UCL in 2025: a year in review

January

The year began, as it did in 2023, with a visit from Sir Keir Starmer. The Prime Minister’s speech at the UCL East campus outlined a new plan for artificial intelligence (AI) to boost growth and living standards and revolutionise public services. Sir Keir was given a tour of the Marshgate building’s Manufacturing Futures Lab, which investigates next-generation manufacturing technologies, while Peter Kyle, Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, spoke to researchers using AI at UCL. 

Back at Bloomsbury, a team at UCL Earth Sciences had a different focus: the origin of dinosaurs. A new modelling paper led by PhD student Joel Heath and Professor Philip Mannion (both UCL Earth Sciences) found that the earliest dinosaurs may lie undiscovered in the Amazon and other equatorial regions of South America and Africa, rather than further south in modern-day Brazil, Argentina and Zimbabwe, where the oldest fossils have been unearthed. “The fossil record has such large gaps that it can’t be taken at face value,” said Heath.

February

In another significant visit, Dr Michael Spence, UCL President and Provost, joined India’s prime minister Narendra Modi at a business summit in New Delhi, and discussed the important role universities play in fostering innovation and entrepreneurship.

In London, Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal saw research in action at UCL East, in areas ranging from ecology and AI to robotics, healthcare and hydrogen technology, in her role as Chancellor of the University of London, of which UCL is a member institution. 

Meanwhile, research looking at a rare, genetic form of blindness had life-changing results, with a gene therapy helping children certified as blind from birth to see shapes, find toys, recognise their parents’ faces and read and write.

The therapy was developed by a team at UCL Institute of Ophthalmology and Moorfields Eye Hospital. “We have, for the first time, an effective treatment for the most severe form of childhood blindness, and a potential paradigm shift to treatment at the earliest stages of the disease,” said Professor Michel Michaelides.

And from sight to smell: Ancient Egyptian mummified bodies have an aroma that is woody, spicy and sweet, according to a study led by a team at UCL Institute for Sustainable Heritage. The analysis – the first to systematically study the smells of mummified remains using human noses and scientific instruments – offers clues about the materials used in mummification and how practices and ingredients evolved. 

March

The breaking off of an iceberg the size of Chicago from Antarctica’s George VI ice shelf provided a rare opportunity for scientists to peek underneath the remaining ice shelf to a previously inaccessible environment. An expedition co-led by UCL’s Geography’s Dr Aleksandr Montelli discovered a thriving ecosystem including sponges, icefish, giant seaspiders, octopus and large, slow-growing cup corals, some of which may be newly discovered to science. 

Another inaccessible phenomenon scientists are trying to uncover is the nature of dark energy – the mysterious force driving the universe’s accelerating expansion. New results from the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) involving UCL researchers and engineers suggest dark energy might be weakening over time. If confirmed, this would overturn the current leading theory of dark energy and open the possibility that the universe might end in a “big crunch”.

Back in England, research from the UCL Institute of Education found that boys have widened the gap with girls on maths and science since 2019. “It is difficult to say exactly why this gap has opened up, but our findings point to some factors including confidence, a sense of belonging and absenteeism,” said Dr Jennie Golding. “However, more research is needed to understand the reasons fully and address this problem.”

There was good news, too, with a new diagnostic test for womb cancer, developed by Professor Martin Widschwendter (UCL EGA Institute for Women’s Health), approved for use in the UK. The test, which involves a simple swab taken from the vagina, means that thousands of women can “potentially avoid painful tests like hysteroscopies and have their minds put at rest sooner”.

And finally, eating together is good for us: research led Dr Alberto Prati (UCL Arts & Humanities) for the World Happiness Report found that people who share more mealtimes with others are more likely to report higher levels of life satisfaction and wellbeing.

April

In uplifting news, a woman’s eyesight was saved thanks to a pioneering test developed by Professor Judith Breuer (UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health) and colleagues. 

Dr Ellie Irwin, a 29-year-old doctor from Bristol, considered having her right eye removed after years of problems, before a metagenomics test identified a rare bacterial infection. With targeted antibiotics, the infection cleared in time for Ellie’s wedding. Metagenomics uses genomic sequencing that can identify all bacteria, fungi or parasites in a sample by comparing them against a database of millions of pathogens. Ellie said: “Metagenomics has truly been game-changing for me. I spent Boxing Day in hospital, thinking about whether it was time to have my eye removed.

“Now, I can’t even imagine being back in that place, I am able to get back to focusing on my life – being able to have that for my wedding day is a priceless gift.”

Meanwhile, new research led by Dr Sarah Jackson (UCL Institute of Epidemiology & Healthcare) found that the rapid rise in vaping in Great Britain, which began in 2021, had stalled by early 2024. This hinted that the UK’s regulation on e-cigarettes may have had an effect even before coming into force.

May

The Post Office scandal, in which hundreds of Post Office operators were wrongly prosecuted due to faulty software which suggested money was missing from their branch accounts, has been described as the UK’s most widespread miscarriage of justice. A report co-written by Dr Karen Nokes (UCL Faculty of Laws), based on interviews with 26 former Post Officer operators as well as family members, documented the deep trauma experienced by those affected, and found that victims/survivors had been left feeling re-victimised at each stage of their fight for justice.

The rapid progress of AI was a major topic of the year. Clinical trial results presented by Professor Gert Attard (UCL Cancer Institute) found that an AI test could identify which men with prostate cancer would gain most from the life-extending drug abiraterone. Professor Attard said the test could help “minimise overtreatment whilst maximising the chance of cure”.

Meanwhile, UCL announced it had acquired historic George Orwell letters that were in danger of being dispersed. Now in the expert care of UCL Special Collections, the documents offer new insight into Orwell’s early literary relationships, his approach to publishing and his responses to criticism. 

There was also a big win for the circular economy: cellulose, a material used to make everything from surgical masks to food packaging, can now be made from cow dung, thanks to a new technique developed by Professor Mohan Edirisinghe (UCL Mechanical Engineering) dubbed as “dung-gineering”.

And in a major moment in the UCL calendar, the first graduation ceremonies of the year were held, with hundreds of graduates celebrating their achievements with family and friends at Royal Festival Hall.

June

In June, the spacecraft Solar Orbiter, which includes instruments designed and built at UCL, got humanity’s first ever look at the south pole of the Sun. Professor Lucie Green (Mullard Space Science Laboratory at UCL) said it was the “missing piece of the puzzle” in terms of understanding how the Sun’s magnetic field operates on a global scale. 

Meanwhile, research on a much smaller scale, analysing the microbiome of newborns (their make-up of bacteria), found that certain protective species of bacteria could protect against viral infections later in childhood. The findings, from Dr Cristina Garcia-Mauriño (UCL Institute for Global Health) and colleagues, could be used to develop probiotics to give to babies to reduce their infection risks.

In the UK, as the weather was heating up, wasp numbers began to soar. An exhibition at the UCL Grant Museum of Zoology invited visitors to experience the hidden, intimate world of wasps, with the help of virtual reality and a scientifically accurate “virtual nest”. The exhibition, entitled World of Wasps, runs until 24 January 2026.

The important links between UCL and Malaysia were celebrated later in the month with a visit from the country’s deputy prime minister and other delegates. The event celebrated partnerships in research and a thriving student and alumni community at UCL – at the time, standing at more than 600 Malaysian students and 3,000 alumni.

And in AI news, UCL was announced as the UK partner of chip designer NVIDIA as part of the company’s Europe-wide initiative to help countries develop their own “sovereign” AI systems.

Also in June, UCL Press celebrated 10 years of open access publishing and over 19.5 million global downloads. It was not the only 10th birthday at UCL. BaseKX, UCL’s entrepreneurship hub in King’s Cross, marked its first decade of helping staff, students and graduates, and supporting the founding of more than 600 startups.

July

Many of England’s coastal towns become magnets for visitors in summer. But young people living in these communities face unique obstacles, according to a report led by Professor Avril Keating (UCL Institute of Education) that involved interviews with youth workers, teachers, councillors and local government officials. Young adults aged 15 to 20, the team found, face limited education and employment opportunities, and a lack of youth services and youth leisure spaces contributed to anti-social behaviour, drug consumption, and more serious crime.

There was also helpful news for those of us aspiring to exercise more. New research found that personality type could predict which forms of exercise people enjoy, with extroverts, for instance, tending to prefer high intensity workouts. This is important, said lead author Dr Flaminia Ronca, first author of the study from UCL Surgery & Interventional Science and the Institute of Sport, Exercise and Health (ISEH), because “we could potentially use this knowledge to tailor physical activity recommendations to the individual – and hopefully help them to become and remain more active”.

August

In August, UCL chemists provided a missing piece to the puzzle of the origin of life. A team led by Professor Matthew Powner and Dr Jyoti Singh (both UCL Chemistry) showed how two of biology’s most fundamental ingredients, RNA (ribonucleic acid) and amino acids, could have spontaneously joined together at life’s beginning four billion years ago. In El Pais, one observer described the findings as a “major breakthrough, perhaps the most significant in recent times” in the field.

Back in the present day, a clinical trial led by Dr Samuel Dicken (UCL Division of Medicine) had a positive message about home-cooked food, finding that a minimally processed diet was better for weight loss than a diet heavy in ultra-processed foods (UPFs). Participants on the less processed diet lost twice as much weight as counterparts eating UPFs.

Reading for pleasure, like home-cooked food, is known to be good for our health. But a new study found the proportion of Americans engaging in this habit had fallen by 40% over 20 years, with steeper drops in disadvantaged groups. One of the report authors, Professor Daisy Fancourt (UCL Institute of Epidemiology & Health Care), said: “Potentially the people who could benefit the most for their health are actually benefiting the least.”

The extraordinary skill of wave piloting is another tradition in decline. Indigenous navigators in the Pacific Ocean’s Marshall Islands expertly find their way by sensing the swells of the ocean. A UCL-led team of scientists joined three sailing experts on a voyage and, deploying cutting-edge technologies including mobile eye-tracking and 360-degree motion capture, sought to better understand the human brain and navigation, as well as to document and preserve this unique navigation technique. 

And finally, talking therapy offered by the NHS for people with depression or anxiety appeared less effective for people aged 16-24 than those aged 25-65, suggested a new study led by Dr Rob Saunders (UCL Psychology & Language Sciences) with Professor Argyris Stringaris (UCL Psychiatry). “Rates of depression and anxiety in young adults are rising,” Dr Saunders said, “so there is an urgent need to ensure we are offering them the best possible mental health care.”

September

The autumn brought wonderful news for those affected by Huntington’s disease, as it was announced that the condition had been treated successfully for the first time. A clinical trial led by Professors Sarah Tabrizi and Ed Wild (both UCL Huntington’s Disease Research Centre, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology) found that patients receiving a new gene therapy experienced 75% less progression of the disease overall, compared to a matched cohort of people with Huntington’s who were not receiving the treatment. “We never in our wildest dreams would have expected a 75% slowing of clinical progression,” Professor Tabrizi told the BBC. 

September also saw a hopeful step forward for the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease. A major clinical trial investigating if a blood test could improve diagnosis, also led by researchers at the UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, welcomed its first patients across the UK.

At the same time, party conference season was underway, with UCL academics, leaders and students, as well as UCL Business representatives, all helping to shape important UK conversations. As Merck and AstraZeneca paused UK investments, Professor Geraint Rees (UCL Vice-Provost, Research, Innovation and Global Engagement) argued in the Times that London was better positioned for drug discovery than the two pharmaceutical giants seemed to realise.

And finally, an AI system dubbed “RoboBallet”, developed by a team including Matthew Lai (UCL Computer Science), enabled large sets of robotic arms to work together faster and smarter in busy industrial settings. “It’s not just about avoiding crashes,” said Mr Lai. “It’s about achieving harmony at scale.” 

October

The month brought more reason to celebrate, as UCL gained its 33rd Nobel laureate. Professor Philippe Aghion was Professor of Economics at UCL between 1996 and 2002. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences, alongside two other economists, “for having explained innovation-driven economic growth”. Professor Fabien Postel-Vinay (Head of Department, UCL Economics) said at the time: “It is fantastic to see Philippe Aghion honoured in this way. With Peter Howitt, his research has helped economists and policymakers understand how innovation drives long-run economic growth.  Philippe’s and Peter’s work had a profound impact on the way we think about the interplay between innovation, market structure, and growth in modern economies.”

In health research news, people with sight loss were able to read again after being treated with an electronic eye implant paired with augmented-reality glasses, as part of a clinical trial involving UCL Institute of Ophthalmology researcher Mr Mahi Muqit. Eighty-four per cent of trial participants were able to read letters, numbers and words through an eye that had previously lost its sight due to the untreatable condition, geographic atrophy with dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD). 

For smokers, the month provided another reason to quit. A team led by Dr Mikaela Bloomberg (UCL Institute of Epidemiology & Health Care) found that quitting smoking in middle age or later was linked to slower age-related cognitive decline over many years. “It seems that, for our cognitive health too, it is never too late to quit,” said Dr Bloomberg.

Meanwhile, Dr Michael Spence, UCL President & Provost, joined the Prime Minister’s first official visit to India. As part of the formal delegation, he emphasised that international collaboration was “essential to tackling society’s biggest challenges” and referenced UCL’s role as a leader in AI, quantum, and medical innovation.

Back at UCL, a basement room filled with hundreds of dusty drawers was gaining the attention it deserves, with the release of a new book by Professor James Cheshire (UCL Geography): The Library of Lost Maps. UCL’s Map Library contains tens of thousands of maps, including some of the most significant of the past two centuries. They reveal stories of war, science, empire and climate change. 

Weight loss drugs have been a major topic of conversation throughout 2025. A new study led by Professor John Deanfield (UCL Institute of Cardiovascular Science) found that one of these drugs, semaglutide, had a protective effect on the heart regardless of how much weight people lost while taking the drug, suggesting its heart benefits were not only down to weight loss.

The month ended with two pieces of climate change-related news. The 2025 Lancet Countdown on Climate Change and Health report, led by Dr Marina Romanello (UCL Institute for Global Health), found that the annual number of preventable heat-related deaths globally has already risen to more than half a million, giving a “bleak and undeniable picture of the devastating health harms reaching all corners of the world”.

Meanwhile, a study led by Colm O’Shea (UCL Geography) found that shifting to wind power had delivered £104 billion net benefit to UK consumers. “The simplistic assessment that the wind industry is a drag on the UK economy is deeply mistaken,” said O’Shea.

And finally, a fossil on the Isle of Skye was found to be a new species of reptile that lived 167 million years ago. The researchers, co-led by Professor Susan Evans (UCL Division of Biosciences), said the new species and family of Jurassic reptile was linked to the origin of lizards and snakes. 

November

This month, UCL’s efforts on sustainability were recognised in the QS Sustainability Rankings, in which we were placed first in the UK and third in the world. The achievement reflects our commitment to create a fairer and more sustainable future, as outlined in our new 10-year sustainability plan.

There was also fantastic research news. A “wondrous” drug to treat aggressive leukaemia, created by Dr Claire Roddie and Dr Martin Pule (both UCL Cancer Institute), was approved for use in adults in the UK, meaning the immunotherapy will be available for NHS patients.

And the remains of an extensive Bronze Age settlement were revealed by a team of archaeologists co-led by Dr Miljana Radivojević (UCL Institute of Archaeology). The settlement on the Kazakh Steppe was likely once a major regional hub for bronze production more than 3,500 years ago, the team found.

We had two significant visitors. Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Edinburgh visited UCL’s EGA Institute for Women’s Health to see at first hand the cutting-edge science improving outcomes for women and babies. 

And the UCL East Community Cinema had a surprise visit from Sir Ian McKellen, who popped in to watch Lucas van der Rhee’s deeply moving documentary Queerkamp, as well as a short from recent alumni Maar Dinu.

December

Finishing the year on a high, a gene therapy developed by Professor Waseem Qasim (UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health) and Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) was found to reverse previously incurable blood cancer in some children. The therapy was achieved using base-editing, an advanced version of CRISPR technology that can precisely change single letters of DNA code inside living cells. “A few years ago this would have been science fiction,” said Professor Qasim. “Now we can take white blood cells from a healthy donor and change a single letter of DNA code in those cells and give them back to patients to try to tackle this hard-to-treat leukaemia.”

Alyssa Tapley, now aged 16, was the first person in the world to receive the treatment. She said: “It is incredible how much my life has changed. I went from four months straight in GOSH to now only coming back for medical appointments once a year. It is amazing how much freedom I have now. I am really grateful for all the opportunities the gene therapy treatment has given me.”  

Spinouts are often pivotal in getting new treatments to patients. The UCLB spinout EpilepsyGTx, which is developing new treatments for refractory epilepsy, raised $33 million (£24.78 million) in Series A funding to bring its gene therapy to clinical trials. The company’s lead programme could help patients become seizure-free with a single treatment. It has been supported by UCLB since its inception in 2021.

Meanwhile, the UCL community had a significant visitor: Nobel Prize laureate Professor Ardem Patapoutian, whose work revealed how our bodies sense touch and pressure. In his lecture, he said: “I’m mainly here to tell you that your sense of touch is quite remarkable… If you run your fingers across a surface, you can sense indentations that are 500 times thinner than a human hair.”

He highlighted the link between touch and proprioception - our brain’s ability to know where our limbs are in space without looking:

“This is how you can close your eyes and you can touch your nose - and by having sensors in the muscles and from how much those muscles are stretched, you know exactly what space you have occupied, which is essential for us, although we don’t think about it much.”

And in the days before Christmas, Dr Michael Spence, UCL President & Provost, reflected on how the public sees the role and value of universities. In a piece for the Conversation, he shared the findings of a new report by UCL Policy Lab with More in Common, drawing on polling and focus groups, finding that the British public still hold a deep affection for universities. “Where many institutions are perceived to be fractured or in decline,” he wrote, “universities stand out: globally respected yet deeply embedded in their communities.”