Imperial marks National Student Voter Registration Week

Ahead of the EU Referendum on 23 June, the College is encouraging eligible students to ensure they are registered to vote before the 7 June deadline.

Marking National Student Voter Registration Week -  an initiative coordinated by Universities UK – Imperial’s President, Professor Alice P. Gast, and Provost, Professor James Stirling, wrote to Imperial’s staff and students on Monday, saying: “The 23 June vote on the EU is important to Imperial since it will define the nature of the UK’s future relationships with its European neighbours and our future relationships with our European students and collaborators.”

Highlighting the College’s submission to the House of Lords Select Committee on the relationship between EU membership and science, research and innovation in the UK, the President and the Provost wrote: “The key points of our response were that EU membership supports international collaboration and researcher mobility. Our response went on to say that leaving the EU would impact science, research and innovation in the UK.”

The message went on to say: “While it was important for the College to articulate its point of view, it is not our role to tell people how to vote. The issues associated with the referendum are complex and affect different individuals, companies and institutions in different ways."

Concluding, the President and Provost noted that: “Collaboration, research and education are at the heart of what we do as a university. We will continue to evaluate the impacts on the College and our staff and students should the UK vote to exit the EU and support those in our community who may be affected. We will continue our commitment to excellence no matter what the outcome of the vote.”