1. Driving forward excellence in research: institutional strategies and approaches Professor Malcolm Grant UCL President and Provost HEPI conference Research Excellence: Competition or Collaboration in todays globalised HE sector 2 December 2010, The Royal Society

2. UCL's status Knowledge transfer UCL Grand Challenges UCL strategies for research excellence UCL's national and international role Conditions for research excellence

3. About UCL Then… The foundation of UCL – as the first English university to open its doors to all, regardless of race, creed or political belief – embodied many of Jeremy Benthams ideas on education and society. And now… Londons global university 24,000 students; 4,000 researchers Multidisciplinary research excellence

4. UCL research excellence: success in research funding

5. UCL research excellence: success in research outputs UCL field-weighted citation impact 2003-08 (size of bubble proportional to world impact. [World = 1; UK = 1.338; UCL = 1.594.] Source: Elsevier / Scopus. UCL annual research article outputs: 2003-2009 Source: Elsevier / Scopus.

6. UCL research excellence: Success in people In the RAE 2008, UCL submitted over 1,800 staff to 49 UoAs. At least 50% of staff in most submissions ranked at 4* or 3*. UCLs academic community includes: 36 Fellows of the Royal Society; 26 Fellows of the British Academy; 10 Fellows of the Royal Academy of Engineering; 78 Fellows of the Academy of Medical Sciences There has been at least one Nobel Laureate from the UCL community every decade since the establishment of the Nobel Prizes in 1901

7. Knowledge transfer Research benefits from engagement with the world outside academia UCLs obligation as university Five core pillars: –Scholarship –Public engagement –Enterprise –Healthcare –Public policy

8. Grand Challenges Harnessing UCLs collective expertise to address global problems Promoting novel cross-disciplinary collaboration

9. Advancing research excellence (Institutional strategies) Facilitating cross-disciplinary working Strategic use of QR Supporting researchers Collaborating with external partners Joined-up research planning Investing in infrastructure

10. Providing leadership Working with Government and funders to ensure the excellence and global reputation of the UK research base Pursuing research collaborations – locally, nationally, globally Delivering research with impact: achieving societal benefit Generating knowledge and wisdom that can address global problems

11. UCL: Developing a culture of wisdom RESEARCH KNOWLEDGEKNOWLEDGE WISDOM IMPACT KNOWLEDGEKNOWLEDGEKNOWLEDGEKNOWLEDGE

12. What are the (national) conditions for sustaining research excellence? Maintaining sustainable public funding (including block grant) Institutional autonomy Supporting concentrations of research excellence and critical mass Enhanced support for cross-disciplinary working Investing in the best researchers International free flow of scholars

13. Competition or collaboration? Both Competition within the sector drives excellence and efficiency; internationally it pushes us to be a global leader in research A changing landscape for universities (globalised university sector; global problems; economic climate; radical changes to higher education in UK) mean that increased collaboration is both necessary and desirable

14. Driving forward excellence in research: institutional strategies and approaches Professor Malcolm Grant UCL President and Provost HEPI conference Research Excellence: Competition or Collaboration in todays globalised HE sector 2 December 2010, The Royal Society