Welcome Celebration Day

Vice Chancellor, Professor Sasha Roseneil:

Thank you, all of you gathered here today. Thank you for choosing to come to Sussex. I think you've made a really fantastic choice. I want to tell you a little bit about why I think that.

Sussex is a great university, not just because we've got this beautiful campus with modernist architecture, designed by Sir Basil Spence, sitting on the edge of the South Downs National Park, only a few miles away from Brighton - which I think is just pretty much the best place in the world. Really vibrant, wonderful place to be. Some of you might have started exploring its delights, its diversions and distractions already, if you haven't, do. There's lots going on.

But not just because of that, but because Sussex itself is a remarkable university, truly one of a kind. Sussex opened its doors in 1961, and it was the first of the new plate glass universities that were established after the Second World War to contribute to the rebuilding of Britain. The innovation and growth that Britain needed after the Second World War. And it was all about opening up opportunities to new students. And right from the start, Sussex did things differently. First of all, it had a royal charter right from the beginning was able to award its own degrees, which had previously only been a privilege granted to Oxford colleges.

And Sussex very consciously set out to redraw the map of learning, to use the words of Asa Lord Briggs - one of the early vice-chancellors of Sussex in challenging the 19th century disciplines that structured other universities. Sussex was interdisciplinary from the start. It was also radically global from the outset. So Sussex's founders recognised that they were setting up a new university at the moment when the British Empire was coming to an end, moment of beginning of decolonisation, and they thought that Sussex needed to recognise this and start from scratch in teaching and researching in that context.

So Sussex established a School of African and Asian Studies right at the beginning, alongside a School of European Studies and a School of English and American Studies. And it started attracting bold and forward-thinking students from around the world. One of the first students at Sussex, right in the early years of the 1960s was Thabo Mvuyelwa Mbeki. He went on to become the second President of South Africa post-apartheid. And in the years that followed, many hundreds of students have come to Sussex from South Africa, supported by the Mandela Scholarship Program at Sussex Student set up as a way to contribute to the ending of apartheid.

In fact, half of Nelson Mandela's first cabinet were Sussex alumni who studied at Sussex. And the Constitution, the post-apartheid Constitution of South Africa was written by Albie Sachs, and it was based on his PhD that he studied, that he wrote at Sussex when he was in exile from the apartheid regime.

So Sussex has many amazing alumni, over 200,000 now. People who've gone to carve out for themselves really groundbreaking careers and have really made a difference in the world. So we have amongst us Nobel laureates, amongst our alumni and Turner Prize winners. Now, the Turner Prize winners are particularly interesting because Turner Prize is an art prize, contemporary art prize, probably the biggest contemporary art prize in Britain. We don't actually have an art school, but we have had students who've come through Sussex and gone on to become artists, even though they haven't had a training in art. And that's one of the things that Sussex can give you.

We've had grassroots campaigners and activists, as well as heads of state and vice presidents, as Sussex alumni. There are two Cabinet Ministers at the moment in the new Labour Cabinet who are Sussex alumni and 12 members of Parliament, seven Labour, two Conservative, one Liberal Democrat, one Green and one Reform. So don't let anyone ever say that there isn't a diversity of opinion amongst Sussex students. We've got the whole five. I don't think there is another university that has all those five.

We have leaders, influencers and creative practitioners in the arts and entertainment industries, writers, journalists, academics, chief executives of national and multinational organisations, engineers, scientists, an astronaut, teachers, social workers, doctors and those whose actions and relationships are remaking our complex social fabric in small, positive ways every day.

Now, I have no doubt that you will go on and do amazing things. What I also have no doubt about is that many of you will do things that you haven't yet imagined, because that's what Sussex opens up for you. So the challenge before you now and over the coming weeks and months throughout your time here, is to seize the many opportunities that Sussex places before you. Top amongst these, I think, is the opportunity to open up your minds and your hearts to the diversity that is the Sussex community at Sussex. We're immensely proud of our international diversity, of our staff and students, and of the global scope of the topics that we teach in research.

Our students come from over 130 countries and so represent an enormous range of cultures and nationalities. This greatly enriches the campus and the experience that's available to you. Now it can be all too easy for all of us to stay close to those who are like us. It's a natural human instinct to seek out the familiarity of similarity. It feels safer and more secure, especially when you're in a new environment away from home. And there's absolutely nothing wrong with finding your tribe. Indeed, I would really encourage it.

Go out, look for like-minded people, make friends with them, hang out together and hold on to them throughout your lives, but also look out for those who are different from you. Talk to them. Try to understand what makes them tick, how they see the world, what they think, believe, and feel. You might not agree with them initially, or you might find you do agree with some of the things that they say. But even if you don't agree with them in reaching out across the differences between you, you will learn to express your ideas more clearly. You'll be preparing yourself to be a global citizen in a super diverse and fast-changing world.

At Sussex we want to provide a safe, inclusive and respectful environment for every member of our community. Whatever your background or identity, your religion or belief, we're clear that there's no place for racism, for Antisemitism, Islamophobia, anti-Palestinian racism or any form of discrimination or harassment on the grounds of ethnicity, nationality or religion at Sussex. We want to treat people equally, whatever their sex, gender identity or sexual orientation, and to be fully inclusive of and accessible to disabled people and those who are neurodiverse. And we want to welcome and embrace all those who are exploring who they are and what they want to become.

As a university, we have a foundational commitment to academic freedom and freedom of speech. Both are essential to our work of education and research. We will always support freedom of expression that is lawful and respectful of others, mindful of the humanity and diversity that's at the heart of our university community. We expect that all views that are expressed are expressed in ways that think about their impact on others, and that respect the university's six values.

We can tell you what those values are. We've recently consulted on them. So to check that really everyone really still did believe in these values. And I'm really pleased to report that they did. The students in particular were most enthusiastic. We also have to recognise these aspirations. Not everyone lives up to every bit of them all the time, but the Sussex values are collaboration, courage, inclusion, integrity, kindness and openness. So I hope these values resonate with you. You're here to learn and to grow. To develop intellectually. None of us are the final product, even when you're really quite old. You're here to develop a set of skills and dispositions that will carry you forward in life.

So whatever your subject area, we will offer you an education that will encourage you to think independently and critically about the world and about established knowledge. An education that values rigour and sets high standards, and that is underpinned by the innovative and world leading research that our academics, your teachers and professors are doing right now.

Now, Sussex has a very rich history of innovative research, and one of my favourite Sussex facts is that the first transatlantic email was sent from Sussex in 1973, the first ever transatlantic email from Sussex to the US. Now, that's not surprising. If you know about the history of Sussex and the history of Computer Science at Sussex. Sussex was amongst the first universities to work on developing artificial intelligence right back in the 1960s. Everyone's talking about it now, but really it started at Sussex and we're still at the forefront of discovery and AI, with teams of researchers advancing knowledge in robotics and autonomous systems in consciousness science and neuroscience. And Sussex researchers are trailblazing in quantum physics, building a quantum computer that aims to be faster and more powerful than it's ever been built before.

In the Life Sciences, we’re researching biodiversity loss and how it can be reversed, and we're exploring how the restoration of the Kelp forests of Sussex Bay can support the fight against climate change.

In the social sciences, we are the world's leading university. Number one in the world for development studies - the interdisciplinary field that examines global challenges such as migration, child poverty, food and water security, war, conflict and inequality and identifies policy solutions to these problems.

In psychology, we're at the forefront of research into kindness and the benefits it brings to wellbeing and social relationships, with a focus on how and why kindness matters in schools and colleges, in everyday interactions, and in institutions such as the Judiciary.

In the Arts and Humanities, we’re exploring how digital technologies can offer deeper and different understandings of the world, shedding new light on the past, preserving knowledge for the future, and capturing the multi-dimensional realities of the world in totally new ways through field sound recordings. For instance, in nature.

Our Business School - we’re in the Business School right now - excels in research, in green finance and how we can increase productivity without further damaging the environment. As well as housing, a globally unique unit focussed on science, policy research and carrying out research on the future of work in the digital age, on reducing energy consumption and on accelerating policy change in relation to climate change.

The one of the most unifying commitments across Sussex is our commitment to challenging climate change and focusing on environmental sustainability. It threads through our curriculum, our research and our life on campus, with our commitment to being net zero by 2035 and to radically increase the biodiversity on our campus. This year, I'm really pleased to say we were ranked joint 26th in the world of all the universities in the world for sustainability, but we're constantly challenging ourselves to do more, and our students are challenging us to do more.

Every year, students take part in the pitch for the planet competition, where they bring forward ideas for what we could do on campus in relation to sustainability, what could be done in local communities, and winners receive cash prizes that they can then use to put their ideas into action. Well this considering taking part in pitch for the planet. If you have any ideas like that, you could challenge your personal development by working towards the Spirit of Sussex Award - SOSA, as it gets called, which is our way of recognising your achievements outside the academic. So this could include being a student ambassador, serving as a mentor or volunteering, entrepreneurship activities, work experience or taking part in creative activities, musical theatre, drama, that sort of thing.

Take the time to make the most of all that's on offer at Sussex. Find the thing that you're passionate about that keeps you balanced when other things in life might feel a bit overwhelming. You might join clubs and societies, take up or continue a sport, play a musical instrument, explore the beautiful South Downs around us. You can go to shows and performances at the Attenborough Centre for Creative Arts here on campus, or to the football at the Amex across the road. Join the dog walking society. Grow food with the Sussex Roots allotments and gardening collective. Get involved in politics or my personal passion - get down to the beach and have a swim.

In the weeks and months and years ahead, you will inevitably face challenges. You might at times feel lonely or isolated, or maybe even inadequate. You might have problems with family back home or relationships here. You might feel you don't fit in, or that you're not doing university right, that you aren't making the most of your experience in the way that your peers are. These feelings are often really exacerbated by social media, which we know is not a true representation of life as it is actually lived. We all actually know that if we put stuff on social media, we're thinking quite carefully about what we're putting on; the best photos, the most exciting things we're doing. Well, everyone's doing that. What you see on other people's social media posts is not their true life. It's not their whole life, and it can be quite misleading.

If things start to build up, if you're struggling to reach out and ask for help. Talk to the students who are around you. Talk to your tutors. Contact the Student Wellbeing Service or one of the university chaplains. And we have chaplains representing pretty much every faith and denomination, all coordinated by our Central Humanist University Chaplain, James Croft. Don't suffer alone and in silence.

And before things get difficult, start making connections with others on your course, on your corridor, in the queue for coffee sitting next to you right now. Do this today. Tomorrow. This weekend. Next week. You never know which conversation is going to lead to a lifelong friendship. And in meeting Sussex alumni around the world, and I've met now hundreds of Sussex alumni, many countries around the world. One of the most important things that I've seen is the quality and the value that they place in their friendships that they made at Sussex. And I've met alumni date back to students from the 1960s and many since then, and they have overwhelmingly talked about how important the friends that they made at Sussex remain to them.

So your time here at Sussex is about your studies, but it's also about your personal growth and it's about creating meaningful relationships. So embrace the opportunity to learn from each other. And together we can create a warm and supportive environment for everyone.

It's time for me to draw to a close. So I just want to say once again, on behalf of all the staff of the university, how delighted we are that you're here. You made a good choice and we wish you all the very best as you start your Sussex journey. You are now officially Sussex students. Work hard, play hard and have a great time.

Jordi M. Carter:

Thank you. Good morning everyone. Good morning everyone!

-Good Morning - students replied

Thank you. That's what I'm talking about. First off, I just want to thank Jason Price and everyone at Sussex for having me back. It's a real pleasure to be here and to speak in front of all of you guys.

I'm going to take it back. Six years ago, I started this time in 2018. I was walking through campus today, and it reminded me, about arriving in a whole new world Sussex was. It felt massive at the time. It was buzzing with energy, full of people from all over the world with different accents and styles and cultures. And coming from South London, where multiculturalism isn’t an everyday thing, it was a slight culture shock for me. I was excited, yeah, but I was also nervous. Had all these thoughts about would I fit in? Would I be able to hold my own in the seminars and the workshops in this creative space that felt so big and unfamiliar?

It's easy to sort of lean into that anxiety. And this is very well founded. But those first impressions are never the full story. Sussex is big, but it's also intimate in the best way. I found my people here. I found my voice here, and I found a way to blend everything I am. My roots, my culture, my heritage, my experiences into the work I created through my degree. And that didn't happen overnight.

I think the main thing about this journey from day one to where I am now, six years later - which is insane - is.. it's full of twists and turns in the best possible way and the worst possible way sometimes. There's a fair few bumps. I know Sussex has challenged me in ways that I never expected and didn't see coming. The workload was intense at times. There were nights where I was up late doing all-nighters in the library, more times out of choice, more times because I didn't have any choice. And.. there were moments in, say, practical workshops in drama where I think is this, - Is this working for me? And even in my film lectures and film seminars, there would be times where I think is it, is this really what I'm here for?

And I think that's the thing. Every challenge I face really pushed me to level up, to dig deeper and to keep going even when things got tough. And we've got some tips. If there's one thing I wish someone had told me when I got here, it's that it's okay to not have everything figured out. I think, especially at younger ages, there's a lot of pressure to know exactly where you're headed. To know where you're going to have a plan and to stick to it. But the reality is, life doesn't work like that, especially when you graduate into the working world. And your journey here at Sussex will take you in directions you can't predict. It definitely did that for me. And that's a good thing. Embrace the uncertainty, the unexpected detours, because these are the moments where you'll find your true self and discover more about who you are.

And I think the challenges of committing to study are 100% worth it. The rewards, personal, creative, professional are worth every late-night study session, every moment of doubt. Every challenge you face, the creative and critical tools you gain and develop here, they're not just for now. They're for the rest of your life. And they've really helped me, especially after graduating in 2021. There's still things that I did in both of my dissertations - don’t ask me why I did two - that are still unfinished business in my practice. And it's really nice to lean on my degree and talk to my friends that I met during the course to continue that unfinished business that I started here at Sussex.

And I think those tools will help you every day. And they help me every day, especially whether I'm directing a show or working on a film or producing a show, or creating the work that speaks to my community and my heritage. And especially as a creative professional in London, I can tell you that the skills I honed at Sussex are my secret weapon. The ability to analyse, to collaborate, to think both critically and creatively. I think these are the things that set you apart in any industry but especially in the arts. And they are what allowed me to carve out a space for myself to create work that's authentic and build a career that I'm really proud of.

And especially now, as you all starting on this journey, I want to say a few things that I learned that might help you make the most of your time here. So first, just to echo what has been said earlier, find your people. University can feel overwhelming at times, and you don't have to go through it alone. Whether it's classmates, professors, or even people you meet outside of your course, use this time to build your network and build your community, because these are the people who will inspire you, challenge you, and have your back when things get tough.

The second thing: take risks. This is definitely a time to experiment, to try new things and to push the boundaries of your creativity. Don't be afraid to step outside of your comfort zone. Whether it's working on a project you're unsure about, collaborating with people from different disciplines, or just putting yourself out there. Take those chances. Because I think that's where the magic happens.

Thirdly, make use of everything Sussex has to offer. The resources here are incredible. And a lot better than when I was here - Thank you guys very much. - Um, but whether it's the library, the workshop, societies or the events or the ACCA, which I encourage every single one of you to visit because it's still my favourite building on campus. Um, the resources here are right here to help you grow, to connect you with others, and to open you up to new opportunities.

Also, make every year count. This is something I learned the hard way. Um, whether you're a first-year undergrad or a master's student, it's common that people will say that your first year doesn't really count towards your final degree classification. But I think the work you put in in your first year will really pay dividends and really set the foundation for the years to come.

So, work hard, play hard, but just remember that the first year is definitely there. It doesn't necessarily mean or contribute anything to your final degree. It's a way for you to set the tone for the rest of your degree. So definitely make every year count.

And lastly, remember where you come from. Whether you're from London like me, or from halfway across the world. Your backgrounds, your culture, your experiences, they're your superpowers. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Bring your whole self to the table, into your studies, in your work, and in your life.

And yeah. That's it. So as you sit here today on the brink of your Sussex journey, know that it's going to be a ride. There are going to be highs and lows. But every moment is worth it. Embrace the challenges, celebrate the victories and never stop believing in the power of your creativity.

Thank you. Good luck. You've got this. Welcome to Sussex and enjoy the ride. Thank you.

Our next speaker is Professor Paul Nightingale, who is part of our business faculty. Paul is currently our Associate Dean of Research and Innovation, but he's also a Professor of Strategy, and he has a particular focus on innovation, which is a very strong theme that you will find runs throughout the whole of the school.

Now, Paul has had an incredibly interesting career, and I'm going to give you a very brief overview of that. He's previously been director of strategy for the Economic and Social Research Council, the SLC within the UK Research and Innovation, which is, you'll often hear, called UKRI. And as part of that, he was also a member of the main strategy committee for UKRI. Paul has also previously worked in industrial research and development and now researches strategic innovation in firms, business model innovation and the relationship between technical change and international security. You can see how important that is for us today in terms of all the changes that we're going through. He's one of the UK editors of Research Policy, which is the leading international journal for innovation studies. He's originally trained as a chemist. And he worked in industry and then he undertook a PhD right here with us in SPRU, in Science Policy. So, Paul, please, can you share with us insights from your work?

(Applause)

Professor Paul Nightingale:

Okay, so for those who didn't hear me, am I usually where you're sitting? So it's lovely to be back. I was away for Covid. And I am back being an academic. First of all, welcome. Welcome to Sussex. Welcome to this fantastic campus. It is the only campus in the UK in an area of outstanding natural beauty. So if you walk that way, it is really, really beautiful. So do try and get out into the wonderful countryside around here. We have heard about how wonderful Brighton is. Brighton is a fantastic place. It is the funnest town to be a student in the UK. Easily. I've been to every university in the UK. It is easily the best town. So you have chosen the right town for having fun. You can get to London, you can swim in the sea, you can party. There are great restaurants. It's a really, really fun town. There is a downside to it, though, which you've already been warned about. And that is seagulls. Okay? When you buy a sandwich, you think you own that sandwich? Seagulls disagree. Okay? They are a serious problem, but they're nothing too much to be worried about.

I'm on the campus. We do every now and then. If you're eating an ice cream in the summer, the seagulls will come and try and take it from you. So do take care and worry a little bit about seagulls.

Okay. I'm going to talk, very quickly about my job, and then I'm going to talk about a piece of research that we've been involved in, which is just about to win a huge prize.

So I'm the Associate Dean of Research at the Business School, and we are the number one in the UK for research income. So we are bigger than Oxford and Cambridge, bigger than UCL, bigger than Imperial. And I have the best job in the world because my boss says to me, how's it going? And I say we're number one. And she thinks it's all down to me. It's down to my faculty who do really, really good research and win lots and lots of money. And more importantly than that, they turn that research money into fantastic academic output, which I'm going to talk about.

Now, for students like, why do I care about research? I'm here to be taught. Okay. So I do need to tell you why is it important. Okay? It’s important for a number of reasons. One; quality control. Okay? So the knowledge that you're going to get from the people who are teaching you, a lot of that has been through a very, very difficult process of quality control. So in the social sciences, about 9 to 12% of the bids that go into peer review to get money to do research pass. In this institution, 38% of them pass. So the quality is assuring the quality. Most academics like me are really, really vain. If you say, is your research good, I'll say yes. So having someone external assessing it ensures that you're getting quality.

Number two, which is really, really important, is people who are teaching you on topics that they care about, are enthusiastic. Okay? They care about it. And it makes a huge difference. I was taught at university and there was such a big difference between some lecturers who were teaching the stuff they cared about and people who were just going through the motions. People care about their research and that enthusiasm will come across.

The third thing is that the ability of academics who are doing research on a topic to explain stuff to you is much better. So they haven't just read it in a textbook, they really deeply understand. So when you come with a difficult question, they can answer it. So the quality of what you learn improves. And that's why we really, really push our academics to do research and make sure that, that research is informing their teaching.

And then the final thing is it's at the cutting edge. So you're all aware of technologies like ChatGPT large language models, right? We don't want you to go into a job and have your skills displaced by those technologies. We want to give you the ability to keep ahead of those technologies. So the research element and what you'll pick out, that culture will allow you to do that. ChatGPT technologies, large language models. That's another thing that Sussex was involved in setting up. So Jeff Hinton, who was the grandfather of large language models, used to be over in.

I'm sure my direction is now over there in psychology. But, you know, it's not just quantum computers. We've been at the cutting edge of lots of stuff. So I'm going to talk about research. I talk about a specific project that I'm really, really pleased to talk about, is some work that one of my colleagues has been involved in, Professor Andy Davies. And today he is about to win the biggest prize in academia, in project management research. So this is from the PMI. They've got a huge international conference going on all week in Los Angeles, 800,000 people are members of this professional organisation. And he has won the top academic prize in that.

So you are going to potentially be taught by people who are the top in the world. And his work has been looking at projects. And I'm going to talk about a project that we've collaborated on. So I've worked with Andy since I was a PhD student. So a long, long time. And this project that I'm going to talk about is something called Better Government projects and projects are, you know, are the big things that kind of organised in a temporary way in order to achieve an outcome. The government does a lot of work in projects. And the portfolio of projects that we were looking at is £640 billion. Okay? £640 billion. That's like a lot of money. Okay? And of that portfolio, this is at risk in projects in that portfolio. 70% of them historically weren't delivered properly. So that's a huge economic loss, but also a huge failing in that these projects went wrong and the transport systems didn't work. The telecom systems didn't work. Things didn't work. So making them work better has a transformative impact on people's lives.

So Andy was involved in this project. We worked with, in the end, 13 universities, 12 government departments. We are the only academic research collaboration which is formally part of the organisational structure of the Cabinet Office, which is the centre of strategy making in the UK governments. And the Cabinet Office areas of research interest replicated the research questions from that project. So this was a hugely influential project that Andy was involved in and Andy led and projects in. If you know a little bit about projects in the 1950s, that was these kind of views, like you have a project, you have a project plan, you deliver against the project plan and everything will be fine. Except it wasn't fine. They were over budget. Over time. Under quality. Over and over and over again.

So in the 1970s, people started to say those project plans and the actual reality of the project, they don't match. There's a problem there. And there was all this work to try and make them fit together. What Andy did was a completely new paradigm, was to recognise that flexibility in those links created, on the one hand, uncertainty, but also an opportunity for innovation. So some big projects might take five years. Ten years. 20 years. 50 years. He gave us space projects. And during that time, technology is going to change fundamentally. So you can't just fix the technology with a kind of a 40-year-old technology. So you need to build in the ability to innovate. And that's what he's done. He's brought project management and innovation management together and had a really, really transformative impact on research.

Okay? So he's today won this fantastic prize, which is great news and advice. If you've got really good news, always announce it in front of your boss. You know? It’s really, really fantastic for the business school. And again, just shows the quality of the research that you're going to be exposed to.

I want to kind of highlight a couple of things that were involved in that project. We had every single major decarbonisation project. We had every single major software project. We had every single major UK government transformational project, which is fundamentally shifting public services to make them better. And our focus was on taking those projects to benefit realisation downstream. And that requires understanding, not just the technicalities of the projects, but also the impact on society. And that's a very, very broad, interdisciplinary knowledge set that Sussex is really, really good at generating. So we pride ourselves on this interpretability knowledge and we could have quite there.

The last thing I want to say about this project was, it only really could have been done at Sussex. So it's a multi-million pound project. At one point we were having, £10 of industry money for every £1 of government money. So very successful project. Who do you think set it up? Do you think, Professor?

-Student - who said student? Good. This project was set up by a student. It was set up with £5,000 of physical money. Thank you very much. A PhD student who was an atypical PhD student, so she was a mature student. Set up this project with £5,000. And then we went to the research councils and got another £5,000. And then we went to the Sussex University Impact accelerator count, and we got another £5,000. And then the funder said, it's so good, give them another £40,000. And then we went out and got millions of pounds of money. This was set up by a second-year PhD student and when we applied for the over million-pound grant, we had all the big professors in project management at the presentation. And smack in the middle was a University of Sussex Business School PhD student.

Okay? So this is an institution where not only are we doing brilliant work that is world-leading, that has a huge impact. We are doing it in a way that's very interdisciplinary, but we're also doing it in a way that reflects our values. And that is students like you, have a massive contribution to make, and we have an institutional setup that will enable you to flourish. And that's a really, really, really valuable thing. I used to be in charge of giving out money for social science in the UK. I could have got a job in any university. I came back to Sussex because of that. And I hope that you really, really benefit from that fantastic culture. And I'd like to welcome you again and congratulate you on your choice. And I will be seeing a lot of you over the next year. So welcome to Sussex!

(Applause)

Students, we are now honoured to have our next speaker. Elaine Ortiz, a Sussex MA student whom we invited here today to share with you some of the insights from her work. Elaine is an activist and founder director of local charity the Hummingbird Refugee Project, which provides specialist services for young refugees. Elaine has 20 years of experience working in frontline services and specialised in working in child protection, rape and domestic abuse services, as well as with those who have fled conflict and oppression. Motivated by what she has seen through this work and her own lived experiences, she has centred her life's work around solidarity and social justice. Elaine is currently a student here at Sussex studying an MA in Power, Participation and Social Change.

Please join me in welcoming Elaine.

(Applause)

Elaine Ortiz:

Hello everyone! Thank you so much for the introduction and also for having me here today. Firstly, I'm very nervous and I'm going to be referring to my phone. I'm not a great speaker, you both are amazing. And so stay with me and thank you for having me here. And I'm so excited to see that you've started your journey at Sussex University. And also welcome to Brighton to everyone who just moved here. You've just landed in a very, very special place, and only because we've got the sea here and we have the least amount of rain in the whole of the UK. I which, by the way, I'm from Manchester. And that's very different from where I come from. But as you settle here, you'll see that Brighton is a really wonderful place to be. And that's because it thinks differently, it behaves differently, and it gives most people who are here a sense of freedom to be who they are. And my most favourite thing about Brighton is that it is a place of resistance, as is the university that you've just joined.

Sussex has a long history of radical action, and I am proud to be part of a university that embraces different ways of thinking. I have no doubt by the time you finish your studies here, your mind will have been opened to many new ideas and ways of thinking, and this would only be possible by going to a university like this.

I set up the Hummingbird project nine and a half years ago now, and this is alongside the community that lives here. I started as an activist group based in a refugee camp in France, and it grew into an organisation that now works with over 350 young people a year. ‘I Am the Hummingbird’ Project is made up of a local community group which is young people, refugees, people who were born here and people who are not. And as a collective, we've been able to develop and run a wide range of services that respond to the individual and collective needs of young refugees. We have developed and run services in refugee camps and also in the UK, and it's been possible to form such an amazing community through the peaceful disobedience and dive of the diverse people who make up Brighton.

I've seen that as a community, Brighton has an instinctive solidarity with those who are oppressed. Its radical nature has enabled us to rally hundreds of volunteers to join a movement that is standing up for the rights and protections of young refugees. Over the years, I've seen that Brighton has been at the forefront of this movement. Challenging laws, leading demonstrations, providing care and protections when our government has failed and harmed people. We've called out that harm when we've seen it, and we've called out what has been blatant racism within the systems that are meant to protect young people. And that's just one of the reasons why I love Brighton.

When I began my own journey at Sussex University a few years ago, when I started a Master’s, which I have actually paused and started again in January. Um, yeah, I did feel a big sense about an imposter syndrome. I didn't feel that maybe I belonged here. I was a mature student, co-parent with a young child, and someone who was brought up in council estates in Manchester. I'm neurodivergent and I'm queer, so I felt that maybe this was a place that didn't accept people like me. And as I started my course, at times, I found the texts I was reading were confusing, the language which was used in a textbook complex, and some were just inherently elitist. I looked around at people who were more educated than I was, and had lived very different lives to what I had. People just seemed to be getting on with it without any issues.

It was only later in my master's when I connected more with my peers, I realised that, in fact, we were all finding it really hard one way or another. Lots of people in my course were international students. They'd not only had to grapple with the difficult texts that we were reading, but they were having to translate it as they went. Many were missing home, family and friends. I realise that each one of us were battling not knowing things. University is hard, but it's also fun, empowering and enlightening. University can offer us some of the best experiences of our life, but it can also challenge us. And this, I feel, is as important as the fun that we're going to have whilst at university. And as I prepare to go back and finish my masters, I'm remembering this now. And I know that this challenge is important. We cannot shift the way of thinking or open our minds to new concepts without some discomfort. We should try and lean into these feelings. It's within these challenges I found real personal growth happens.

And while saying that, we should not face challenges alone. I’ve learned that when you ask for help at Sussex University, they really are here to support you. If you end up struggling, speak to your peers and speak to the university. That is what will help you succeed here. So if you feel that you don't belong here, for whatever reason that might be, I want to have a special welcome for you, because you do belong here. And we need you here because without you, nothing will be shifted and nothing will be changed. Education is an exchange. You will no doubt learn a lot here, but the people around you, including your lecturers, will be learning from you. So please do share your lived experiences. Don't try and fit in a box. Critique the texts that you're reading when they don't make sense to you. Express things in ways that are authentic to who you are. Challenge those common assumptions and push forward on matters that you believe in.

Sussex University will grow as you grow. Do this, and I think you will uphold what I believe is the university's greatest achievement, which is developing great thinkers who make change, push open doors, and make space for those voices who aren't usually thought are usually pushed out. Who you are and where you come from really matters, and I invite you to bring your whole selves to the next few years at university. Good luck with your studies and I'll probably see you around. Thank you.

We are honoured to have our next speaker Claudia Hammond, whom we have invited here today to share with you some insights about her work and her life. Claudia graduated from Sussex in '93 with a BA in Applied Psychology. And today continues to be part of our community as a visiting Professor of the Public Understanding of Psychology. Claudia is an award-winning broadcaster, author and psychology lecturer. In her work, she shares the ways that psychological and medical research can help us in our everyday lives. She's the presenter of several podcasts and radio shows, including ‘All In The Mind’ on BBC Radio Four, which covers psychology, neuroscience and mental health, and the weekly global health show, ‘Health Check’ on BBC World Service. Claudia gives talks on psychology around the world and often shares public events on psychology, medicine and science. She writes a regular column on medical myths for BBC Future. Her latest book, ‘The Keys to Kindness’, covers the results of the world's largest public science project on the subject of kindness, which was conducted here at Sussex. She's also the author of ‘The Art of Rest’, ‘Mind Over Money’, ‘Time Warped’ and ‘Emotional Roller Coaster’.

Claudia Hammond:

Hi, everybody. Thank you for that, Luke. And thank you so much for inviting me here today. Sasha, it's absolutely lovely to be able to see so many people who are starting here. And it really takes me back to when I started. Now, I feel slightly bad about saying this, but when I started here as an undergraduate, Sussex was not my first choice. I originally wanted to go to Manchester, but no offence to Manchester. I am so glad that it worked out as it did, because Sussex turned out to be the perfect place for me, as I'm sure it will be for you.

In my case, I was able to pursue my twin passions. First, studying on the brilliant psychology course here and second, working in radio broadcasting as I did by doing weekend shifts in the newsroom at the local BBC radio station here. Where for a time I was also their greyhound racing tipster. And that's a story for another time, but I didn't really know anything about greyhound racing, put it that way. But I did use to look at the weather forecast, which apparently makes a difference if you know anything about dog racing. But hey ho.

It's no exaggeration to say that coming to Sussex set me on my career path and changed me in so many ways. You know this I really, really was taught an enormous amount here about critical thinking and it has really helped me towards whatever successes I've achieved since. And of course, I do also make ups thinking about Sasha there, talking about friendships. And I did make the lifelong friendships here that were talked about. And after I finish here, I will be going to see friends who I ended up sharing a house with when I was living in Brighton and at university here, who are still my very, very close friends now.

But I'm not saying that you need only think ahead because of course, being here at Sussex is an experience in itself and shouldn't just be seen as a stepping stone to whatever you want to do next. It is an end in itself. You have made it because you have come here to what is definitely the coolest city by the sea in the world. And you really do, of course, need to make the most of it and embrace that experience.

Now, I was asked to give some advice, so what can I say then, as you set out on your life at Sussex? Well, in all the work I do, I'm obsessed with evidence. And as good scientists, hopefully, you all are too. So whether in my podcasts or in my books, I always try to draw on the best evidence that there is and to communicate that evidence. So, if I may, I'm going to draw on some of the best evidence from some of the books I've written in the projects I've been involved with, to share what I hope are some useful tips.

Now, my first book was about emotions. And your university experience will no doubt have its ups and downs. My book was called ‘Emotional Roller Coaster’, and those ups and downs are inevitable. But if you are in a dip, try to remember this is not permanent. There will be high moments to come. And in a way, I like to think of university as a bit like being at a festival or something like, you know, Glastonbury or Latitude that you can pick and mix experiences. You can try out this stage or that tent and go and see a band and then a comedian and then maybe a performance poet. You can do all these different things. And sometimes you'll get rained on, but it is worth it for the whole experience. And certainly Sussex helped to foster my interdisciplinary outlook that there are more subjects than just the one that you were doing.

I was able to take courses outside the subjects of psychology and I still remember really well the courses I did on First World War Poetry and the History of Feminism and how those have shaped the way that I look at things. And the library here also fuelled a lifelong passion for reading. And I've always heard that the library is supposed to be designed so it looks like a book. I've never quite worked out how, but maybe if you're in the sky and look down that it spine and maybe there's curvy bits that go like that in the book. I've never quite worked it out, but I stare at it every time I come past trying to work out. But I do like the library anyway.

But embrace the fact that there are all those amazing books in there that have all been chosen for a reading and try to read widely and also embrace the fact that world-class scientific research, as well as teaching is taking place here. Just in the last year or so, researchers at Sussex have found new strategies to tackle an aggressive form of leukaemia. And that's just here on Earth. Another team has taken lumps of rocks from Mars, extracted Martian nano materials and is now working out how to use them to produce clean energy on the Red planet. And one of my favourite new innovations from Sussex is called the Dream Machine and this was a really interesting project where you lie with your eyes closed on a lounger in a circle with lots of other people on loungers and lights flash on and off in the middle to music. And because you got your eyes shut, through a perceptual process that goes on in the brain, it gives you the most amazing kaleidoscopic experiences. And this was all part of an investigation into sensory perception. And it was so relaxing. I'd like my own dream machine at home, but I don't know if that can quite be done.

So while you are here, do dip into other areas if you can. And certainly, do read the books and articles on your reading lists. But don't only read those as well. And I mean that literally read around it. So if you're in the library and you're getting out a particular book, look to see what is the book above it, what is the book below it. And you can find the most amazing, interesting things because as I said, every book that has been chosen for a reason.

Or if you're looking for a particular journal article while you're reading that, just also scroll down and see what's the article below it, because you never know what you might find and what you might find right nearby.

Now, my second book, ‘Time Warped’, looked at time perception and how time can play funny games with us. And based on my research, I guess that in your time here, the first couple of weeks may seem slowish and then time might start to go a bit faster and suddenly start going very fast towards Christmas. And in no time, it's the end of term. And before you know it, you will be in those pictures up there, graduating as well. And things can suddenly go fast. But the reason it will feel fast is that what you're doing here is making lots of new memories. And one of the ways that we know that one of the ways that we judge how much time is passing is by how many new memories we've made. So if you've made a lot of memories, it will go fast at the time. But when you look back, you'll look back on all these rich memories and it will feel as if it was a lovely long time that you were here, and you will, at Sussex, build up, in a way, a bank of memories that you can look back on for your whole lives.

Now, I'm aware that I've done a lot of saying what great fun it will be and enjoy every moment, and I think sometimes that can make you feel worse if you're not enjoying every single moment. And what if you are feeling daunted and lost? Because after all, you're new here and everything is strange. Well, at the moment I'm writing a book called ‘Overwhelmed’ which is going to look into how we can cope when we feel under pressure. And you are experiencing a big transition in your life, which is exciting in one way and of course, scary in another. But if you do feel a bit lost here, you are definitely not alone. One of the chapters in the book I'm writing is going to be called; ‘No one else knows what they're doing either’, because that really is true in life. They really don’t. And even if you go and work in places where you think - well, they must know what they're doing - they don't either. It's great.

So, if everyone else seems as if they're so confident and bright here and you're wondering why you don't feel that way, believe me, these are common experiences, and you need to remind yourself that you have dealt with situations like this before. They might not be at university, but you may have changed school, or you've started a job somewhere, or some of you will have moved country and that somehow you did cope with that. And similarly, when it comes to exams, say it's natural, only natural to feel stressed when you're being tested. But you can draw on previous experiences of feeling this way, including, of course, the exams you have passed successfully to get here.

You may be feeling lonely, as we've heard away from, perhaps from family for the first time, away from the friends that you had at school or at previous universities. Now, I was involved in what was the largest study of its kind into loneliness. Because one of the things I've done is working on these, on huge projects, where we launch big surveys online. We launch them on the BBC podcasts and radio shows that I present, which means we can get huge numbers of people taking part and really find out what a huge age range of people thinks. We have people from 18 to 99 taking part in each of these studies. And one of them was on loneliness. And there we found that contrary to what a lot of people might expect, it wasn't the oldest people who felt lonely most often. But it was on average younger people. And part of that was that people seemed to be having an experience they were having for the first time and hadn't had the opportunity yet to learn that this loneliness is very often a transition, and that loneliness usually just often happens at times of transition and does move on and does go away.

So remember you made friends before, so why not here at Sussex? And if you feel lost here geographically, you're not alone either. They have changed the names of every building here since I was here. So I am permanently lost and had to be shown to find this one. So you're definitely not alone there.

Now, another of these big projects I was involved with, which has been mentioned, was called the ‘Kindness Test’. And that was developed in the psychology department here. 60,000 people took part. And one of the lessons from that study was that kindness to yourself does matter too. So don't be too hard on yourself while you're here. You don't have to be perfect. And I'm delighted that kindness is one of the Sussex values, and it has always felt like a very kind place to me. But I can also recommend becoming something of a Kindness Twitcher. So instead of looking for birds, you are looking for kindness. And we know from a lot of psychological research that the negative things are more salient and they need to be to keep us safe. So if you are walking along the street and there is a small cat following you, you don't need to notice. If you're walking on the street and there's a giant cat or a lion following you, then you do need to notice so the negative things can be more salient. And that can make it feel as if you're in a world or an environment where only bad things are happening. And that's partly because those do happen. But we don't always notice the positive things that happen too. And it can make the world feel very negative.

But if you become a Kindness Twitcher, it can help to counter those feelings, and all you have to do is deliberately look out for moments of kindness. This might be someone being kind to you, or you being kind to someone else, or other people being kind to each other. And what is amazing is once you start looking. When I was writing the book, I kept a diary of these moments. But once you start looking, you can't stop and you notice them all the time. So, I live in London now, and just on the train from London this morning, somebody left their bag and they were getting out at Gatwick, and they'd left a handbag and it was somebody spotted it, and it was then passed along the train to get to the doors, and somebody else blocked the doors to make sure the person got their bag. It was beautiful kindness, teamwork going on. And she got her bag, which was great. And now I can't stop noticing those moments. And being kind is a good way to connect with other people too. Sometimes you know, university politics can be passionate and heartfelt and you'll feel strongly about some issues, which is fine. But there's such interesting research out there. On the benefits there are from seeing things from other people's points of view. You still don't have to agree with them. Or maybe you're not as far apart as you think. And with some goodwill and effort, there can be a consensus.

Now finally, another book I wrote was on rest, where I made the case for taking rest more seriously. And when I say rest, I don't mean sleep or naps, but the kind of wakeful rest we do when we have our eyes open and are awake. Interestingly, this has been my most popular book. Because it turns out people really like being told that it's okay to rest and that there's very good evidence for rest helping us cognitively and psychologically as well as physically and right at the beginning, Sanjeev, on the video there said, pace yourself. And that's very true. And resting can be active as well. In the big study we did on rest, we found that 15% of people found that exercise was restful in some way. So do play as well as working. Brighton is this amazing city with so much to offer and great clubs and bars and cafes and the beach, of course. But also don't forget the Downs that are behind us. They really are stunning. And there's some really beautiful villages around here as well, with lovely, lovely pubs in them. And of course the men's and women’s Premier League football teams across the road.

In short, there are lots of ways to relax around here, so do that as well. Don't neglect your studies of course, but do enjoy your time relaxing as well. And if your experience here is anything like mine, then it will be great.

Thank you.

(Applause)