One of the best ways you can stay connected to Nottingham is by volunteering with us; sharing your time, expertise and career experiences with current students.

In the current academic year to date nearly 1,000 of you have done exactly that already, which has directly benefitted over 7,300 students. 

Here in the UK, the first week of June is Volunteers' Week, where institutions across the country celebrate and thank everyone who has given their time charitably – we're no exception either, so a BIG thank you to each and every one of you has volunteered either this year or previously.

We've collated a few highlights from the year so far and our Volunteer Managers in the Faculties of Arts and Social Sciences have some exciting new opportunities available too.

BICEP mentor at a networking event

2023/24 Faculty highlights

A quick summary of how our team works first - we split our volunteering activity across each of the university's five faculties and also Nottingham University Business School. There is also our cohort of over 70 International Alumni Ambassadors across the world, who help bring alumni together everywhere from Singapore to South Africa.

Professor Sir Steve Jackson (pictured right, middle), world-leading researcher and University of Nottingham honorary graduate, delivered a guest lecture and Q&A to our staff and students on behalf of the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences in March.

Sir Steve covered the topic of ‘DNA repair: from mechanistic insights to new medicines.' Originally from Sherwood, Nottingham, Sir Steve is the University of Cambridge Frederick James Quick Professor of Biology and Senior Group Leader at the Cancer Research UK (CRUK) Cambridge Institute.

In the Faculty of Science we welcomed back Steve Holliday (Mining Engineering, 1978) for our 'An Audience with...' event in May, where he spoke on the title 'Sustainable Energy - The future proof industry' to over 50 students.

We also welcomed back Luke Jones (Physics, 1998) of MML Capital for a 'Lunch with a Leader' session which saw him share invaluable career advice to 12 students looking forward to careers in private equity.

A highlight in the Faculty of Engineering was our all departmental, in-person “Where Are They Now” panel talk sessions.

We were privileged to invite back 36 alumni from world-leading businesses including Aston Martin F1, Accenture, Siemens, Dyson, Turner & Townsend and Rolls Royce.

Impressively, over 350 highly engaged students attended the talk, exceeding all our expectations. The feedback was unanimously positive, with attendees sharing how they built up new industry connections by networking after the sessions.

Sir Steve Jackson

Focus on: Faculty of Arts

So far this academic year 75 volunteers have supported the faculty, benefitting over 550 students.

In May a collaboration with the Student's Union saw the team host an online session on ‘Getting into Podcasting’. Four alumni were on hand to support students learning how to create podcasts and break into the industry. We had alumni with a breadth of experience, including a Head of Podcasts for Sport, Lifestyle and Entertainment at The Daily Telegraph and the founder of a leading podcast in the HealthTech industry.

Another area of focus is the Faculty of Arts placement module, which gives students a fantastic glimpse of working in the arts and the variety of roles available within organisations. Student Ken Zheng undertook a placement at Sinfonia Viva and commented: "This has been an incredible and very important work experience for me. I enjoyed working with the team on different projects and learning more about the behind-the-scenes activities." Placement provider Matthew Lax added: "I always try to provide a meaningful placement for the student which gives them something they can use on their CV, as getting a foot through the door is a real challenge in the arts. I would heartily recommend other organisations consider hosting students."  

Coming up:

Whether you’re interested in providing a work placement or sharing your professional insights with our students – there are a wide range of opportunities for you to get involved.

Find out more and register your interest >

Focus on: Faculty of Social Sciences

So far this academic year 170 volunteers have supported the faculty, benefitting nearly 1,700 students, while at Nottingham University Business School over 300 volunteers have engaged in activity supporting 2,400 students.

A particular highlight was the annual alumni careers conferences in the School of Economics, School of Politics and International Relations and School of Law, which attracted over 190 students!

The team had the pleasure of hosting alumni from a range of sectors, including finance and consulting, media and communications, law, as well as alumni working in government and civil service roles – all with the aim of providing an insight into career paths available to social sciences graduates.

Continuing our series of events to celebrate 25 years of Nottingham University Business School, we were delighted to bring together over 300 alumni, staff and students at Jubilee Campus in May. Before the event, our team hosted a pre-meet on campus for current students to network with our alumni before the main event (pictured right), with one student commenting: "The event was wonderful and well-organised. It was amazing talking to the speakers."

Coming up:

Whether you’re interested in sharing your professional insights at one of our alumni careers conferences, mentoring a student online, providing a work placement, or becoming a content creator to encourage future students to study at Nottingham – the team has a veritable treasure trove of opportunities for you to get involved.

Find out more and register your interest >

Participants at a NUBS volunteering event

International Alumni Ambassadors

Since 2022 we have been building an enthusiastic and dedicated band of volunteers across Canada and the USA, Africa and Asia – all with a shared goal of helping to build alumni networks in their local regions.

We now have over 70 volunteer ambassadors, all Nottingham graduates, who have been invaluable in supporting our International Alumni Volunteering Managers by providing local intel and contacts to help set up our networking events across the globe.

More about our international community >

Share your alumni story with us

We are looking to source authentic career profiles from members of our alumni community and to discover more about your experiences while studying at Nottingham.

We feature alumni profiles on our social media channels, websites, and in printed materials to inspire our community and encourage prospective students to study at Nottingham. Interested?

Fill in our short form >