Video summary
The video concludes with heartfelt reflections on the legacy of Mike Ingham, a pivotal figure in the field of visual neuroscience at the University of Sussex. The speaker recounts how Mike was an incredibly encouraging mentor who went above and beyond his duties to support the department, such as personally sourcing historical photographs to decorate the building's corridors. These images served not only as aesthetic additions but also as a way to document the rich history of neuroscience research at the university, bridging the gap between older researchers and younger staff members who might otherwise be unaware of this heritage. Mike's enthusiasm extended to his written contributions, including a chapter in a book celebrating the university's 50th anniversary, where he detailed the history of sensory neuroscience and highlighted his own significant role in shaping the field at Sussex.
A particularly touching aspect of the tribute is the personal impact Mike had on the speaker's career trajectory, transforming what could have been a mundane job into a lifelong passion for science. The speaker describes arriving at Sussex as an undergraduate in the early 1970s, where Mike was one of the older teaching staff who made the subject of vision fun and accessible. This positive influence led the speaker to choose a PhD in neuroscience over a guaranteed position in a factory, a decision that launched their entire career. The narrative illustrates how Mike's mentorship extended beyond the classroom; he actively facilitated opportunities by connecting students with potential supervisors, such as arranging for the speaker to work with a researcher in Wales and later guiding them toward collaborations in Scotland, effectively organizing the rest of the speaker's professional life.
The symposium ends on a celebratory note, honoring Mike not just as a scientist but as a wonderful colleague and teacher who embodied the joy of scientific discovery. The atmosphere is filled with gratitude for his ability to make complex concepts engaging and for creating an environment where students felt supported and inspired to pursue their dreams. Even lighthearted memories, such as Mike playing medieval instruments while dressed in period costume, are shared to paint a picture of a man who was deeply human and approachable despite his academic stature. Ultimately, the session serves as a testament to how one individual's encouragement can alter the course of another's life, proving that a fulfilling career in science is often built on the foundation of supportive relationships and shared enthusiasm for discovery.
Read the full video transcript
when I arrived uh kind of late 2013 to
Sussex this thing Sussex Neuroscience
um
Mike was incredibly encouraging and uh
uh as well as making sure I've put on
the uh you know the eye tracking device
and so on and talking me through it
um tell me a lot about the history of
Neuroscience here at Sussex and uh
actually we interviewed him didn't we
and we interviewed others about the uh
Ruth Saras over there and I interviewed
a few people to kind of try and get some
of this documented
um and
sent around an email it
pick on my you know you send around an
email to like an email list and nobody
responds but this was an email just to
ask if some people had some pictures to
liven up the building room we're in crpc
and yeah Mike had loads of pictures so
these things and you know he sent me all
these jpegs and so these things went up
uh I think around 2014 and they adorned
uh the crpc building where lots of the
kind of experimental Neuroscience uh
research goes here and I I suspect like
the younger people they had no idea that
these are all kind of mics pictures and
uh some of yours there as well yes sorry
lots of pictures but uh that's just one
very small example of kind of how
encouraging he was
um Barden where's Tom
you've got your job because of Mike
we could have this guy after you came
honestly so input on on recruitments and
all sorts of things and he was a
terribly uh uh uh enthusiastic
um supporter of Sussex neuroscience and
Keen that censoring Neuroscience uh in
general just visual Neuroscience that
that does well at Sussex and actually he
wrote a very nice little chapter for a
book that there's a copy of out there
called making the future which was
published on the 50th anniversary of the
university and Mike's got a chapter
there about sensory uh the history of
sense of Neuroscience in Sussex uh quite
a lot about you in there Paul yeah
so if that there's some copies of that
it's just a short chapter there's some
copies out there if anybody wants to
kind of uh grab a quick uh uh
plotted history of sensory neuroscience
uh anyway this is just some example oh
and of course watching Mike uh playing
one of his medieval instruments but by
The Priory dressed up as a medieval uh
uh chat in a smoker I can't quite
remember yes do you remember yes yeah uh
that was yeah
yes there was tights involved actually
okay so anyway look
s so absolutely wonderful wonderful
colleague and I I'm so glad
so many of you could come and um share
in the kind of celebration of his work
and his life and I hope those of you who
didn't know him in person can just kind
of take away some examples have fun a
life in science can be and how
satisfying it could be and a picture of
cells doing it
anyway that's all I would say if anybody
else wants to say anything now's the
time
yeah yeah
right
I have not planned to say anything at
all
um but yeah I feel like this one
um the designing Mike from perhaps a
different perspective to most other
people because I was an undergraduate
here in the Halloween days of the early
70s
um and a picture we just saw with
long-haired blouse in front of the
library I was one of those because I
came to Sussex in 1973 and I got in
through clearing so I wasn't clever
enough to go anywhere else
um so thank you Sussex Peyton and I went
into biology and there was all these old
men that were teaching me of which Mike
was one of them
um of course in retrospect he probably
wasn't such an old man it might have
been in his early 30s
I never thought about the teacher as
well I mean Paul Benjamin and Tom
Collett they're both here
um and the one thing about Mike was he
was an absolutely wonderful
undergraduate teacher he really really
was
um and he was the one who's because I've
worked in Vision all my life and he was
the one who really got me interested in
I thought well this looks like fun
because the words fund has come up many
times and he really did make Vision fun
so thanks Mike for starting me out on
this career but it went beyond that
because when I finished I had a choice
um and that is I could either become a
management trainee in a gasket Factory
and slack because I had that job nailed
off
but I did quite well as a student so I
thought well this actually might be fun
I might actually do this and I asked my
kid if you had any idea what I could do
for a PhD
um and first of all he sent me to Wales
um to work with a friend of his on
aplesia because I had this idea that I
wanted to correlate biology to behavior
neuroviolence Behavior how difficult
could it be
so I went to the
um Wales to look at the tail plate spot
responsible person and he got father
sister everything
um and I was showing a video and this is
the behavior of it going to the land
and this is the behavior
and this is a neuron you will record
from and the whole room full of students
all recorded from a different Euro so
it's not really
well
you know regardless of selfies for the
months who had recently gone up to
Scotland and maybe I might like to do a
PhD with him so I went up there and the
first thing he said to me was hello Ron
do you want to go to the pub
but he also organized the rest of my
career and then as I went up through
several promotions
here and say nice things about
so actually thank you Mike without you
I've never had it
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