President & Provost's news and views

Messages to the UCL Community

• Provost's update: Our commitment to diversity and pluralism, 26 Mar 25
• UCL champions universities as drivers of innovation at India’s Global Business Summit, 20 Feb 25
• UCL helps shape global collaboration at Davos 2025, 27 Jan 25

2024

• Welcome to a new academic year, 2 Oct 24
• Universities in service of national renewal, 26 Sep 24
• Racist and Islamophobic riots – support for staff and students, 6 Aug 24
• UCL's President & Provost Dr Michael Spence congratulates Chinese offer holders (video), 23 Jul 24
• UCL's President & Provost Dr Michael Spence sends personal message to offer holders of UCL (video), 18 Jul 24 
• Protesters issued with formal notice to vacate the main quad, 15 Jul 24
• Responding to recent events on campus, 4 Jun 24
• Understanding our approach to ethical research and investment, 14 May 24
• Balancing rights and responsibilities on campus in a difficult time, 2 May 24
• Will the machines replace us? Thinking about AI in education, 15 Mar 24
• Celebrating the Year of the Dragon in 2024 (video), 9 Feb 24
• The UK is lucky to have its international students, 7 Feb 24

2023

• Thanks and best wishes to you all ahead of the winter break, 19 Dec 23
• Innovation, disruptive thinking and the culture of a university, 30 Nov 23
• Ongoing support for our community, 25 Oct 23
• Israel, Gaza and our community, 12 Oct 23
• Welcome back to the new academic year, 20 Sep 23
• UCL invests £110.2m in remuneration for staff, 20 Jul 23
• Results day and the marking and assessment boycott, 05 Jul 23
• UCL and China: De-risking and engaging, 30 May 23
• Mental Health Awareness Week and UCL's Generation Covid, 12 May 23
• How do we manage disagreement and diverse views in our community?, 22 Mar 23
• It's Vote Week! A message from UCL President & Provost, Dr Michael Spence (video), Students' Union UCL, 8 Mar 23
• UCL’s political engagement, 28 Feb 23
• A New Year’s Message from UCL’s President & Provost Dr Michael Spence (video), 20 Jan 23
• Working towards better pay and conditions in a tough financial landscape, 12 Jan 23

2022

• Publication of Draft Strategic Plan, 31 Oct 22
• IOE 120th anniversary - message from UCL's President & Provost (English) (video), 6 Oct 22
• IOE - 120th anniversary celebration - Message from UCL President & Provost (Chinese) (video), 6 Oct 22
• Death of Queen Elizabeth II, 08 Sep 22
• Welcome new UCL postgraduates (video), 17 Jun 22
• UCL in REF 2021 - Message from Provost (video), 13 May 22
• Two years since lockdown: reflections on a tough time and our future, 24 Mar 22
• UCL's all-staff survey, My UCL Experience, 07 Mar 22
• Responding to the war in Ukraine, 02 Mar 22
• Discrimination and marginalisation will not be tolerated at UCL: A statement from the Provost, 23 Feb 22
• Launch of 2nd phase of Strategic Plan consultation, 10 Jan 22

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2021

• Strategic Plan consultation launch, 25 Oct 21
• Invitation to staff summer event, 25 Aug 21
• Welcome UCL undergraduates (video), 18 Aug 21
• Welcome new UCL postgraduates (video), 18 Aug 21
• End of term/thank you message, 22 Jun 21
• Provost's end of term message to UCL undergraduates (video), 21 Jun 21
• Congratulations Class of 2021 (video), 15 Jun 21
• A message from the Provost about UCL’s response to events in Israel/Palestine, 20 May 21
• Message about antisemitism, 17 May 21
• Message about REF, 11 Mar 21
• Review of first month/additional closure days, 17 Feb 21
• Welcome message from UCL President & Provost Dr Michael Spence on joining UCL (video), 7 Jan 21
• Message from the Provost Professor Michael Arthur and incoming Provost Dr Michael Spence (re coronavirus restrictions), 02 Jan 21

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News and Media

Campus to Communities: Universities as Global Change Makers, Times Group Global Business Summit, New Delhi, 15 Feb 25  
Dr Michael Spence, UCL President and Provost interviewed by Heena Gambhir, Special Correspondent & Anchor at Times Now 

• Video
  - TIMES NOW: Unlock Insights With Dr. Michael Spence & Heena Gambhir On 'Universities As Global Change-Makers'
  - MIRROR NOW: Need Of A Degree To Become Leader? Dr Michael Spence Answers At Global Business Summit 2025
  - ET NOW: Dr. Michael Spence Discusses Universities as Engines of Economic Growth and Innovation
   
• Press coverage
  - ET NOW Linkedin - post 1 | post 2 
  - ET NOW Dr. Michael Spence, President and Provost, University College London seeks radical change in higher education system
  - TIMES NOW 'Indian Universities are Producing Remarkable Graduates': President & Provost, University College London at ET NOW Global Business Summit 2025
  - TIMES OF INDIA / INDIA NEWS UCL prez on AI: Didn't stop teaching maths when calculators came

Free Science at Risk?, World Economic Forum Annual Meeting, Davos 2025, 24 Jan 25
Speakers: Teruo Fujii, Michael Spence, Kimberly Budil, Jonathan Brennan-Badal, Maria Leptin - In today's polarized geopolitical landscape, balancing security concerns with the need for collaborative innovation is growing more complex, while the lack of policies that protect intellectual property and international security is increasingly clear. How can businesses, governments and institutions foster safe yet open research environments essential for scientific advancement?

Debating Education Town Hall, World Economic Forum Annual Meeting, Davos 2025, 22 Jan 25
Speakers: Sian L. Beilock, Michael Spence, Lawrence H. Summers, Raquel Bernal - From integrating next-generation technologies into curricula to addressing national perceptions of cultural issues, education is at a pivotal moment in ensuring that it adequately trains and teaches future generations. In this town hall, leaders debate what success can look like for education globally.

We’ve always had free speech on campus. It’s vital to ‘disagree well’, The Sunday Times, 19 Jan 25

2024

• UCL Provost: We must learn to navigate disagreement successfully, QS Reimagine Education Awards and Conference, Dec 24
• Why now is the time to capitalise on Indo-UK research collaboration opportunities (blog), ET Education, 6 Nov 24
• Universities in service of national renewal (article), LinkedIn, Sep 24
• The public does not share government hostility to international students (article), The Times, May 24
• 'Developing a Global Brand for Excellence' (article - refer to Chapter 12, page 143) in The New Road to Success: Contributions of Universities towards more Resilient Societies, Ana Mari CAUCE, Yves FLÜCKIGER, Ivanka POPOVIĆ (Eds), The Glion Colloquium, Volume Nr. 14, Geneva, 4 Mar 24
• How Can we Disagree well at UCL (video), in conversation with UCL Division of Medicine Early Career Researcher Network , 21 Feb 24
• Learning in the Age of Superintelligence (video), Fast Company, 26 Feb 24
• Teaching creativity and critical-thinking skills is imperative as AI transforms education (article), Fast Company, Davos Dialogues, 24 Jan 24

2023

• UCL Staff Town Hall on our strategic priorities and goals (video), 22 Nov 23
• Sabbs on the Sofa with Issy and the Provost, Students' Union UCL (video), 7 Nov 23
• Basic Science, Innovation and Policy Plenary Session (brochure - refer to pages 50-56, i.e. pages 26-29 in PDF), Science and Technology in Society Forum (STS Forum), Kyoto, Japan, 1-3 October 2023
• Balancing humility and conviction is the art of disagreeing well (article), Times Higher Education, 31 Aug 2023
• Digitalization of education and the future of higher education (article), World University Presidents Forum (WUPF), Beijing, China, 30 July 2023
• UCL president & provost Michael Spence delivers speech at ZJU (article), Zhejiang University, 21 Jun 23
• Inspiring speech by Dr. Michael Spence, President & Provost of UCL (video), ZJU Global Lecture Series, 30 May 23
• Why we need a more balanced approach to China, by Michael Spence (article), The New Statesman, 8 May 23
• Interview with Dr Michael Spence - UCL (video), The Dose, 19 Mar 23
• International Mother Language Day: celebrating languages (video), 22 Feb 23

2022

• UCL East Campus To Make Contribution To London And The World (article), India Education Diary, 15 Dec 22
• UCL East campus will make ‘extraordinary contribution’ to London and the world, 6 Dec 22
• UK universities ‘systematically underpaying staff for years’ (article), Times Higher Education, 17 Nov 22
• UCL launches Gender Expression Fund to support trans and non-binary students (article), The UCL Tab, 22 Oct 22
• UCL President and Provost Dr Michael Spence AC heaped praise on the Mandarin Excellence Programme (Chinese) (video), Center for Language Education and Cooperation, 19 Jul 22
• ‘The Role of the University in Public Debate’ (article - refer to Chapter 9, page 113) in Universities as the fifth power? Opportunities, Risks and Strategies, Ana Mari Cauce, Yves Flückiger, Bert van der Zwaan (Eds), The Glion Colloquium, Volume Nr. 13, Geneva (04/03/2022)
• Discussing UCL’s withdrawal from the Stonewall (video), Students' Union UCL, 24 Feb 22

2021

• Spence: don’t let digital investments dictate teaching policy (article), Times Higher Education, 17 Nov 21
• ‘Always hungry to do better’: how UCL rose up the rankings (article), The Guardian, 11 Sep 21
• UCL turns Jeremy Bentham’s dead body into attraction (article), The Times, 12 Jul 21
• Universities ‘must be open to free speech’, says head of UCL (article), The Standard, 8 Jun 21
• Universities should teach students how to agree to disagree says UCL provost as he hits back at campus cancel culture (article), Mail Online, 26 Apr 21
• Students must learn how to disagree in order to beat 'cancel culture', says vice-chancellor (article), The Telegraph, 25 Apr 21
• Meet Dr Michael Spence, in conversation with UCL alumna and broadcaster Vivienne Parry (video), 17 Feb 21
• UCL welcomes new President & Provost Dr Michael Spence (article), UCL News, 11 Jan 21

2020

• Michael Spence: chance to lead UCL post-Brexit ‘worth pay cut’ (article), Times Higher Education, 26 Feb 20
• ‘Higher education: the curious case of Australia’ (article - refer to Chapter 4, page 57) in The University at the Crossroads to a Sustainable Future, Luc E. Weber and Bert van der Zwaan (Eds), The Glion Colloquium , Volume Nr. 12, Geneva (2020)

2018

• ‘Leadership for Change: Some Simple Lessons from the University of Sydney’ (article - efer to Chapter 10, page 95) in The Future of the University in a Polarizing World, Luc E. Weber and Howard Newby (Eds), The Glion Colloquium, Volume Nr. 11, Geneva (2018)