Dear colleagues, 

Less than one month in and 2024 is already proving to be an exciting year for Imperial.  

We have launched our major new international research partnership in Singapore; I had the honour of representing Imperial at the World Economic Forum; and we are in the very final stages of finalising our new Strategy. 

Last week’s In Conversation with the President event illustrated the potential and possibility we have in front of us.  

With Mary Ryan, we discussed what Imperial Global: Singapore will help us to achieve. This is Imperial’s first global centre and the first time we have established a legal entity overseas. Our Singapore hub will be located at the CREATE Campus, which is also home to collaborative research programmes involving many of our international partners, including Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Technical University of Munich (TUM) and Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS). Imperial’s first programme is a collaboration with Nanyang Technological University (NTU) and triangulates research on cybersecurity, AI and medical devices. We hope to have other programmes approved in the near future. 

My visit to Singapore to launch the centre also encompassed a trip to Kuala Lumpur and Hong Kong. These visits are always as fascinating as they are useful, and I am very grateful for the meticulous and careful planning that went in to making it such a success. Being conscious of the cost and carbon footprint of such delegations, we pack the schedule to maximise the benefits to Imperial. Our itinerary included student recruitment activities, meetings with prospective and established research partners, discussions with research funding and other government agencies, alumni and networking events, and meetings with current and prospective donors. Thank you to everyone involved.

We also heard from colleagues from the Faculty of Natural Sciences. My thanks to Richard Craster and his team for their presentations. Bonnie Waring gave an inspiring overview of her work at the Silwood Park campus, Imperial’s living laboratory for the environmental sciences. I was very impressed by the Silwood team when I visited last year – and I encourage all of you to visit. It is a campus not just for ecologists or evolutionary biologists, but for researchers from all Imperial’s faculties.  

And finally, Claudia de Rham’s presentation on the Abdus Salam library was a great reminder of his achievements. Yesterday evening’s formal launch was an inspiring moment. A recording of the event with Professor Brian Cox will soon be available for you to watch. In the meantime, you can visit the online exhibition. 

Thank you as ever for your questions; and to Miriam Moffat for her moderation. 

To end, here are two dates for your diary: 

Our new institutional Strategy will launch on Tuesday 5 March. Find out more and sign up for the in-person event.

Tomorrow (Wednesday 31 January), our Chief Operating Officer Robert Kerse will host another hybrid session about Imperial’s Professional Services. You can sign up to attend in person, or attend online via Teams. 

Best wishes, 

Hugh 

Professor Hugh Brady, President