Imperial named UK's top research university

RNS REACH

18 December 2014

Imperial Innovations Group plc

Imperial College London, named as the UK's top research university.

Imperial Innovations (AIM: IVO, "Innovations" or "The Group") is pleased to note the announcement today by Imperial College London that it is the UK's top research university, according to the results of REF 2014.

Imperial College London, with whom Innovations has an exclusive technology pipeline agreement, has the UK's highest concentration of 'world-leading' and 'internationally excellent' research of any major university, according to the Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2014, published today.

The REF found that:

· 91% of Imperial research is classed as "world-leading" (46% achieved the highest possible 4* score, up from 26% in 2008) or "internationally excellent" (44% achieved 3*) - the highest proportion of any major university.

· Imperial research quality has improved significantly from 2008 when the Research Assessment Exercise classed 73% of the College's research submitted as 4* or 3*.

· On the REF's new 'impact' measure, Imperial's research is the highest ranked of any major university. Imperial is top or joint-top in the UK for its "outstanding impact in terms of reach and significance" in eight of the 14 research areas to which the College submitted.

· Imperial's research in the areas of Public Health, Health Services & Primary Care and Civil & Construction Engineering is ranked top in the UK.

Innovations has a technology pipeline agreement with Imperial College London which extends until 2020, under which it has exclusive commercialisation rights and continues to act as the technology transfer office for Imperial College London. The Group also acts as the technology transfer office for select NHS Trusts linked to Imperial College London, including Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust and North West London Hospitals NHS Trust.

Russ Cummings, CEO of Imperial Innovations, said:

"We are delighted at the news that Imperial has been assessed as the UK's top research university by REF 2014. We are extremely proud of the long-lasting and productive relationship we have with the College, with many of our leading businesses, such as Circassia and Nexeon, having started life through research by Imperial academics.

"These results demonstrate the very high quality of research undertaken by one of our major university partners and bode well for the future."

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Notes to editors

About Imperial Innovations - www.imperialinnovations.co.uk 

Imperial Innovations Group plc creates, builds and invests in pioneering technologies developed from the academic research within the 'Golden Triangle' broadly bounded by London, Cambridge and Oxford, which is home to the UK's four leading research-intensive universities.

This area is home to many new technology companies through its proximity to the academic communities of Imperial College London, the University of Cambridge, the University of Oxford and University College London, as well as other leading research institutions.

Imperial College London, the University of Cambridge, the University of Oxford and University College London collectively have research income of £1.4 billion per annum and are ranked as four of the top ten Universities in the world (source: QS World University Rankings 2014/15).

Innovations supports scientists and entrepreneurs in the commercialisation of their ideas through the licensing of intellectual property, by leading the formation of new companies, providing facilities in the early stages, providing investment and encouraging co-investment to accelerate development, providing operational expertise and recruiting high-calibre management teams. It also runs an incubator in London that is the initial home for many of its technology spin-outs.

Since admission of its shares to trading on AIM in 2006, Innovations has raised more than £346.0 million of equity from investors, which has enabled it to invest in some of the most exciting spin-outs to come out of UK academic research. In addition, the Group has a £30.0 million loan facility from the European Investment Bank (EIB) for investment in biotech and therapeutics businesses.

During the period from admission on AIM up until 31 July 2014, Innovations has invested a total of £176.0 million across its portfolio companies, which have raised collectively investment of £822.5 million.

About the Research Excellence Framework (REF)

The REF is the new system for assessing the quality of research in UK higher education institutions. It replaced the Research Assessment Exercise(RAE), last conducted in 2008.

The 2014 REF was conducted jointly by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE), the Scottish Funding Council (SFC), the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales (HEFCW) and the Department for Employment and Learning, Northern Ireland (DEL). The REF was managed by the REF team, based at HEFCE, on behalf of the four UK higher education funding bodies, and was overseen by the REF Steering Group, consisting of representatives of the four funding bodies.

The primary purpose of REF 2014 was to assess the quality of research and produce outcomes for each submission made by institutions:

· The four higher education funding bodies will use the assessment outcomes to inform the selective allocation of their grant for research to the institutions which they fund, with effect from 2015-16.

· The assessment provides accountability for public investment in research and produces evidence of the benefits of this investment.

· The assessment outcomes provide benchmarking information and establish reputational yardsticks, for use within the higher education (HE) sector and for public information.