White City Innovation District opens its labs to local students
Sixth formers from three Hammersmith & Fulham schools spent two days in Imperial College London’s chemistry labs in White City Innovation District, discovering the world-class science careers on their doorstep.
White City Innovation District is Hammersmith & Fulham’s booming hub for science and innovation. Every day here, scientists are testing whether new drugs work, checking that food is safe to eat and working out what is really in our blood.
Recently, the district opened its doors to the next generation. Students from Hammersmith Academy, William Morris Sixth Form and Phoenix Academy joined Imperial’s Department of Chemistry for a two-day placement at its Wood Lane campus. The placement was organised through H&F Council’s H&F Pathway Bond, which has created 300 opportunities for local young people this year alone.
Clockwise top L–R: 1) Kamil Skirlo, Analytical Instrumentation Technician at Imperial College London; 2) Students Mahmoud Bader (Hammersmith Academy), Amira Musse (Phoenix Academy), Sahra Awale (Hammersmith Academy), Oleksandr Sviderskyi (Hammersmith Academy) and Sumeya Shire (William Morris Sixth Form); 3) Hammersmith Academt student Mahmoud Bader with NMR Manager Dr. Stuart Elliott at the Molecular Sciences Research Hub (MSRH); 4) Student Oleksandr Sviderskyi with Imperial’s Kamil Skirlo.
Building skills for the future
For Sahra Omar Awale, a Year 12 pupil at Hammersmith Academy, the placement was a step towards a career in healthcare research. Sahra is a young carer and would be the first in her family to go to university.
“I wanted to gain experience with analytical techniques used to identify and study chemical compounds, and to understand how they’re used in modern chemical research,” she said. “These skills will help me adapt to a fast-paced laboratory environment.”
Fellow Hammersmith Academy pupil Oleksandr Sviderskyi valued the chance to meet the people behind the research. “The best part was being able to visit the research hub and talk to lab technicians and specialists. It was great getting to explore the labs myself,” he said.
Amira Musse, a Year 12 pupil at Phoenix Academy who hopes to study medicinal chemistry, named making esters as her highlight. These sweet-smelling chemicals are used in everything from perfume to food flavouring. “It opened my eyes to the different sectors I didn’t know existed,” she said.
World-class facilities on the doorstep
At the heart of the visit was Imperial’s Molecular Sciences Research Hub (MSRH), one of the flagship research buildings that make White City a destination for scientists. The MSRH hosts nationally-unique facilities including the Agilent Measurement Suite (AMS) which, since its opening in 2019, has supported more than 1,200 users from academia and industry with access to advanced analytical capabilities and specialist expertise, and has been instrumental in securing more than £200 million in research funding and venture capital investment.
Over the two days the students spent time with lab technicians, worked hands-on with analytical instruments and learned about current research projects. Among the Imperial staff hosting them were NMR Manager Dr Stuart Elliott and Analytical Instrumentation Technician Kamil Skirlo.
Dr Lisa Haigh, Head of Technical Operations in Imperial’s Department of Chemistry and the programme’s coordinator, said: “Our experience working with the team at H&F Pathway Bond was fantastic from beginning to end. The students brought great energy, enthusiasm, and engagement throughout their time with us. We are already looking forward to planning the next placement and continuing this successful partnership.”
The district’s role in local growth
The unique concentration of expertise in White City Innovation District is what makes placements like this possible, and the H&F Pathway Bond is how the district shares those opportunities with young people who live nearby.
The Pathway Bond connects businesses and schools to give young people clear routes into fast-growing science, technology, engineering, mathematics, medicine and media (STEM³) industries. In return, employers meet local talent and help build the district’s future workforce.
Imperial College London, ranked the top university in the UK and Europe in 2026, is one of 100 Pathway Bond partners. Others include global companies such as L’Oréal, Novartis and the BBC.
The work experience scheme is part of Upstream London, H&F Council’s economic growth plan. Since 2017 it has helped attract £6 billion of investment and create more than 17,200 new jobs in the borough. Upstream London launched White City Innovation District in partnership with Imperial in 2017, and the district remains at the heart of the borough’s growth.
300 opportunities and counting
The chemistry placement is one of 300 work experiences created through the Pathway Bond this year, with partners in the district and across the borough. Others have included:
- Clinical skills sessions with Imperial’s School of Public Health, including taking blood samples, reading ECGs and sitting in on a practice university interview
- Backstage experience with the teams who bring productions to life at the Lyric Theatre Hammersmith
- Insights into Complement Therapeutics’ gene therapy, which tackles leading causes of blindness
- Research placements with Sequoia Genetics, which studies how genes affect the way drugs work in the body without relying on animal testing
- Dragons’ Den-style pitches to construction experts at AtkinsRéalis
- Two-week placements at the Young Filmmakers’ Academy
Get involved
Are you a White City Innovation District organisation that could offer work experience, mentoring or placements to local young people? Get in touch through the H&F Pathway Bond webpage on the H&F Council website.
This story first appeared on the Hammersmith & Fulham Council website. Photo copyright: Hammersmith & Fulham Council.