Welcome Welcome to the 2020 Review of the last year. 2020 will be my last calendar year at UCL; indeed, as I write this my successor has just been announced. I am delighted to welcome Dr Michael Spence AC, who will be joining UCL as President and Provost in January 2021.
they are themselves keen to take part in research, and we stretch them intellectually, developing their skills and creating the next generation of change makers. You can read more about how our students are making distinct contributions to knowledge on page 8.
In the meantime, I am proud to look back at another fantastic year for our energetic and passionate community. UCL was built to open up higher education in England to those who had been excluded from it, and to challenge and change the way we create and share knowledge. That disruptive mission is still alive today, as people across UCL tackle some of the biggest challenges of our time. There are many examples in the following pages, including our pioneering research on dementia, our involvement at the forefront of space science and exploration, and our work to transform the treatments and outcomes for patients with life-threatening diseases. In March 2019, UCL researchers announced that sustained HIV remission had been achieved in a patient – a prime example of how our research continues to push the boundaries of knowledge and make international headlines.
UCL’s spirit of openness also means we are uniquely positioned to demonstrate how universities are essential to society, democracy and progress. We continue to inform the debate on a wide range of topics, including climate change, Brexit and artificial intelligence. Much of the work at our new campus, UCL East, will contribute to key areas of the government’s Industrial Strategy, including AI, energy technology and manufacturing materials.
Our position as one of the world’s top universities enables us to attract the best minds and the most exciting partners for collaboration. By broadening our strengths across disciplines and following the objectives of our 20-year strategy, UCL 2034, we are ensuring that we remain among the world’s best. And this includes our students. They choose UCL because
Leading UCL has been the job of a lifetime. You can find out more about what we do on our website at: ucl.ac.uk/about and ucl.ac.uk/2034.
We are also working to strengthen our international collaborations and partnerships across the world. Our strategic partnerships with the University of Toronto and Peking University have flourished over the past year, and we continue to develop cross-institutional partnerships in Europe, North America and East Asia.
Professor Michael Arthur UCL President & Provost
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UCL 2034: our 20-year strategy
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Our Vision
Our Mission
Our distinctive approach to research, education and innovation will further inspire our community of staff, students and partners to transform how the world is understood, how knowledge is created and shared and the way that global problems are solved.
London’s Global University: a diverse intellectual community, engaged with the wider world and committed to changing it for the better; recognised for our radical and critical thinking and its widespread influence; with an outstanding ability to integrate our education, research, innovation and enterprise for the long-term benefit of humanity.
Principal Themes
Key Enablers
Founding Principles
1. Academic leadership grounded in intellectual excellence
• Giving our students the best support, facilities and opportunities Valuing our staff and delivering on equality and diversity
UCL was established in 1826 in order to open up education in England for the first time to students of any race, class or religion. By 1878, it had become the first English university to welcome female students on equal terms with men.
2. A global leader in the integration of research and education 3. Addressing global challenges through our disciplinary excellence and our distinctive cross-disciplinary approach
• A strong financial performance is critical to the success of UCL • Delivering excellent systems and processes in support of UCL’s vision
4. An accessible, publiclyengaged organisation and a lifelong community
• Maintaining a sustainable estate to meet our aspirations
5. London’s Global University: in London, of London and for London
• Communicating and engaging effectively with the world
The founding principles of academic excellence and research aimed at addressing real-world problems continue to inform our ethos to this day.
6. Delivering global impact through our international activities, collaborations and partnerships 03
UCL 2034 Principal Themes 1. Academic leadership grounded in intellectual excellence Enduring intellectual excellence – derived from talented individuals’ curiosity about, and commitment to, their chosen subject areas – is the prerequisite of academic leadership. This, more than anything, underpins the contributions that a university makes to society.
2 . A global leader in the integration of research and education, underpinning an inspirational student experience We will inspire our students at every level – undergraduate, postgraduate taught and postgraduate research – and equip them with the knowledge and skills that they need to contribute significantly to society and be leaders of the future in their chosen field and profession. All our students and staff will be seen as collaborative members of our university community, with a shared interest in the future of UCL.
3. Addressing global challenges Our commitment to innovation and relevance, our home in the heart of a global capital and the breadth and depth of our expertise offer us a unique opportunity to address the most important problems confronting humanity in the 21st century. The UCL Grand Challenges – of Global Health, Sustainable Cities, Cultural Understanding, Human Wellbeing, Transformative Technology and Justice & Equality – are the flagship embodiment of our institutional commitment to provide wise solutions to global challenges.
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4. An accessible, publicly-engaged organisation that fosters a lifelong community UCL has a proud history of being the first university in England to be open to all, irrespective of race or religion, and the first to admit women on an equal basis. We will continue to seek out those students best able to benefit from, and contribute to, our thriving intellectual community, regardless of their background and circumstances.
5. London’s Global University: in London, of London and for London UCL is committed to becoming a global leader in knowledge exchange, enterprise and open innovation with societal impact. Our relationship with London is central to this commitment. We will bring our profile as London’s Global University and our international connectivity to bear on establishing UCL at the centre of a cluster of organisations that will make London the premier destination for higher education, research and innovation in the world. We recognise our role in making London a better place to live and work in for all, and in promoting and contributing to social equity and environmental sustainability in our capital city.
6. Delivering global impact
We will enhance our international profile by developing a reputation as a university that delivers outcomes with impact for communities, and that listens, learns, helps to build capacity and adds long-term value through our international activities and presence. We intend to focus much of our new international activity on countries in the ‘Global South and East’.
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Education and student affairs Our Connected Curriculum framework for research-based education continues to enable a learning culture that challenges and develops students’ critical thinking, preparing them for life beyond university. Our undergraduate students are active participants in research: second-year neuroscience student Francisco Salema Oom de Sacadura investigated the neuro-mechanisms of pain perception as the research element of his Laidlaw scholarship. By exposing healthy volunteers to an illusion that produced pain (while being completely innocuous) he was able to study the brainwaves associated with this pain perception, contributing to research on chronic pain in healthy people. Natural Sciences student Alice Pistono won first place in the national Posters in Parliament competition for her poster outlining her investigation of DNA persistence under varying climatic conditions for forensic science applications. To enrich our curriculum, our new Community Engaged Learning service helps educators to bring collaborations with external partners into their programmes. Our new educational blogging service, UCL Reflect, gives staff and students a platform to showcase their research and learning to diverse audiences. The first cohort of 20 senior educators have taken part in our new Leading Change in Education programme, developed and delivered by the Arena Centre for Research-based Education with support from Utrecht University. Participants have initiated several strategic development 08
projects to address key issues in teaching and learning. The launch of our fully online MBA signals an expansion of online learning provision to meet the demand for more flexible learning from talented students around the world. Teaching estate The Student Centre, which has received multiple awards since its 2019 opening, has proved extremely popular with our students, receiving 771,000 visits in its first six months. The reopening of the Bloomsbury Theatre gave students and staff a new stage for research based education. Student partnerships More than 1,000 students participate in the Student Panel, helping to shape the UCL experience, and in the last year 70 students have worked with staff to improve education through our Student Quality Reviewer scheme. In a successful pilot, students worked with staff as Curriculum Partners to make the curriculum more inclusive and the project will expand in the coming year. A record 1,478 nominations were received for the Student Choice Awards, where our students recognise exceptional contributions by staff to teaching and learning. Transforming the student experience Through the UCL Education Strategy 2016–21, we’re transforming the student experience through a number of UCL-wide initiatives, including the development of a platform to support personal tutoring, and full reviews of how students are assessed, the postgraduate taught portfolio and the virtual learning environment.
The award-winning Student Centre, at the heart of UCL’s Bloomsbury campus. Credit: Matt Clayton
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Addressing global challenges UCL research informs calls for bold new approaches to solving social inequalities Research undertaken by UCL has the potential to address structural inequality and bring about positive social change across the UK, and beyond. Structurally Unsound – a new report by the UCL Grand Challenge of Justice & Equality, together with UCL Public Policy and Resolution Foundation – emphasizes the need for alternative approaches to addressing structural inequality, and highlights the importance of including the voices of those experiencing inequality in policymaking. Further UCL research on inequality published this year has already played a significant role in shaping new policies put forward by the UK Labour Party. Research from the UCL Institute for Global Prosperity on Universal Basic Services (UBS), a proposal to extend key public services – including food, housing, transport, and elderly and child care – now forms a “central pillar” of Labour’s policy programme, announced by Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell at the Labour Party conference in September 2019. Towards a zero emission future for the shipping industry Throughout 2019, UCL’s ground-breaking research on shipping has continued to help shape the industry’s transition to a low-carbon future. At September’s UN Climate Action Summit, the UCL Energy Institute shipping research group’s work contributed to three major announcements over the two days, including to a report by the High Level Panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy 10
that highlights the significant potential for ocean-based climate action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and limit warming to 1.5°C. The team’s research into low-carbon and zero emissions pathways for shipping also contributed to the Department for Transport’s report, ‘Maritime 2050 – Navigating the Future’, published in January 2019, which sets out the government’s ambitions for the future of the British maritime sector. Their work on the most effective policies for reducing greenhouse gas emissions from international shipping was also published in May this year. New UCL partnership with the European Space Agency A memorandum of collaboration has been agreed by UCL and the European Space Agency (ESA). Signed by Jan Woerner, Director General of ESA, and David Price, UCL Vice-Provost (Research), the memorandum aims to cover a range of topics including planetary science, space policy, governance and security. ESA and UCL have a long history of close co-operation, with UCL contributing to missions, including the upcoming ExoMars 2020 mission and the Sentinel-3 satellite programme, which enabled scientists to gather new data on how sea ice thickness is changing, and address data gaps vital to monitoring polar regions and climate change. The agreement aims to further strengthen the partnership, and maximise the support provided by ESA for spacerelated research programmes at UCL to improve lives and communities worldwide.
Artist’s impression of the ExoMars 2020 rover (foreground), surface science platform (background) and the Trace Gas Orbiter (top). Not to scale. Copyright: ESA/ATG medialab
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Accelerating impact and innovation UCL’s ambition is to change the world for the better, tackling the great global challenges of our time. UCL Innovation & Enterprise (UCL I&E) is at the heart of this aspiration, working with organisations and UCL’s people to help turn knowledge and ideas into solutions that benefit us all. Transforming the lives of people with disabilities People with disabilities make up 15% of the global population. However, they are often excluded from the opportunities afforded to non-disabled people. The UCL-based Global Disability Innovation Hub, co-led by Dr Catherine Holloway (UCL Computer Science), aims to address this by becoming the leading place globally to research, study, practice and share disability innovation. The GDI Hub is a highly collaborative centre, comprised of academic, industry and third sector parties – which UCL I&E helped to assemble. Inspiring children’s curiosity for arts and culture with virtual reality A new startup company, founded by a recent UCL alumna and supported by UCL I&E, is developing mobile virtual reality games that allow children to explore arts and culture in a fun, inspiring and accessible way. Kaitlin Kritz (History of Art MA) and Olga Kravchenko have created their company Musemio to deliver a platform of curriculum-led adventures, quests, and challenges that expand children’s cultural education through exciting gamification. The educational content is inspired by physical museums and heritage sights across the world. 12
Catching bowel cancer early with space technology and artificial intelligence Bowel cancer is the second most common cause of cancer-related deaths in the UK. But detecting it using traditional colonoscopy methods can be challenging for doctors. A team of UCL engineers and clinicians, including Professor Danail Stoyanov (UCL Computer Science), came up with a revolutionary artificial intelligence (AI) system that identifies and characterises cancerous polyps by analysing live colonoscopy video. Helped by UCLB, the commercialisation arm of UCL I&E, spinout Odin Vision was established and relies on the same technology that is used to deliver data quickly between Earth and spacecraft, meaning the system can be deployed wherever patients are in the world. Delivering world-class economics training to UK civil servants UCL Economics has an outstanding international reputation, rated the top department in the UK in the field of Economics and Econometrics in the 2014 REF. In 2018, with the help of UCL Consultants, part of UCL I&E, the team at the Department’s Centre for Teaching and Learning Economics (CTaLE), headed by Dr Parama Chaudhury, successfully bid to deliver bespoke short courses to staff in the UK’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO). Topics range from how different markets and exchange rates operate to the economics of climate change and macro-economic crises.
GDI Hub leads the AT2030 programme, which seeks to transform access to life-changing assistive technology (AT). The picture shows Rusmiyati, a discus thrower, member of NPC Banjarmasin. Credit: Angus Stewart.
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It’s All Academic – financing our ambitions Since its foundation in 1826, UCL has been powered by philanthropy. Today UCL’s reputation for excellence, agility and impact has made it one of the world’s leading partners of choice for global philanthropists who want their investment to make a far-reaching, long-term difference. In 2016 we launched It’s All Academic – a campaign aiming to raise £600m in philanthropic funding and 250,000 volunteering hours to support and grow UCL’s worldwide community and help deliver its most important long-term ambitions. The university is fast closing in on those targets and expects to reach and exceed them in 2020, one year earlier than planned – due to generous gifts of all sizes of both time and money given by over 120,000 supporters and alumni. Thanks to our worldwide supporters, It’s All Academic is: • Promoting equality and social justice with scholarships focused on underrepresentation and financial need, and with funding for a new multidisciplinary Centre for the Study of Race and Racism • Extending the reach of novel economic and political approaches with support for the UCL Constitution Unit to develop its work on referendums and for the Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose to spearhead new approaches to innovation and public value. • Driving progress against tenacious, life limiting global health challenges, with major funding for a new interdisciplinary home for UCL’s neuroscience community 14
and HQ for the UK Dementia Research Institute growing on Gray’s Inn Road, and for novel diagnostics and therapies for cancer and eye health. • Advancing UCL’s multidisciplinary technological advances that benefit people and planet with major funding for artificial intelligence research and for UCL’s Centre for Blockchain Technologies. • Building an active and involved global community of alumni, volunteers and advocates across nearly 200 countries who support potential and current students and each other, and extend and amplify the work, reputation and values of UCL worldwide. • Supporting the creation of UCL East, the university’s biggest and most ambitious capital project since its foundation. UCL’s great philanthropic drive doesn’t end with the successful achievement of the goals of It’s All Academic in 2020. This campaign has laid the foundations for the long-term sustainable growth of philanthropy and supporter engagement at and for UCL. Over the coming years, steadily increasing philanthropy and engagement will continue to fund novel, risky and early-stage research, increase UCL’s ability to influence public policy, support student experience and scholarships, build our engaged worldwide community of advocates and volunteers, support the successful delivery of UCL East and much more. Most importantly it will give UCL the flexibility and confidence to bring its critical mass of excellence to bear on issues as yet unknown, to take advantage of arising opportunities and react swiftly to emerging global priorities.
UCL’s Donor Wall – an installation by UCL Slade School of Fine Art graduate Sarah Fortais. It was unveiled in May 2019 to celebrate the power of philanthropy. Credit: UCL OVPA
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UCL Culture UCL Culture connects the university’s world-class researchers and collections with artists, performers and the public. We are home to the Grant Museum of Zoology, Octagon Gallery, Pathology Museum, Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology and UCL Art Museum, as well as Jeremy Bentham’s famous auto-icon, the Bloomsbury Theatre and art in the public realm. Nearly all our activities are free to enjoy and open to everyone. The lovingly restored Bloomsbury Theatre opened its doors in 2019 for Performance Lab, an experimental programme bringing research to life through theatre, dance, music and comedy. Our first season explored the science of why we laugh with stand-up comedians, used MRI scanners to show what the inside of actors’ brains look like, and told the history of photography in a rarely performed opera by Kurt Weill. The programme continues throughout 2020. Next door to the theatre in the Student Centre, UCL unveiled a permanent sculpture by Turner Prize-winning artist and UCL Slade School of Fine Art alumna Rachel Whiteread. Untitled, (Slade Pinboard) is a cast of an historic noticeboard in the Slade, directly connecting the new building with UCL’s history and heritage. Upstairs a second commission HERE NOT HERE, a new digital installation by artists Thomson & Craighead, live streams UCL admissions data onscreen, while outside Slade alumna Sarah Fortais has produced a 16
bespoke installation of over 60 bronze and aluminium hands, celebrating the individuals and organisations that support UCL’s students and research via philanthropy (see page 15). As plans develop for the new UCL East campus, we invited a group of scientists and engineers to collaborate with east London artists to create four new installations on Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. With support from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, artists and researchers worked together for ten months to create a free exhibition of sculptures, drawings and films, inspired by the history of the Lea Valley and the future of UCL East. We are also continuing our work with schools in Hackney, Newham, Tower Hamlets, and Waltham Forest to give pupils the chance to explore UCL’s extraordinary collections and expertise. 2020 will see the redevelopment of the entrance gallery to the Petrie Museum with funding from DCMS and the Wolfson Foundation. The new gallery will shed new light on the Petrie collection and the history of Egyptian and Sudanese archaeology. This year UCL will also launch our refurbished Object-Based Learning Lab, drawing on UCL research showing how museum collections can enhance learning. This specially-adapted space will make it easier for our community to learn and teach with objects from the university’s large and unique collections of artworks, ancient artefacts and specimens.
Professor Sophie Scott (UCL Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience) performs at Performance Lab in the Bloomsbury Theatre. Credit: Belinda Lawley
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At the forefront of space exploration UCL’s Space Domain is interdisciplinary, encompassing anthropology, innovation and public purpose and risk and disaster reduction, as well as more traditionallyassociated disciplines such as engineering and mathematical and physical sciences. UCL’s strength in all areas of astronomy and space science is evidenced by a number of groundbreaking discoveries and involvement in international research and high-profile space missions.
it drives solar “weather” – crucial to protect systems such as GPS and communications that depend on satellites orbiting the Earth. Summer will see the launch of ESA’s ExoMars mission, including the Rosalind Franklin Mars Rover. Researchers at UCL MSSL designed and built the “PanCam” – the scientific “eyes” of the rover which will give scientists an incredibly detailed view of the Martian terrain and geology.
Groundbreaking cosmic discoveries Researchers from the UCL Mullard Space Science Laboratory (UCL MSSL) were involved in the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) collaboration, which reported the first direct visual evidence of a supermassive black hole in the distant M87 galaxy. In September of 2019 the prestigious Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics was awarded to the EHT team.
Cutting-edge research into exotic worlds UCL is at the forefront of exoplanet science – research into planets orbiting stars outside the Solar System. The Centre for Space Exochemistry Data (UCL CSED) is a new interdisciplinary initiative, located in the Harwell Space Cluster, the gateway to the UK space sector. UCL CSED aims to foster interactions between exoplanet science, industry, enterprise and space organisations. UCL CSED researchers recently announced the first discovery of water on a potentially habitable planet, K2-18b, using archive data from the ESA/ NASA Hubble Space Telescope.
Researchers from UCL Physics & Astronomy are leading the development of a new instrument, the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI), which will map the cosmos in unprecedented detail. From early 2020, DESI will observe the light from 35 million distant galaxies, building up a picture of the expanding universe and providing clues to its origin. Exploring our solar system UCL scientists are involved in two major space missions that are due to launch in 2020. The European Space Agency (ESA)’s Solar Orbiter, launched in February, aims at increasing understanding of the Sun’s magnetic activity and the way that 18
90 years of UCLO In November 2019 the UCL Observatory (UCLO) celebrated 90 years of observations by unveiling its new, state-ofthe-art Perren telescope. The telescope – installed after 14 years of fundraising – was officially unveiled by the Astronomer Royal, Lord Martin Rees. Students at UCLO hit the headlines in 2014 when they discovered a supernova during a teaching session – the new telescope promises to be a valuable teaching resource for future generations of students.
The first ever direct visual evidence of a supermassive black hole, at the heart of the M87 galaxy. Credit: The Event Horizon Telescope
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2019/2020: Students by faculty Headcount at 1 December 2019 Undergraduate
Postgraduate Taught
Postgraduate Research
Total
Arts & Humanities
2,699
859
270
3,828
Brain Sciences
699
1,599
973
3,271
Built Environment
815
2,441
379
3,635
Engineering Sciences
3,298
2,038
981
6,317
Institute of Education
1,001
5,010
711
6,722
614
377
36
1,027
Life Sciences
2,158
805
562
3,525
Mathematical & Physical Sciences
2,962
659
684
4,305
Medical Sciences
2,062
1,202
440
3,704
159
894
434
1,487
3,527
1,980
444
5,951
0
63
1
19,994
17,927
5,915
Laws
Population Health Sciences Social & Historical Sciences Office for International Affairs Total
Male 40%* * Percentages given exclude “Other” – 15 students (0.03%) identified as “Other”.
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Female 60%*
64
43,836
2019/2020: Students by domicile Undergraduate
Postgraduate Taught
Postgraduate Research
Total
Percentage
UK
9,147
8,477
2,951
20,575
46.94%
Rest of EU
3,540
2,027
1,263
6,830
15.58%
Other international
7,307
7,423
1,701
16,431
37.48%
19,994
17,927
5,915
43,836
Total
14%
10% 18% 45%
41%
30%
UK
45%
52%
Rest of EU
45%
Other international Undergraduate Postgraduate Taught Postgraduate Research
Source: www.ucl.ac.uk/srs/statistics
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A global community: UCL alumni around the world Rest of World 10,000
North America 19,000
UK 204,000 Europe 32,000
Middle East 3,000
UCL has over 300,000 alumni in over 190 countries worldwide
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Asia 32,000
Global league table position Global top 10 universities by ‘mean rank’ Position
University
Mean
1
Harvard
2.6
2
Stanford
2.8
3
Oxford
4.4
4
MIT
6.0
4
Cambridge
6.0
6
UCL
9.4
7
Johns Hopkins
12.2
8
Pennsylvania
13.0
9
Imperial
13.8
10
Columbia
14.2
UCL is in sixth place in the world in this table of the mean 2019 global league table positions, created using the most up-to-date global league tables at the time of data collection. Here, these are: QS 2020, THE World 2020, Shanghai ARWU 2019 and URAP 2019/20.
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2019/2020: Staff in numbers Headcount at 1 October 2019 (excludes honorary and casual staff) Academic and research staff
Teaching only
Other staff
219
235
70
1,185
56
496
1,737
Built Environment
374
236
176
786
Engineering Sciences
872
119
323
1,314
Institute of Education
506
357
325
1,188
73
74
34
181
Life Sciences
603
34
267
904
Mathematical & Physical Sciences
679
107
256
1.042
Medical Sciences
764
108
551
1,423
Population Health Sciences
936
32
528
1,496
School of Slavonic & East European Studies
59
80
20
159
Social & Historical Sciences
447
281
254
982
13
1,469
1,482
28
13
1,048
1,089
6,745
1,745
5,817
14,307
Arts & Humanities Brain Sciences
Laws
Professional Services Provost & Vice-Provost Offices* Total
* Includes Development & Alumni Relations and Library Services Source: www.ucl.ac.uk/human-resources/policies-advice/workforce-reporting-and-analytics
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Number of employees 524
2019 Fellowships UCL staff members elected to Fellowship/membership of the societies and professional associations. Data correct as of 13 November 2019. Academy of Medical Sciences Professor Judith Breuer, Division of Infection & Immunity Professor Robert Brownstone, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology
British Academy
Academia Europaea
Professor Margot Finn, UCL History
Professor Peter Coveney, UCL Chemistry
Professor Imran Rasul, UCL Economics
Professor Ofer Lahav, UCL Physics & Astronomy
The Royal Society
Professor Paul McMillan, UCL Chemistry
Professor Mark Handley FRS, Professor Michael Hanna, UCL Computer Science UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology Professor Christine Orengo FRS, UCL Structural & Professor Harry Hemingway, Molecular Biology UCL Institute of Health Professor James Rothman, Informatics UCL Queen Square Professor Jonathan Institute of Neurology Ledermann, UCL Cancer Institute Professor Sarah (Ann) Walker, UCL MRC Clinical Trials Unit Professor Chris Mason, UCL Biochemical Engineering
Royal Academy of Engineering
Professor Byron Cook FREng, UCL Computer Science
Dr James Briscoe, UCL Cell & Developmental Biology
Professor Jian Kang FREng, Bartlett School of Environment, Energy and Resources
Academy of Social Sciences
Professor Jeom Kee Paik FREng, UCL Mechanical Engineering
Professor Alison Fuller, UCL Institute of Education Professor Elizabeth Shepherd, Department of Information Studies
European Molecular Biology Org.(EMBO)
Professor Arthur Petersen, UCL STEaPP Professor (Robin) Angus Silver FRS, Division of Biosciences
Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (HEA) Dr Sue Taylor, UCL Institute of Education Dr Lorraine Noble, UCL Medical School Professor Norbert Pachler, UCL Institute of Education Dr Parama Chaudhury, UCL Economics Dr Emanuela Tilley, UCL Engineering Professor John Mitchell, UCL Electronic & Electrical Engineering
Professor Roberto Mayor, Division of Biosciences
Please note that every effort has been made to provide a comprehensive list. Please contact internalcommunications@ucl.ac.uk if you believe that there has been an omission.
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Delivering global impact UCL’s Global Engagement Strategy (GES) is based on a commitment to international partnerships and the belief that bringing together different perspectives and diverse experience accelerates the process of discovery and global impact. The Global Engagement Office (GEO) supports UCL academics to collaborate with others who share their dedication to excellence and passion for knowledge, irrespective of where they are in the world. We do this by developing and strengthening partnerships with other global institutions in five ways: running seed-funding programmes; organising inbound and outbound delegation visits; supporting individual academics, departments and faculties in developing global activities, projects and programmes with key partners; profiling the worldleading research and education carried out by UCL academics with their partners; and monitoring and mitigating risks to UCL’s international outlook and activity. Supporting international collaboration Over the past three years, GES funding programmes have benefited more than 550 academics, with £760k of internal funding allocated leveraging more than £23.3m of external funding so far. Between October 2018 and September 2019, GEO led or co-led nine outbound delegation visits, involving more than 30 academics. Concurrent PR campaigns in China and Japan focused on the impact partnerships are having on major global challenges. They generated news articles with a combined audience reach of 135m. 26
Developing cross-institutional partnerships UCL’s strategic global partnerships continue to grow with support from GEO. In September, UCL celebrated its strategic global partnership with the University of Toronto that has developed over the past three years. Collaborations like this, and our continuing partnership with Peking University, provide enhanced opportunities for UCL academics across faculties to work with colleagues from partner institutions and have greater global impact. We continue to explore potential for other current faculty-level partnerships to become institutional partners in future. Future global engagement We developed the GES after wide consultation in 2014, in a very different global context to the one we’re working in today. The strategy has proved to be sufficiently robust and flexible. The Cities partnerships Programme, part of UCL’s triple track European strategy created in response to Brexit, has funded 66 projects across all 11 faculties, working with 55 partners in Rome and Paris. It has supported over 80 events with academics across the university. We are now reviewing the 2015-2020 GES and consulting on the strategy for 20202025. Emerging themes, based on feedback so far from the UCL community, include increasing the diversity of our international students; promoting UCL internationally; giving more profile to the contribution UCL makes to the SDGs; and increasing our engagement with Europe.
The Sierra Leone Urban Research Centre (SLURC) is a partnership between UCL Development Planning Unit and Njala University that is improving the lives of slum dwellers. A UCL delegation visited SLURC in June 2019. Credit: Thomas Doughty, SLURC
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Health We aim to address the greatest societal challenges in health including: dementia, mental health, obesity, cancer, environmental and climate change, infectious and genetic diseases, as well as morbidities associated with an ageing population.
Our commitment to a research-led, student-centred learning experience was reflected by some strong scoring in the National Student Survey 2019. We have also launched a number of innovative new programmes including Cancer Biomedicine and Health Data Science.
UCL is one of the leading Artificial Intelligence (AI) research institutions in the world. Our work with DeepMind Health and Moorfields Eye Hospital has developed an AI system that can recommend the correct referral decision for more than 50 eye diseases as accurately as experts.
In partnership with UCLB and our three NIHR BRCs (UCLH, Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) and Moorfields), we have created a number of spinouts and partnerships, reinforcing our position as a world leader in the clinical translation of cell, gene and regenerative therapies. To date these companies have raised over £856M of investment.
Our researchers have developed a model that tracks how changes to ecosystems and human societies combine to affect the spread of Ebola. It could be used to predict outbreaks of the deadly infectious disease and help policymakers to develop healthcare infrastructure that reduces the risk of outbreaks. A second person (the ‘London’ patient) experienced sustained remission from HIV-1 in a study led by UCL and Imperial researchers. The results come ten years after the first such case in Berlin. Both patients were treated with stem cell transplants from donors carrying a genetic mutation that prevents expression of an HIV receptor CCR5. A report in The Lancet, co-authored by researchers at the UCL Institute for Global Health, identified that rising temperatures, as a result of climate change, are already exposing people to health risks across the globe. 28
We have been granted conditional planning permission for a new world-class facility on Grays Inn Road to fight neurological diseases such as dementia – see pages 30-31 for more details. The construction of a new home for the UCL Institute for Immunity and Transplantation has reached its highest point. The building will combine NHS patient care at the Royal Free Hospital with the latest developments in research to provide better treatments for diseases such as cancer, diabetes, HIV and tuberculosis. The Zayed Centre for Research into Rare Disease in Children, the world’s first purpose-built centre dedicated to paediatric research into rare diseases, was completed in July 2019. The new centre is a partnership between GOSH, GOSH Children’s Charity and UCL that will facilitate pioneering treatments and cures for children with rare and complex diseases.
Image caption: Scanning electron micrograph of HIV-1 budding (in green) from cultured lymphocyte. Credit: C. Goldsmith, from Wikimedia Commons
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Translating neuroscience discoveries into breakthrough treatments UCL is developing a new world-class facility on Grays Inn Road to fight neurological diseases such as dementia, as part of the Transforming UCL programme (see pages 36-37). Neurological diseases are now the world’s leading cause of death and disability. The new facility will transform UCL’s ability to tackle this devastating global health challenge, paving the way for breakthrough treatments. Bringing together research scientists, clinicians and patients, the site will offer unrivalled opportunities for interdisciplinary collaboration. Due to be completed in 2024, it will house over 500 neuroscientists from the world-renowned UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology (IoN) and the UK Dementia Research Institute (UK DRI), along with the UK DRI national headquarters. It will also house outpatient consulting and an MRI suite for the UCLH National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery. This is an exciting time not just for UCL, but for the brain science community worldwide. By harnessing the power of our exceptional neuroscience community we hope to revolutionise the future of 21st century healthcare. The UK DRI received much publicity from both ‘Dementia Revolution’, a joint campaign by Alzheimer’s Society and Alzheimer’s Research raising £4m for the institute through the London Marathon, and high-profile visits from HRH Princess Royal and MPs from the Common’s Science and Technology Committee. The UK DRI also announced the appointment of an Associate Director for UCL, the eminent neuroscientist Professor 30
Karen Duff. With a strong clinical foundation, the centre at UCL will be critical in the UK DRI’s goal to find much-needed treatments for dementia. 2019 was a significant year for UCL neuroscience. It saw the launch of the International Centre for Genomic Medicine in Neuromuscular Diseases, led by Professor Michael Hanna (Director of IoN). This £5m international collaboration involving 12 partners worldwide aims to advance the genetic diagnosis and therapy for patients with muscle wasting neuromuscular diseases, including motor neurone disease and muscular dystrophy, which affect at least 20m children and adults globally. Thanks to a £5m award by the Sigrid Rausing Trust, IoN and the UK DRI have established a new programme to test promising genetic therapies for neurodegenerative conditions. The Neurogenetic Therapies Programme will build on advances in understanding the genetic basis of these conditions, and accelerate their translation into effective treatments. After over a decade of pre-clinical development, the results from the first human trial of a drug targeting the cause of Huntington’s disease were published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2019. The study, led by Professor Sarah Tabrizi, found that the drug successfully lowered the level of the harmful huntingtin protein in the nervous system. As well as being of ground-breaking importance for Huntington’s disease patients and families, the results will help ongoing clinical research across other neurodegenerative illnesses.
Artist’s impression of the courtyard at the new UCL Neuroscience facility on Gray’s Inn Road
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UCL in London
32
London As London’s global university, UCL is in, of and for London, making a far-reaching economic, health, environmental, cultural and social contribution to our home city. In 2019, Professor Alan Thompson was appointed Pro-Vice-Provost (London) to coordinate and champion UCL’s London activity. Collaboration is a core UCL value and our partners include policymakers, local government and communities, creative and cultural organisations, industry and businesses, entrepreneurs, healthcare providers, schools, colleges and other HEIs and many more. Together we are making sure that London reaps the benefit of being home to a world-leading university, with work ranging from schools activities and student volunteering to turning research into innovative solutions for issues such as crime, road safety and risk reduction. UCL is also a vital part of the life and reputation of London. We bring around 55,000 students and staff from over 150 countries to work, study and play in the capital, enhancing its vibrancy and diversity. And we nurture an active and growing global alumni community of over 300,000 people in more than 190 countries, all with a lifelong connection to London thanks to the transformative experience of studying at UCL. We know that acting and thinking locally also has a global impact, and much of our London-focused activity also catalyses UK-wide and international benefits. This includes championing gender equality in schools in partnership with the Institute of Physics, the University Council of 34
Modern Languages and King’s College London and supported by the Greater London Authority. Benefiting from the UCL Institute of Education’s long history of research into gender issues in education, the Gender Action schools award programme gives schools practical support to counter the gender stereotypes that shape lifelong behaviours and opportunities. After starting in London in 2018, this initiative will roll out nationally in 2020. The global and local also meet within UCL’s Institute for Global Prosperity, which has established the London Prosperity Board to challenge the assumption that prosperity is associated with wealth and that economic growth automatically translates into better opportunities for people and communities. The Board’s Prosperity Index for London is a citizen-led initiative to re-evaluate how prosperity is measured in specific communities, to deliver more effective and accurate public policies that genuinely improve lives. Building on the success of the London index, the team is now developing future indices for Lebanon and Kenya. UCL is particularly focused on its neighbouring communities, and has signed a statement of intent with the London Borough of Camden, home to a diverse population of 250,000 people, to drive innovation and social change and deepen the existing wide-ranging and impactful relationship between the two. In its first stage, the partnership is focusing on climate change, in particular the impact Camden’s purchasing can have, and on fair funding of local authorities.
UCL Special Collections’ EAST summer school programme in 2019, held at the UCL site at HereEast in Stratford, east London
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Transforming UCL UCL is over halfway through ‘Transforming UCL’ an extensive £1.25bn 10-year building and refurbishment programme that began in 2014. We have successfully completed a large number of new developments and major refurbishments in Bloomsbury. Construction has now begun on the first two buildings at UCL East, the first entirely new campus we’ve built since the university was founded. Marshgate and Pool Street West, our inaugural sites, will deliver ground breaking academic, residential and research space as part of this incredible development (see page 38). Planning permission has been given for a new facility for UCL Neuroscience in King’s Cross, a world class centre for advancing neurological treatments. Once complete, it will place UCL at the forefront of dementia knowledge and treatment for the UK’s 850,000 people with dementia (see page 30). Continuing to develop world-class teaching and learning spaces Creating rich and dynamic learning spaces for students remains the focus of much of our investment programme. We’re refurbishing, reconfiguring and modernising the UCL Institute of Education building over several years. The first phase was completed in 2019, providing more than 500 new teaching seats in state-of-the-art rooms as well as new social learning space and new student bar. This builds on the 23% increase in teaching space we achieved in 2018/2019. The building’s transformation will continue over the next three years. 36
Ensuring the best academic research facilities Two new world-class UCL research facilities opened in autumn 2019: the Zayed Centre for Research into Rare Disease in Children and the Eastman Dental Institute. Construction has also begun on the new Person-Environment-Activity Research Laboratory, a vast, one-of-a-kind building in Dagenham for research into people and their environments. Transforming the student experience The multi award-winning Student Centre has secured UCL’s place as a world-leading university by providing a sustainable, collaborative environment with all our student services under one roof. Designed in consultation with the student community, the Student Centre provides 24hr study space of the highest quality. It remains UCL’s most sustainable building to date setting a benchmark as we take sustainable building technology forward. Astor College student residence has been refurbished and extended in consultation with students to create a welcoming home from home for 291 students, including accessible rooms. Its fit-for-purpose, tailor-designed accommodation and recreation space with public café and innovative ‘Bluroof’ provides the best possible live-in experience for our students. Over the next five years, Transforming UCL will see the continuation of our mission to build outstanding educational spaces equipped to foster the people, thinking and technology that will make an impact on today’s biggest challenges.
The newly refurbished Astor College student residence. Credit: UCL Accommodation
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UCL East Summer 2019 saw the Mayor of London break ground on our UCL East campus. It will bring together researchers, students, communities and partners from 12 new academic centres, to collaborate on solutions to the biggest challenges facing humanity across issues as diverse as sustainability, manufacturing, urbanisation, healthcare, heritage and inclusivity. Part of the Transforming UCL programme of investment in UCL’s estate to support the university’s continuing growth (see page 36), our first two campus buildings will provide 50,000 sqm of space. UCL East is being built on Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park alongside new spaces for the V&A, BBC, Sadler’s Wells and London College of Fashion. UCL East will house: Advanced Propulsion Lab: Creating the next generation of battery and fuel cell vehicles Culture Lab: Equipping future cultural leaders with a new mix of skills to drive creative industries which shape and reflect the dynamic evolution of our world Experiential Learning and Research Hub: Thinking differently about engineering education to make a better world Global Business School for Health: Educating future managers, innovators and analysts of global health systems in the world’s first business school focused entirely on health
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Global Disability Innovation Hub: Building a fairer world for the one billion people who experience disability around the world through new research and teaching collaborations Institute of Finance and Technology: Re-thinking how finance supports people and planet, equipping future financial and business leaders to manage 21st century challenges Institute of Making: Understanding the world and its materials in a new multidisciplinary open-access workshop, enabling exploration, collaboration, making and remaking Manufacturing Futures Lab: Future-proofing manufacturing for a carbon-constrained future where environmental drivers will test the creativity of our best engineers Nature Smart Centre: Expanding understanding of the interplay between ecological and human health and how best to develop sustainable and resilient environments Robotics and Autonomous Systems: Creating robots that respond to, and enhance, society The built environment catalyst: The Bartlett’s presence at UCL EAST is to act as a creative catalyst between disciplines, in particular through design and theoretical research and education that bridges engineering, architecture, and urbanism.
Summer 2019 saw the UCL East ground breaking ceremony at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in Stratford, east London. Credit: UCL East
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Financial Summary for the year ended 31 July 2019 Consolidated Income & Expenditure Account
2019 £m
2018 £m
Tuition fees and education contracts
564.9
521.1
Funding body grants
213.5
227.3
Research grants and contracts
481.1
476.3
Other income
179.2
193.4
7.9
6.0
Investment income Donations and endowments
40.5
27.0
NET INCOME
1,487.1
1,451.1
TOTAL EXPENDITURE
1,671.4
1,317.5
Loss on disposal of fixed assets
-
(0.1)
Gain on investments
47.3
24.1
Share of operating loss in joint ventures and associates
(0.1)
(0.1)
-
(1.1)
(0.1)
-
(137.2)
156.4
Taxation Actuarial loss TOTAL COMPREHENSIVE INCOME FOR THE YEAR Intangible assets
26.0
24.8
Fixed assets
2,050.2
1,876.7
Investments
294.5
254.2
Net current liabilities
(34.1)
(110.8)
Total assets less current liabilities
2,336.6
2,044.9
Non-current liabilities
(645.2)
(472.4)
Pension provisions
(385.1)
(130.6)
(19.4)
(17.8)
1,286.9
1,424.1
138.7
117.8
1,148.1
1,306.2
0.1
0.1
1,286.9
1,424.1
107.9
(14.1)
42,106
41,539
15,757
15,107
Other provisions TOTAL NET ASSETS Represented by: Endowments Reserves Minority interest
OTHER KEY STATISTICS Increase/(decrease) in cash in the year Average student numbers Average payroll numbers 40
UCL officers UCL Senior Officers
Deans of UCL Faculties
UCL Council (Trustees)
Visitor The Master of the Rolls
Arts & Humanities Professor Stella Bruzzi
President & Provost Professor Michael Arthur Dr Michael Spence AC (from January 2021)
Brain Sciences Professor Alan Thompson
Ex Officio Professor Michael Arthur Ms Ashley Slanina-Davies Ms Caroline Paige
Vice-Provosts
Engineering Sciences Professor Nigel TitchenerHooker
Development Mrs Lori Houlihan Education & Student Affairs Professor Anthony Smith Enterprise Dr Celia Caulcott Health Professor David Lomas International Dr Dame Nicola Brewer London Professor Alan Thompson Research Professor David Price Chief Operating Officer Ms Fiona Ryland
Built Environment Professor Christoph Lindner
Institute of Education Professor Becky Francis Laws Professor Piet Eeckhout Life Sciences Professor Geraint Rees Mathematical & Physical Sciences Professor Ivan Parkin Medical Sciences Professor Mark Emberton
Appointed Mr Mintoo Bhandari Mr Dominic Blakemore Mr Victor Chu CBE (Chair) Dr Andrew Gould Ms Lindsay Nicholson MBE Mr Turlogh O’Brien CBE Lord John Sharkey Mr Philip Sturrock MBE Dr Justin Turner QC Baroness Jo Valentine Ms Sarah Whitney Elected Professor Lucie Clapp Professor Annette Dolphin Professor Patrick Haggard Dr Alun Coker Dr Hynek Pikhart Professor Helen Roberts Secretary Ms Wendy Appleby
Population Health Sciences Professor Graham Hart Social & Historical Sciences Professor Sasha Roseneil
Š UCL Communications and Marketing, March 2020. Information correct at time of going to print. To request copies of this booklet please contact: internalcommunications@ucl.ac.uk