XClose

UCL News

Home
Menu

UCL Futures awards 2007

21 March 2007

A record amount of £320,000, raised by UCL alumni, staff and friends through the UCL Futures programme, has been distributed to projects and students across the university.

futures £120,000 of the amount has been allocated to student scholarships, a £10,000 increase on last year.

The Scholarships Fund, one of six priority areas for which UCL raises money, aims to build on UCL's existing scholarship programme which provides financial support for current students as well as helping UCL recruit the best through full merit-based scholarships. UCL wants to ensure that the most gifted students can benefit from the world-class education that it provides, no matter what their circumstances.

Of the £120,000 raised for scholarships this year £90,000 has been allocated to UCL Alumni scholarships and £10,000 to Travel Abroad scholarships, with a further £20,000 set aside for additional scholarship provision.

Hamish Stewart, Head of UCL Futures said: "The generosity of UCL alumni, staff and friends plays a vital role in funding key UCL priorities such as scholarships, departmental projects and campus renewal and many of these activities would not be possible without their help."

In addition to scholarship provision, twenty-three projects, covering all facets of the university, have been awarded grants. These range in size and scope from the £1,758 awarded to the UCL Union Drama Society for an Inter-Society Costume Cupboard, to the £15,000 awarded to Dr Mark Saunders (UCL MAPS) to further develop the Global Drought Forecaster for Humanitarians - a web-based tool designed to monitor drought intensity worldwide.

2007 is also a record year for the number of projects receiving awards of £10,000-£15,000. Twelve projects received these substantial sums, among them UCL Mechanical Engineering, which received £15,000 for 'PROJECT SOLARFOX', a scheme to design and build a zero-emissions racing car, and UCL Geography, which was awarded £15,000 to commemorate the bicentenary of the abolition of the British slave trade. The money will be used to fund a series of performances, debates and workshops and to help establish a research centre, focusing on teaching and researching the African diaspora in Britain.

To find out more about UCL Futures use the link at the bottom of this article.