What do academics actually do? What motivates them to get out of bed each morning and to deliver what is — or in many cases what isn’t – expected of them?
For a student setting out, the life of senior academics may seem very mysterious, particularly as many may end up taking on responsibilities and activities far removed from where an individual started. The trajectory from student to senior academic is rarely a straight line, with twists, setbacks, time out and/or opportunities (taken or declined) all to be combined with a personal life.
This series of conversations aims to explore the individual paths of some eminent academics who have made it to the top in their own particular ways. How have they found their own solutions to ‘life’, what tips do they wish they’d been given earlier on, and what might they view, retrospectively, with most pleasure or regret?
The next in this series of conversations will be with the Director of Mental Health at Wellcome, Professor Miranda Wolpert MBE.
This is a hybrid event, taking place in person in the Wolfson Theatre, but also live-streamed online as a Zoom webinar. Please click on the link below to book for either format, you will be asked to specify which ticket you require.
Places are free but bookings are essential.
The event will be followed by a drinks reception at 7pm. All are welcome to attend.
Professor Miranda Wolpert MBE
Professor Miranda Wolpert is Director of Mental Health at Wellcome. Wellcome has made Mental Health one of its four key areas of focus (along with Climate and Health, Infectious Diseases and broad discovery research). Her work sets out to find and fund science that can support the development of effective early intervention that could stop the escalation of Anxiety, Depression and Psychosis before they become lifelong, debilitating conditions, turning what are currently disabling chronic conditions into treatable acute episodes and stopping people being held back from achieving their life goals and contributing to society.
Miranda has a background as a clinician working for many years in child and family mental health in the NHS and has also worked as a policy advisor on mental health and informatics in the UK. Miranda retains her position as Professor in Evidence Based Research and Practice at UCL where her research focuses on measuring outcomes of mental health treatments and making use of flawed data. Miranda was awarded an MBE for her services to children and young people’s mental health
