King's College London

Members of the King’s community, including academics and students, joined MPs, Peers, business leaders, journalists and other key stakeholders in Parliament on 29 April to celebrate King’s firm commitment to international collaboration, and the ways in which it shapes the university’s work, partnerships and research.

Lord David Willetts, Visiting Professor at the Policy Institute, welcomed guests to the event, praising King's civic mission to serve the local and global community, which recently saw the College rank 5th globally in the Times Higher Education University Impact Rankings. Professor Funmi Olonisakin, Vice President/Vice-Principal (International), outlined how this mission to make the world a better place feeds into the university’s new international strategy, launching this summer.

Guests were then told about a number of pioneering international research collaborations at King’s that seek to tackle some of the world’s biggest problems. Dr Ben Barratt, Senior Lecturer in Chinese Environment, talked about the work of King’s in raising awareness of the major public health issue of air pollution on a global scale. Martin Prince, Director of King’s Global Health Institute, touched on the Institute’s drive to find cross-disciplinary solutions to developing and improving health systems in Africa.

The final contribution came from Professor Bronwyn Parry, Head of the School of Global Affairs and Director of King’s Sanctuary Programme – the university’s institutional response to the refugee crisis. She spoke about the success of a number of programmes implemented by King’s to improve access to education for refugee students who have been displaced by the conflict in Syria. Principal and President of King’s, Professor Ed Byrne AC, closed the formal part of the evening, thanking guests for attending the event and supporting the work of King's.