Jackie Bell

"My personality types are communicator, coordinator and influencer and they definitely fit with the work that I do! Being a good communicator is essential in my role as a Senior Teaching Fellow - not only during my day-to-day teaching, but also when I do public engagement as I have to be ready to communicate exciting up-to-date research in computing to a variety of audiences and look confident and engaging at the same time.I coordinate the Department of Computing's outreach and public engagement activities - meaning I pull together what everyone is doing, organise venues, speakers, order equipment, liaise with schools and teachers, manage budgets and help support research staff deliver engaging activities and events. In terms of being an influencer, I guess I try to do a lot of this in my spare time as well as at work. Trying to influence others to make positive changes to their lives (both in and out of the workplace) is something I try hard to achieve every day. You can influence others in lots of ways - even just smiling and saying hello to people in the morning can have a positive influence and encourage them to do the same! "

"As a Senior Teaching Fellow at Imperial College London I am responsible for teaching undergraduates within the Department of Computing. This can range from personal tutorials in maths and programming to complete taught modules. The starting salary varies depending on which institution you are part of (as most Universities now have Teaching Fellows), but in London the starting salary can range between £42,000 - £58,000 per year. Each Teaching Fellow has a particular specialism or focus at Imperial and mine covers a broad range of outreach, diversity, equality, inclusion and public engagement programmes happening across the Department of Computing. I love my role as I get to make a difference to the women who work and study within the department, as well as other underrepresented groups. One week I might be researching maternity and paternity rights and the adjustments we can make as a department to support our staff more and make them feel happier and valued. The next I might be running an outreach programme for young women, or supporting an academic who wants to run a coding club at their local school, or putting together an event for students to help run at our local Big Bang Fair! My role is really varied and personally I really enjoy the challenge that it brings. Every day is different and the things I work on, for example putting together a policy to support people going through the menopause or working with our department operations manager to replace some of the toilet facilities with gender neutral ones, have a big impact on a select group of people who may not have previously felt confident or comfortable at work. The changes I bring about may be small, but you have to start somewhere, right? And I can honestly say I have never had as much job satisfaction (and I have had quite a few jobs in my time already! haha) as I do when I'm making other people happy - it's the best feeling in the world!"

"The route to my current role wasn't a straight forward one by any means! When I initially went to university I had wanted to become an astronaut or a teacher (two very different careers I know!). I then met so many amazing and inspiring people during my studies that it made me think differently about who I wanted to become. I volunteered as a youth worker alongside my degree and absolutely loved it so much that I decided that I wanted to become a youth work practitioner. It was only with a change of government that I was unable to pursue that career and turned instead to a masters degree in mathematical sciences (whilst still working at the youth club a couple of nights a week). I also worked as a waitress, cloakroom assistant, server for the Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress of Liverpool and even worked match days at the kiosks in Liverpool Football Club to be able to afford to go to University - so by the time I graduated I already had a feeling of which type of roles I did and didn't enjoy! I think my involvement with youth work heavily influenced my desire to give back to my community, and so when I was fortunate enough to be awarded a John Lennon Memorial Scholarship at the University to Liverpool to study theoretical particle physics at PhD level I ran a project with families to engage parents and their children with science and engineering. I did this three nights a week in different areas of Liverpool and I absolutely loved it. Following my PhD I went full-time with Walton Youth Project, before moving to Hawthornes Free School as an enrichment tutor and cheerleading coach. I then moved to the Science Museum where I worked for six months as an Explainer, presenting science demos to schoolchildren and their teachers/parents, before moving to the British Science Association to work on community engagement programmes. In 2017, I appeared on the BBC Science production ‘Astronauts: Do You Have What It Takes?’ where I was one of twelve finalists."

"In my spare time I train to become an astronaut - I know it sounds crazy, but since taking part in the BBC documentary I've really felt like I might just have a shot at becoming an astronaut if I build up my skillset a little more. So I do things like keeping fit and healthy - going to the gym most days and taking part in fitness classes of an evening. I'm also learning Russian and Portuguese, since all astronauts need to know how to speak Russian for their missions to the International Space Station and Portuguese because my partner is from Portugal. I attend Russian lessons every week and practice speaking Portuguese at home. On the weekends I travel to Gloucester airport where I'm learning to fly a Robinson R22 helicopter. I hope to have my private pilot's license (PPL) soon and then who knows, maybe I will pursue a career in aviation on my way to getting to space! With all this training it's really important to me that I also make time for myself, to see the people I love and to spend time doing things I enjoy like reading, dancing and playing the violin. I make sure I have a night with my friends every week without fail and I go home to visit my family as much as possible. At some point soon I hope to pick up cheerleading again, either by coaching a team or being part of a new squad - cheerleading is an amazing and challenging sport that helped me grow so much in confidence and become the person I am today!During the pandemic I embarked on a new project: designing my own science-inspired clothing range for girls, in partnership with family business iOLa & eFFi Ltd. I used to be quite artsy and creative when I was younger, and this project has given me an opportunity to enjoy art and design once again."

"A typical day for me would be getting in to the office (which I share with around fifteen other people) at around 9am and checking my emails. I then try to go through all of my emails and any outstanding tasks by 10.30am as that's when meetings normally start. I might meet with external organisations wishing to collaborate of outreach programmes or different projects, or colleagues from within my organisation who would like to increase their commitment to engaging with schools or other groups. For lunch, I always try to go outside - where occasionally you will find me reading in the park or practicing my Russian, as I think its important to take a break (as much as I love my job!) and do something different to re-stimulate your mind and make you feel refreshed and more proactive when you return to your desk. The afternoon could involve teaching, or chatting through some project ideas with colleagues, working on some of my own research, or writing new proposals - it varies so much that every day really is different! "

"Sixth Form College:AS-Level History - BAS-Level Further Mathematics - AA-Level Maths - AA-Level Music Technology - AA-Level General Studies - CWork-based Diploma:NVQ Level 3 in Youth WorkThe University of Liverpool:BSc Mathematics - 1st Class with HonoursMSc Mathematical Sciences - DistinctionPhD Theoretical Particle Physics - Pass"