History of Imperial College London
[5] Following some financial trouble, this was absorbed in 1853 into the newly formed Government School of Mines and Science Applied to the Arts, located on Jermyn Street.
[8][9] Proceeds from the Great Exhibition of 1851 were designated by Prince Albert to be used to develop a cultural area in South Kensington for the use and education of the public.
[13] The Central Institution of the City and Guilds of London Institute, formed by the City of London's livery companies, was opened on Exhibition Road by the Prince of Wales, founded to focus on providing technical education, with courses starting in early 1885.
In 1902, the Technical Education Board of London County Council called for the establishment of a similar institute for advanced technological training in London, and Richard Haldane had involved Lord Rosebery, Arthur Balfour and the Duke of Devonshire in a scheme to raise £600,000 as a trust fund for the proposed institution.
[16] A departmental committee was set up at the Board of Education in 1904, originally chaired by Francis Mowatt and (from 1905) by Haldane, officially to look into the future of the Royal College of Science.
[16][17] On 8 July 1907, King Edward VII granted a Royal Charter establishing the Imperial College of Science and Technology.
King Edward VII granted the coat of arms of the college on 6 June 1908 by royal warrant.
[20][21] The foundation stone for the Royal School of Mines building was laid by King Edward VII in July 1909.
[23] This won the backing of the rector and the professors, in addition to the majority of past and present students, and Nature called in 1920 for "a free and frank examination of the proposition in all its bearings, undisturbed and unprejudiced by lesser interests than that of increasing the efficiency of university education and especially of scientific education".
[24] One of the issues raised was that, as Imperial was unable to grant degrees, only diplomas, students were going to America to study.
"Commemoration Day", named after this visit, is held every October as the university's main graduation ceremony.
[27][28] The college also acquired a biology field station at Silwood Park near Ascot, Berkshire in 1947[29] Following the second world war, there was again concern that Britain was falling behind in science – this time to the United States.
[30] The idea of a "British MIT" was backed by influential scientists as politicians of the time, including Lord Cherwell, Sir Lawrence Bragg and Sir Edward Appleton,[1] but there was also strong opposition: the University Grants Committee (UGC) argued that "an institution confined to a narrow range of subjects is unfavorable to the highest attainment", while the Committee of Vice-Chancellors and Principals stated that "a single-faculty institution cannot be a university".
[1] In 1952, the government stated their intention of "building up at least one institution of university rank devoted predominantly to the teaching and study of the various forms of technology".
[44] In October 2002, a merger was proposed between Imperial and UCL that would have formed an institution with 28,000 students and a research budget of £400 million – more than Oxford and Cambridge combined.
Richard Sykes, then Rector of Imperial, said that the merger "would lead to the creation of a truly world-class research-based institution with the resources necessary to compete effectively with the best in the world.
"[45][46] Strong opposition from academics, particularly at UCL where a "takeover by Imperial" was feared, led to the proposals being dropped a month later.
In April 2011, Imperial and King's College London joined the UK Centre for Medical Research and Innovation (UKCMRI) as partners with a commitment of £40 million each to the project.
[57] The college began moving into the new White City campus in 2016, with the launching of the Innovation Hub.
