Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine

Summary

University Environment

The University’s main campus is in South Kensington, situated in an area with a high concentration of cultural and academic institutions known as Albertopolis, which includes the Natural History Museum, the Science Museum, the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Royal College of Music, the Royal College of Art, and the Royal Albert Hall.

There are also a number of hospitals throughout London run by the Imperial College NHS Trust and various medical lectures are conducted within these hospitals.

History

Imperial College was created in 1907 via the merger of the City and Guilds College (1884), the Royal School of Mines (1851) and the Royal College of Science (1881) as a constituent college of the University of London.

After World War II Imperial was expanded to meet the scientific and technological challenges of the 20th century and a major expansion of the college followed over the next decade. In 1988 the college merged with St Mary’s Hospital Medical School (established 1854) and in 1997 merged with Charing Cross Medical School (established 1823) and Westminster Medical School (established 1834).

More recently, in 2003, the college established The London Centre for Nanotechnology with UCL. In 2004, Imperial College Business School and a new main entrance were opened. In 2007, in celebration of its centenary, the college became independent of the University of London and started awarding their own degrees.

There are 15 Nobel Laureates associated with the college, including Sir Alexander Fleming for the discovery of penicillin, and Baron Patrick Blackett for his development of the Wilson cloud chamber method and his discoveries which developed out of this.

Academics

Faculties

• Imperial College Faculty of Engineering
• Imperial College Faculty of Medicine
• Imperial College Faculty of Natural Sciences

Outside the faculty structure are:

• Imperial College Business School
• Department of Humanities & Centre for the History of Science
• Department of Technology
• Department of Medicine

Research

In 2010-2011, Imperial had the second highest income from research grants and contracts of £299 million.

In the 2014 REF 91% of the University's research was rated as either world-leading or internaionally excellent. The REF also ranked Imperial's impact the highest of universities in the UK, with eight research areas top or joint-top for 'outstanding' or 'very considerable' impact. Civil & Construction Engineering and Public Health, Health Services & Primary Care came top in the UK for research while subjects that came in the top 3 for research include Aero, Mechanical, Chemical & Manufacturing Engineering; Clinical Medicine; Computer Science & Informatics; Electrical & Electronic Engineering; General Engineering; Materials; and Mathematical Sciences.

The college has a dedicated technology transfer company actively encouraging its staff to commercialise its research, and as a result has given rise to a proportionally large number of spin-out companies based on academic research.

The college also has the largest brain bank in the world!

International & Industrial Opportunities

Many of Imperial's courses have a year in industry or a year in research. There are also opportunities to study abroad for a year.

Fees & Finance

Scholarships & Bursaries

The Imperial Bursary scheme provides students with annual household incomes of up to £60,000 up to £5,000 in support per academic year. 

The President's Undergraduate Scholarship scheme rewards up to 112 applicants who demonstrate the highest academic excellence and potential £1,000 per each year of study. 

Facilities

Learning Facilities

The college boasts a main library (Central Library), a Science Museum Library, Silwood Park Library and five libraries at the medical campuses.

Imperial employs a VLE, Blackboard, to deliver course materials, deliver quizzes and surveys, set and receive assignments, communicate with students through online discussions, real-time chat and an interactive whiteboard, track student progress and manage grades, and provide feedback to students.

Sporting Facilities

The university has a wealth of sporting facilities including gyms, sports grounds, a mountain hut and a boathouse. Ethos is the main gym consisting of a newly refurbished state-of-the-art gym; 9 metre high climbing wall; heath and beauty centre offering sports massages, osteopathy, physiotherapy etc.; studio for classes; sports hall with provisions for badminton, table tennis, 5-a-side football, futsal, basketball, netball, volleyball, handball and indoor hockey; three squash courts; and a swimming pool and spa pool.

Harlington Sports Ground, situated near Heathrow Airport in west London, boasts rugby pitches, football pitches, floodlit grass and 3G Astroturf training areas, floodlit hockey sand based Astroturf, cricket squares, strength and conditioning gym and pavilion. The Harlington Ground is also home to Queens Park Rangers FC’s training centre and is a regular training venue for all levels of England Rugby Football Union teams.

Teddington Sports Ground in south west London, boasts rugby pitches, football pitches, a lacrosse pitch, tennis courts, netball courts, a cricket square, artificial cricket and nets, and a floodlit grass training area.

There are another four gyms across London.

The Imperial College Boathouse is located at Putney’s Embankment housing a gym, workshop, racking, club room, and physiotherapy and sports therapy services. The university also has a Mountain Hut in Snowdonia National Park in Wales with accommodation for up to 25 people. It is an ideal location for hill walking, climbing, canoeing and mountain biking and is available to student groups such as societies.

Students' Union

Students’ Union

Within the union, there are around 300 clubs and societies for students to join!

The main union bars are located in Beit Quadrangle in the Main Campus, including FiveSixEight, a bar serving food, with large screens often showing sports events or popular music channels, Metric, the new nightclub opened in 2010, and the Union Bar, a small wood-panelled bar, which boasts the largest collection of pewter tankards in Europe, many dating back to the early 20th century.

The Union has a student run cinema located in the Union Concert Hall. There are plenty of opportunities for students to get involved in student media including Imperial College Radio (ICRadio), stoic TV, the student newspaper Felix, and the online student news source and forum run by the City and Guilds College Union, Live!

Student Support

Religion & Spirituality

The Chaplaincy Centre offers opportunities to explore experiences of faith and belief, and space to ask questions about identity and meaning, and to engage with contemporary issues. The Chaplains in the college come from different Christian traditions and work with Hindu, Jewish, Muslim, and Sikh Chaplains in London.

Imperial Interfaith was launched in 2009 leading a major series of dialogue events and interfaith charity fundraising initiatives. It also brings together students from other faith groups in other London universities, under the Interfaith Charity Action Network.

The Chaplaincy Library has books about the ideas, beliefs and practices of all the major world faiths and religions and the college also offers information about faith groups on campus, places of worship and visiting Chaplains.

Health & Wellbeing

The university have a health centre and an NHS dentist.

The Disability Advisory Service offers confidential advice and support to students with a disability, specific learning difficulty, enduring health or mental health condition. They provide students with the information they need to access their studies successfully, facilitate support within the college, help students understand the financial and academic support available to them, and signpost additional support that students can access during their studies.

The Student Counselling Service offers short-term counselling to all students to enable them to become more effective in their lives within and outside the college. Issues addressed include homesickness, depression, anxiety, relationship difficulties, bereavement, sexuality, and self-harm.

Career Facilities

The College’s Careers Advisory Service provides a varied and comprehensive careers guidance, information and vacancy service for all students and alumni of Imperial College, from first year to final year.

Its service includes expert one-to-one advice with a careers consultant; CV, application and interview seminars; careers information resources; a range of employer events such as employer presentations, skills workshops and careers talks to give students an opportunity to speak directly to graduate recruiters; and a number of careers fairs, focusing on sectors such as engineering, science, PhDs, and finance.

There are opportunities to volunteer through IntoUniversity which provides local learning centres where young people are inspired to achieve. Volunteers help in delivering tutored help, mentoring and motivation amongst primary and secondary school pupils. IntoUniversity aims to address underachievement and social exclusion among young people by offering out-of-school study, mentoring, coaching, personal support and, in partnership with universities such as Imperial College. There are long-term volunteering opportunities such as support for students in their homework, coursework and revision and short-term volunteering opportunities such as the Buddy Day programme which gives disadvantaged young people the chance to find out about life at university with volunteers acting as a buddy to Y8 pupils (12-13 year olds) at an open day visit to Imperial, showing them around campus and getting them to take part in workshops.

Accommodation

Over 90% of undergraduates at Imperial choose to live in Imperial's halls of residence in their first year. They have rooms for around 2,500 students, made up of single and twin rooms, with accommodation to suit a range of budgets and in a variety of locations. The most expensive halls are right on the University's doorstep, so you'll be able to crawl out of bed in the morning, however there are also slightly cheaper halls in nearby North Acton, Hammersmith, Putney, Paddington and Waterloo. The accommodation fee is inclusive of utilities, high-speed internet and contents insurance. All rooms are self-catered and come with communal living rooms and kitchens. 

International

English Language Requirements

Scholarships

There are plenty of scholarships on offer for foreign students. For example, the World Scientific Scholarship of £5,000 per year is awarded on the basis of academic merit, while the Santander Scholarship of £5,000 for one year is available to final year students based on academic achievement.

International Facilities

The International Office offers help to international students on issues such as what they need to do before they come to the UK, what they need to do once they’ve arrived, and welfare and social support.

The Office runs an orientation workshops dealing with issues such as finding accommodation, finance, getting used to listening in English, seeing a doctor, immigration, making the most of your time as a student in the UK, adapting to student life in London, London on a budget, and the fundamentals of English Pronunciation.

The Office also runs an International Students’ Welcome Reception which includes an introduction to College life and key College staff. Students will also be able to visit information stalls run by representatives from Imperial and local businesses.

Media