The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, has hailed The Institute of Cancer Research, London, as a ‘creative powerhouse’, after it was ranked top in the Government’s Research Excellence Framework.
The Mayor was due to visit the Sutton site of The Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) today (Thursday) as the results were released.
The Times Higher Education league table – viewed as the definitive ranking of universities – placed the ICR first in the UK overall, taking into account research excellence and impact.
The ICR ranked first in the UK for the impact its research has on society, in a powerful endorsement of its track record as the most successful university in the world at discovering new treatments for people with cancer, and of its partnership with The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust to develop them for patients.
The ICR was also joint top with the London School of Economics for ‘research outputs’, measuring the quality of published research studies. And it ranked first for biological sciences, coming top by some margin in an assessment of the academic quality of its biological sciences research.
The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, who was today visiting the ICR’s Sutton site, said:
“These incredible results demonstrate precisely why our city is regarded as home to a vibrant life sciences sector with the best and most exciting research institutions in the world. The Institute of Cancer Research, London, is a creative powerhouse tackling major global challenges at home and abroad; such expertise is why my team created MedCity, an initiative that intends to harness the incredible academic prowess found in London to spur the discovery of new treatments, and enable the sector to become a key contributor to our economic growth and health.”