Week One – Saturday 14 February 2026

Please note that ONLY people who have previously registered with the Royal Institution (the Ri) can be admitted to this and the other sessions. If you are not on the register we can’t let you in. If you need to register with the Ri please ask your teacher to nominate you by emailing masterclasses@ri.ac.uk from their school email address.

Welcome to the our first session. Please make a note of my (Jo) contact details which are j.brodie@qmul.ac.uk.

We will be in Room GC 204 (on the second floor) of The Graduate Centre – see #2 and #5 below on how to find it. This will be an ‘unplugged’ session (using pen and paper instead of computers) so we can use the same room for snacks. The building’s main foyer may also be available (depends if other events are also running).

Please let Jo know if you can’t attend this session: j.brodie@qmul.ac.uk. Please don’t rely on telling teachers as they might not have my contact details, thank you.

Remember to bring a snack for the mid-morning break. It’s unlikely, but not impossible, that the café inside the Graduate Centre will be open on a Saturday.

1a. What (students), in Room 204

Morgan Stanley: Problem Solving Masterclass

Problem solving is a crucial skill not only for job/university interviews but for day to day work in any field in Science or Technology. During the session technologists from Morgan Stanley will present you with a variety of problems you will work in small teams to solve using logical thinking and deduction, without the need for a screen.

1b. What (parents & guardians), in foyer

If there’s not another event happening and the porter is happy for you to do stay you may be able to sit in the foyer and wait while the class runs. QMUL has free guest wifi. There’s a Sainsbury’s nearby for snacks (also one right next to Stepney Green station and a Tesco very near the station). If porters or other staff ask you to leave though please do so, taking all belongings and any snack wrappers with you (or use the bins).

2. Where

The session will take place in The Graduate Centre (Room GC 204 on the 2nd floor) on Bancroft Road, off Mile End Road. (Please see 5. Venue directions for more detailed information). You can either walk up two flights of stairs OR tell the lifts you want to go to Floor 2 – do that bit before you get in the lift!

That entrance looks like this. Can’t guarantee there’ll be bunting though.

What3Words for this entrance: https://what3words.com/trip.rivers.shine

Entrance to QMUL’s Graduate Centre on Bancroft Road. Pic credit: QMUL venues.

Note: the post code (E1 4NS) is not very informative as we are a campus university so all post arrives centrally before being redistributed, and we are some distance from the post code ‘point’.

3. When

Saturday 14 February 2026.
Registration will be from 9.45am but you can come to the building any time after 9.30am.
The class begins at 10am and ends at 12.30pm. We’ll have a short break in the middle for snacks.
I will wait with any student who hasn’t been collected but please collect everyone by 1pm, thank you.

4. Please bring a snack

We will have a mid-morning break at some point during the workshop. Please bring with you a snack and drink if you would like one. There is a Sainsbury’s on Mile End Road just across the road from the venue (also one near Stepney Green station, and a Tesco). It’s possible that, with other events taking place on campus, the Graduate Café will be open but I’m not certain.

5. Venue directions

More photographs of the building and also how to use the lifts to the second floor (or take the stairs).

From Stepney Green tube station [NEAREST]

The nearest tube station is Stepney Green tube station. Exit the station and turn left (you are now on Mile End Road (A11) and Globe Road (B120) is on your left (you’ll cross Globe Road). If you need to get a snack you have Sainsbury’s on your left (on Globe Road) and a Tesco in front of you once you’ve crossed Globe Road.
Keep walking up Mile End Road, turn left into Bancroft Road (you will walk under a stone bridge announcing the Faculty of Engineering, keep going. You will soon pass the Infusion shop on the left (usually closed at weekends). The Graduate Centre is the large glass building on the right. Don’t go any further than the green and black panelled building (G.E. Fogg) which spans the road.

If you are arriving by bus it’s the 25 or 205 which will drop you closest, at Bus Stop D.

From Mile End tube station

Mile End station is a little further away (but not much).
If you want to take the bus (25 or 205) Stop C is to your right as you exit the station
If you want to just walk then turn left as you exit the station (you are on Mile End Road) and keep walking in that direction – there are plenty of shops on the way including a Sainsbury’s that’s close to the venue.
You can cross to the other side of Mile End Road at the Sainsbury’s and keep walking in the same direction.
When you cross the road you’ll be looking at a very large white building called the Queen’s Building, walk past the Engineering Building, where we will be having our next sessions, (you are now heading in the direction of Stepney Green) and then turn right into Bancroft Road.
You will walk under a stone bridge announcing the Faculty of Engineering, keep going. You will soon pass the Infusion shop on the left (usually closed at weekends). The Graduate Centre is the large glass building on the right. Don’t go any further than the green and black panelled building (G.E. Fogg) which spans the road.

You can also alight at Bus Stop E (Queen Mary University of London) for the Sainsbury’s.

Other bus routes that go nearby include 309 (Stepney Green station) and 339 (passes part of Mile End Road).

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