Imperial College London (legally Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine) is a
public
In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociology, sociological concept of the ''Öf ...
research university
A research university or a research-intensive university is a university that is committed to research as a central part of its mission. They are the most important sites at which knowledge production occurs, along with "intergenerational kn ...
in
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
, United Kingdom. Its history began with
Prince Albert, consort of
Queen Victoria
Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previ ...
, who developed his vision for a cultural area that included the
Royal Albert Hall,
Victoria & Albert Museum
The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...
,
Natural History Museum and
royal college
A royal college in some Commonwealth countries is technically a college which has received royal patronage and permission to use the prefix ''royal''. Permission is usually granted through a royal charter. The charter normally confers a constitut ...
s.
In 1907, Imperial College was established by a
royal charter
A royal charter is a formal grant issued by a monarch under royal prerogative as letters patent. Historically, they have been used to promulgate public laws, the most famous example being the English Magna Carta (great charter) of 1215, b ...
, which unified the
Royal College of Science,
Royal School of Mines
The Royal School of Mines comprises the departments of Earth Science and Engineering, and Materials at Imperial College London. The Centre for Advanced Structural Ceramics and parts of the London Centre for Nanotechnology and Department of Bi ...
, and
City and Guilds of London Institute
The City and Guilds of London Institute is an educational organisation in the United Kingdom. Founded on 11 November 1878 by the City of London and 16 livery companies – to develop a national system of technical education, the institute has ...
.
In 1988, the
Imperial College School of Medicine was formed by merging with
St Mary's Hospital Medical School. In 2004,
Queen Elizabeth II opened the
Imperial College Business School.
Imperial focuses exclusively on science, technology, medicine, and business. The main campus is located in
South Kensington
South Kensington, nicknamed Little Paris, is a district just west of Central London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Historically it settled on part of the scattered Middlesex village of Brompton. Its name was supplanted with ...
, and there is an innovation campus in
White City White City may refer to:
Places Australia
* White City, Perth, an amusement park on the Perth foreshore
* White City railway station, a former railway station
* White City Stadium (Sydney), a tennis centre in Sydney
* White City FC, a football c ...
. Facilities also include teaching hospitals throughout London, and with
Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust together form an
academic health science centre. Imperial joined the
University of London in 1908, becoming an independent university in 2007.
Imperial has a highly international community, with 59% of students from outside the UK and 140 countries represented on campus.
History
19th century
The earliest college that led to the formation of Imperial was the
Royal College of Chemistry
The Royal College of Chemistry: the laboratories. Lithograph
The Royal College of Chemistry (RCC) was a college originally based on Oxford Street in central London, England. It operated between 1845 and 1872.
The original building was designed ...
, founded in 1845, with the support of
Prince Albert and
parliament
In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...
.
This was merged in 1853 into what became known as the
Royal School of Mines
The Royal School of Mines comprises the departments of Earth Science and Engineering, and Materials at Imperial College London. The Centre for Advanced Structural Ceramics and parts of the London Centre for Nanotechnology and Department of Bi ...
. The
medical school has roots in many different schools across London, the oldest of which being
Charing Cross Hospital Medical School
Charing Cross Hospital Medical School (CXHMS) is the oldest of the constituent medical schools of Imperial College School of Medicine.
Charing Cross remains a hospital on the forefront of medicine; in recent times pioneering the clinical use of ...
which can be traced back to 1823, followed by teaching starting at
Westminster Hospital
Westminster Hospital was a hospital in London, England, founded in 1719. In 1834 a medical school attached to the hospital was formally founded.
In 1939 a newly built hospital and medical school opened in Horseferry Road, Westminster. In 1994 th ...
in 1834, and
St Mary's Hospital in 1851.
In 1851, the
Great Exhibition was organised as an exhibition of
culture
Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups ...
and
industry by
Henry Cole and by Prince Albert, husband of the reigning monarch of the United Kingdom,
Queen Victoria
Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previ ...
. An enormously popular and financial success, proceeds from the Great Exhibition were designated to develop an area for cultural and scientific advancement in
South Kensington
South Kensington, nicknamed Little Paris, is a district just west of Central London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Historically it settled on part of the scattered Middlesex village of Brompton. Its name was supplanted with ...
. Within the next six years the
Victoria and Albert Museum and
Science Museum had opened, joined by new facilities in 1871 for the Royal College of Chemistry, and in 1881 the opening of the Royal School of Mines and
Natural History Museum.
In 1881, the Normal School of Science was established in South Kensington under the leadership of
Thomas Huxley
Thomas Henry Huxley (4 May 1825 – 29 June 1895) was an English biologist and anthropologist specialising in comparative anatomy. He has become known as "Darwin's Bulldog" for his advocacy of Charles Darwin's theory of evolution.
The stori ...
, taking over responsibility for the teaching of the natural sciences and agriculture from the Royal School of Mines. The school was renamed the
Royal College of Science by
royal consent in 1890. The Central Institution of the
City and Guilds of London Institute
The City and Guilds of London Institute is an educational organisation in the United Kingdom. Founded on 11 November 1878 by the City of London and 16 livery companies – to develop a national system of technical education, the institute has ...
, was opened as a
technical education school on
Exhibition Road
Exhibition Road is a street in South Kensington, London which is home to several major museums and academic establishments, including the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Science Museum and the Natural History Museum.
Overview
The road g ...
by the
Prince of Wales
Prince of Wales ( cy, Tywysog Cymru, ; la, Princeps Cambriae/Walliae) is a title traditionally given to the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. Prior to the conquest by Edward I in the 13th century, it was used by the rule ...
in early 1885.
20th century
At the start of the 20th century, there was a concern that
Britain was falling behind
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...
in scientific and technical education. A departmental committee was set up at the
Board of Education in 1904, to look into the future of the Royal College of Science. A report released in 1906 called for the establishment of an institution unifying the Royal College of Science and the Royal School of Mines, as well as – if an agreement could be reached with the City and Guilds of London Institute – their Central Technical College.
On 8 July 1907,
Edward VII
Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until Death and state funeral of Edward VII, his death in 1910.
The second chil ...
granted a
Royal Charter
A royal charter is a formal grant issued by a monarch under royal prerogative as letters patent. Historically, they have been used to promulgate public laws, the most famous example being the English Magna Carta (great charter) of 1215, b ...
establishing the Imperial College of Science and Technology. This incorporated the Royal School of Mines and the Royal College of Science. It also made provisions for the City and Guilds College to join once conditions regarding its governance were met, as well as for Imperial to become a college of the
University of London. The college joined the University of London on 22 July 1908, with the City and Guilds College joining in 1910.
The main campus of Imperial College was constructed beside the buildings of the
Imperial Institute, the new building for the Royal College of Science having opened across from it in 1906, and the foundation stone for the Royal School of Mines building being laid by
King Edward VII
Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910.
The second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria an ...
in July 1909.
As students at Imperial had to study separately for London degrees, in January 1919, students and alumni voted for a petition to make Imperial a university with its own degree awarding powers, independent of the University of London. In response, the University of London changed its regulations in 1925 so that the courses taught only at Imperial would be examined by the university, enabling students to gain a BSc.
In October 1945,
George VI
George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death in 1952. He was also the last Emperor of I ...
and
Queen Elizabeth
Queen Elizabeth, Queen Elisabeth or Elizabeth the Queen may refer to:
Queens regnant
* Elizabeth I (1533–1603; ), Queen of England and Ireland
* Elizabeth II (1926–2022; ), Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms
* Queen ...
visited Imperial to commemorate the centenary of the Royal College of Chemistry, which was the oldest of the institutions that united to form Imperial College. "Commemoration Day", named after this visit, is held every October as the university's main graduation ceremony. The college also acquired a biology field station at
Silwood Park
Silwood Park is the rural campus of Imperial College London, England. It is situated near the village of Sunninghill, near Ascot in Berkshire. Since 1986, there have been major developments on the site with four new college buildings. Adjacent ...
near
Ascot, Berkshire in 1947
Following the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
, there was again concern that Britain was falling behind in science – this time to the United States. The Percy Report of 1945 and Barlow Committee in 1946 called for a "British
MIT"-equivalent, backed by influential scientists as politicians of the time, including
Lord Cherwell
Frederick Alexander Lindemann, 1st Viscount Cherwell, ( ; 5 April 18863 July 1957) was a British physicist who was prime scientific adviser to Winston Churchill in World War II.
Lindemann was a brilliant intellectual, who cut through bureau ...
, Sir
Lawrence Bragg
Sir William Lawrence Bragg, (31 March 1890 – 1 July 1971) was an Australian-born British physicist and X-ray crystallographer, discoverer (1912) of Bragg's law of X-ray diffraction, which is basic for the determination of crystal struct ...
and Sir
Edward Appleton.
The
University Grants Committee strongly opposed however,
and so a compromise was reached in 1953, where Imperial would remain within the university, but double in size over the next ten years. The expansion led to a number of new buildings being erected. These included the Hill building in 1957 and the Physics building in 1960, and the completion of the East Quadrangle, built in four stages between 1959 and 1965. The building work also meant the demolition of the City and Guilds College building in 1962–63, and the Imperial Institute's building by 1967.
Opposition from the
Royal Fine Arts Commission
The Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE) was an executive non-departmental public body of the UK government, established in 1999. It was funded by both the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and the Department for C ...
and others meant that
Queen's Tower was retained, with work carried out between 1966 and 1968 to make it free standing. New laboratories for biochemistry, established with the support of a £350,000 grant from the
Wolfson Foundation, were opened by the
Queen
Queen or QUEEN may refer to:
Monarchy
* Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom
** List of queens regnant
* Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king
* Queen dowager, the widow of a king
* Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...
in 1965.
In 1988, Imperial merged with
St Mary's Hospital Medical School under the Imperial College Act 1988. Amendments to the
royal charter
A royal charter is a formal grant issued by a monarch under royal prerogative as letters patent. Historically, they have been used to promulgate public laws, the most famous example being the English Magna Carta (great charter) of 1215, b ...
changed the formal name of the institution to ''The Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine'' and made St Mary's a constituent college.
This was followed by mergers with the
National Heart and Lung Institute in 1995 and the
Charing Cross and Westminster Medical School
Charing Cross and Westminster Medical School existed as a legal entity for 13 years, as the midpoint of a series of mergers which strategically consolidated the many small medical schools in west London into one large institution under the aegis ...
, Royal Postgraduate Medical School and the Institute of Obstetrics and Gynaecology in 1997, with the
Imperial College Act 1997 formally establishing the Imperial College School of Medicine.
21st century
In 2003, Imperial was granted degree-awarding powers in its own right by the
Privy Council. In 2004, the
Imperial College Business School and a new main college entrance on Exhibition Road were opened.
The
UK Energy Research Centre
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
was also established in 2004 and opened its headquarters at Imperial. On 9 December 2005, Imperial announced that it would commence negotiations to secede from the University of London. Imperial became fully independent of the University of London in July 2007.
In April 2011, Imperial and
King's College London joined the UK Centre for Medical Research and Innovation as partners with a commitment of £40 million each to the project. The centre was later renamed the
Francis Crick Institute and opened on 9 November 2016. It is the largest single biomedical laboratory in Europe. The college began moving into the new White City campus in 2016, with the launching of the Innovation Hub.
This was followed by the opening of the Molecular Sciences Research Hub for the
Department of Chemistry, officially opened by
Mayor of London,
Sadiq Khan in 2019.
Campuses
South Kensington
Imperial's main campus is based in
South Kensington
South Kensington, nicknamed Little Paris, is a district just west of Central London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Historically it settled on part of the scattered Middlesex village of Brompton. Its name was supplanted with ...
. Notable buildings include the
Business School opened by
Queen Elizabeth II, which serves as the college's main entrance, the
Queen's Tower, which sits at the heart of the campus, the
Royal College of Science, and the
Royal School of Mines
The Royal School of Mines comprises the departments of Earth Science and Engineering, and Materials at Imperial College London. The Centre for Advanced Structural Ceramics and parts of the London Centre for Nanotechnology and Department of Bi ...
.
As part of
Albertopolis, a cultural centre based on the vision of
Prince Albert, the campus is adjacent many of London's most popular attractions, including
Kensington Palace and the
Royal Albert Hall, museums including the
Natural History Museum,
Victoria and Albert Museum, and
Science Museum, and institutions including the
Royal College of Art
The Royal College of Art (RCA) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom, with campuses in South Kensington, Battersea and White City. It is the only entirely postgraduate art and design university in the United Kingdom. It ...
, the
Royal College of Music
The Royal College of Music is a conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the undergraduate to the doctoral level in all aspects of Western Music including perform ...
, and the
National Art Library
The National Art Library (NAL) is a major reference library, situated in the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A), a museum of decorative arts in London. The NAL holds the UK's most comprehensive collection of both books as art and books about art, ...
. Many students take advantage of the ample green spaces that are an easy walking distance to
Kensington Gardens and
Hyde Park.
White City
Imperial has a new second major campus in
White City White City may refer to:
Places Australia
* White City, Perth, an amusement park on the Perth foreshore
* White City railway station, a former railway station
* White City Stadium (Sydney), a tennis centre in Sydney
* White City FC, a football c ...
providing a platform for
innovation
Innovation is the practical implementation of ideas that result in the introduction of new goods or services or improvement in offering goods or services. ISO TC 279 in the standard ISO 56000:2020 defines innovation as "a new or changed enti ...
and
entrepreneurship
Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value. With this definition, entrepreneurship is viewed as change, generally entailing risk beyond what is normally encountered in starting a business, which may include other values t ...
. The hub houses research facilities, postgraduate accommodation, as well as a commercialisation space. The campus is home to the Scale Space and
incubator
An incubator is anything that performs or facilitates various forms of incubation, and may refer to:
Biology and medicine
* Incubator (culture), a device used to grow and maintain microbiological cultures or cell cultures
* Incubator (egg), a de ...
, Invention Rooms, a college
hackerspace
A hackerspace (also referred to as a hacklab, hackspace, or makerspace) is a community-operated, often "not for profit" (501(c)(3) in the United States), workspace where people with common interests, such as computers, machining, technology, ...
and community outreach centre. The White City campus also includes another biomedical centre funded by Sir
Michael Uren
Sir John Michael Leal Uren (1 September 1923 – 9 August 2019) was a British businessman. He served as the chairman of Civil & Marine from 1955 to 2006. He donated GBP £40 million to his alma mater, Imperial College London, becoming the ...
.
Silwood Park
Silwood Park
Silwood Park is the rural campus of Imperial College London, England. It is situated near the village of Sunninghill, near Ascot in Berkshire. Since 1986, there have been major developments on the site with four new college buildings. Adjacent ...
is a postgraduate campus of Imperial in the village of Sunninghill near
Ascot in Berkshire. The Silwood Park campus is a centre for research and teaching in ecology, evolution, and conservation. It is set in 100 hectares of parkland used for ecological field experiments.
Hospitals
Imperial has teaching hospitals across London which are used by the
School of Medicine for undergraduate clinical teaching and medical research. All are based around college-affiliated hospitals, and also provide catering and sport facilities. College libraries are located on each campus, including the Fleming library at St Mary's.
Organisation and administration
Faculties and departments
Imperial is organised by four faculties: the Faculty of Engineering, the Faculty of Medicine, the Faculty of Natural Sciences, and Imperial College Business School.
Faculty of Engineering
* Aeronautical Engineering
* Bioengineering
*
Chemical Engineering
Chemical engineering is an engineering field which deals with the study of operation and design of chemical plants as well as methods of improving production. Chemical engineers develop economical commercial processes to convert raw materials in ...
*
Civil & Environmental Engineering
*
Computing
Computing is any goal-oriented activity requiring, benefiting from, or creating computing machinery. It includes the study and experimentation of algorithmic processes, and development of both hardware and software. Computing has scientific, ...
*
Dyson School of Design Engineering
The Dyson School of Design Engineering is the academic centre for design engineering at Imperial College London. The school has just over 50 academic staff and 400 students, with over 220 undergraduates. The school is located in the Dyson buildi ...
* Earth Science & Engineering
* Electrical & Electronic Engineering
*
Materials
*
Mechanical Engineering
Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and mathematics principles with materials science, to design, analyze, manufacture, ...
Faculty of Medicine
* Brain Sciences
* Immunology & Inflammation
* Infectious Disease
* Metabolism, Digestion & Reproduction
* Surgery and Cancer
* Institute of Clinical Sciences
* National Heart and Lung Institute
* School of Public Health
Faculty of Natural Sciences
*
Chemistry
Chemistry is the scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a natural science that covers the elements that make up matter to the compounds made of atoms, molecules and ions: their composition, structure, proper ...
* Mathematics
*
Physics
Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which ...
* Life Sciences
*
Centre for Environmental Policy
Imperial College Business School
* Analytics & Operations
* Economics & Public Policy
* Finance
* Management & Entrepreneurship
* Marketing
Global institutes
Imperial hosts global centres to promote inter-disciplinary work:
* Energy Futures Laboratory
* Gandhi Centre for Inclusive Innovation
*
Grantham Institute for Climate Change
Grantham () is a market and industrial town in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England, situated on the banks of the River Witham and bounded to the west by the A1 road. It lies some 23 miles (37 km) south of the Lincoln and ...
* Institute for Security Science & Technology
* Centre for Health Economics & Policy Innovation
* Brevan Howard Centre for Financial Analysis & Technology
* Global Entrepreneurship & Development Index
*
Data Science Institute
The Data Science Institute is a research institute at the Imperial College London founded in May 2014. The institute is one of five Global Institutes at Imperial College London, alongside the Institute of Global Health Innovation, Energy Futures L ...
* Institute for Molecular Science and Engineering
*
Institute of Global Health Innovation
*
Francis Crick Institute
Academic centres
Imperial College also houses two academic centres, formerly the Department of Humanities, offering teaching to undergraduate and postgraduate students in modern languages, arts and humanities subjects, social sciences and other subjects which fall outside of the standard remit of science, technology and medicine. The aim of these centres is to provide training in study skills, such as the acquisition of English language proficiency, but also to encourage innovatory and interdisciplinary approaches to science, technology and medicine, which might make use of study of the arts, humanities, languages and social sciences. The academic centres are the:
* Centre for Academic English
* Centre for Languages, Culture and Communication
The Centre for Languages, Culture and Communication also operates as Imperial College London's adult education centre, offering evening class courses in the arts, humanities, languages and sciences.
Governance
The council is the governing body of Imperial. The council consists of the Chairman, the President, the Provost, the President of Imperial College Union, 4 senior staff members, and between 9 and 13 lay advisory members (who are not employees of Imperial).
The
President is the highest academic official and
chief executive of Imperial College London. The position has been held by
Alice Gast, since September 2014. It was announced that Hugh Brady would take up the next Presidency in August 2022. The current Provost is
Ian Walmsley, and the current Chair is
Sir Philip Dilley.
Finances and endowment
In 2017/18, Imperial had a consolidated income of £1,033.0 million. The college's endowment is sub-divided into three distinct portfolios:
* Unitised Scheme – a unit trust vehicle for the college, Faculties and Departments to invest endowments and unfettered income to produce returns for the long term
* Non-Core Property – a portfolio containing around 120 operational and developmental properties which the college has determined are not core to the academic mission
* Strategic Asset Investments – containing the college's shareholding in
Imperial Innovations
Imperial College Innovations Ltd is a UK technology commercialisation and investment company, based in London. Imperial Innovations is traded on the Alternative Investment Market of the London Stock Exchange.
History
Imperial Innovations was f ...
and other restricted equity holdings.
Affiliations and partnerships
Imperial is a member of the
Association of Commonwealth Universities,
European University Association,
Global Alliance of Technological Universities,
League of European Research Universities and the
Russell Group
The Russell Group is a self-selected association of twenty-four public research universities in the United Kingdom. The group is headquartered in Cambridge and was established in 1994 to represent its members' interests, principally to governm ...
. It is a founding member of the Imperial College
academic health sciences centre
An academic medical centre (AMC), variously also known as academic health science centre, academic health science system, or academic health science partnership, is an educational and healthcare institute formed by the grouping of a health profess ...
, the
Francis Crick Institute and
MedCity.
Imperial is a long-term partner of the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of th ...
, with the first formal large-scale collaboration agreement dating back to 1944 as part of the
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
scientific effort.
The two institutions still share a strong bond with exchange programs for their students and academic staff.
In the field of
Mathematics
Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...
, Imperial College London has a joint venture with
King's College London and
University College London
, mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward
, established =
, type = Public research university
, endowment = £143 million (2020)
, budget = ...
running the London School of Geometry and Number Theory, which offers doctoral training in mathematic aspects of number theory, geometry and topology.
Academic profile
Rankings
Global
In the 2023
Times Higher Education World University Ranking, Imperial is ranked 10th in the world, as well as 3rd in Europe, behind
Cambridge
Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...
and
Oxford
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
.
In the 2023
Quacquarelli Symonds World University Ranking, Imperial is ranked 6th in the world, as well as 3rd in Europe.
In the 2022
Academic Ranking of World Universities, Imperial is ranked 23rd in the world, as well as 6th in Europe.
Innovation
In the 2023
QS MBA Rankings for the MBA specialization of
entrepreneurship
Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value. With this definition, entrepreneurship is viewed as change, generally entailing risk beyond what is normally encountered in starting a business, which may include other values t ...
, Imperial is ranked 3rd in the world, as well as 1st in Europe behind
Stanford and
Harvard.
In the 2019
Reuters World's Most Innovative Universities, Imperial is ranked 1st in
innovation
Innovation is the practical implementation of ideas that result in the introduction of new goods or services or improvement in offering goods or services. ISO TC 279 in the standard ISO 56000:2020 defines innovation as "a new or changed enti ...
in the UK, and 2nd in Europe, after
KU Leuven.
Career prospects
According to the 2019 Guardian University Guide and the 2019 Complete University Guide, Imperial students are ranked 1st in employment prospects among UK universities.
As of 2018, ''The Guardian'' notes that Imperial graduates pick up the highest salaries in the UK in the first year after graduation, earning around a fifth more than students leaving
Oxford
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
and
Cambridge
Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...
.
A 2018
Department for Education
The Department for Education (DfE) is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for child protection, child services, education (compulsory, further and higher education), apprenticeships and wider skills in England.
A Departme ...
report found that Imperial boosted female graduates earnings 31.3% above the average female graduate, and male graduates similarly saw a 25.3% increase in earnings above the average male graduate.
In 2018, the Sunday Times Good University Guide found that Computer Science at Imperial was the highest paying degree in the UK.
Research
Imperial was ranked 1st overall in rankings produced by ''Times Higher Education'' based upon the
Research Excellence Framework results 2021.
Imperial submitted a total of 1,257 staff across 11 units of assessment to the 2021
Research Excellence Framework (REF) assessment. This found that 96.6% of Imperial's research is “world-leading” (66.3% achieved the highest possible 4* score) or “internationally excellent” (30.3% achieved 3*), giving an overall GPA of 3.63 – the highest in the UK.
93% of Imperial's computer science research was found to be world-leading, achieving the highest possible 4* score. Imperial is also widely known to have been a critical contributor of the discovery of
penicillin, and the invention of
fiber optics. The college promotes research commercialisation, partly through its dedicated
technology transfer
Technology transfer (TT), also called transfer of technology (TOT), is the process of transferring (disseminating) technology from the person or organization that owns or holds it to another person or organization, in an attempt to transform invent ...
company,
Imperial Innovations
Imperial College Innovations Ltd is a UK technology commercialisation and investment company, based in London. Imperial Innovations is traded on the Alternative Investment Market of the London Stock Exchange.
History
Imperial Innovations was f ...
, which has given rise to a large number of
spin-out
A corporate spin-off, also known as a spin-out, or starburst or hive-off, is a type of corporate action where a company "splits off" a section as a separate business or creates a second incarnation, even if the first is still active.
Characte ...
companies based on academic research. Imperial College has a long-term partnership with the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of th ...
, that dates back from
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
.
The
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
is the college's top collaborating foreign country, with more than 15,000 articles co-authored by Imperial and U.S.-based authors over the last 10 years.
In January 2018, the mathematics department of Imperial and the
French National Center for Scientific Research launched UMI
Abraham de Moivre
Abraham de Moivre FRS (; 26 May 166727 November 1754) was a French mathematician known for de Moivre's formula, a formula that links complex numbers and trigonometry, and for his work on the normal distribution and probability theory.
He move ...
at Imperial, a joint research laboratory of mathematics focused on unsolved problems and bridging
British and
French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
scientific communities. The
Fields medallists Cédric Villani and
Martin Hairer hosted the launch presentation.
In October 2018, Imperial College launched the Imperial Cancer Research UK Center, a research collaboration that aims to find innovative ways to improve the precision of cancer treatments, inaugurated by former
Vice President of the United States Joe Biden as part of his Biden Cancer Initiative.
Imperial was one of the ten leading contributors to the NASA
InSight Mars lander which landed on planet
Mars
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Roman god of war. Mars is a terrestrial planet with a thin at ...
in November 2018, with the college logo appearing on the craft. InSight's Seismic Experiment for Interior Structure, developed at Imperial, measured the first likely
marsquake
A marsquake is a quake which, much like an earthquake, would be a shaking of the surface or interior of the planet Mars as a result of the sudden release of energy in the planet's interior, such as the result of plate tectonics, which most quakes ...
reading in April 2019. In 2019, it was revealed that the
Blackett Laboratory would be constructing an instrument for the
European Space Agency Solar Orbiter
The Solar Orbiter (SolO) is a Sun-observing satellite developed by the European Space Agency (ESA). SolO, designed to obtain detailed measurements of the inner heliosphere and the nascent solar wind, will also perform close observations of ...
in a mission to study the
Sun, which launched in February 2020.
The laboratory is also designing part of the
US Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment.
In early 2020, immunology research at the
Faculty of Medicine focused on
SARS-CoV-2 under the leadership of
Robin Shattock as part of the college's
COVID-19 Response Team, including the search of a cheap vaccine which started human trials on 15 June 2020.
Neil Ferguson's 16 March report entitled "Impact of non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) to reduce COVID- 19 mortality and healthcare demand"
was described in a 17 March ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' article, as the coronavirus "report that jarred the U.S. and the U.K. to action".
Since 18 May 2020, Imperial College's Dr. Samir Bhatt has been advising the
state of New York for its reopening plan.
The
governor of New York,
Andrew Cuomo
Andrew Mark Cuomo ( ; ; born December 6, 1957) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 56th governor of New York from 2011 to 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, he was elected to the same position that his father, Mario Cuo ...
, said at the time that "the Imperial College model, as we've been following this for weeks, was the best, most accurate model."
The hospitals from the
Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, which have been caring for COVID-19 infected patients, partnered with
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washi ...
to use their
HoloLens
Microsoft HoloLens is an augmented reality (AR)/ mixed reality (MR) headset developed and manufactured by Microsoft. HoloLens runs the Windows Mixed Reality platform under the Windows 10 operating system. Some of the positional tracking techn ...
when treating those patients, reducing the amount of time spent by staff in high-risk areas by up to 83%, as well as saving up to 700 items of
PPE per ward, per week.
Admissions
In the academic year 2021/22, Imperial had an admissions rate of 11.1% for undergraduate admissions and 13.0% for postgraduate admissions: the ratio of applicants to admissions was 9:1 for undergraduates and 7.7:1 for postgraduates.
The undergraduate courses with the highest ratios of applicants to admissions were
computing
Computing is any goal-oriented activity requiring, benefiting from, or creating computing machinery. It includes the study and experimentation of algorithmic processes, and development of both hardware and software. Computing has scientific, ...
(15.8:1),
mathematics
Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...
(12.1:1) and
mechanical engineering
Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and mathematics principles with materials science, to design, analyze, manufacture, ...
(8.9:1). For postgraduate, they were earth science and engineering (18.8:1), computing (15.8:1) and mechanical engineering (15.1:1).
Imperial is among the most diverse international universities in the United Kingdom,
with 50% of students from the UK, 16% of students from the EU, and 34% of students from outside the UK or EU.
The student body is 39% female and 61% male.
36.5% of Imperial's undergraduates are
privately educated, the fourth highest proportion amongst mainstream British universities.
Libraries
The college's
Central Library is located next to
Queen's Lawn
The Queen's Lawn is a green lawned area situated at the centre of Imperial College London's South Kensington campus, next to the Queen's Tower and immediately to the north of Imperial College Road. It provides an open space of 1,600 sq metre ...
and contains the main corpus of the college's collection. It previously also housed the
Science Museum's library until 2014. The Fleming library is located at
St Mary's in
Paddington, originally the library of
St Mary's Hospital Medical School, with other hospital campuses also having college libraries.
Medicine
The Imperial Faculty of Medicine was formed through mergers between Imperial and the St Mary's, Charing Cross and Westminster, and Royal Postgraduate medical schools and has six
teaching hospitals. It accepts more than 300 undergraduate medical students per year and has around 321 taught and 700 research full-time equivalent postgraduate students.
Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust was formed on 1 October 2007 by the merger of Hammersmith Hospitals NHS Trust (
Charing Cross Hospital,
Hammersmith Hospital
Hammersmith Hospital, formerly the Military Orthopaedic Hospital, and later the Special Surgical Hospital, is a major teaching hospital in White City, West London. It is part of Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust in the London Borough ...
and
Queen Charlotte's and Chelsea Hospital) and St Mary's NHS Trust (
St. Mary's Hospital and
Western Eye Hospital
Western Eye Hospital is an ophthalmology hospital in west London. It is managed by the Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust.
History
The hospital was founded by Henry Obre and John Woolcott, both surgeons, at St John's Place in Lisson Grove as ...
) with Imperial College London Faculty of Medicine. It is an academic health science centre and manages five hospitals:
Charing Cross Hospital,
Queen Charlotte's and Chelsea Hospital,
Hammersmith Hospital
Hammersmith Hospital, formerly the Military Orthopaedic Hospital, and later the Special Surgical Hospital, is a major teaching hospital in White City, West London. It is part of Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust in the London Borough ...
,
St Mary's Hospital, and
Western Eye Hospital
Western Eye Hospital is an ophthalmology hospital in west London. It is managed by the Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust.
History
The hospital was founded by Henry Obre and John Woolcott, both surgeons, at St John's Place in Lisson Grove as ...
. The Trust is currently one of the largest in the UK and in 2012/13 had a turnover of £971.3 million, employed approximately 9,770 people and treated almost 1.2 million patients.
Other (non-academic health science centres) hospitals affiliated with Imperial College include
Chelsea and Westminster Hospital,
Royal Brompton Hospital,
West Middlesex University Hospital
West Middlesex University Hospital (WMUH) is an acute NHS hospital in Isleworth, West London, operated by Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. It is a teaching hospital of Imperial College School of Medicine and a designated aca ...
,
Hillingdon Hospital
Hillingdon Hospital is an NHS hospital in Pield Heath Road, Hillingdon, Greater London. It is one of two hospitals run by the Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, the other being Mount Vernon Hospital.
History
The hospitals has its ori ...
,
Mount Vernon Hospital
Mount Vernon Hospital is located in Northwood, an area of north-west Greater London. It is one of two hospitals run by The Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.
History
The hospital was founded as The North London Hospital for Co ...
,
Harefield Hospital,
Ealing Hospital,
Central Middlesex Hospital,
Northwick Park Hospital,
St Mark's Hospital, St Charles' Hospital and
St Peter's Hospital.
Controversies
Accusations of bullying
In 2003, it was reported that one third of female academics "believe that discrimination or bullying by managers has held back their careers". Imperial has since won the
Athena SWAN
Athena SWAN (Scientific Women's Academic Network) is a quality charter mark framework and accreditation scheme established and managed by the UK Equality Challenge Unit (now part of Advance HE) in 2005 that recognises and celebrates good pract ...
Award, which recognises employment practices that are supportive of the careers of women in science, technology, engineering and maths.
In 2007, concerns were raised about the methods that were being used to fire people in the Faculty of Medicine. In 2014,
Stefan Grimm, of the Department of Medicine, was found dead after being threatened with dismissal for failure to raise enough grant money. His last email before his death accused his employers of bullying by demanding that he should get grants worth at least £200,000 per year.
The college announced an internal inquiry into Stefan Grimm's death, and found that the performance metrics for his position were unreasonable, with new metrics for performance being needed.
The issue of bullying within the staff at Imperial resurfaced in November 2020 when Alex Sobel, the Labour MP for Leeds North West asked the Secretary of State for Education in a written question on 24 November what steps the Office for Students had taken in response to a report by Jane McNeill QC dated 25 August which found that bullying had taken place at Imperial under the President (
Alice Gast) and the Chief Financial Officer. Michelle Donelan, the Conservative MP for Chippenham, responded for the Department for Education that "The Office for Students (OfS) is considering the information it has received in relation to this matter, in line with their normal processes. As is standard practice, the OfS cannot comment on individual cases". The college was accused of a cover-up by the
Universities and Colleges Union in December 2020 when it refused to publish McNeill's report, even in redacted form. The Chair of Council said that the report was kept confidential to preserve the anonymity of people who gave evidence, that its recommendations had been accepted by the senior leadership team, and that these recommendations were being implemented in full. A disciplinary panel decided that Gast's dismissal as president was not warranted and spokesperson for the college said that she had "offered wholehearted apologies to those affected".
On 14 February 2021, it was announced that the OfS would formally investigate allegations of bullying.
Student life
Student body
For the academic year, Imperial had a total full-time student body of , consisting of undergraduate students and postgraduates.
50.7% of the student body is from outside of the UK. 32% of all full-time students came from outside the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are located primarily in Europe, Europe. The union has a total area of ...
in 2013–14, and around 13% of the International students had Chinese nationality in 2007–08.
Imperial's male to female ratio for undergraduate students is uneven at approximately 64:36 overall
and 5:1 or higher in some engineering courses. However, medicine has an approximate 1:1 ratio with biology degrees tending to be higher.
Imperial College Union
Imperial College Union is the
students' union and is run by five full-time
sabbatical officers elected from the student body for a tenure of one year, and a number of permanent members of staff. It is split into constituent unions aligned with the faculties of the college, carrying on the association with the original constituent colleges of Imperial, the
Royal College of Science Union,
City and Guilds College Union,
Royal School of Mines Students' Union and
Imperial College School of Medicine Students' Union. The Union is given a large subvention by the university, much of which is spent on maintaining over 300 clubs, projects and societies. Examples of notable student groups and projects are
Project Nepal which sends Imperial College students to work on educational development programmes in rural Nepal and
the El Salvador Project, a construction based project in Central America. The Union also hosts sports-related clubs such as
Imperial College Boat Club and
Imperial College Gliding Club.
The Union operates on two sites, with most events at the Union Building on
Beit Quad at South Kensington, with mostly
medical school events at the Reynold's bar,
Charing Cross.
Facilities
Sports facilities at Imperial's London campuses include four gyms, including the main Ethos gym at the South Kensington Campus, two swimming pools and two sports halls. Imperial has additional sports facilities at the Heston and Harlington sports grounds.
On the South Kensington campus, there are a total of six music practice rooms which consist of upright pianos for usage by people of any grade, and grand pianos which are exclusively for people who have achieved Grade 8 or above.
There are two student bars on the South Kensington campus, one at the
Imperial College Union and one at Eastside.
There are a number of pubs and bars on campus and also surrounding the campus, which become a popular social activity for Imperial's students. The
Pewter tankard collection at Imperial College Union is the largest in Europe, with the majority of clubs and societies having tankards associated with their clubs.
Student media
Imperial College Radio
Imperial College Radio (ICRadio) was founded in November 1975 with the intention of broadcasting to the student
halls of residence from a studio under Southside, actually commencing broadcasts in late 1976. It now broadcasts from the West Basement of Beit Quad
over the internet.
Imperial College TV
Imperial College TV (ICTV) is Imperial College Union's TV station, founded in 1969 and operated from a small TV studio in the Electrical Engineering block. The department had bought an early
AMPEX
Ampex is an American electronics company founded in 1944 by Alexander M. Poniatoff as a spin-off of Dalmo-Victor. The name AMPEX is a portmanteau, created by its founder, which stands for Alexander M. Poniatoff Excellence.AbramsoThe History ...
Type A 1-inch videotape recorder and this was used to produce an occasional short news programme which was then played to students by simply moving the VTR and a monitor into a common room. A cable link to the Southside halls of residence was laid in a tunnel under Exhibition Road in 1972. Besides the news, early productions included a film of the Queen opening what was then called College Block.
Felix Newspaper
''
Felix'' is weekly student newspaper, first released on 9 December 1949. In addition to news, Felix also carries comic strips, features, opinions, puzzles and reviews, plus reports of trips and Imperial College sporting events.
Student societies
Imperial College Boat Club
The
Imperial College Boat Club is the rowing club of Imperial and was founded on 12 December 1919. The college's boat house is located in
Putney on the
Thames, and was recently refurbished, reopening in 2014. The club has a number of notable accolades, such as three alumni of the college in the gold medal-winning GB 8+ at the
2000 Summer Olympic Games.
Sports
Imperial College has over 60 sports clubs,
of which many participate in the
British Universities and Colleges Sport Association leagues such as
American Football
American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...
,
Rugby
Rugby may refer to:
Sport
* Rugby football in many forms:
** Rugby league: 13 players per side
*** Masters Rugby League
*** Mod league
*** Rugby league nines
*** Rugby league sevens
*** Touch (sport)
*** Wheelchair rugby league
** Rugby union: 1 ...
, Badminton,
Lacrosse,
Football, Ice Hockey, and many others.
[
]
Exploration Club
Imperial's Exploration Board was established in 1957 to assist students with a desire for exploration. Trips have included Afghanistan, Alaska, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Fiji, the Himalayas, Iran, Morocco, Norway, Tanzania, Thailand, Ukraine, and the Yukon.
Dramatic Society
The Imperial College Dramatic Society (DramSoc) is one of two major theatrical arts societies, with the other being the Musical Theatre Society, and it was founded in 1912. The society puts on three major plays each year, in addition to several smaller fringe productions. It is additionally one of the London-based dramatic societies to participate in the London Student Drama Festival, and regularly attends the Edinburgh Fringe. DramSoc is responsible for the day-to-day maintenance of the Union's theatrical space, the Union Concert Hall.
The Techtonics
The Techtonics
The Techtonics are an all-male a cappella group from Imperial College London. The group was formed in 2008, and has since risen to prominence in the world a cappella scene.
The group is best known for winning the International Championship of Co ...
are an all-male a cappella group from Imperial College London, and are a part of the Imperial College A Cappella Society. The group was formed in 2008, and has since risen to prominence in the world a cappella scene. The group is best known for winning the International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella in 2016.
Student housing
Imperial College owns and manages twenty-three halls of residence in Inner London
Inner London is the name for the group of London boroughs which form the interior part of Greater London and are surrounded by Outer London. With its origins in the bills of mortality, it became fixed as an area for statistics in 1847 and was ...
, Acton, and Ascot. Over three thousand rooms are available, guaranteeing first year undergraduates a place in College residences.
The majority of halls offer single or twin accommodation with some rooms having en suite facilities. Bedrooms are provided with basic furniture and with access to shared kitchens and bathrooms. All rooms come with internet access and access to the Imperial network. Most of them are considered among the newest student halls at London universities.
Most students in college or university accommodation are first-year undergraduates, as they are granted a room once they have selected Imperial as their firm offer with UCAS. The majority of older students and postgraduates find accommodation in the private sector, help for which is provided by the college private housing office. However a handful of students may continue to live in halls in later years if they take the position of a "hall senior", and places are available for a small number of returning students in the Evelyn Garden halls. Some students also live in International Students House, London.
Notable alumni, faculty and staff
File:Cyril Norman Hinshelwood Nobel.jpg, Sir Cyril Norman Hinshelwood
File:Rajiv Gandhi (1987).jpg, Rajiv Gandhi, 6th Prime Minister of India
File:Professor Abdus Salam.gif, Abdus Salam
Mohammad Abdus Salam Salam adopted the forename "Mohammad" in 1974 in response to the anti-Ahmadiyya decrees in Pakistan, similarly he grew his beard. (; ; 29 January 192621 November 1996) was a Punjabis, Punjabi Pakistani theoretical physici ...
File:Alexander Fleming 3.jpg, Sir Alexander Fleming
File:Blackett.jpg, Patrick Blackett, Baron Blackett
Patrick Maynard Stuart Blackett, Baron Blackett (18 November 1897 – 13 July 1974) was a British experimental physicist known for his work on cloud chambers, cosmic rays, and paleomagnetism, winning the Nobel Prize for Physics in 19 ...
File:Sir William Crookes 1906.jpg, Sir William Crookes
File:Thomas Henry Huxley - Project Gutenberg eText 16935.jpg, Thomas Huxley
Thomas Henry Huxley (4 May 1825 – 29 June 1895) was an English biologist and anthropologist specialising in comparative anatomy. He has become known as "Darwin's Bulldog" for his advocacy of Charles Darwin's theory of evolution.
The stori ...
File:John Pendry 2014b.jpg, Sir John Pendry
File:Portrait of H. G. Wells.jpg, H.G. Wells
File:Geoffrey Wilkinson (ca. 1976).jpg, Geoffrey Wilkinson
File:Dame_Sally_Davies_FMedSci_DBE_FRS.jpg, Dame Sally Davies
File:Brian-May_with_red_special.jpg, Brian May CBE
File:Nobel_Prize_24_2013.jpg, Peter Higgs
Peter Ware Higgs (born 29 May 1929) is a British theoretical physicist, Emeritus Professor in the University of Edinburgh,Griggs, Jessica (Summer 2008The Missing Piece ''Edit'' the University of Edinburgh Alumni Magazine, p. 17 and Nobel Prize ...
File:Lord_Winston_2011_(Portrait).jpg, Robert Winston, Baron Winston
File:Professor_Martin_Hairer_FRS.jpg, Sir Martin Hairer
Nobel laureates: (medicine) Sir Alexander Fleming, Sir Ernst Boris Chain, Sir Frederick Gowland Hopkins, Sir Andrew Fielding Huxley, Rodney Robert Porter
Prof Rodney Robert Porter, CH, FRS FRSE HFRCP (8 October 1917 – 6 September 1985) was a British biochemist and Nobel laureate.
Education and early life
He was born in Newton-le-Willows, Lancashire, England, the son of Joseph Lawrence Porter ...
, (physics) Abdus Salam
Mohammad Abdus Salam Salam adopted the forename "Mohammad" in 1974 in response to the anti-Ahmadiyya decrees in Pakistan, similarly he grew his beard. (; ; 29 January 192621 November 1996) was a Punjabis, Punjabi Pakistani theoretical physici ...
, Sir George Paget Thomson
Sir George Paget Thomson, FRS (; 3 May 189210 September 1975) was a British physicist and Nobel laureate in physics recognized for his discovery of the wave properties of the electron by electron diffraction.
Education and early life
Thomson ...
, Patrick Blackett, Baron Blackett
Patrick Maynard Stuart Blackett, Baron Blackett (18 November 1897 – 13 July 1974) was a British experimental physicist known for his work on cloud chambers, cosmic rays, and paleomagnetism, winning the Nobel Prize for Physics in 19 ...
, Dennis Gabor, Peter Higgs
Peter Ware Higgs (born 29 May 1929) is a British theoretical physicist, Emeritus Professor in the University of Edinburgh,Griggs, Jessica (Summer 2008The Missing Piece ''Edit'' the University of Edinburgh Alumni Magazine, p. 17 and Nobel Prize ...
, (chemistry) Sir Norman Haworth, Sir Cyril Norman Hinshelwood, Sir Derek Barton
Sir Derek Harold Richard Barton (8 September 1918 – 16 March 1998) was an English organic chemist and Nobel Prize laureate for 1969.
Education and early life
Barton was born in Gravesend, Kent, to William Thomas and Maude Henrietta Barton ( ...
, Sir Geoffrey Wilkinson, Sir George Porter.
Fields medalists: Klaus Friedrich Roth, Sir Simon Donaldson, Martin Hairer.
Academic affiliations include: Sir Tom Kibble, co-discoverer of Higgs Boson; Sir Tejinder Virdee, experimental particle physicist; Sir John Pendry, theoretical solid state physicist; Sir Christopher Kelk Ingold, physical organic chemistry pioneer; Sir William Henry Perkin
Sir William Henry Perkin (12 March 1838 – 14 July 1907) was a British chemist and entrepreneur best known for his serendipitous discovery of the first commercial synthetic organic dye, mauveine, made from aniline. Though he failed in trying ...
, discoverer of the first synthetic organic chemical dye mauveine
Mauveine, also known as aniline purple and Perkin's mauve, was one of the first synthetic dyes. It was discovered serendipitously by William Henry Perkin in 1856 while he was attempting to synthesise the phytochemical quinine for the treatment of ...
; Sir Edward Frankland
Sir Edward Frankland, (18 January 18259 August 1899) was an English chemist. He was one of the originators of organometallic chemistry and introduced the concept of combining power or valence. An expert in water quality and analysis, he was ...
, originator of the theory of chemical valency; Sir William Crookes, discoverer of thallium; Sir Alan Fersht
Sir Alan Roy Fersht (born 21 April 1943) is a British chemist at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge, and an Emeritus Professor in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Cambridge. He was Master of Gonville and Caiu ...
, chemist; David Phillips, chemist; Harold Hopkins, contributed to the theory and design of optical instruments; Alfred North Whitehead, mathematician and philosopher; Sir Steven Cowley, physicist and president of Corpus Christi College, Oxford
Corpus Christi College (formally, Corpus Christi College in the University of Oxford; informally abbreviated as Corpus or CCC) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1517, it is the 12t ...
; and Sir John Ambrose Fleming
Sir John Ambrose Fleming FRS (29 November 1849 – 18 April 1945) was an English electrical engineer and physicist who invented the first thermionic valve or vacuum tube, designed the radio transmitter with which the first transatlantic r ...
, inventor of the vacuum tube
A vacuum tube, electron tube, valve (British usage), or tube (North America), is a device that controls electric current flow in a high vacuum between electrodes to which an electric potential difference has been applied.
The type known as ...
.
In biology and medicine; Thomas Huxley
Thomas Henry Huxley (4 May 1825 – 29 June 1895) was an English biologist and anthropologist specialising in comparative anatomy. He has become known as "Darwin's Bulldog" for his advocacy of Charles Darwin's theory of evolution.
The stori ...
, advocate of the theory of evolution; Azeem Majeed
Azeem Majeed is Professor and Headof the Department of Primary Care & Public Health at Imperial College, London, as well as a general practitioner in South London and consultant in public health
Professor Majeed is a graduate of the University o ...
. Clinical Academic and Public Health Specialist; Wendy Barclay, virologist; Dame Sally Davies, the Chief Medical Officer
Chief medical officer (CMO) is the title used in many countries for the senior government official designated head of medical services, sometimes at the national level. The post is held by a physician who serves to advise and lead a team of medical ...
for England; David Livingstone
David Livingstone (; 19 March 1813 – 1 May 1873) was a Scottish physician, Congregationalist, and pioneer Christian missionary with the London Missionary Society, an explorer in Africa, and one of the most popular British heroes of t ...
, medical missionary and Clare Lloyd, biologist.
In engineering; Chi Onwurah
Chinyelu Susan Onwurah (born 12 April 1965) is a British Labour Party politician who has served as the Member of Parliament for Newcastle upon Tyne Central since 2010.
She was shadow minister for Industrial Strategy, Science and Innovation ...
, politician; Dame Julia Higgins, polymer scientist; Dame Judith Hackitt, former Chair of the Health and Safety Executive; Dudley Maurice Newitt, scientific director of the Special Operations Executive
The Special Operations Executive (SOE) was a secret British World War II organisation. It was officially formed on 22 July 1940 under Minister of Economic Warfare Hugh Dalton, from the amalgamation of three existing secret organisations. Its p ...
; and Julia King, Baroness Brown of Cambridge
Julia Elizabeth King, Baroness Brown of Cambridge (born 11 July 1954) is a British engineer and a crossbench member of the House of Lords, where she chairs the Select Committee on Science and Technology. She is the incumbent chair of the Car ...
, engineer and Member of the House of Lords.
Non-academic affiliations include: H. G. Wells, author; Nikolas Tombazis
Nikolas Tombazis ( el, Νικόλαος Τομπάζης; born 22 April 1968 in Athens, Greece) is a racing car designer who has worked in Formula One since 1992 for the Benetton, McLaren, and Ferrari teams.
Tombazis graduated with a degree i ...
, chief car designer at McLaren and Ferrari; Ralph Robins, CEO of Rolls-Royce; Brian May, guitarist of rock band Queen
Queen or QUEEN may refer to:
Monarchy
* Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom
** List of queens regnant
* Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king
* Queen dowager, the widow of a king
* Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...
; Chew Choon Seng, CEO of Singapore Airlines
Singapore Airlines ( abbreviation: SIA) is the flag carrier airline of the Republic of Singapore with its hub located at Singapore Changi Airport. The airline is notable for highlighting the Singapore Girl as its central figure in corporat ...
; Sir Julius Vogel, former Prime Minister of New Zealand
The prime minister of New Zealand ( mi, Te pirimia o Aotearoa) is the head of government of New Zealand. The prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, leader of the New Zealand Labour Party, took office on 26 October 2017.
The prime minister (inf ...
; Rajiv Gandhi, former Prime Minister of India; Teo Chee Hean, Senior Minister of Singapore (formerly Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore
The deputy prime minister of Singapore is the deputy head of government of the Republic of Singapore. The incumbent deputy prime ministers are Heng Swee Keat and Lawrence Wong, who took office on 1 May 2019 and 13 June 2022 respectively.
Hi ...
); Edem Tengue, Minister of maritime economy of the republic of Togo; Huw Thomas, Physician to the Queen
Physician to the King (or Queen, as appropriate) is a title held by physicians of the Medical Household of the Sovereign of the United Kingdom. Part of the Royal Household, the Medical Household includes physicians, who treat general condition ...
; Sir Roger Bannister, ran the first four-minute mile; David Warren, inventor of the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder; Andreas Mogensen, first Danish astronaut; Winston Wong, entrepreneur; Alan Howard Alan Howard may refer to:
* Alan Howard (actor) (1937–2015), English actor
* Alan Howard (cricketer) (1909–1993), English cricketer
* Alan Howard (engineer) (1905–1966), American engineer
* Alan Howard (hedge fund manager) (born 1963), hedge ...
, hedge fund manager and philanthropist; Cyrus Pallonji Mistry
Cyrus Pallonji Mistry (4 July 1968 – 4 September 2022) was an Indian businessman. He was the chairman of the Tata Group, an Indian business conglomerate, from 2012 to 2016. He was the sixth chairman of the group, and only the second (af ...
, former chairman of the Tata Group
The Tata Group () is an Indian multinational conglomerate headquartered in Mumbai. Established in 1868, it is India's largest conglomerate, with products and services in over 150 countries, and operations in 100 countries across six continent ...
; Michael Birch, entrepreneur; Henry Charles Stephens, politician; Sir Michael Uren
Sir John Michael Leal Uren (1 September 1923 – 9 August 2019) was a British businessman. He served as the chairman of Civil & Marine from 1955 to 2006. He donated GBP £40 million to his alma mater, Imperial College London, becoming the ...
, businessman and philanthropist; Ian Read, CEO of Pfizer
Pfizer Inc. ( ) is an American multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology corporation headquartered on 42nd Street in Manhattan, New York City. The company was established in 1849 in New York by two German entrepreneurs, Charles Pfize ...
, Pallab Ghosh, BBC correspondent, Hannah Devlin
Hannah Devlin is an author in London and science correspondent for '' The Guardian''.
Education
Devlin attended St Bede's College, Manchester, where she studied A-Levels in Maths, Physics, French and General Studies. She completed an undergra ...
, science journalist; Dyah Roro Esti Widya Putri, member of House of Representatives of the Republic of Indonesia.
See also
* Albertopolis
* Armorial of UK universities
* Education in London
* List of universities in the UK
Notes
References
External links
*
*
*
{{Coord, 51.498356, -0.176894, type:edu, display=title
Buildings and structures in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea
Educational institutions established in 1907
Former colleges of the University of London
Russell Group
1907 establishments in England
South Kensington
Universities in London
Universities UK