A message from the Provost: Thank you and best wishes for the festive break

Dear all,

Before most of us sign off for the festive break, I wanted to send some words of recognition and huge appreciation for everything we have all done together throughout 2025.

It has been a year of excellence, achievement and sustained (and sustainable) progress, with outcomes of which we can all feel proud: from strong performances in global rankings and international impact tables to increased student satisfaction in the National Student Survey, from research that expands our knowledge and challenges traditional understandings to impactful spin outs and industry partnerships, and clear increases in our research, consultancy, commercialisation and philanthropic income. It is important to recognise that none of this could possibly happen without the focus, application and sheer hard work of staff across the university on a daily basis.

An extra dimension this year has been the work that has been done by so many people to prepare us to celebrate and make the most of our Bicentennial in 2026. Starting in February with UCL Illuminated, a sound and light show celebrating our history, and the associated exhibition Two Centuries Here, there will be a whole array of opportunities to explore UCL’s activities from a range of angles and for everyone to find and tell the stories that matter to them. Please find out how you can join in with UCL200 throughout the year.

As part of UCL200, we will also see our newly transformed Main Quad and Wilkins Building completed and ready for our community to enjoy from mid-February. We will launch our major new philanthropic campaign that will massively enhance how far we can reach and how much we can do over our next decades. And, as many of you will have seen, we will roll out our striking new brand, a vital strand in our work to make sure that UCL continues to stand out in an increasingly competitive international market, which is garnering terrific feedback. All of this is the result of collaborative cross-UCL work, for which I am incredibly grateful.

One of the joys of all of our Bicentennial activities through 2026 is going to be the sense of how much has changed but also how much from our history still feels relevant today. Last week I was interviewed by Pi Media, one of UCL’s student media, about our plans for the upcoming bicentennial year and how students in particular can get involved. Pi has a rich history and in 2026 marks its own milestone: 80 years since it was founded in 1946, making it the oldest continually running student journalism society at our university.

It was named after then UCL Provost Sir David Pye, who served in the role from 1942 to 1951, a turbulent and unpredictable time by any reckoning. The campus he arrived at had been heavily bombed and had “hardly a square foot of glass”, but by all accounts this did little to suppress the spirit of UCL; indeed some of the great names of our history, including Kathleen Lonsdale, our first woman professor, could be found pursuing their work, in less than ideal conditions, during this period. Pi itself is emblematic of the revival and flourishing of student life post-war that laid the groundwork for the thriving student life that we see now and in which we are investing through the Student Life Strategy. 

While the environment now is thankfully nowhere near as difficult and dangerous as that which Pye was facing, we have become used over recent years to navigating a world that is complex, changeable and volatile, and 2025 has certainly followed that pattern. But through that, our community has consistently demonstrated the excellence, the impact and the instinct to challenge and think differently that has characterised UCL throughout its history and is core to our ongoing success. So I want to end the year by simply saying thank you, and wishing you all a happy and relaxing festive season.

And, in particular, enormous thanks to those who will be working over the break to keep the campus safe and secure and to be there for students who need support.

Yours
Michael

Dr Michael Spence
UCL President & Provost