As the end of the academic year approaches, I wanted to take this time to reflect, celebrate and think about some of the opportunities and challenges we are facing. Most importantly, I want to thank each and every one of you for all your efforts and commitment over this past year.
Thank you.
Looking back to almost three years ago, we launched our strategy in October 2022 that will take us to 2030. Our ambitious vision was, and is, designed ‘to make a positive impact locally, nationally, and globally by addressing society’s greatest challenges through our distinctive education, innovative research, and the value we place on excellence, inclusivity, and partnerships’. We challenged ourselves to be ‘firmly established among the world’s top 50 great universities, and the top 10 in the UK’.
Today, I am pleased to note that our achievements have been recognised by the QS World University Rankings which now place us 51st in the world, and 8th in the UK, as well as 12th globally for sustainability. Of course, rankings are only one measure of achievement, and they can easily fall as well as rise. But it is good to see that we are now much better known internationally for the new knowledge we create and the difference we make to peoples’ lives at every level.
Our international reputation as an excellent partner is crucial at a moment when global connections are constantly changing, and the world is experiencing the uncertainty and suffering of ongoing conflicts. We maintain these links in many ways, including through networks such as the World University Network (WUN), the European University Association and Coimbra, another European network. Bristol was a founding partner of the WUN and in May, I was in Hong Kong for a week to join WUN colleagues from the USA, Canada, Africa, Asia and Europe, and heard about our collective work supporting early career research. This month, I will go to Bologna to meet with rectors and presidents from across Europe to reinforce our determination to partner on new Horizon research grants and student mobility. At home, we’ve welcomed delegations from across the globe. A recent highlight was our meeting with one of our key strategic partners, Professor Mosa Moshabela, the President of the University of Cape Town, who joined me and our alumnus Lord Paul Boateng on stage to discuss the Africa Charter for Equitable Research Partnerships.
It is absolutely imperative that we continue to strengthen and maintain these global education partnerships; these are fundamental to our strategy and our long-term future and success.
If you are an international student or an international member of staff, you might be personally worried about the immigration White Paper and the constraints that it puts on post-study work and applications for the right-to-remain. Bristol is a great University because of the diversity of our people and perspectives that are so crucial to the development of new knowledge and approaches. I was myself, an international student, arriving from the USA to study for an MA and then a PhD at the University of London. I want all our students and staff to benefit from the welcome that I enjoyed and will work with other Vice-Chancellors to ensure the UK values our global research and educational connections. If you have personal concerns or questions about what the White Paper might mean for you, please contact the Student Visa Advice Service or the Staff Immigration Team.
Meanwhile, Professor Michele Acuto has been working with colleagues to develop our new International strategy which was approved by the Board of Trustees and Senate. We’ll be talking more about our International strategy and plans in the weeks and months ahead.
Other significant contributors to our global civic ambitions on the horizon include the formal launch of Isambard-AI later this summer. Our Temple Quarter Enterprise campus, which is on-time and on-budget, will open in September 2026, providing even more opportunities for enterprise and engagement. It will be a home to innovation and interdisciplinarity, enabling transformative partnerships between academia, industry, civic organisations and communities.
Alongside our global success, there is much more to celebrate locally. We’ve delivered on much of our agreement with the Students’ Union, including launching a bus service to Coombe Dingle for students taking exams; with the support of the Office for Students, we are well underway to creating a new micro-campus and micro-credentials in Hartcliffe in South Bristol. We’ve been able to support Bristol City Council in developing a strategy for knife crime prevention as well as providing West of England Combined Authority bootcamps for digital film-making at MyWorld. We have appointed community Accountability Partners and Accountability Associates; we plan to have staff and students joining this group to help shape the Reparative Futures programme and begin to make meaningful steps to repair some of the injustices arising from the transatlantic trafficking of enslaved African people.
At the same time, we also have to acknowledge the multiple challenges that we face, including the possibility of a levy on our international student fees. I have joined my colleagues at the Russell Group over the past few weeks to advocate for our sector. This presents a significant new pressure alongside the existing broader challenges to UK university finances which we are all working to address. We are taking action to ensure that we are financially stable going forward and are asking everyone to look hard at how we can make cost savings as well as increase income. I am proud of the way we have been able to discuss, debate and disagree respectfully and openly on a range of sometimes contentious issues. Together we will ensure that we are stronger going into the future.
This year you have all worked incredibly hard to embed a new academic calendar. Once the academic year has finished, we will undertake a full review of our new calendar, but for the moment we can say that things have gone, more or less, as planned and we are very grateful for everyone who has done so much to ensure this outcome. Thank you all. I look forward to seeing many of you at graduation ceremonies. Have a good summer break when it comes.
Evelyn