UCL Library, Culture, Collections and Open Science

Paul Ayris obituary Other lives: Library leader at UCL committed to the movement for open science

Nice obituary of @ucllccos.bsky.social Pro-Vice Provost Paul Ayris by our former colleague Ben Meunier www.theguardian.com/books/2026/f...

UCL celebrates 200 years: A landmark year begins Today, UCL marks 200 years since its foundation. Based in the heart of London, UCL is rooted in curiosity, tolerance and academic excellence. Throughout the year we will celebrate two centuries of lea...

💜 Today, @ucl.ac.uk marks 200 years since its foundation.
Throughout 2026, we will celebrate two centuries of learning and innovation and share those achievements with our global community.

➡️Discover our exciting #UCL200 programme of events and learn how you can get involved.

Today, UCL turns 200. 🎉 For two centuries, our community has opened doors, challenged convention and pushed the boundaries of knowledge across every discipline. Thank you to everyone who’s been part of the UCL story, here’s to the next century. ✨

#UCL200 #LoveUCL

A variety of wasp nest specimens in a display case at the Grant Museum.

Visitors interacting with the exhibition at the Grant Museum.

Two people looking into a display case at the Grant Museum.

Two people examining the paper sculptures in the Grant Museum.

The World of Wasps exhibition recently wrapped up in the @uclgrantmuseum.bsky.social. It’s been great sharing @ucl.ac.uk research and celebrating the importance of wasps in our ecosystem. #GMZWasps

One month to go… UCL turns 200! 🎉

On 11 February, we kick off #UCL200 – a year of celebrations marking our radical founding in 1826 as London’s first university, open to all. Expect parties, exhibitions, student festivals, art, books, performances, and more.

Get ready!

@uclspeccoll.bsky.social

In memoriam: Dr Paul Ayris, BA, PhD, FRHist Remembering Dr Paul Ayris, Pro-Vice-Provost (LCCOS).

We are shocked and saddened to share news of the death of Dr Paul Ayris, Pro-Vice-Provost (LCCOS: Library, Culture, Collections and Open Science). Paul will be hugely missed in LCCOS and beyond, and our thoughts are with his family, friends and colleagues.

Read our tribute: https://bit.ly/3XZKE25

UCL’s portico.

A diverse range of projects has progressed our mission in 2024-25; from curating and opening up world-class collections, to pioneering open science, and partnering with our local and global communities to address society’s grand challenges. Read our Annual Report here: www.ucl.ac.uk/lccos/about-...

A person wearing a virtual reality headset.

We are proud to currently host the world's first exhibition centred on wasps, combining science, art and technology to reveal the secret world of these complex animals. Read more in the LCCOS Annual Report here: www.ucl.ac.uk/lccos/about-...

A visitor looking into the display cases at the Petrie Museum.

This year, we were happy to have our accreditation renewed by Arts Council England recognising excellence across governance, collections and access. Read more in the LCCOS Annual Report here: www.ucl.ac.uk/lccos/about-...

Students at the UCL Science Library.

We have demonstrated our commitment to supporting student success in 2024-25 by transforming our study spaces, prioritising diverse learning needs. Read more in the LCCOS Annual Report here: www.ucl.ac.uk/lccos/about-...

Join Professor Philip Schofield and Dr Jane Gilmour in the latest episode of Beautiful Minds as they debunk the myths around Tourette's.

Listen now: bit.ly/448WE4H

#Tourettes #BeautifulMinds

Maria Dragoi stood in the Micrarium at the Grant Museum of Zoology.

What’s missing from natural history collections? Maria Dragoi, @ucl.ac.uk Museum Studies alumna and current PhD candidate, discusses her research into the Grant Museum’s entomology collection and the importance of interpreting collections through a decolonial lens. www.ucl.ac.uk/museums-coll...

Words Matter Events Programme Words Matter is a FREE multi-disciplinary exhibition showcasing the works of twelve artists who participated in a six-month knowledge exchange programme, exploring UCL’s historic role in promoting the...

Words Matter is a free multi-disciplinary exhibition that is part of Prejudice in Power. Find out more about the events programme exploring UCL’s historic role in promoting the pseudoscience of eugenics.

Why Sleep Hygiene Doesn’t Always Work, featuring Professor Dagmara Dimitriou Professor Dagmara Dimitriou and Professor Philip Schofield take a deep dive into the strange world of sleep and the brain.

From infant dreams to nightmares, take a deep dive into the strange world of sleep and the brain with the latest episode of UCL Press Play.

Get exclusive insights from Professor Dagmara Dimitriou's two decades of research.

Listen now: uclpress.co.uk/podcast/why-...

Opening today at the @uclpetriemuseum.bsky.social, a new group art show places contemporary Sudanese voices alongside the museum’s ancient artefacts. Find out more about The Land Carries: www.ucl.ac.uk/museums-coll...

Tales for a Winter’s Night Step into the Petrie Museum after hours for an evening of supernatural tales.

Discover stories of the supernatural penned by the @uclpetriemuseum.bsky.social’s founder Amelia B. Edwards. Award-winning actor Jonathan Goodwin returns on 21 November with 'Tales for a Winter’s Night'.

Head of Petrie Egyptian and Sudanese Archaeology Collections, Catriona Wilson, and Curator Dr Anna Garnett.

Listen in to a conversation addressing Flinders Petrie's complex legacy. UCL President and Provost Michael Spence meets Head of Petrie Egyptian and Sudanese Archaeology Collections, Catriona Wilson, and Curator Dr Anna Garnett in the Faces of UCL podcast. faces-of-ucl.transistor.fm/episodes/epi...

🎉 The 1st episode of Beautiful Minds, the new season of UCL Press Play, is out now!

Join Professor Philip Schofield and Dr Sarah White as they take a forensic look at the brain, and challenge outdated medical models and stereotypes of autism

Listen now: t.co/vQPLohtyDk

Screenshot of Zoom discussion with Geraldine Hunwick, Holly Smith, Sarah Aitchison, Erika Delbecque, and Christopher Cipkin on screen.

Thanks to Geraldine Hunwick, Rosaleen Williams, Holly Smith, Sarah Aitchison & Erika Delbecque @ncllibspeccoll.bsky.social @leedsunilibraries.bsky.social @ucllccos.bsky.social for speaking to #RLUKICIL on how collections can help libraries meet #EDI goals

📺 Watch a recording at bit.ly/ICILOND

A collection of publications by Monitor Books.

@uclspeccoll.bsky.social has appointed Monitor Books as the inaugural Small Press in Residence as part of celebrations marking 60 years since UCL’s Small Press Collection was established. Read more here: www.ucl.ac.uk/library/news...

Cintia Akemi Oi and Serian Sumner on a research trip to Japan.

Researchers from the Sumner Lab talk about how their research informed the @uclgrantmuseum.bsky.social’s latest virtual reality exhibition, World of Wasps. Read more here: www.ucl.ac.uk/museums-coll... #GMZWasps

@ucl.ac.uk Staff and Students - join us for an Open Access Week webinar in which four speakers will consider the question: Who Owns Our Knowledge?

Wednesday 22 October, 11am - 12:30pm 📆

We hope you can make it! 👉 buff.ly/g0vGFc8

(Graphic from Open Access Week website, photo by Greg Rakozy)

Promotional image for UCL Press open access textbooks, featuring a background of bookshelves filled with various books, overlayed with the text "Are you adopting a UCL Press open access textbook?" and logos for Open Access eTextbooks and UCL Press.

We love hearing how our Open Access textbooks are being used in classrooms around the world 🌍

If you’ve adopted one for your course, let us know-your stories help us support more learners!

💬 DM or tag us
🔗 Browse free textbooks: t.co/6sxfFy6HF0

#OpenAccess

A huge congratulations to the winners of UCL Open Science and Scholarship Awards 2025! 🎉🍾

Read the announcement on our latest blog post 👉 buff.ly/UBQGnKy

UCL Staff and Students, celebrate with these colleagues at the awards presentation on Wednesday 22nd October 🏆 buff.ly/0aV34VC

A student sitting down and reading a book.

In celebration of the recent East and South East Asian Heritage Month, students and staff across have shared their book recommendations with us. Read through the list here: www.ucl.ac.uk/library/news...

UCL graphic announcing KEF success: bold text reads ‘A leading university for knowledge exchange - 5 years in a row,’ with ‘knowledge exchange’ highlighted in green; UCL logo top-right; photo of the UCL Portico with ‘WELCOME’ banners at the bottom.

UCL has been rated as a leading university for knowledge exchange for the fifth year in a row in Research England’s Knowledge Exchange Framework (KEF).

Read the news story: bit.ly/46tDarL

#KEF5

@uclenterprise.bsky.social

Hello and welcome new students! We provide services and resources to support the world-class research, education and enterprise that is undertaken in UCL. https://www.ucl.ac.uk/lccos/library-culture-collections-and-open-science-lccos #WelcomeToUCL

Centenary meeting audience listening to eminent neurologist, Sir Ernest Gowers in the Wolfson Lecture Theatre at The National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Queen Square, London. 1960 (ref: QSA/12363)

Teaching a group of medical students in a classroom. c.1930 (ref. QSA/12364)

Arthur Dickson ['Dicky'] Wright (eminent neurosurgeon) on a ward round with doctors. 1962 (ref: QSA/1879)

Dr. Macdonald Critchley teaching on the ward. No date. (ref: QSA/1871). Critchley was a British neurologist and former president of the World Federation of Neurology. In 2013, the weekly undergraduate teaching round at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery at Queen Square, London, was named after him - the Critchley Round.

This month's #ExploreYourArchive theme is #EYAEducation.

This week we focus on #teaching, whether it’s in lecture theatres to students or the public, in classrooms or on the wards.

More images can be viewed by searching “teaching” in our Queen Square Archives tinyurl.com/4wr4963n

2025 RIC Fellows Appointed We are delighted to announce the appointed fellows to visit UCL to conduct research on topics using UCL’s archives, rare books, records, and museum collections.

We are delighted to announce the newly appointed Research Institute for Collections (RIC) Fellows to visit UCL to conduct research on topics using the university's archives, rare books, records, and museum collections. Read more here:

Object-based Learning workshop and book launch Please join us for an afternoon and evening of events and activities, centring on UCL’s museums and their unique collections.

Object-based Learning workshop and book launch
15 Oct, 2:30–7pm with @ucllccos.bsky.social
Please join us for an afternoon and evening of events and activities, centring on UCL’s museums and their unique collections.
www.ucl.ac.uk/institute-of...