Occupying forces

Dozens of university staff and students were among the 2,400 people who took part in Antony Gormley's Fourth Plinth art project in Trafalgar Square, London.

Several academics opted to spend their hour in the public eye doing what they do best: giving a lecture. Others, such as Brenda Parker, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Cambridge, celebrated wider issues - in her case, being a female scientist. Other participants included a Cardiff University scientist who spent an hour dressed as a toadstool, and a student who protested about cuts to language courses at Imperial College London.

Pictured, clockwise from top left, are some of those who participated in the project, which ended last week: Natasha Ruiz-Gomez; Rob Mackay; Brenda Parker; Bob Oxtoby; Duncan Barron; Sue Griffith; Margaret Hughes; Melissa Terras; John Robinson.