Principal themes objectives

We will seek, attract, develop and retain people with the imagination and insight to address questions whose significance are not yet readily apparent, or to provide new answers to puzzles that have frustrated all others.

The ability to cultivate and support these talented individuals is a critical test of a global university.

We will expect all our departments and faculties to rise to the challenge of valuing their educational activities alongside their research, innovation and enterprise, and to support and develop all staff, such that they will inspire our students, give them a distinctive UCL experience and nurture their academic and personal development.

Objectives relating to this principal theme

• Attract, retain and cultivate intellectual leaders across the full range of subject areas — and from a diverse range of backgrounds — seeking those who combine a deep commitment to their own discipline(s), openness to work across disciplines in research, education and for societal benefit, and the ability to determine their own intellectual direction
• Maintain and improve the diverse environments required to support academic leaders in different fields and of different styles
• be vigilant against threats to the fundamental academic freedoms that such intellectual leadership requires
• Develop our staff at all career stages to act as exemplars through their academic, professional and intellectual pursuits, and to be confident and effective at engaging with students as partners in our global endeavour
• Be a leading performer, within the top two, in UK research income and Research Excellence Framework performance.

Objectives relating to this principal theme:

• attract, recruit and retain a diverse community of committed, engaged and intellectually curious students who will become our lifelong partners in proactively creating a truly great university
• innovate and improve our research-based educational provision to create a learning culture and curriculum structures that develop and foster critical independent thinking that is radical and disruptive, and contributes to problem solving
• ensure that our students, at every level (UG, PGT and PGR), feel that they are a key and integral part of our university community, and that their opinions and suggestions are valued and acted upon, as full partners in the future of UCL
• achieve high levels of student satisfaction in the National Student Survey and International Barometer, placing us in the top quartile of performance of Russell Group universities
• ensure that the specific needs of PGT and PGR students are understood and addressed, such that we develop a global reputation for excellence in postgraduate education
• ensure that we understand and address the specific needs of all our international students, support them fully and help them to integrate into the unique experience that is UCL
• develop world-class physical facilities for study and learning
• become a world leader in the use of technology to enhance the student experience and the quality of learning
• develop a transformational skills, training, work placement and entrepreneurship agenda to ensure that UCL students are prepared to take an active role in contributing positively to global society and are the most sought after by employers.

Objectives relating to this principal theme:

• encourage and enable disruptive, creative thinking by our staff and our students that is catalytic and transformative and nurtures the development of radical new ideas and programmes for transformational impact on global problems
• maintain the comprehensive and strong disciplinary base and expertise necessary for the formation of cross-disciplinary communities engaged in problem-focused research and education, and adapt the focus of our activities in response to societal needs
• ensure that our academic environment, infrastructure and administrative processes are designed to encourage and promote cross-disciplinary activity, and the creation of new disciplines
• review the current Grand Challenges and adapt them to emerging opportunities and our expanded capacity, and enhance the support required for each Grand Challenge to succeed and deliver significant and measurable outcomes
• ensure that our Grand Challenge approach continues to inform our teaching and learning such that our students appreciate the wider relevance of their studies and research
• ensure that our problem-focused research and education are rooted in our ethical principles and commitment to generate and share knowledge for the benefit of humanity
• ensure that our research outputs are disseminated to an appropriately wide audience and that possibilities for co-creation of outputs are pursued where those will enhance impact.

Objectives relating to this principal theme:

• build supportive and productive relationships with our local community and network of friends, alumni and other supporters across the world to generate goodwill and mobilise them to become our ambassadors, advocates and donors, and to engage all in contributing to the future reputation and profile of UCL
• empower all our staff and students to be agents for change in our community and actively encourage and support volunteering and social entrepreneurship
• further strengthen our public engagement activities such that UCL establishes a global reputation for this activity; and to use this expertise to enhance further our research and teaching, as well as enabling staff and students to develop transferable skills
• increase the number and depth of our interactions with secondary schools in London and across the UK to build collaborative working with communities of educators
• use this network to support teachers and raise aspirations, applications and UCL admissions from our target group of disadvantaged and under-represented groups of students with the ability or potential to benefit from our provision, while ensuring that such students are well supported and retained
• develop a UCL programme of lifelong learning through summer schools, professional development, executive education and distance learning
• build a fundraising campaign for UCL that supports our strategy, is widely owned by the UCL community and links effectively with our partner charities, particularly in the NHS trusts
• build our endowment funds such that we can move towards greater support of home/EU and international students from low income backgrounds through a series of endowed scholarships and bursaries.

Objectives relating to this principal theme:

• build multi-faceted, long-term strategic alliances and engage effectively with all the key agencies in London, ensuring that we are well connected to UCLPartners and the NHS, business and industry (including SMEs), local government, schools and school partnerships, the Mayor’s office and GLA, the cultural and heritage sectors and non-profit organisations
• use our global standing, reputation and international partnerships to help attract inward investment to London
• take advantage of our location in London to develop more ambitious engagement with UK and other national governments to embed our expertise into policy development
• work in partnership with the GLA, London Legacy Development Corporation, the cultural and heritage sector, and with other HEI (including international) partners and the local community, in the creation of an innovative education and cultural hub on the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park
• build on our current activities to enhance creation of societal and economic value from our research and innovation and contribute to the intellectual life of London
• be open, honest, transparent, ethical, professional and generous in our approach to partnership working, such that we develop a reputation for being an outstanding and reliable partner
• develop and maintain high-profile, successful partnerships with other UK HEIs, particularly those in London and south-east England.

Objectives relating to this principal theme:

• Enhance the global nature of our student experience
• Extend our local and global knowledge
• Facilitate partnership working
• Develop our international capacity and skills
• Tell our global story better