Imperial_College_London

context: The Royal College of Chemistry was established by private subscription in 1845 as there was a growing awareness that practical aspects of the experimental sciences were not well taught and that in the United Kingdom the teaching of chemistry in particular had fallen behind that in Germany. As a result of a movement earlier in the decade, many politicians donated funds to establish the college, including Benjamin Disraeli, William Gladstone and Robert Peel. It was also supported by Prince Albert, who persuaded August Wilhelm von Hofmann to be the first professor.

context: City and Guilds College was founded in 1876 from a meeting of 16 of the City of London's livery companies for the Advancement of Technical Education (CGLI), which aimed to improve the training of craftsmen, technicians, technologists, and engineers. The two main objectives were to create a Central Institution in London and to conduct a system of qualifying examinations in technical subjects. Faced with their continuing inability to find a substantial site, the Companies were eventually persuaded by the Secretary of the Science and Art Department, General Sir John Donnelly (who was also a Royal Engineer) to found their institution on the eighty-seven acre (350,000 m²) site at South Kensington bought by the 1851 Exhibition Commissioners (for GBP 342,500) for 'purposes of art and science' in perpetuity. The latter two colleges were incorporated by Royal Charter into the Imperial College of Science and Technology and the CGLI Central Technical College was renamed the City and Guilds College in 1907, but not incorporated into Imperial College until 1910.

context: In December 2005, Imperial announced a science park programme at the Wye campus, with extensive housing; however, this was abandoned in September 2006 following complaints that the proposal infringed on Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and that the true scale of the scheme, which could have raised £110m for the College, was known to Kent and Ashford Councils and their consultants but concealed from the public. One commentator observed that Imperial's scheme reflected "the state of democracy in Kent, the transformation of a renowned scientific college into a grasping, highly aggressive, neo-corporate institution, and the defence of the status of an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty – throughout England, not just Wye – against rampant greed backed by the connivance of two important local authorities. Wye College campus was finally closed in September 2009.

context: The College's endowment is sub-divided into three distinct portfolios: (i) Unitised Scheme – a unit trust vehicle for College, Faculties and Departments to invest endowments and unfettered income to produce returns for the long term; (ii) Non-Core Property – a portfolio containing around 120 operational and developmental properties which College has determined are not core to the academic mission; and (iii) Strategic Asset Investments – containing College’s shareholding in Imperial Innovations and other restricted equity holdings. During the year 2014/15, the market value of the endowment increased by £78 million (18%) to £512.4 million on 31 July 2015.

context: Imperial submitted a total of 1,257 staff across 14 units of assessment to the 2014 Research Excellence Framework (REF) assessment. In the REF results 46% of Imperial's submitted research was classified as 4*, 44% as 3*, 9% as 2* and 1% as 1*, giving an overall GPA of 3.36. In rankings produced by Times Higher Education based upon the REF results Imperial was ranked 2nd overall for GPA and 8th for "research power" (compared to 6th and 7th respectively in the equivalent rankings for the RAE 2008).

context: In September 2014, Professor Stefan Grimm, of the Department of Medicine, was found dead after being threatened with dismissal for failure to raise enough grant money. The College made its first public announcement of his death on 4 December 2014. Grimm's last email accused his employers of bullying by demanding that he should get grants worth at least £200,000 per year. His last email was viewed more than 100,000 times in the first four days after it was posted. The College has announced an internal inquiry into Stefan Grimm's death. The inquest on his death has not yet reported.

context: Imperial College Boat Club
The Imperial College Boat Club was founded on 12 December 1919. The Gold medal winning GB 8+ at the 2000 Sydney Olympics had been based at Imperial College's recently refurbished boathouse and included 3 alumni of the college along with their coach Martin McElroy. The club has been highly successful, with many wins at Henley Royal Regatta including most recently in 2013 with victory in The Prince Albert Challenge Cup event. The club has been home to numerous National Squad oarsmen and women and is open to all rowers not just students of Imperial College London.

context: The Royal School of Mines was established by Sir Henry de la Beche in 1851, developing from the Museum of Economic Geology, a collection of minerals, maps and mining equipment. He created a school which laid the foundations for the teaching of science in the country, and which has its legacy today at Imperial. Prince Albert was a patron and supporter of the later developments in science teaching, which led to the Royal College of Chemistry becoming part of the Royal School of Mines, to the creation of the Royal College of Science and eventually to these institutions becoming part of his plan for South Kensington being an educational region.

context: In 2003 Imperial was granted degree-awarding powers in its own right by the Privy Council. The London Centre for Nanotechnology was established in the same year as a joint venture between UCL and Imperial College London. In 2004 the Tanaka Business School (now named the Imperial College Business School) and a new Main Entrance on Exhibition Road were opened by The Queen. The UK Energy Research Centre was also established in 2004 and opened its headquarters at Imperial College. In November 2005 the Faculties of Life Sciences and Physical Sciences merged to become the Faculty of Natural Sciences.

context: Imperial's main campus is located in the South Kensington area of central London. It is situated in an area of South Kensington, known as Albertopolis, which has a high concentration of cultural and academic institutions, adjacent to the Natural History Museum, the Science Museum, the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Royal College of Music, the Royal College of Art, the Royal Geographical Society and the Royal Albert Hall. Nearby public attractions include the Kensington Palace, Hyde Park and the Kensington Gardens, the National Art Library, and the Brompton Oratory. The expansion of the South Kensington campus in the 1950s & 1960s absorbed the site of the former Imperial Institute, designed by Thomas Collcutt, of which only the 287 foot (87 m) high Queen's Tower remains among the more modern buildings.

context: The Centre For Co-Curricular Studies provides elective subjects and language courses outside the field of science for students in the other faculties and departments. Students are encouraged to take these classes either for credit or in their own time, and in some departments this is mandatory. Courses exist in a wide range of topics including philosophy, ethics in science and technology, history, modern literature and drama, art in the 20th century, film studies. Language courses are available in French, German, Japanese, Italian, Russian, Spanish, Arabic and Mandarin Chinese. The Centre For Co-Curricular Studies is home to the Science Communication Unit which offers master's degrees in Science Communication and Science Media Production for science graduates.

context: Furthermore, in terms of job prospects, as of 2014 the average starting salary of an Imperial graduate was the highest of any UK university. In terms of specific course salaries, the Sunday Times ranked Computing graduates from Imperial as earning the second highest average starting salary in the UK after graduation, over all universities and courses. In 2012, the New York Times ranked Imperial College as one of the top 10 most-welcomed universities by the global job market. In May 2014, the university was voted highest in the UK for Job Prospects by students voting in the Whatuni Student Choice Awards Imperial is jointly ranked as the 3rd best university in the UK for the quality of graduates according to recruiters from the UK's major companies.

context: Imperial College TV
ICTV (formerly STOIC (Student Television of Imperial College)) is Imperial College Union's TV station, founded in 1969 and operated from a small TV studio in the Electrical Engineering block. The department had bought an early AMPEX Type A 1-inch videotape recorder and this was used to produce an occasional short news programme which was then played to students by simply moving the VTR and a monitor into a common room. A cable link to the Southside halls of residence was laid in a tunnel under Exhibition Road in 1972. Besides the news, early productions included a film of the Queen opening what was then called College Block and interview programmes with DJ Mike Raven, Richard O'Brian and Monty Python producer Ian MacNaughton. The society was renamed to ICTV for the start of the 2014/15 academic year.

context: Non-academic alumni: Author, H. G. Wells, McLaren and Ferrari Chief Designer, Nicholas Tombazis, CEO of Rolls Royce, Ralph Robins, rock band Queen, Brian May, CEO of Singapore Airlines, Chew Choon Seng, Prime Minister of New Zealand, Julius Vogel, Prime Minister of India, Rajiv Gandhi, Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore, Teo Chee Hean, Chief Medical Officer for England, Sir Liam Donaldson, Head Physician to the Queen, Huw Thomas, CEO of Moonfruit, Wendy Tan White, Businessman and philanthropist, Winston Wong, billionaire hedge fund manager Alan Howard.

context: The Great Exhibition was organised by Prince Albert, Henry Cole, Francis Fuller and other members of the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce. The Great Exhibition made a surplus of £186,000 used in creating an area in the South of Kensington celebrating the encouragement of the arts, industry, and science. Albert insisted the Great Exhibition surplus should be used as a home for culture and education for everyone. His commitment was to find practical solutions to today's social challenges. Prince Albert's vision built the Victoria and Albert Museum, Science Museum, Natural History Museum, Geological Museum, Royal College of Science, Royal College of Art, Royal School of Mines, Royal School of Music, Royal College of Organists, Royal School of Needlework, Royal Geographical Society, Institute of Recorded Sound, Royal Horticultural Gardens, Royal Albert Hall and the Imperial Institute. Royal colleges and the Imperial Institute merged to form what is now Imperial College London.

context: In 1907, the newly established Board of Education found that greater capacity for higher technical education was needed and a proposal to merge the City and Guilds College, the Royal School of Mines and the Royal College of Science was approved and passed, creating The Imperial College of Science and Technology as a constituent college of the University of London. Imperial's Royal Charter, granted by Edward VII, was officially signed on 8 July 1907. The main campus of Imperial College was constructed beside the buildings of the Imperial Institute in South Kensington.

context: In the financial year ended 31 July 2013, Imperial had a total net income of £822.0 million (2011/12 – £765.2 million) and total expenditure of £754.9 million (2011/12 – £702.0 million). Key sources of income included £329.5 million from research grants and contracts (2011/12 – £313.9 million), £186.3 million from academic fees and support grants (2011/12 – £163.1 million), £168.9 million from Funding Council grants (2011/12 – £172.4 million) and £12.5 million from endowment and investment income (2011/12 – £8.1 million). During the 2012/13 financial year Imperial had a capital expenditure of £124 million (2011/12 – £152 million).

context: In 1988 Imperial merged with St Mary's Hospital Medical School, becoming The Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine. In 1995 Imperial launched its own academic publishing house, Imperial College Press, in partnership with World Scientific. Imperial merged with the National Heart and Lung Institute in 1995 and the Charing Cross and Westminster Medical School, Royal Postgraduate Medical School (RPMS) and the Institute of Obstetrics and Gynaecology in 1997. In the same year the Imperial College School of Medicine was formally established and all of the property of Charing Cross and Westminster Medical School, the National Heart and Lung Institute and the Royal Postgraduate Medical School were transferred to Imperial as the result of the Imperial College Act 1997. In 1998 the Sir Alexander Fleming Building was opened by Queen Elizabeth II to provide a headquarters for the College's medical and biomedical research.

context: The 2008 Research Assessment Exercise returned 26% of the 1225 staff submitted as being world-leading (4*) and a further 47% as being internationally excellent (3*). The 2008 Research Assessment Exercise also showed five subjects – Pure Mathematics, Epidemiology and Public Health, Chemical Engineering, Civil Engineering, and Mechanical, Aeronautical and Manufacturing Engineering – were assessed to be the best[clarification needed] in terms of the proportion of internationally recognised research quality.

context: Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust was formed on 1 October 2007 by the merger of Hammersmith Hospitals NHS Trust (Charing Cross Hospital, Hammersmith Hospital and Queen Charlotte's and Chelsea Hospital) and St Mary's NHS Trust (St. Mary's Hospital and Western Eye Hospital) with Imperial College London Faculty of Medicine. It is an academic health science centre and manages five hospitals: Charing Cross Hospital, Queen Charlotte's and Chelsea Hospital, Hammersmith Hospital, St Mary's Hospital, and Western Eye Hospital. The Trust is currently the largest in the UK and has an annual turnover of £800 million, treating more than a million patients a year.[citation needed]

context: In 2003, it was reported that one third of female academics "believe that discrimination or bullying by managers has held back their careers". It was said then that "A spokesman for Imperial said the college was acting on the recommendations and had already made changes". Nevertheless, allegations of bullying have continued: in 2007, concerns were raised about the methods that were being used to fire people in the Faculty of Medicine. New President of Imperial College, Alice Gast says she sees bright lights in the horizon for female careers at Imperial College London.

context: Imperial College Union, the students' union at Imperial College, is run by five full-time sabbatical officers elected from the student body for a tenure of one year, and a number of permanent members of staff. The Union is given a large subvention by the university, much of which is spent on maintaining around 300 clubs, projects and societies. Examples of notable student groups and projects are Project Nepal which sends Imperial College students to work on educational development programmes in rural Nepal and the El Salvador Project, a construction based project in Central America. The Union also hosts sports-related clubs such as Imperial College Boat Club and Imperial College Gliding Club.

context: Imperial College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom. It was founded by Prince Albert who envisioned an area composed of the Natural History Museum, Science Museum, Victoria and Albert Museum, Royal Albert Hall and the Imperial Institute. The Imperial Institute was opened by his wife, Queen Victoria, who laid the first stone. In 1907, Imperial College London was formed by Royal Charter, and soon joined the University of London, with a focus on science and technology. The college has expanded its coursework to medicine through mergers with St Mary's Hospital. In 2004, Queen Elizabeth II opened the Imperial College Business School. Imperial became an independent university from the University of London during its one hundred year anniversary.

context: William Henry Perkin studied and worked at the college under von Hofmann, but resigned his position after discovering the first synthetic dye, mauveine, in 1856. Perkin's discovery was prompted by his work with von Hofmann on the substance aniline, derived from coal tar, and it was this breakthrough which sparked the synthetic dye industry, a boom which some historians have labelled the second chemical revolution. His contribution led to the creation of the Perkin Medal, an award given annually by the Society of Chemical Industry to a scientist residing in the United States for an "innovation in applied chemistry resulting in outstanding commercial development". It is considered the highest honour given in the industrial chemical industry.

context: Imperial acquired Silwood Park in 1947, to provide a site for research and teaching in those aspects of biology not well suited for the main London campus. Felix, Imperial's student newspaper, was launched on 9 December 1949. On 29 January 1950, the government announced that it was intended that Imperial should expand to meet the scientific and technological challenges of the 20th century and a major expansion of the College followed over the next decade. In 1959 the Wolfson Foundation donated £350,000 for the establishment of a new Biochemistry Department.[citation needed] A special relationship between Imperial and the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi was established in 1963.[citation needed]