Imperial celebrates annual academic and teaching promotions

Staff across Imperial are celebrating 146 promotions in academic and teaching roles.

This annual promotion round recognises 114 academics from the Business School and the Faculties of Engineering, Medicine and Natural Sciences being promoted into roles as Associate Professors, Professors, Clinical Professors and Professors of Practice. In addition, 32 colleagues are also celebrating progressing into Professor of Teaching, Principal Lecturer, and Senior and Principal Teaching Fellow roles. 

Professor Peter Haynes, Provost and Deputy President, said: “From advances in monitoring the progression of neurodegenerative diseases and using AI for materials design, to developing research-informed education and collaborative learning opportunities, our colleagues are driving discovery and innovation across their fields. Their talent and dedication are what make Imperial a world-leading institution and a force for good in the world. 

“Congratulations to everyone who has received a promotion this year – you should all be immensely proud of this achievement.”  

You can read the full list of promotions on the senior appointments blog. Below we speak to Dr Philippa Mason, Dr Atieme Ogbolosingha, Professor Mirabelle Muûls, Neil Taylor and Dr Yen Foung Tai about their promotions.

Dr Philippa Mason, Earth Science and Engineering – promoted to Associate Professor in Planetary Remote Sensing 

As a remote sensing geologist, I have spent a great deal of my career working with image data of our home planet to help identify Earth resources and to solve environmental challenges. Now I have an amazing opportunity to translate that knowledge and experience in helping develop Europe’s next mission to Venus (Envision), which aims to understand how and why our nearest planetary neighbour turned out so different and so hostile, and hence to answer important questions about habitability in the cosmos. 

Having spent some time in industry, I came to Imperial to complete my MSc project in geological remote sensing at the Royal School of Mines. This led to a PhD, and then to teaching and research here, and I quickly realised that I had joined an extraordinary and close-knit community in what is now the Department of Earth Science and Engineering. We have great facilities, amazing colleagues and very talented students, so I have never really wanted to be anywhere else. 

This promotion means several things to me: recognition of a great deal of hard work and patience, personal satisfaction after what has sometimes been a testing journey, and increased credibility for my research group.  

Moving forward, I am dedicated to helping make this Venus mission a great success, including exploring the technical possibilities of information extraction from all the many datasets we can collect, to improve our understanding of natural surface processes. I also want to support the next generation to gain important experience, and to develop as future mission scientists and leaders. For myself, I hope to feel that I have left a positive mark in this scientific discipline and on those around me. 

Dr Atieme J Ogbolosingha, Life Sciences – promoted to Senior Teaching Fellow 

My work focuses on designing and leading research-informed education for undergraduates and postgraduates in the Department of Life Sciences. Much of this work centres on collaborative learning, innovative approaches to assessment and feedback, especially as these evolve in the context of generative AI, and creating opportunities for students to reflect on and take greater ownership of their learning. 

I am very pleased to have received this promotion. I see it as recognition of the work I have put into teaching, curriculum development, research-based education and educational leadership, as well as the contribution of the students, colleagues and collaborators who have shaped that work with me. It gives me confidence that the direction I have taken as an educator is valued and encourages me to keep developing and contributing more widely within the department and at Imperial. 

My ambition is to continue developing educational approaches that give students greater ownership of their learning and to strengthen the links between teaching and research. I would like to build on my work in team-based research and postgraduate education, while developing my educational scholarship and supporting colleagues in their own teaching and professional development. The team-based research programme also allows me to continue pursuing my scientific interests in cerebral malaria and blood–brain barrier dysfunction, with my educational and scientific work informing one another. 

Professor Mirabelle Muûls, Imperial Business School – promoted to Professor of Economics 

I first came to Imperial because it offered something quite unusual for an economist: the opportunity to work in a genuinely international university where economics sits alongside world-leading science, engineering and medicine. Climate change cannot be addressed by any one discipline, and I have always been interested in what economics can contribute when it is combined with other ways of understanding a problem, and in how research can ultimately help shape practical solutions. That has kept me at Imperial and is also a large part of what excites me about our growing emphasis on convergence science. 

My promotion is a meaningful milestone for me. I joined Imperial early in my career and much of my academic life has developed here, alongside raising four children. I have been very lucky to work with generous, friendly and fun colleagues, co-authors and students (in particular the Climate Change, Management and Finance cohorts!) throughout that time. 

Looking ahead, I want to continue working on questions where rigorous economics can contribute to tackling climate change in the real world, from the design of carbon markets and industrial decarbonisation to the transformation of electricity systems. Increasingly, that means working across disciplines and with governments, businesses and communities. One of the great privileges of being at Imperial is having the opportunity to do exactly that. 

Neil Taylor, Centre for Academic English – promoted to Senior Teaching Fellow 

I love the stimulation of working with ambitious, world-leading researchers, helping them ‘curate’ their science to form a clear, cohesive text in which every word sings. My role, and that of the Centre for Academic English (CfAE), is to help make all of the brilliant science at Imperial as engaging and impactful as possible.  

I'm a novelist rather than a scientist, and I work with scientists to help them use narrative techniques to communicate their science as clearly and effectively as possible. This could be anyone from research groups working on an article for a high-impact journal, to MSc students preparing for a poster presentation, or undergraduates approaching their first literature review.  

This promotion means a lot me as it can be quite difficult for someone with a part-time contract to have their contribution recognised. It's also a recognition of the great work CfAE’s small team does across Imperial. 

Going forward I’d like to develop and expand the existing workshops in ‘storytelling’ that I deliver to some departments. Being able to wrap your science in a compelling narrative is a very useful skill. It not only helps improve reports, articles, and dissertations, but it's also the key to successful funding pitches, media presentations – and indeed all communication with non-scientists! 

Dr Yen Foung Tai, Brain Sciences – promoted to Professor of Practice (Neurology) 

My research focuses on using technology and neuromodulation, a medical therapy which acts upon the nerves, to improve the management of movements disorders such as Parkinson’s. We are also developing biomarkers to study the pathogenesis and to monitor the progression of neurodegenerative Parkinsonisms. 

I joined Imperial when I started my PhD and have continued my association with the university throughout my clinical academic training and career. I have collaborated with brilliant colleagues from a wide range of disciplines at Imperial, which has been instrumental in the successful running of my research programmes. As my research is very patient-focused, the diverse patient population cohort at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust helps to shape many of my research questions. 

I’m proud of the work my team has carried out so far and recognise that there is still much more to do. I hope we can continue to build on our work, and break down the barriers that can sometimes hamper research and collaboration between NHS and academic institutions. Personally, I would like to eventually make a significant difference in the treatment of Parkinson’s.