013)

Once, personal technology and the Internet meant that we didn’t need permission to compute, communicate and innovate. Now, governments and tech companies are systematically restricting our liberties, and creating an online surveillance state. In many cases, however, we’re letting it happen, by trading freedom for convenience and (often the illusion of) security. In this talk, [...]
  
 Mar 26, 2013

Dan Gillmor on Permission Taken [AUDIO]

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