Financing our ambitions: review of progress

Just two years after publicly launching in September 2016, the It’s All Academic campaign to raise £600m in philanthropic income for UCL had hit a total of £480m for priorities including student support, major capital projects including the New Student Centre, research areas such as cancer and neuroscience, and emerging cross-disciplinary opportunities like artificial intelligence and UCL’s new Institute of Innovation and Public Purpose. 

The Campaign has so far raised £117m to support UCL’s neuroscience research alone, with recent major donations including a £2m award from the Wolfson Foundation and £3m donated by Hong Kong based alumna Cathy Lee – one of UCL’s biggest single donations from Asia to date.

Other vital areas of UCL’s strategy supported by the Campaign include student support and experience, with significant funds raised for scholarships such as the new UCL Research Opportunity Scholarships, designed to support doctoral level students from BME groups that are underrepresented in academia. 

It’s All Academic is a cross-UCL fundraising campaign that brings the unique leverage of philanthropy to bear on some of UCL’s biggest long-term ambitions and catalyse the novel and disruptive thinking that traditional funding sources struggle to reach. The Campaign is also growing and engaging UCL’s active world-wide alumni community, with a target of reaching 250,000 volunteering hours – representing alumni giving their time to support UCL, current students and each other.

Image: Cathy Lee. Image credit: Office of the Vice Provost (Advancement)