THE UNIVERSITY OF LEEDS
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• affirms that we will play a full part in the development of the Leeds City region and the country as a whole, boosting engagement with the City, the NHS, the world-class cultural community in the North of England and industry partners.
INCREASING KNOWLEDGE AND OPPORTUNITY Established by Royal Charter in 1904, the University of Leeds is one of the UK’s top ten research institutions, and one of the UK’s largest, most prestigious and diverse universities, with more than 31,000 students from 146 different countries, and with more than 220,000 alumni from over 180 different countries. We are now embarking upon an exciting and critical period in our development. A new strategic plan was adopted in July 2014, covering the period 2014-20. Reaffirming that the creation, dissemination and application of knowledge remain at the heart of our mission, the plan commits us to provide a wide range of opportunities for students and staff, ensuring excellence in every aspect of student education, research and innovation, and promoting enterprise and creativity. Increasing knowledge and opportunity in powerful combination is a defining feature of life at Leeds, distinguishing us from other universities and enabling us to address the challenges of higher learning and research across a broad range of disciplines with energy and confidence.
In parallel, we are working to build our international reach and influence, developing enduring education and research initiatives with carefully selected partners around the world. The biggest challenge is, however, boosting the quality and volume of our research. The plan commits us to secure an ambitious step change in research income – of 50 per cent by 2020 – which would give us a concomitant uplift in research performance and reputation. To that end, we are investing in new staff and new studentships, in buildings, and in the research base, especially in new technology platforms. Achieving the objectives set out in the plan requires us to adopt different ways of working within the University – to become more agile; to be more outward-looking and responsive to market opportunities; and to reduce the bureaucratic burden, freeing up academic time for new academic initiatives within a more open, high-trust environment in which our expectations of staff and their personal responsibilities and accountabilities are clear.
The plan recognises that we need to be more outward-facing. It therefore
• places a premium on establishing and enhancing strategic partnerships and collaborations, to promote creativity, innovation, enterprise and impact;
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