Dear colleagues,
opened my 2026 President’s Address by quoting an Imperial alumnus, H. G. Wells, who studied Biology at the Royal College of Science more than a century ago.
In 1931, Wells said: “The world has plainly become much darker and more dangerous in the past few years”. The answer to these crises – thought Wells – was clear: “More science, more interchange and more co-ordination.”
Ninety-five years later, Wells’ words ring truer than ever. In my speech today, I stressed that twenty-first century science is international, by definition. So many of the challenges we face are transnational in origin and require collaborative transnational solutions. And, yet, this is shaping up to be a century of isolationism. Imperial must resist this tide and must remain a bastion of, and advocate for, international collaboration.
I outlined the proactive, multipronged approach Imperial is taking to international collaboration – seeking greater scale through partnership – to maximise the reach and impact of our research, and to enable us to compete with better resourced universities, especially in the US and China.
I also discussed the expectation within government, industry and wider society that Imperial, as one of the world’s leading STEM universities, will contribute to the UK’s security and defence which are increasingly reliant on cutting edge science and technology.
With colleagues on the University Management Board, I will be engaging with our academic leadership and wider community over the coming months to discuss Imperial’s positioning in this important area – how we approach it, our principles, policies, spectrum of activities and facilities, our ambition and guardrails.
I closed by stressing that while the tide of isolationism is strong, we can turn it by working in determined fashion with trusted like-minded partners.
You can read and watch my speech online.
Thank you,
Hugh
Professor Hugh Brady, President