Imperial’s mission, strategy and vision
Our mission is to achieve enduring excellence in research and education in science, engineering, medicine and business for the benefit of society.
High-quality transdisciplinary research, a world-class educational experience and a strong emphasis on academic success and societal impact are the foundations we commit to in our work.
These commitments link directly to our Academic Strategy, which sets out our ambition to deliver transformative impact for benefit on a global scale through four societal themes of health, smart, sustainability and resilience. It also sets out our vision for a student experience that prepares our students to be leaders, to innovate and drive change. Our work to achieve these ambitions is at the heart of everything we do.
In 2022–23 we have been working on shaping our vision and ambition for Imperial over the next decade, through consultation on a new University-wide strategy. The development of the new strategy was announced in the President’s inaugural address in October 2022, where President Hugh Brady said: “It is precisely because of the recent tectonic shift in our world that it is an opportune time to take a fresh look at Imperial’s strategy.”
The new strategy is being formed through consultation with staff, students, alumni and external stakeholders, whose feedback is helping to address fundamental questions about our academic mission, overall vision and core pillars.
Alongside this work, we began a project to strengthen Imperial’s brand – which will sit at the heart of the ambition and vision set out through our new institutional strategy.
Our contribution and impact
Imperial continues to push the frontiers in world-leading research, life-changing education and transformative innovation. Our work throughout 2022–23 has had a real-world impact across the globe – from international partnerships and scholarships to research projects and studies seeking to answer questions about worldwide issues, such as climate change and diseases.
Our staff, students, alumni and partners endeavour to make the world healthier, smarter, safer, more prosperous and more sustainable, and this has been rewarded with the reaffirmation of Imperial as one of the world’s leading universities. Announced in July 2023, Imperial was ranked sixth top university in the world in the QS World University Rankings for 2024. This puts Imperial at third in the UK and top in London. For 2024, the QS Rankings introduced new methodologies and metrics including ‘Sustainability’ and ‘International Research Network’. These are already key areas for Imperial and evidenced throughout our work in 2022–23, such as through the strategic relationship between Imperial and the University of Tokyo for cleantech and energy research, and the recent partnership with Cornell University to cooperate on using AI to accelerate scientific discovery and future technologies.
Imperial was also placed among the world’s top 10 universities in The Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2023 and was named University of the Year by the Guardian University Guide 2023. These results follow an increased student satisfaction rate in the National Student Survey 2023, which puts Imperial first among fellow London Russell Group universities. Imperial also placed second among all Russell Group institutions nationally for teaching, with results showing that satisfaction levels have increased in a variety of areas including student voice, learning opportunities, academic support and learning resources. Retention of our overall gold rating, the highest category, through the Office for Students Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) in September 2023 reflects the quality of our teaching.