University of Westminster

Alumnus, artist and the Times of Malta political cartoonist, Sebastian Tanti Burlò, hosted his first UK solo exhibition at the Cicek Gallery in London, showcasing a critique on the decadence of Western society, capturing its decline through 13 new oil paintings 💫 His art exhibition, Antic Hay, is hosted until 31 August at Cicek Gallery in London, an independent art gallery supporting emerging artists from underrepresented backgrounds. His work combines current affairs, satire and writing to create a socio-commentary of today’s times in bold paintings, and has been exhibited in Malta, Barcelona, Florence and London 👏 Sebastian studied Architecture and Urban Studies at our Marylebone Campus, graduating in 2013. While his focus was his degree, Sebastian explored various sides of himself. At the time, his art practice was a hobby, as well as something to bolster his Architectural studies, which he soon found a strong passion for and began to branch out from it into a full-time career a year later in 2014, working for the Times of Malta as a political cartoonist till present where his artworks are published weekly 💛 🔗 Find out more about Sebastian Tanti Burlò and how to visit his art exhibition, Antic Hay: https://bit.ly/4ctCYtC

We were excited to welcome Dame Judith Petts for a visit to our Centre for Nutraceuticals, a first-of-its-kind initiative in the area of nutraceuticals, supplements and functional foods, which Dame Judith generously helps fund 👏 Dame Judith Petts is the wife of former Westminster Vice-Chancellor Geoffrey Petts and is the current Vice-Chancellor of the University of Plymouth. Dame Judith has supported our university with generous donations towards establishing The Professor Geoffrey Petts Research Fund in memory of her late husband, to provide our PhD researchers with financial support towards equipment and fieldwork costs, making postgraduate research more accessible. The Fund has contributed towards the refurbishment and expansion of our Westminster Centre for Nutraceuticals and earlier this month she was able to pay a visit to the Centre 💛 The Centre acts as a catalyst for improving health and well-being guided by research and innovation. It seeks to be a globally recognised source of scientifically validated knowledge to better inform governments, regulatory bodies, the industry and consumers. The core expertise of the Centre is unique and distinctive. The focus areas include supplementation and functional foods and run throughout a range of disciplines such as Nutrition, Public health, Physiology, Metabolism, Formulation Science and Nanotechnology ✨ During the tour, Dame Judith got to explore the facilities, see the new features and meet our PhD students who have been supported by her generous donation 🙌 🔗 Read more: https://bit.ly/4fRAlVq

Our Cavendish Living Lab took part in the London Permaculture Festival last month which held discussions, networking and learning opportunities about creative solutions for a sustainable, healthy future ✨ The event took place in Cecil Sharp House in Camden where there were 20 workshops, a stalls market, a pop-up unusual edible perennials plant stall and a Families at the Festival zone. Senior lecturer and Co-course leader for our Biological Sciences course as well as co-lead for the Cavendish Living Lab, Dr Pooja Basnett, joined her students, Mehseen Ullah, Shivani Patil, Nadezda Zelve and Lou-Ann Quentin, at the festival to represent Westminster and bring light to our Cavendish Living Lab 👏 The team showcased our urban farming strand, where they utilised food waste that was transformed into biofertiliser to grow food on our Cavendish Campus. This food was then donated to our local food bank, illustrating a circular model of production and consumption. Our team exhibited their novel hydroponics system made of sustainable materials, designed by Nadezda Zelve, a Second-Year Biomedical Science student 💛 The Permaculture Festival is hosted every year, and this year was sponsored by the English Folk Dance and Song Society, Capital Growth, Permaculture Association and LAND Permaculture Demonstration Network. The festival attracts around 600 people who come to learn about how the ethical design science of permaculture can offer sustainable and regenerative green solutions to different areas of modern life 💫 🔗 Find out more about the Cavendish Living Lab and the Permaculture Festival: https://bit.ly/3SYjYwB

Regent Street Polytechnic alumnus, Ken Subraj, has supported 17 of our students with generous awards and internships to acknowledge their outstanding achievements and excellence in the fields of innovation, enterprise, real estate development and international success 🙌🥳 Subraj has also contributed to the funding of 12 students to be placed on international work placements at the IOM - UN Migration. The students embarked on their internships in May and are based in locations across the globe including Geneva, Nairobi and Sarajevo. These long-term internships, which are four to nine months in duration, provide our students with excellent opportunities to excel in their professional careers, develop significant skills and competencies, gain exposure to the workings of a leading international organisation, and build a firm foundation for their future careers 💛 Last month Subraj hosted an Afternoon Tea overlooking the London skyline at the Royal Festival Hall on the Southbank to celebrate the successes of each student and presented them with their trophies. The event allowed the students to talk with Subraj about his own experiences and career to give them inspiration for their next steps 💫 Subraj is a self-made millionaire, born in the suburbs of Guyana. He moved to London at the age of 20 to pursue an Engineering degree at our Polytechnic. From humble beginnings, he developed himself into an international structural engineer, working on projects in South America and the Middle East. He later joined his brothers to establish Zara, which has become one of the foremost property ownership organisations in New York 👏 🔗 Find out more about the Subraj family, Ken Subraj's support and how our students have been impacted: https://bit.ly/3YMjq0d

We recently celebrated the 2023-24 academic year’s successful Sustainability Fund projects to mark the end of this year’s cycle, featuring eight innovative projects and interventions 🙌 The Fund was established by our University’s Sustainability Team and the Centre for Education and Teaching Innovation in 2021 and provides students of all courses with the opportunity to carry out sustainability-related projects and initiatives 👏 Launched with the support of the Quintin Hogg Trust, the Sustainability Fund, formerly known as the Green Fund, continued in 2023-24 to provide our students, regardless of their course degree or level, with the opportunity to carry out sustainability-related projects and initiatives which are co-created, designed and implemented by students and colleagues working in partnership. This year’s cycle was also sponsored by Graham Hobson, alumnus, entrepreneur and co-founder of the online photo printing company Photobox 💛 The Sustainability Fund exemplifies the power of interdisciplinary partnership and collaboration between colleagues and students, working on projects that directly address the United Nations’s Sustainable Development Goals ✨ 🔗 Find out more about The Sustainability Fund and the projects it has facilitated: https://bit.ly/4cvRiSv

We are proud to announce our students' union has been awarded a gold accreditation and certificate of achievement for their commitment to welfare and wellbeing as part of the National Union of Students (UK) Best Bar None scheme! 🏆 Best Bar None is a national accreditation and award scheme for licensed premises, which assesses venues’ commitment to ensuring the safety of their customers, staff and the venue as a whole 💛 The University of Westminster Students' Union has been a member of the BBN scheme for multiple years, and throughout this time they have created a set of robust venue policies and procedures that ensure all venues are safe, sustainable and responsible places for students to socialise and work in. This year UWSU has focused on training the student staff team to help them feel supported and confident in running each venue. They have organised additional skills programmes that all student staff can take part in, including being trained as mental health first aiders and undertaking bystander and green dot training 👏 Our union also ensured their wellbeing is a priority when working in these venues, as they offer flexible shift patterns so each student can prioritise their university work as and when needed. They also offer safe and subsidised transport home for those working later shift patterns, hold a series of socials planned throughout the year and provide access to an employee assistant programme ✨ As an additional part of the Best Bar None awards, UWSU was also awarded a certificate of achievement for its commitment to welfare and wellbeing. The awards were presented at the NUS trading conference award dinner, where achievements of Students’ Unions across the country were celebrated 🙌 🔗 Find out more: https://bit.ly/3MehqGC

We are proud to have been named as a finalist for Best Business to Demonstrate Diversity in the Kensington, Chelsea and Westminster Awards! These awards recognise the achievements of businesses across all industries in the area 🏆👏 Sponsored by the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, City of Westminster, Grosvenor Casinos and many more, the annual KCW Awards celebrate the successes and milestones of a variety of businesses across all sectors in the two London boroughs 💛 The shortlist of finalists for this year’s awards was revealed last month, with our University standing among six other nominees for the Best Business to Demonstrate Diversity Award. These nominees are Americana London, CAFE DE NATA, Everyone Active Westway Sports & Fitness Centre, Mooboo, Raisa’s Barbers and Smilepod ✨ We hold inclusivity at the heart of everything we do and have committed to supporting Equality, Diversity and Inclusion through organisational practices, inclusive education and impactful initiatives. Our 2022/2029 Being Westminster strategy has placed inclusion as one of our key priorities and has transformed the way our University works together 🙌 🔗 Find out more about the KCW Awards, their upcoming awards ceremony in October and our commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: https://bit.ly/3WMthk7

We are proud to have awarded six Honorary Degrees and five Fellowships during our 2024 summer graduation ceremonies, last month 🏆🎓 Levi Roots, Jason Arday, Tanni, Baroness Grey-Thompson, Jack Rooke, Professor Geoffrey Guy and Sotiris Kyriacou have been conferred with Honorary Doctorates for their proactive and dedicated work, focusing on diversity, inclusion and wellbeing across the country 💛 The new Honorary Fellows are Matthew Smith, Simon Wylie, Helen Owen, David Stanton and Philomine Wales 👏 🔗 Read about each of our newest Honorary Degree and Fellowship recipients in our news story: https://bit.ly/3YvJBIq

Our arts venue, The Soho Poly Theatre, has received £6,000 from The Portman Foundation to support its Sustainable Communities Programme, which provides an inclusive space for all to enjoy the arts 👏 Soho Poly’s Sustainable Communities Programme builds on streams of work successfully trialled during the first year of operation of the fully restored licensed Soho Poly arts venue. The team have developed three free community arts clubs: the Craft and Creative Writing Club, Badge Making Café and Polyphonic Music Club. Beta versions of these clubs ran from September 2023 to March 2024 aimed particularly at older participants, members of the LGBTQ+ community and more widely across Westminster. They worked with the older people’s charities Open Age and THE FITZROVIA CENTRE LTD, as well as the LGBTQ+ charity Badge Cafe to bring these events to life 💛 Beneficiaries of Polyphonic Music and Badge Making Clubs include local office workers, shift workers, people from low-income backgrounds whose access to the arts is usually atypical, and students during lunchtime performances and events. Members of older people’s charities Open Age and the Fitzrovia Centre benefit from Craft and Creative Writing Clubs designed to combat isolation and promote creativity and wellbeing ✨ The Portman Estate's Foundation was formed over twenty years ago to support local charities and good causes that are active on the Portman Estate, which covers 110 acres of Marylebone in London 🙌 🔗 Find out more in our news story: https://bit.ly/4diF54H

“My favourite moments are seeing my students excel. It is amazing to watch them learn new skills, come up with innovative ideas and transform into confident and capable professionals. I see their passion for the environment and feel as though I’ve played a role in nurturing that enthusiasm. They’re the next generation and I have so much belief and faith in them.” - Dr Pooja Basnett ✨ In our latest story, we met with Dr Pooja Basnett, a Senior Lecturer and Co-Course Leader for Biological Sciences BSc. The course has Clearing spaces available! 🔬 🔗 Read more and discover our School of Life Sciences here: https://bit.ly/4dpZFAe