Prof Islam, from the Department of Chemistry, was the 2016 Christmas lecturer and gave three lectures at the famous Royal Institution called ‘Supercharged: Fuelling the Future’, which were broadcast on BBC 4. It was the 80th year the lectures have been broadcast on the BBC.
However his duties as the Christmas Lecturer continue until the 2017 Christmas Lectures take place and he hands over to the next lecturer, neuroscientist Professor Sophie Scott. In Singapore he delivered a single lecture featuring elements from all three of the Christmas Lecture series, to an audience of students sitting the equivalent of A-levels.
Prof Islam said: “It was a real honour to give the Royal Institution lectures and a real privilege to be taken across to Singapore to give this lecture for TV, which I really enjoyed.
“The audience was largely in their school uniforms and they seemed really engaged. The lecture was broadcast on Singapore’s Channel 5 on August 30th and it was good fun to be taken into a proper TV studio and have to go through the make-up.”
The TV lecture is now online at: https://video.toggle.sg/en/video/series/star-lecture-2017/ep1/526098
Prof Islam’s visit was supported by Singapore’s Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) and the Lloyd’s Register Foundation.
While in Singapore he also gave a guest research lecture at the National University of Singapore on energy materials for lithium batteries and solar cells.
In late September Prof Islam will travel to Japan to give two Christmas Lectures to students in Tokyo, his last official duty as the 2016 Christmas lecturer.