Imperial researchers have developed a simple new blood test to rapidly diagnose the cause of a child's illness. The work, led by Professor Michael Levin and Dr Myrsini Kaforou (both Department of Infectious Disease) was covered widely by top tier media after a press release was issued and pitched internationally by the media team. It appeared in outlets including The Times, BBC News, IANS (an Indian newswire), The Telegraph, ITV News, and The Guardian.
Imperial’s announcement on the renaming of the Central Library after Nobel Prize winning physicist Abdus Salam was covered by Pakistani media including Dawn and Pakistan Today. The media team organised filming with BBC Urdu, which included setting up interviews with Imperial’s Provost, Professor Ian Walmsley, who was taught by Professor Salam, and a group of Imperial’s students.
There has been a great deal of global interest in the appointment of Professor Jim Skea (Centre for Environmental Policy) as the Chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Pieces about Professor Skea appeared in outlets including the BBC, Reuters, Channel 4 News, The Guardian, France24, Washington Post and Politico.
Under-18s are increasingly exposed to e-cigarettes in UK shops, according to new research by Professor Anthony Laverty (School of Public Health) and Professor Nick Hopkinson (National Heart and Lung Institute). Following a press release and pitching by the media team, this was covered by the Daily Mail, The Telegraph, The Times, and the London Evening Standard (which also ran a related op-ed). There were broadcast packages on BBC Newsnight and Channel 5.
The media team invited journalists to attend the launch of three new reports on UK competitiveness in three key industries (Biopharmaceuticals, MedTech and Telecommunications), as well as pitching the reports and distributing a press release about them to journalists. The team secured coverage in The Times, Politico and Health Tech World.
A study showing that same-sex behaviour is widespread and heritable in macaque monkeys attracted national and international media interest following a press release and pitching from the media team. The work, by Dr Jackson Clive and Professor Vincent Savolainen (both Life Sciences), was picked up by outlets including The Times, The Telegraph, Independent, Daily Mail, Scientific American, the Los Angeles Times and Newsweek.
With the help of the media team, researchers in the Business School shared their expertise on delivering a quality hybrid learning experience. Leila Guerra authored an article for Forbes about why business schools need to lead the way with hybrid learning, to help prepare students for the changing world of work. Another piece by Omar Merlo and James Eteen in Times Higher Education Campus outlined the benefits of co-pilots as a way of improving hybrid teaching.
The media team organised a media briefing to showcase Imperial’s vast expertise in quantum science and technology, as well as hosting journalists at the launch of new Centre for Quantum Engineering, Science and Technology (QuEST). The briefing and QuEST’s launch were covered by Politico’s Daily Tech newsletter and later in The Times. The team also created a Q&A article.
Imperial ranked third among Russell Group Universities for overall student satisfaction according to this year's National Student Survey (NSS). The media team worked with the Education Office to understand the results and brief them to journalists, resulting in coverage in Times Higher Education and The Guardian. The Guardian piece carries comments by Imperial’s President, Professor Hugh Brady.
Over the summer, the media team helped to secure letters to the editor and commentary from Professor Mary Ryan, Vice-Provost (Research and Enterprise), advocating for the science sector.
This included a letter in the Financial Times which called for universities to be part of an active industrial policy to enable the UK to become a science superpower, a letter in The Economist that called for support for UK startups, and comments in the Financial Times that argued for full association to Horizon Europe.
Imperial College London and Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust have launched an appeal to build The Fleming Centre to tackle antimicrobial resistance, with Prince William as patron. The announcement was covered by The Independent, the Daily Express, PA Media and the Daily Mirror, following a press release. The Centre’s Chair, Professor Ara Darzi, also discussed the project and the problem of drug-resistant superbugs in a profile interview in The Times.
Working with the Environmental Research Group, the media team offered an exclusive story to the London Evening Standard to mark the launch of a novel new project working with the local community to study exposure to indoor air pollution in more than 100 homes in West London.
Dr Masen (Mechanical Engineering) was interviewed by The Atlantic about air pollution from tyre wear, for a feature highlighting an Imperial report he recently co-authored on the subject.
Professor Picinalli (Dyson School of Design Engineering) talked to BBC World Service's Unexpected Elements, the Evening Standard's Tech and Science podcast, BBC World Service's Health Check and the Economist’s Babbage podcast about his work on immersive audio, which was showcased at the Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition.
Dr Otto (Grantham Institute) continues to provide expert commentary on climate change to a huge range of global media outlets, discussing new studies she has co-authored with the World Weather Attribution group and the climate crisis more broadly. Recently she has featured in outlets including BBC News, The Guardian, The Times, Metro, The Washington Post, and The Independent.
Dr Reshma Rao (Materials) spoke to BBC Future about research on using humid air to create electricity.
Professor Rein (Mechanical Engineering) talked to the Daily Mail about how climate change is making wildfires larger, faster, and harder to stop.
With the expansion of the Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) to all London boroughs, Imperial experts from the Environmental Research Group appeared in the media to discuss the science behind the policy, resulting in high profile coverage across BBC Newsnight, Evening Standard, BBC News, and The Guardian. The media team continues to support the group in responding to some commentary around the policy.
The Financial Times published an op-ed by Ralf Martin, where he argued that the rise in eco-awareness among consumers has made investment in cleaner technologies more viable. Professor Martin was approached directly by the FT and was supported by the media team with his draft.
Xinrong Zhu was interviewed on BBC Radio 4’s AntiSocial programme about her research on boycotts and buycotts, as part of a discussion about whether companies should weigh-in on sensitive social issues. She was approached directly to take part on the programme, following her appearance on another BBC Radio 4 programme (Analysis) earlier this year
Media coverage* in July/August was up by 29% compared to May/June 2023. This is largely due to an increase in climate change-related commentary and stories during the summer months when major weather-related incidents occurred across the globe.
* We focus our analysis on coverage placed within our most valued media outlets (print, online and broadcast). For example:
The majority of coverage in July/August was by UK media (34%), which is a traditional proportion for Imperial. This was followed by the United States with (21%). However, in this two month period, there was a higher percentage of coverage in other countries than is typical (May/June's distribution is more typical). For example, coverage in Spain, Germany, Greece, Australia, Italy, Canada and India accounted for around 5% of coverage each. This is largely due to climate change stories being picked up widely across the world.
In July/August 2023, the highest volume of articles about Imperial was carried in: The Daily Mail (a mixture of stories, including Ulez expansion, long COVID and climate change/extreme weather), The Independent (e.g. water pollution, Ulez) and the Daily Telegraph (Ulez) carried the most pieces relating to Imperial.
In May/June 2023, The Daily Mail, Evening Standard and Daily Telegraph carried the most pieces relating to Imperial. This was for a mixture of stories , from weight loss innovations, to air pollution and cost of living.
In July/August 2023, the highest volume of TV and radio coverage came from BBC Radio 4, LBC and TalkRadio for a mixture of stories and interviews about the Ulez expansion and clean energy.
In May/June 2023, the highest volume of TV and radio coverage came from BBC Radio 4, LBC and Sky news for a mixture of stories, from the cost of obesity on health services, to low emission zones and quantum compass.
This chart shows a topic analysis of all coverage in our most valued media outlets.
In July/August 2023, coverage about climate change trended highest (for stories about the summer heatwave and the Ulez expansion), followed by environmental cleanup (for stories about the WellHome study and climate records) and water security (for stories about wildfires and Martian weather patterns).
In May/June 2023, the trending topics were for health technology (for a combination of obesity, coronavirus and dementia stories), climate change (for global heatwave and local air pollution stories) and healthcare (for menopause, Alzheimer's and cancer stories).
The Communications Division also monitors the coverage of topics which are most strategically significant (e.g. as outlined in the College, Academic and Communications strategies).
In July/August 2023, coverage trended for the topics of climate change (see stories in All Topics section), coronavirus (for stories about the impact of lockdown measures, long COVID and winter uncertainty) and cost of living (for stories about the Ulez expansion, UK university financial crisis, and net zero strategies).
In May/June 2023, coverage trended for the topics of climate change (for global heatwave and local air pollution stories), cost of living (for vehicle pollution, mortgage cost and economic fluctuation stories) and coronavirus (for bat-borne viruses, booster jab eligibility and pandemic impact on students).
In July/August 2023, the largest peaks in coverage – and Twitter shares of that coverage – were on 25 July (for the global heatwave coverage), 27 July (for the hottest month analysis), 23 August (for womb transplant coverage) and 29 August (for Ulez expansion coverage).
In May/June 2023, the most significant peaks were on 5 June for coverage (for a mixture of stories on the Great Exhibition Road Festival, Davina McCall's contraception documentary, and cancer breath tests), 4 June for coverage being shared on Twitter (for criticisms of pandemic lockdown).