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Winter Graduation 2024 Programme

Congratulations to all our graduates!

  • Welcome message from the Vice-Chancellor and Principal 

    Welcome message from the Vice-Chancellor and Principal 

    Graduation is a truly special occasion. It is the culmination of all the hard work and effort you have put in during your studies. It is a time to celebrate everything that you have achieved throughout your time here and to reflect on the new foundations of knowledge, friendships, and memories you have developed during your time here at Royal Holloway. 

    Our graduates carry these firm foundations with them as they travel the world and go on to do great things. We would love to hear all about your next steps. Please share your contact details and update us about any changes in your life and career so that our Alumni Relations team can keep you up to date with developments at the University, including reunions and other events. Our alumni support us and each other and are all part of a lifelong, global community. 

    As a modern and future-facing University, Royal Holloway has a powerful and pathbreaking history rooted in some of the first women’s Colleges in the UK – Royal Holloway and Bedford Colleges, and as a University of Social Purpose, and through living our shared values of being respectful, daring, open and innovative we look to find solutions to global challenges through our education and our research – and most importantly through our globally connected community. I know that as graduates of this magical place, you will want to use your qualifications wisely and well to make a positive contribution, and we at Royal Holloway will be your proudest supporters every step of the way. 

    Have the most amazing day today. I wish you the very best for the adventures and opportunities that lie ahead of you. 

    Professor Julie Sanders 
    Vice-Chancellor and Principal 

  • About the Ceremonies

    About the ceremonies 

    The ceremonies are formal occasions that recognise the academic achievements of our graduates and their contribution to the University. 

    Order of Proceedings 

    • Procession: The University staff procession marks the commencement of the graduation ceremony. If you feel comfortable, please stand for the procession and remain standing until invited to take a seat by the Presiding Officer.
    • Presiding Officer welcome address 
    • Executive Dean of the School address 
    • Presentation of Graduates: Graduates are presented individually to the Presiding Officer. A department representative will announce each graduate’s name as they walk across the stage to be congratulated by the Presiding Officer. Graduates will doff their hats in the direction of the Presiding Officer and then be handed a scroll. 
    • Graduates are presented in order of their department and level of their degree. Undergraduates who have studied a bachelor’s degree are presented first. Then graduates who have successfully completed a postgraduate diploma, followed by those who have studied for a master’s degree and taken their studies towards the boundaries of existing knowledge. The final graduates presented in each department will be Master’s or Doctors of Philosophy, whose independent research has made an original contribution to knowledge in their field. 
    • Student Oration: At each ceremony, a Student Orator delivers a speech to their fellow graduates, guests, and academic staff. These students have been chosen to share their experiences and reflect on their time at Royal Holloway. 
    • Recession: The audience stands. Please wait for the recession to leave, graduates will then be asked to make their way to the South Quad for departmental photos. We ask that guests wait in the venue until the graduates have left. 
    • Applause: You are invited to applaud each graduate's achievement after their name has been announced. A professional photographer and videographer will be capturing the ceremony, so we would be most grateful if you would remain in your seats for the duration of the ceremony and not obscure the people behind you. 
    • The membership of the procession 

      • Bedels

      • University staff

      • Department representative

      • A representative of the Students Union

      • Executive Dean

      • The Chair of Council or representative

      • The Mace Bearer

      • Presiding Officer

    Presiding Officers

    Date  

    Time 

    Presiding Officer 

     Monday 16 December 

     12.30pm 

     Professor Julie Sanders, Vice-Chancellor and Principal 

     Monday 16 December 

     3pm

     Professor Julie Sanders, Vice-Chancellor and Principal 

     Tuesday 17 December

     10am

     Professor Tracy Bhamra, Provost and Pro-Vice-Chancellor   (Global) 

     Tuesday 17 December 

     12.30pm

     Professor Julie Sanders, Vice-Chancellor and Principal

     Tuesday 17 December 

     3pm

     Professor Julie Sanders, Vice-Chancellor and Principal

     Wednesday 18 December 

     10am

     Wynn Morgan, Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Education & Student   Experience)

     Wednesday 18 December 

     12.30pm

     Professor Julie Sanders, Vice-Chancellor and Principal

     Wednesday 18 December

     3pm

     Professor Julie Sanders, Vice-Chancellor and Principal

     Thursday 19 December

     10am

     Professor Julie Sanders, Vice-Chancellor and Principal

     Thursday 19 December

     12.30pm

     Professor Julie Sanders, Vice-Chancellor and Principal

     

    Student Orators 

     Date  

     Time 

     Student Orator  

     Course 

     Monday 16 December 

     12.30pm 

     Romy Martinez 

     PhD Music

     Monday 16 December

     3pm

     Bethany Jefferies

     MA Public History

     Tuesday 17 December

     10am

     Suvantika Majumder

     MSc Digital Marketing

     Tuesday 17 December

     12.30pm

     Supreet Kaur

     MSc International Business Management

     Tuesday 17 December

     3pm

     Iptika Jhajharia

     MSc in Finance

     Wednesday 18 December

     10am

     Benjamin Redmond   Roche 

     PhD Earth Sciences/Geology

     Wednesday 18 December

     12.30pm

     Meha Bhatt

     MSc Applied Neuroscience

     Wednesday 18 December

     3pm

     Khaasvi Manikandan

     MSc Clinical Psychology

     Thursday 19 December

     10am

     Niraj Jain

     MSc in Data Science and Analytics

     Thursday 19 December

     12.30pm

     Neel Patel

     MSc Software Project Management

     

    Music 
    The procession and recession music is Purcell's Rondeau in D minor from his Abdelazer Suite.

    Musical interlude: Pipa Serenading Winter played on the pipa by Chia-Yin Hung.

    Student Performers  

    Date  

    Time

    Musician 

    Instrument 

     Monday 16 December 

     12.30pm 

     Nicole Yuen

     Laura Field 

     Naoki Aso

     Violin

     Viola

     Cello 

     Monday 16 December

     3pm

     Nicole Yuen

     Laura Field 

     Naoki Aso  

     Violin

     Viola

     Cello 

     Tuesday 17 December

     10am

     Nicole Yuen

     Maisie Pearce 

     Naoki Aso

     Violin

     Viola

     Cello

     Tuesday 17 December 

     12.30pm

     Nicole Yuen

     Maisie Pearce 

     Naoki Aso

     Violin

     Viola

     Cello

     Tuesday 17 December

    		  3pm

     Nicole Yuen

     Maisie Pearce 

     Naoki Aso

     Violin

     Viola

     Cello

     Wednesday 18 December

     10am

     Lingling Bao-Smith

     Maisie Pearce 

     Naoki Aso

     Violin

     Viola

     Cello

     Wednesday 18 December

     12.30pm
     

     Lingling Bao-Smith

     Maisie Pearce 

     Naoki Aso

     Violin

     Viola

     Cello

     Wednesday 18 December

     3pm
     

     Lingling Bao-Smith

     Maisie Pearce 

     Naoki Aso

     Violin

     Viola

     Cello

     Thursday 19 December

     10am

     Lingling Bao-Smith

     Maisie Pearce 

     Naoki Aso

     Violin

     Viola

     Cello

     Thursday 19 December

     12.30pm
     

     Lingling Bao-Smith

     Maisie Pearce 

     Naoki Aso

     Violin

     Viola

     Cello

     

  • Roll of Graduates

    Please click here for the roll of graduates.

  • Welcome to our Global Community

     

    Whether you are embarking on further study, starting a new career or planning your next adventure, your journey with Royal Holloway continues long after you graduate. As alumni, you have access to a range of exclusive benefits and support including: 

    Professional careers support

    As a recent graduate, you'll enjoy access to exclusive career support for up to two years, helping you navigate your career path, whether you're seeking a job, further education, or a new adventure. 

    Support includes access to one-to-one appointments with Career Consultants, practice tests and assessments and access to career and employer events. Find out more about the support available here.

    Events and reunions

    We hold regular events for our alumni around the world. 

    Make sure you keep your details up to date so we can contact you regarding relevant events. 

  • Watch Live Stream

    Watch the live stream here.

  • Vendors and Merchandise

    Merchandise and memorabilia 

    Today’s ceremonies are being filmed and streamed live. To help you remember your special day, a video of your graduation ceremony will be available to download towards the end of September, free of charge. We’ll email you with a username and password once the videos are ready to download at royalholloway.ac.uk/graduation 

    A range of graduation merchandise is available in The Emily Wilding Davison Building. Campus Clothing offers personalised t-shirts and hoodies as well as other merchandise, including graduation bears and crested glassware. You can visit Campus Clothing in person today or online at campusclothing.com 

    Our online shops 

    You can buy a variety of items from our University or Students’ Union online shops. Whether you’re looking for University gifts or memorabilia. Find the perfect memento of this special occasion and links to all our online shops at royalholloway.ac.uk/onlineshops 

    Conferences and banqueting 

    Today’s catering is provided by the University’s Commercial Services department. Our campus offers a variety of versatile meeting and function spaces to suit every event or occasion, from small meetings to large annual conferences, banquets, and weddings. Residential groups are well looked after, with over 2,500 bedrooms and all dining facilities within easy reach of our meeting spaces. 

    We are pleased to offer alumni a discount on our competitive room hire rates for private functions, events and wedding receptions. For further details or to arrange a visit, please get in touch with us.  

  • News highlights

    Royal Holloway launches a new Civic Agreement for Surrey, in partnership with University for the Creative Arts and the University  of Surrey

    Surrey County Council, in partnership with Surrey’s three leading universities – Royal Holloway, University of London; University for the Creative Arts; and the University of Surrey – is proud to announce the launch of a new Civic Agreement for Surrey. 

    The Civic Agreement outlines a shared commitment for these organisations to work collaboratively in the interests of the wider Surrey community: ensuring that no one is left behind. As part of the initiative, the organisations have agreed upon four key shared priorities: 

    • Growing a sustainable economy so everyone can benefit.  

    • Tackling health inequality.  

    • Enabling a greener future.  

    • Empowered & thriving communities.

    Film on motherhood from a BAFTA award-winning academic has UK premiere at BFI London Film Festival 

    A film documenting a BAFTA award-winning Royal Holloway academic’s journey through motherhood had its UK premiere at the BFI London Film Festival in October 2024. The film, entitled ‘Motherboard’ was directed by Professor Victoria Mapplebeck from the Department of Media Arts. 

    Chronicling Professor Mapplebeck’s experiences as a single mother raising her son, the smartphone feature was shot over 20 years – initially on a DVCAM video recorder, and then across five generations of smartphones. 

     

    Royal Holloway and Black Cultural Archives join in five-year partnership 

    The University will work with Black Cultural Archives (BCA) to identify and support new collaborative research projects to increase the understanding of BCA’s collections, and support the development of future education, exhibition and events programmes. The new partnership will be a resilient, flexible and entrepreneurial project, which intends to carve out a new model of university-archive partnership, built on joint values and objectives, and a sharing of knowledge, expertise, and resources. 

    Royal Holloway was founded to provide equity in the opportunity to learn, to transform lives through education and to create positive change. Through challenge-led transformative research and inclusive education, along with impactful partnerships, the University aims to develop a deep sense of purpose within individuals, disciplines, and its community as a whole. 

     

    Study suggests that AI can detect your password from the sound of keys being pressed 

    Artificial Intelligence can work out a password by listening to individual keystrokes on a person’s keyboard, according to new research co-authored by the Department of Information Security at Royal Holloway. The study found that the machine learning system was able to accurately assign the correct key to a sound 95% of the time when the recording was made over a phone call, with successful recognition occurring 93% of the time when the recording was produced via a Zoom call. 

    Co-author Dr Maryam Mehrnezhad, said the following: "Side channel attacks have been around for many years. These types of attacks happen when the attacker uses extra (side channel) information, such as sound, processing time or motion sensors, to obtain a secret piece of information such as a PIN or password.

     

    Five-year study finds bumblebees are still being harmed by nationally approved pesticides 

    A five-year European-wide research project, led by Professor Mark Brown, from the Department of Biological Sciences at Royal Holloway, found that commonly used pesticides in agriculture are still significantly harming bumblebees, with colonies growing less and producing fewer offspring. The report - from a pan-European project entitled PoshBee - comes at a crucial time as the European Parliament voted against reducing pesticide use, as part of its Green Deal climate law aimed at cutting greenhouse gas emissions within the EU. This study was conducted in 106 sites across eight European countries and found that commonly used pesticides are harming bumblebee colonies. 

     

    Royal Holloway is announced as the lead partner for the CoSTAR National Lab 

    The University has been announced as the lead partner for a National Lab for research and development (R&D) in Creative Technology to ensure the UK’s screen and performance industries have the research infrastructure and skills to compete globally. This comes as part of a £51.1m investment by the UK Government in Applied Research. 

  • History of the University

    Royal Holloway College and Bedford College, each with long and distinguished histories, merged together through an Act of Parliament in 1985 to form the University we know today as Royal Holloway, University of London. 

    Bedford College was the inspiration of the pioneering social reformer Elizabeth Jesser Reid and was founded in 1849 as the first college for the higher education of women. It was sited at various locations in central London before finding a base in Regent’s Park in 1913 where it remained until the time of the merger. 

    Royal Holloway College was opened by Queen Victoria in 1886, who bestowed the title Royal. Its founder, Thomas Holloway, was a Victorian entrepreneur whose fortune was made in patent medicines, and the idea for a women’s college came from his wife, Jane. Early in its history, the University was housed completely in the magnificent Founder’s Building which also provided a home for the Royal Holloway Picture collection, one of the world’s most comprehensive private collections of Victorian art. Preserved in Founder’s Picture Gallery, the collection was the final touch to Holloway’s generous endowment. 

    Both Colleges became part of the University of London in 1900 and both admitted male undergraduates for the first time in 1965. Then in the 1980s the two Colleges merged, building on the strengths of both to create a first class academic environment. The commitment to innovation and the egalitarian spirit which characterised the founders of both parent Colleges remains to this day. 

    The University of London was founded in 1836 to examine and grant degrees to the students of King’s College and University College London. Up until then the only two English universities in existence were Oxford and Cambridge; both limited entrance to communicant members of the Church of England. Today the University of London is comprised of 17 independent institutions of varying size and is renowned for offering a world class education. 

    The tradition of Graduation Ceremonies within the University’s of London dates back to 1850 with the Royal Albert Hall being used as a venue for most of the last century. In 1992, the responsibility for organising the ceremonies was devolved to the Colleges so that ceremonies provided a more personal experience for our graduates and guests. 

    The Mace 

    The Ceremonial College Mace was created by Elizabeth Matthews, a local goldsmith. The design symbolises the Victorian heritage of both Royal Holloway and Bedford Colleges and also represents the University’s present status as a multidisciplinary university institution committed to excellence in all its areas of activity. It is based on the Octagon of the Founder’s Building. The head of the Mace, knobs and handholds are in gold-plated silver and the shaft is made of rosewood; this represents the contrast of the red brick, characteristic of the Founder’s Building, with the Portland Stone of the Octagon. The University Coat of Arms has been embossed in enamel onto the floor of the replica of the Octagon.