HRH The Princess Royal visits UCL’s new campus

The Princess was visiting the campus in her role as Chancellor of the University of London, of which UCL is a member institution, to see how bringing disciplines together in cutting-edge research centres with first-in-the-world degree programmes is driving solutions to global challenges.

The occasion also marked Her Royal Highness’s first visit to East Bank, the UK’s newest cultural quarter, where the UCL East campus is located on the Park, along the river from Sadler’s Wells East, UAL’s London College of Fashion, BBC Music Studios and V&A East Museum and Storehouse.

During her visit, which began in the campus’s Marshgate building, The Princess Royal watched a demonstration by UCL Robotics and Autonomous Systems researchers who are using AI to train robots to help with search and rescue operations in dangerous terrains and to make surgery safer and more precise.

The Princess then learned about advances being made in electrifying aircraft in the UCL Advanced Propulsion Lab, including a vertical take-off and landing aircraft set to improve the safety and cost of air travel. The Princess Royal also saw how this battery electric aircraft technology is transferring to electric vehicles to help reduce further the world's reliance on fossil fuels.

Her Royal Highness then crossed over to the campus’ One Pool Street building, which houses the UCL People and Nature Lab, an interdisciplinary hub exploring innovative solutions for a more sustainable relationship between people and nature, in the face of biodiversity loss, global ecosystem degradation and climate change. The Princess Royal watched students demonstrating new technologies in environmental sensing and explored a virtual coral reef.

The Princess also spoke to researchers collaborating with local communities through citizen science projects to gather data on water quality to improve the health of the River Lea, which runs through the UCL East campus.

Out in the research centre’s rooftop garden, a living lab integrating technology and ecological research, The Princess Royal was invited to explore the links between urban environments and biodiversity through a variety of cutting-edge experiments and sensor systems, including those automatically monitoring insects, birds, bats and weather patterns on and around the Park.

Professor Kate Jones, Director of the UCL People and Nature Lab, said: “We all depend on the natural environment for our health, wellbeing, and survival. Understanding how to better care for our planet is critical, not just for preserving nature but also for maintaining food security, adapting to climate change and preventing the next pandemic. Her Royal Highness’s interest in our work is really timely and we encourage more people to get involved as students, researchers, or citizen scientists, as we collaborate across disciplines to understand how the degradation of nature impacts us all, and to develop solutions for the future.”

During the visit Her Royal Highness learnt about ways in which UCL works with and supports local communities, especially in the local boroughs of Newham, Hackney, Tower Hamlets and Waltham Forest. She met pupils and teachers from The Urswick School in Hackney, one of UCL’s partner schools in east London, and she spoke to Year 12 students working on an activity combining robotics and biology.

The Princess Royal also met UCL staff from the surrounding boroughs and heard about the university’s commitment to local employment and job creation, as well as its £5m fund to cover fees and living costs for postgraduate students eligible for the UCL East London Scholarship.

Professor Paola Lettieri, UCL Vice-Provost (Strategy), who spearheaded the development of the UCL East campus as its founding academic director, said: “It was exciting to show The Princess Royal some of the ways we are tackling global challenges through the collaborative research and teaching happening on our UCL East campus. The visit was fantastic recognition for staff and students, past and present, who have worked to build and run this university campus of the future. We hope that this will be the first of many visits Her Royal Highness makes here, as we continue to grow our community, our partnerships and our impact.”

The Princess Royal, a former Olympian and Honorary President of the British Olympic Association, championed London 2012. Her Royal Highness spoke to representatives from the London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC) and UCL’s East Bank partner institutions, who updated her on how Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park is becoming a leading destination for local, UK and international visitors.

Throughout the tour, Her Royal Highness saw how the UCL East campus brings together arts and sciences and drives opportunities in the surrounding business and creative economies. The campus also has exhibition spaces and cafes open to the public, as well as a programme of free activities and events, alongside installations by local artists.

UCL’s President and Provost, Dr Michael Spence, said: “It was an honour to welcome Her Royal Highness to our UCL East campus, showing how we are building for the future while preparing to celebrate our bicentenary next year. Our UCL East campus exemplifies our world-leading research and teaching and our commitment to partnerships that benefit communities both locally and globally.”

As the tour drew to a close, the Chair of UCL Council, Victor Chu CBE, invited Her Royal Highness to unveil a commemorative plaque to mark the visit while UCL PhD student Santiago Martinez Balvanera presented her with a gift of a camera trap, similar to one she had seen in action in the People and Nature Lab’s garden. The Princess Royal thanked all those present and praised the breadth of research undertaken by UCL’s vibrant community of staff and students.

Goksu Danaci, Students' Union UCL President, who was part of a group of students who discussed their experiences at UCL, said: “Today has been a great opportunity to share with Her Royal Highness the growing range of activities and facilities available to our students on and around Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, and how we're partnering with other London universities to build experiences that offer both insights and skills, as well as lifelong friendships and connections.”

Shazia Hussain, Chief Executive of Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, who greeted Her Royal Highness alongside East Bank partner representatives, said: “Her Royal Highness has been a long-standing supporter of investment and opportunity for east London, as a legacy of London 2012 and beyond. It was a privilege to welcome her to Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park to showcase just how much has been achieved, with support from the Mayor of London, since The Princess Royal last visited in 2015. We and all our partners on the Park will continue to work together to create one of the greatest destinations in the world in which to live, work, play and learn, with all the benefits and growth delivering for east London, the rest of the capital and the whole of the UK.” 

Links

• UCL East campus
• UCL People & Nature Lab
• UCL East London Scholarship
• Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park

Images

• Top: UCL’s President and Provost, Dr Michael Spence greets Her Royal Highness who is standing alongside Deputy Lieutenant for Greater London, Mr Kim Bromley-Derry CBE. In background: Professor Paola Lettieri, UCL Vice-Provost (Strategy), Chair of UCL Council, Victor Chu CBE, and Professor Wendy Thomson CBE, Vice-Chancellor, University of London.
• Professor Dimitrios Kanoulas (UCL Robotics and Autonomous Systems) demonstrates an AI-trained robotic dog to Her Royal Highness, while Professor Paola Lettieri, UCL Vice-Provost (Strategy) looks on.
• PhD student Dongyi Ma (UCL Bartlett Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis) shows Her Royal Highness a weather sensor in the UCL People and Nature Lab Garden.
• Her Royal Highness speaks to Year 12 students from The Urswick School in Hackney, one of UCL’s partner schools in east London.
• Dr Izzy Bishop and Yaqian Wu of the UCL People and Nature Lab show Her Royal Highness a water quality sensor that local residents can use as citizen scientists to help monitor the quality of local waterways.

Media contact 

Chris Lane

tel: +44 20 7679 9222  / +44 (0) 7717 728648

E: chris.lane [at] ucl.ac.uk