Arctic Finland 2023 Expedition

Five young scientists, all attached to the Grantham Institute, have won the support of the RCSA Trust and of the IC Exploration Board for their hike along the Karkunkierros Trail in north-eastern Finland, right on the border with Russia. An expedition to the Arctic by Carl Linnaeus in the 18th century serves as the founding inspiration for this trip, and the five are working closely with the Linnean Society of London. In 1732, Carl Linnaeus, the renowned Swedish biologist, underwent an expansive exploration of northern Scandinavia, documenting the flora and fauna found within. The trip proved to be seminal in his career, wherein he […] Read More

Save-the-dates and other Presidential News

In his first membership-wide email our president, Mike Munroe, has several messages for us including a ‘save the date’ for the upcoming Constituent College ‘Summer Soiree’  and for the Alumni Weekend. Mike introduces us to his executive team and updates us on several matters from his first few months of office which, by all accounts, have been a bit of a whirlwind. That first date for your diary is 13th June, very soon indeed! It is for a joint RCS Union and RCS Association get-together, with the other constituent colleges invited along too. We know many of our members have […] Read More

New “Member News” Feature

A big ‘Thank you!’ to all of you who have praised our web site, and who congratulated us for updating it so frequently. And thanks to those of you who suggested that the web site was a worthy successor to, and perhaps even an improvement on, the once-per-year appearance of The Record. But to the couple of you who remarked “but if only you had a members’ news section…..” well we have an update! We have taken heed of your suggestion, and are delighted to say we have a brand new area of the web site where we can share […] Read More

Great Exhibition Road Festival and Alumni Weekend

Not long until the Great Exhibition Road Festival and Alumni Weekend return to South Kensington on 17th and 18th June. Hope you can get along! For more details, and to register for the Festival (which is entirely free) click here……. The Great Exhibition Road Festival. Running alongside the Festival is the Alumni Weekend and your RCSA team will be attendance, of course.  We look forward to seeing you in the Alumni Lounge, in the Jez garage or in the Union Bar. For more details click here……. The Alumni Weekend. There is a small charge to register for the Alumni Lounge, […] Read More

Supporting the Armenia 2023 Expedition

Five students from the Department of Life Sciences have won the support of the RCSA Trust and of the IC Exploration Board for their Vayots Dzor, Armenia 2023 Expedition. The students will spend two weeks in the latter half of May travelling the Transcaucasian Trail (TCT) through the Vayots Dzor province. During the hike, they will also record bird sightings to upload to ebird.org, a citizen science database of bird occurrences. Our scientists will capitalise on the work of the Transcaucasian Trail (TCT) project, which began in 2015 with the aim of developing a world-class, long-distance trail network across the […] Read More

No.3: RCSU News(letter)

As the Spring term draws to a close we’d like to tell you a little of what the students are up to. You’ve heard already about the “Run From Imperial” historic vehicles rally that takes place on 29th April, and for those of you with school-age children, we’ve already pointed out the submission deadline for the RCSU Science Challenge is Monday 17 April 2023 at 17.00. And there is news on the student election front. Our RCSU President, Trinity Stenhouse, and her Vice President (Activities), Julia Purrinos de Oliveira, have been elected for a second term of office. But there […] Read More

RCS Motor Club ‘Run From Imperial’

The RCSA are pleased to support this RCS Motor Club initiative with some much-needed start-up funding. The run came about as the London to Brighton vehicle rallies are suspended for the foreseeable future. The Coronation has clashed with this year’s date, and none of the traditional mustering points are suitable now they find themselves within the ULEZ low emission zone. Whilst the Historic Commercial Vehicle Society (HCVS) work out a solution, the RCS Motor Club has filled the gap with a rally of its own. It’s called ‘The Run from Imperial’ and will start from Harlington (which is outside the […] Read More

ORCS Win the SKADL League

ORCS, the “Old Royal College of Science” darts team have been victorious in the Winter 2023 SKADL Darts League. They become the inaugural winners of the “RCSA Purse” – £100 of prize money. Of twelve games, ORCS won ten, drew another and lost only one. A very impressive run for which we congratulate them most heartily. The various teams in SKADL, the South Kensington Academic Darts League, have their roots in the Union Bar, in the Holland Bar, in the RCS and in various other academic institutions ‘not so far from South Kensington’, and the 2023 Summer League see another […] Read More

No.2: RCS Union, having a Ball….

What news from the students of the RCSU you might be wondering? Well, they have an all-new constitution (which seems to be called their ‘standing orders’ these days). And a barrage of events you might wish to hear about. With the term all but over, there is only their Spring Ball remaining and it is almost upon us, coming up soon on the 15th March. Always of interest is the RCSU Science Challenge, and members with school-age children should know the RCS Union opened the competition on Monday 27th February and have declared the submission deadline to be Monday 17 […] Read More

Another Heirloom Saved

RCSU President, Trinity Stenhouse, modelling RCS Jacket

Hot on the heels of saving the Union Bar table, which is a historical relic dating back to 1911, the RCSA are at it again. We’ve rescued a tradition that isn’t quite so old; this time it is the RCSU President’s ceremonial jacket that has been cleaned, restored and given a new lease of life. Once upon a time the RCSU had several of these stripy purple, black and white jackets, sufficient for all of the exec, but for many years now we have been down to the last one, reserved for the president. But what a state it was […] Read More