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There are a number of wider professional services teams at UCL that provide knowledge, expertise and support to researchers in their respective specialised areas.
- Academic Careers Office (ACO)
The Academic Careers Office (ACO) supports early career researchers in health to win funding, become more resilient and build their careers.
Early career researchers are invited to take part in training, workshops and courses that are designed to enrich their time at UCL. The team will be delighted to hear from anyone who has ideas that will help to shape our work.
- Biomedical Research Centre (BRC)
The Biomedical Research Centre (BRC) is a partnership between University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (UCLH) and UCL and is funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR).
The BRC supports experimental medicine research at UCLH and UCL. It does this by investing in staff posts, equipment, facilities and training. The aim is to turn innovations in basic science into treatments and therapies that have a direct effect on patients. The BRC is headed by Director Professor Bryan Williams. Dr Nick McNally is the COO.
The BRC’s goal is to find new ways of detecting, preventing and treating disease, supporting research into important areas of clinical need and that have the potential for major healthcare impact.
- Cross-cutting themes are in healthcare engineering and imaging, healthcare informatics, genomics, omics and data science, a therapeutic innovation network, education and the BRC academy and patient and public involvement and engagement.
- UCLH and UCL set research priorities together, matching the strengths of UCL’s laboratory research with the clinical expertise and facilities of UCLH.
- Cross-disciplinary research includes engineering, physics, mathematics, imaging, nanotechnology, chemistry, biological sciences and genomics. While industry links and a new spirit of enterprise and the championing of entrepreneurship are also promoted.
- Data Protection Office
The Data Protection Office provides key information for all staff, students and researchers helping to ensure UCL policy and codes of practice with regard to data protection are implemented across all departments. Guidance is available on data protection legislation in the field of research at UCL.
- Estates
UCL Estates, comprising Estates Operations and Estates Development, manages UCL’s entire estate and its facilities infrastructure. This includes property acquisition and management, capital projects, engineering and maintenance, environmental sustainability, safety, security, cleaning, student residences and central room bookings.
The Estates team need to be informed of particular facilities, equipment or significant staff requirements on funding applications so that they can advise and scope out solutions.
- Finance
UCL’s central finance team are responsible for all consolidated management and financial reporting and processing of financial transactions across UCL. There are also Business Partnering teams for each School.
The Financial Analysts & Reporting and Financial Systems teams are responsible for all financial analysis and reporting and support the financial systems.
The Insurance team administrate UCL's insurance policies and advise on claims, including in relation to UCL travel, motor, property and buildings policies and related risk management.
- Global Engagement
Global Engagement (GE) helps put UCL's knowledge and ideas to work in the world. GEO use their expertise to facilitate and strengthen new and existing collaborations. GEO support academics in developing a wide range of activities, such as student exchanges and research partnerships. They also help to identify funding to support international collaborations.
- Human Resources
UCL Human Resources (HR) provides professional support and advice to more than 13,000 colleagues across the university on a range of people-related matters. They also offer a full spectrum of in-person and online development programmes and bespoke activities. The team is split into sections, each led by a Director. These are:
- Business Partnering (with a team for each Faculty)
- Employee Relations and Policy
- HR Services
- Occupational Health and Wellbeing
- Organisational Development
- Strategy and Planning
- Systems Transformation
- Innovation & Enterprise
Innovation and Enterprise work with UCL staff and students, businesses of all shapes and sizes, government, NGOs and the third sector to turn brilliant ideas into solutions that could define our future. They do this through creating partnerships, giving academics access to funding, commercialising UCL technology, assisting consultancy, and helping UCL’s people think and act like entrepreneurs.
The team of specialists, with both academic and industry backgrounds, work with UCL staff and students to develop their ideas and skills.
- Institute of Healthcare Engineering (IHE)
Transforming lives through digital and medical technologies. The IHE bring together leading researchers to develop digital and medical technologies that transform lives across the globe.
The IHE provide support for events, research collaborations and communications.
- Legal Services
The Legal Services team provides legal advice and support to UCL as an institution in relation to its day-to-day activities.
The Legal Services team is made up of the Legal Services team and the Data Protection & FOI team (see above).
- Library Services
UCL Library Services supports learning, teaching and research at UCL and consists of 16 libraries and learning spaces located across London, covering a wide range of specialist subjects. They provide:
- expert staff to help you get the most from UCL's resources
- inspiring spaces for learning (individually and in groups)
- a vast and rich collection of books, e-resources and journals
- access to UCL Special Collections with treasures from UCL's history at the forefront of scientific research
- a place to come together and share expertise.
- Procurement Services
Procurement Services is part of UCL Finance and Business Affairs, dealing with the procurement of goods and services. Their aim is to deliver a first class Procurement service which supports UCL’s Sustainable Procurement Strategy and the aims of UCL by:
- reducing the UCL administrative costs through continuous streamlining of Procurement processes;
- providing professional support to departments in all purchasing and related matters;
- giving specific guidance in certain product and service areas;
- using UCL's significant purchasing power to obtain best value for money;
- taking a lead role on all UCL-wide procurement initiatives;
- promoting and fostering collaborative sustainable procurement across the HE sector to deliver better value for money and better services;
- providing innovative ways to develop UCL's commercial and procurement capability;
- following all UCL procedures and complying with other procedures and legal requirements, appertaining to sustainable procurement and advising departments accordingly.
- Public Engagement Unit
The UCL Public Engagement Unit exists to champion UCL’s founding vision to open education and knowledge to the world. The unit are there to help UCL staff and students listen to and engage with communities, through:
- Advice and Support- they offer advice and tailored support on public engagement to individuals, teams and departments.
- Funding- they have two public engagement funding schemes:
- Beacon Bursaries - For staff and PGR students who want to connect their research and teaching with people outside UCL. Up to £2000 per project.
- Train and Engage - A training and funding scheme for PGR students who want to develop their public engagement skills. Up to £1000 per project.
- Training- a range of training opportunities to staff and students to help them develop skills that will assist them in designing and managing their public engagement projects.
- Evaluation- case studies and resources and offer advice and training to staff and students for evaluating their public engagement project.
- Networks- networking opportunities to help staff and students link with peers and get inspired. These include: The UCL Public Engagement Network, Creating Connections, The SLMS Community of Engagers, the UCL East Engagement Network and Creating Connections East.
- Reward and Recognition- The Provost’s Awards for Public Engagement and Research For All journal are opportunities for staff and students to celebrate the impact of their public engagement project.
- Public Policy
UCL Public Policy, within the Office of the Vice-Provost (Research), builds engagement between researchers at London's Global University and policy professionals. Their activities include:
- convening academic-policy roundtables
- publishing Research Insights briefings
- managing a Policy Fellowships programme
- supporting internal capacity to engage with public policy
- holding public events to help bridge the gap between new research and policy.
- Research Evaluation
The Research Evaluation Team, within the Office of the Vice-Provost (Research), is responsible for coordinating UCL’s submissions to the Research Excellence Framework (REF), the system for assessing the quality of research in higher education institutions in the UK.
The team provide support to Unit of Assessment leads and contributors, coordinate the submission process and implement UCL’s REF strategy.
- Research Impact Curation and Impact Support (RICS)
The Research Impact Curation and Support (RICS) team provide a strategic overview of 'Impact' for UCL and maintain a searchable database of examples of impact flowing from UCL research to support researchers, grant applications, fundraising activity, media and promotion and preparation for REF2021 .
RICS aims to monitor and support impact across the institution by:
- Providing support and signposting researchers to guidance from relevant UCL professional services
- Working with Heads of Departments and Faculties, Vice Deans of Research and other senior staff to deliver support around Impact in the REF and more broadly
- Working directly with Principal Investigators where they have promising case studies for REF
- Reporting to the Vice Provost for Research on UCL Impact, strategy and intelligence
- Providing training through senior management, research board impact workshops and the resources on their website
- Promoting the reward and recognition of Impact in UCL.
- UCL Business (UCLB)
UCLB is the commercialisation company of UCL and its partner NHS Trusts. They help and guide researchers at every step of their journey from innovation to impact. UCLB has the commercial expertise, legal know-how and administrative support required to broker licensing agreements, allowing companies to fully exploit unique technologies with the knowledge that exclusivity and market advantage is preserved.
- UCL Consultants (UCLC)
UCL Consultants aim to help UCL staff make the most of consultancy opportunities, by:
- assisting with costing and pricing of the consultant's/project's fees, including - where relevant - the negotiation of appropriate hourly rates based on its extensive experience of market rates
- assisting with the review of project proposals to ensure that commercial, tender and contractual aspects are appropriately addressed
- providing contractual services to protect the financial and academic interest of UCL and the consultant
- providing project management services for the delivery of the project at an additional cost on an agreed basis
- preparing and issuing invoices and collecting payment
- arranging payment of consultant's fees to the individual where relevant
- ensuring departments are reimbursed for costs incurred, and donation of profit and waived fees
- issuing financial reports on consultancy projects as/when necessary
- issuing annual statement for taxation purposes
- providing Professional Indemnity cover for consultancy projects.