ABOUT

Consistently rated amongst the world’s best universities, Imperial College London is a science-based institution with a reputation for excellence in teaching and research.

Translating scientific ideas into value

Imperial College London is the only UK University to focus exclusively on science, technology, engineering, medicine and business, and to provide a critical mass of outstanding research expertise. All of this provides the bedrock for high quality innovation and enterprise.

The college’s new seven-acre campus, White City Campus, will transform its capacity to turn research into social and economic benefit locally, nationally and across the globe. One of the first buildings to be completed, the Molecular Science Research and Translation & Innovation Hubs, which is joint funded by the Higher Education Funding Council for England, investor Voreda and the College itself, will be the centrepiece of White City Campus. With space for 1,000 researchers alongside 50 spin-out companies, the Hub will support innovation at scale in London. Plans are also underway for the Michael Uren Biomedical Engineering Research Hub, which will allow Imperial medics and engineers to collaborate with the NHS and business to develop new and affordable medical technologies. The Hub is supported by a £40 million donation from Imperial alumnus Michael Uren – the largest gift of its kind in London’s university history.

One inspirational space for research and business

The essence of White City Campus’s model is to help science-based businesses to co-locate with academic researchers and thus remain close to the source of their founding ideas and expertise. Arrangements will be tailored to provide the type of environment that businesses and academics seek in order to solve problems and innovate together, and benefit from being part of a strong research and innovation ‘ecosystem’ at the campus. The College wants to make space at White City Campus affordable, accessible and above all flexible, so that facilities can keep pace with the changing demands of scientific discovery and innovation at its frontiers. It is proposed that the campus will become a showcase for digital advancement, enabling the benefits of ‘big data’ approaches to be unlocked across disciplines and businesses.

London location

White City Campus and the Hammersmith Campus are two poles of a new research quarter for London. The co-location of research, business and healthcare will be a first in the capital, reinforcing its position as a catalyst for scientific development and economic growth. The new campus is situated in White City, a regeneration area close to the A40 and accessible from all major national and international transport hubs. The site is now home to more than 600 postgraduate students, following the opening of new accommodation there in 2012. White City Campus will serve the local community through the provision of homes, publicly accessible green space, jobs, a conference centre, leisure and retail facilities.

Innovating Innovations

In the last decade alone, we’ve enabled more than 140 new companies to develop and commercialise ideas and inventions from Imperial academics.

We bring together major technology companies with entrepreneurial spin-outs in shared services. We transfer the talent of our graduates into business practice around the world. We are redefining what a university can do to exceed the needs of our partners and bring value from innovation.

Translation & Innovation Hub

Construction of the £200 million Molecular Science Research and Translation & Innovation Hubs is underway and due for completion in mid-2016. The Translation & Innovation Hub will contain specialist R&D and spin-out spaces designed to accelerate the commercialisation of research.

With over 48,000 square meters the hubs will house 1,000 engineers and scientists who will conduct innovative research and develop commercial applications. The buildings will incorporate a range of fully serviced laboratories, write-up and office spaces and provide scalable, high specification accommodation to translate and commercialise research and ideas.

White City Campus already hosts spin-outs such as DNAe, which creates genetic testing tech, several significant technology companies and more than 70 start-ups all in premises which have been rejuvenated for ‘meanwhile use’.