Dear colleagues,

I begin with some congratulations. 

First, to everyone involved in delivering our spectacular Graduation Day. It was wonderful to see the vibrancy, pride and energy of our student community; celebrate our students’ hard work and successes; and recognise our academic and teaching excellence. 

Congratulations also to our newly elected Royal Society and Academy of Medical Sciences fellows. 

This month’s In Conversation with the President was a chance to celebrate these moments, and focus on two of our key initiatives from our new strategy, Science for Humanity. 

My thanks to Harriet Wallace (Sustainability Strategy Director), Michael McTernan (‪Director of the International Relations Office), Professor Tim Green (Academic Lead for Sustainability), and Clare Turner (Head of the Global Development Hub) for their presentations. Thank you to Professor Liz Lightstone for moderating and posing your questions.

Harriet shared a set of policy documents, plans and guidelines which embed Imperial’s sustainability commitments. This included the announcement we are joining the Concordat for the Environmental Sustainability of Research and Innovation Practice, the annual Sustainability Report 2022-23, our decarbonisation plan for our campuses and smart new Sustainable Travel and Procurement policies. 

These are the result of collaboration across Imperial and it’s incredible to see what is possible when we pull together to drive transformational change. Read more about what you can do to be more sustainable at Imperial.

Michael shared updates on Imperial Global, one of our flagship Strategy initiatives. Our Imperial Global hubs will be a visible presence in key regions, encouraging research collaboration, student recruitment, building on alumni networks, and increasing brand awareness and profile. 

Activity in our Singapore campus has already started and the hub will be formally opened in July. Michael discussed plans for a US-based hub in San Francisco, and Clare shared plans for hubs in Ghana and India. Town hall events are being held online and in person for all hubs in the coming months. Read the presentation from the Imperial Global Singapore town hall.

Thank you for your questions. If you missed the event, you can watch the recording online. We will publish follow up answers to any questions we didn’t cover in the session in the Staff Briefing newsletter on 7 June.

I look forward to seeing you at next month’s In Conversation with the President event on 27 June. Before then, I encourage you to come to the Professional Services Discussion event on 19 June, where Robert Kerse (Chief Operating Officer) and colleagues will talk about property developments across our campuses. An invite will follow shortly. 

Best wishes, 

Hugh

 

Professor Hugh Brady 
President, Imperial College London