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.
Our strong foundations, great people, excellent partners and enablers are the pillars of our success.
- The foundations of our work are our world-class core academic disciplines linked to enable exceptional transdisciplinary research, deliver an excellent educational experience and a vibrant, research-led, entrepreneurial environment.
- In our focus on our people, we commit to creating an enriching, inclusive environment that supports and motivates staff, students and alumni.
- Our partnerships are critical to achieving our goals and we commit to strengthening collaborations – in both research and education – across the globe. We also inform decision-makers to influence policy and strive to empower society through meaningful engagement.
- Our enablers help us to deliver our strategy through strengthening and diversifying our revenue streams, providing professional support, consistent processes and appropriate technology for staff and students, and committing to courageous, innovative pursuit of new opportunities.
Our contribution and impact
This year, Imperial’s position as a world-leading university has been confirmed by outstanding results in the Research Excellence Framework and global league tables. Our continued response to the COVID-19 pandemic and commitment to delivering a high-quality education and experience to all our students have have been recognised by national awards and underline our value to society.
At the start of the academic year 2021–22, we were named as University of the Year 2022 and University of the Year for Student Experience 2022 by The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide. This award is testament to the innovative approach and hard work of our community, which came together to deliver a transformative education and student experience in the face of the challenges brought by the pandemic.
We have continued to learn lessons from the pandemic, where collaboration, teamwork and creativity allowed us to quickly adapt to challenging situations. We have invited students to take a greater role in their learning experience and invested over £7 million in our teaching spaces, while also sustaining investment in the wellbeing of our students. We have prioritised the quality of the student experience, something that has been reflected in our most recent results in the National Student Survey (NSS). In 2022, we achieved student satisfaction of 82%, while the College is now ranked first for student satisfaction among London Russell Group universities.
In the results of the Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2021, we ranked top in the UK overall with a greater proportion of 4* “worldleading” research than any other UK university. The results are our best-ever and reaffirm Imperial’s standing as a leading UK institution for academics to pursue their research, with top results for our research environment. This achievement is the result of the College’s commitment to both discovery-led research and the translation of research into tangible benefits for society. Imperial topped the board with the highest research impact of all Russell Group universities.
The impact that our research and teaching has was underlined throughout the pandemic, with Imperial researchers at the forefront of global efforts to understand and tackle the virus – modelling disease spread, pioneering the rapid development of new vaccine technology and accelerating breakthrough treatments to help COVID-19 patients. Our community was recognised for its response in November 2021 with a Queen’s Anniversary Prize, the highest national honour awarded in UK further and higher education in recognition of work that delivers benefit to the wider world and public.