King’s College Londonis one of the world’s top 30 universities: a multi-faculty research-led university institution based in the heart of London. It is the Sunday Times Best UK University for Graduate Employment, 2013.

King’s has more than 24,000 students (of whom some 10,000 are postgraduates) and more than 6,100 employees. It is one of the top seven UK universities for research earnings and has an annual overall income of more than £550 million.

It offers an intellectually rigorous environment supported by welcoming and caring traditions. It is dedicated to the advancement of knowledge, learning and understanding in the service of society, both in the UK and internationally.

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EditorDr Christine Kenyon Jonesdesign Christine AyrePrinter Alpine Press

CoverTrails of energetic particles produced accelerated to near the speed of light before being collided, resulting in the release of energy and the creation of new particles. Professor John Ellis describes (pages 32-37) how experiments at CERN’s Large Hadron Collider in 2012 have discovered a new particle that looks very much like the Higgs boson, completing the long journey towards the unification of fundamental forces that was started by James Clerk Maxwell at King’s 150 years ago.RICHARD KAIL/SCIENCE PHOTOLIBRARY

Main College addressKing’s College LondonStrandLondon WC2R 2LS+44(0)20 7836 5454www.kcl.ac.uk

The King’s College London annual REPORT reviews the College’s work each year by featuring a sample of the research and teaching currently taking place at King’s. It is the Principal’s report to the College Council. This edition of the REPORT covers the year 2011-12.

The REPORT is published by External RelationsKing’s College LondonJames Clerk Maxwell Building57 Waterloo RoadLondon SE1 8WA

For further copies contact pr@kcl.ac.uk

© King’s College London 2013

The REPORT was printed using environmental print technologies and conforms to ISO 14001 certification. The paper was manufactured using environmentally friendly processes, from sustainable and renewable sources, and is ECF-acid free.

Every effort has been madeto contact all copyright holders. The publishers will be glad to make good in future any errors or omissions brought to their attention.

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26 rEthinking12 oPEning

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44 intErvEning32 unifying

68 faCts & figurEs65 giving 71 finanCEs

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his has been a year of contrast for King’s, between achieving an historic ambition, and adapting to a particularly fast pace of change. On the one hand, the College has at last realised its aim, nurtured ever since its foundation 180 years ago, of moving into the Somerset House East Wing, which was opened by Her Majesty The Queen in February 2012 (see page 12). On the other hand, King’s and all other UK university institutions have embarked on a completely new era, as government financial support to universities started a dramatic reduction, and the first undergraduates to pay fees of £9,000 a year were admitted in September 2012.

The College’s response to these challenges is to build on areas of strength to maximise our research performance and enhance the experiences of our students, providing them with a world-class research-led teaching and learning environment. King’s is dedicated to providing opportunities for the best students, and the College continues to develop its programme of widening participation which encourages students from non-traditional backgrounds to apply to university and provides enhanced financial and other support for them during their higher education (see page 56).

ExpansionWe have also begun a carefully-targeted expansion of staff and student numbers in selected areas to ensure that these sectors reach critical mass and become self-sustaining in terms of excellent research and teaching. We are part-way through a major

the Principal and President, Professor sir richard trainor, reflects on developments at king’s in 2011-12.

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programme of improvements in the quality of the College estate, focusing on upgrading teaching rooms, social space and information technology, with plans for major development at the Strand Campus and for expansion of the College’s portfolio of student accommodation.

In the context of the new financial regime for students, who will see their fee loans recouped through income tax after graduation, it is particularly pleasing that King’s was awarded the Sunday Times 2013 accolade for ‘Best UK University for Graduate Employment’ in autumn 2012. This is in addition to the same newspaper’s award to King’s for ‘Best UK University of the Year’ in 2011. The College has continued to perform particularly well in international league tables, especially the QS Global League Tables, where we were again ranked sixth in the UK and, for the sixth year running, were placed among the world’s top 30 universities.

international reachThis global dimension is becoming increasingly important for the College, and our international reach was further extended this year through the development of a powerful group of interdisciplinary institutes, focusing on current issues relating to key parts of the world and encouraging engagement with 21st-century powers. King’s Global Institutes now include King’s Brazil Institute; the Lau China Institute; King’s India Institute; the Centre for Middle East & Mediterranean Studies; the Institute of North American Studies; King’s Russia Institute, and King’s International Development Institute, which incorporates the Global Health Centre and the African Leadership Centre.

At the same time, we continue to develop our partnerships with a number of prestigious universities around the world. These include Hong Kong

University; the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; the University of California, San Francisco; Jawaharlal Nehru University; the National University of Singapore; Renmin University of China, and the University of São Paulo. These international associations enhance research, enable the transfer of knowledge and provide opportunities for staff and student exchanges and experience.

PartnershipAnother crucial continuing and developing partnership, closer to home, is that of King’s Health Partners (KHP): a pioneering collaboration between the College and the NHS Foundation Trusts of Guy’s and St Thomas’; King’s College Hospital, and South London and Maudsley. In February 2012 the KHP partners announced their decision to move towards the creation of a single academic healthcare organisation. This would bring together the three NHS trusts and strengthen KHP’s ethos through closer working with the College in creating benefits for patients, staff and students. It would enable a faster translation of research into treatment, and provide an integrated approach to mental and physical health. Work will continue in 2013 to develop a full business case for this proposal.

Meanwhile, King’s participation in the Francis Crick Institute, which will open in 2015 as a world-

‘these international associations enhance research, enable the transfer of knowledge and provide opportunities for staff and student exchanges and experience.’

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leading biomedical research institute in central London, means that we are already attracting a number of world-class scientists excited by this groundbreaking initiative.

Cultural and creativeThis year saw the appointment of the first Executive Director of the King’s Cultural Institute, established to act as a bridge between the College and the cultural and creative industries, and based in Somerset House East Wing. King’s research strengths in Arts & Humanities and in the cultural and creative industries have enriched collaboration with a number of major cultural and creative organisations including the National Theatre, Southbank Centre, the National Gallery, the National Portrait Gallery, Shakespeare’s Globe, Tate Modern, the British Library, the British Museum and the British Film Institute. This new appointment and the distinguished location for the King’s Cultural Institute are enabling us to further innovation, engagement and knowledge exchange between academics across the College and the wider cultural and creative sector.

OlympicsOur London location also made the 2012 London Olympics and Paralympics a particularly exciting time for King’s. The College’s contributions to the Games ranged from operating the accredited anti-doping laboratory, in partnership with GlaxoSmithKline, to advising on security and air-quality, and providing expertise on the physiology of Olympic performance and its cultural and environmental heritage. King’s athletes included PhD Law student Katherine Grainger MBE, who won gold in the Women’s Double Sculls, and alumna Ashley Ball, who achieved bronze as a member of the GB Women’s Hockey team.

Campaign successThe College’s fundraising campaign, World questions|King’s answers, publicly launched in 2010, is the largest such campaign for any UK university institution outside Oxbridge. It is addressing some of the world’s most challenging problems, particularly in the areas of cancer; child health; neuroscience and mental health; leadership and society, and the emerging world order. I am delighted to report that partnership with our alumni, friends and supporters has contributed enormously to the success of the campaign this year (see page 65). As a result, nearly £400 million has already been raised or pledged towards our £500 million target.

In all, as this Report amply demonstrates, King’s has made significant progress this year towards our goal of becoming one of the world’s leading universities in all areas of our endeavour n

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honours for king’sProfessor Sir Robert Lechler, Vice Principal (Health) and Executive Director of King’s Health Partners, received a knighthood in the Queen’s Birthday Honours in June 2012 for services to academic medicine. The CBE was awarded to John Ellis, Clerk Maxwell Professor of Theoretical Physics at King’s; Alison Wolf, Sir Roy Griffiths Professor of Public Sector Management; Professor Tak Lee, former Director of the MRC and Asthma UK Centre; Hilary McCallion, Director of Nursing at South London and the Maudsley and Honorary Professor at King’s, and Andy Adam, King’s and Honorary Guy’s and St Thomas’ clinician. Catherine Morgan, Professor of Classical Archaeology, received an OBE. Dinesh Bhugra, Professor of Mental Health & Cultural Diversity at the Institute of Psychiatry at King’s, was awarded a CBE in the 2012 New Year’s Honours.

Olympic goldKatherine Grainger CBE, who is completing her PhD in Law at King’s, won a gold medal with Anna Watkins in the 2012 Olympic double sculls. This was her fourth Olympic medal, since she won silver in 2000, 2004 and 2008. Two of her previous team-mates have been King’s graduates: Frances Houghton (BA Hispanic Studies 2003) and Annabel Vernon (MA International Relations 2007). Former King’s student Ashleigh Ball (MSc Nutrition & Dietetics, 2009) was a member of the women’s hockey team that won bronze in the Games, securing GB’s first women’s Olympic hockey medal in 20 years.

Best university for employmentKing’s is the 2013 Sunday Times Best UK University for Graduate Employment. This follows the same newspaper’s award to King’s for Best UK University of the Year in 2010-11. In the latest survey, over 95 per cent of King’s full-time, first degree, UK-domiciled graduates were in work or further study six months after graduating: an increase of 2.6 per cent on the previous year.

Making thE nEws

Stem cells initiativeThe Wellcome Trust and the Medical Research Council announced a £12.75 million initiative in November 2012 to create a catalogue of high-quality adult stem cells – so-called induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS cells). Led by King’s and the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, the initiative will provide a knowledge base to underpin the use of such cells in studying the effects of our genes on health and disease. It will lay the foundations to create a new iPS cell bank, providing a world-class resource for UK researchers. As part of the Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell Initiative, King’s is launching its ‘Stem Cell Hotel’ based at Guy’s Hospital, offering clinician scientists and cell biologists the opportunity to work collaboratively to turn scientific discoveries into treatments more quickly.

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katherine grainger CBE Professor sir robert Lechler the initiative will lay the foundations for a new iPs cell bank

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honorary doctoratesFour honorary doctorates of King’s were conferred at a ceremony in November 2012. The distinguished recipients were the author Bill Bryson; Professor Christopher Dobson FRS, Master of St John’s College Cambridge; the Right Honourable The Lord Judge, Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales, and Professor Tan Chorh Chuan, President of the National University of Singapore.

first class in green League King’s achieved a first class honours award in the People & Planet Green League 2012. The Green League ranking, compiled by student campaign network People & Planet, highlights the environmental and ethical performance of 145 universities, awarding first class ‘degrees’ to the 46 greenest. The league reveals how UK universities are doing more to improve graduate prospects and prepare them for a low-carbon future by responding to growing student demands for sustainability issues to be included in all curricula.

Cultural directorKing’s Cultural Institute welcomed Deborah Bull CBE as its first Executive Director in 2012. This cross-disciplinary initiative in innovative collaboration across the cultural sector is now, under her leadership, extending its already significant range of activities with the cultural and creative industries in the UK and internationally. It is negotiating new partnerships and brokering relationships between cultural institutions, academia and the arts in an academic setting. Following a 20-year career with the Royal Ballet, Deborah Bull became Creative Director of the Royal Opera House in 2008, responsible for a wide range of pan-organisational activity including 2012 Olympic programming. She has been a governor of the Southbank Centre and the BBC and a member of Arts Council England. She has written and presented several television and radio series, and is the author of four books.

anti-doping roleIn partnership with GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), King’s world-renowned Drug Control Centre played a key role in anti-doping testing for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Led by Professor David Cowan, scientists worked around the clock to analyse over 6,000 athletes’ samples – more than at any other Games. In May the King’s/GSK Scientists in Sport programme beat 230 other projects to win gold in the Podium Awards for London 2012, providing an opportunity for young people across the UK to learn about the science behind the Games. Experts from King’s Environmental Research Group gave evidence to the International Olympic Committee about pollution data for London, and for the first time Games visitors and athletes could access free, hourly-updated information about air pollution levels around the city thanks to an app and website developed by the Group.

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deborah Bull CBE the new honorary doctors of king’s with the Chairman and Principal

king’s has the uk’s only world anti-doping agency accredited laboratory

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Coral sunscreen projectKing’s and skincare company Aethic have agreed to develop the first sunscreen based on MAAs (mycosporine-like amino acids), produced by coral. As described in Report 2011, a team led by Dr Paul Long at King’s has discovered how algae living within coral make a compound that is transported to the coral, which then modifies it into a sunscreen for the benefit of both the coral and the algae. Not only does this protect them both from UV damage, but fish that feed on the coral also benefit from this sunscreen protection. The researchers will now work with the St John’s Institute of Dermatology at King’s to test the efficacy of the compounds using human skin models.

king’s and sydney join forcesKing’s Schools of Arts & Humanities and Social Science & Public Policy have cemented a partnership with the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at the University of Sydney. This enables two of the world’s leading humanities and social science institutions, in two great global cities, to join forces to provide unique research and learning opportunities for their students. Closer research ties will range from informal workshops to visiting fellowships and externally funded research projects, with collaborative degrees being developed at MA and PhD level across a range of subjects.

françois hollande at king’sFrançois Hollande, then the French Presidential candidate for the Socialist Party, came to King’s in February 2012 as part of his campaign visit to London. He addressed a crowded meeting at the Strand Campus, where supporters, students and a buzzing media pack heard his vision for the future of Europe during a day-long trip to the UK. Reiterating one of his key policy themes, Mr Hollande said the future of the EU had to be about more than just a common market, and any new European treaty must be focused on growth as well as budgetary discipline. The event marked the launch of the King’s Policy Institute, who invited Mr Hollande to the College.

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the university of sydney Coral from the Great Barrier Reef françois hollande at king’s in february 2012

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Student’s Mansfield find A King’s PhD student has uncovered four previously unseen stories by the modernist writer Katherine Mansfield, one of which provides a fascinating insight into a turbulent period in her personal life. English Department student Chris Mourant discovered the works in the College Archives, where they are part of the papers of the literary magazine, ADAM, edited by Miron Grindea. Mansfield’s ‘A Little Episode’, written in 1909, sheds light on an important year of her life of which little was previously known. An article detailing the provenance and significance of the material will be published by Chris Mourant in 2013.

US international office opensKing’s has opened its first international office in the USA, as part of its strategy to build global partnerships for research collaboration and encourage mobility for staff and students. The office, located near Washington DC, in Alexandria, Virginia, is the first in a network that the College is planning to open internationally to build its profile in key regions and develop deeper relationships with the research, student and alumni communities. King’s is the first Russell Group university to establish a permanent presence in the USA for both outreach and recruitment activities.

new fBas Professor Richard Dyer of the King’s Department of Film Studies and Professor Martin Stokes of the Department of Music were elected members of the British Academy in July 2012 in recognition of their outstanding research. Professor Dyer researches entertainment and representation and the relations between the two, as well as Italian cinema and gay/lesbian/queer cultures. Martin Stokes joined King’s in September 2012 as Professor in the Anthropology of Music and has succeeded John Deathridge as King Edward VII Professor of Music.

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The office is located near Washington DC A photograph of Mansfield with John Middleton Murry, from King’s Archives

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honorary doctorate for kapurProfessor Shitij Kapur, Dean of King’s Institute of Psychiatry, has become an honorary doctor of the University of Copenhagen. Professor Kapur has made substantial contributions to the understanding of the neurochemical and functional basis of schizophrenia and its treatment, combining clinical experience, basic science, psychological theories and computational models to form new hypotheses for the development of psychosis. The University of Copenhagen described his work as a source of continuous inspiration and expressed the hope that his appointment would lead to further successful collaborations between the two universities.

Specialist maths school King’s is planning to open a specialist school for talented young mathematicians, as part of the Government’s plans to improve mathematics education in the state sector and increase the number of mathematically talented young people who can study science, technology, engineering and maths at top-rated universities. The College has received a development grant from the Department for Education, and the King’s-sponsored school is expected to open in the Waterloo area of London in September 2014. Education Secretary Michael Gove described it as ‘an excellent example of a world-class higher education institution playing an active role in preparing gifted young people for the rigours of university study.’

architects for QuadrangleBelfast-based architects Hall McKnight have won the competition to redevelop the Quadrangle at King’s historic Strand Campus (above). The Campus provides teaching and social space for some 9,000 students and 1,500 staff. It is home to the College’s Schools of Arts & Humanities, Social Science & Public Policy, Natural & Mathematical Sciences, The Dickson Poon School of Law and Global Institutes & Centres. Over the next five years the College plans to add a further 2,600 students at this campus, and the £20 million project to design and redevelop the Quad, including the buildings below it and the immediate surroundings, will provide an additional 3,700 square meters of teaching and student social space.

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Improving maths education is a priority Professor shitij kapur and Professor ulla wewer, university of Copenhagen

The Quad, Strand Campus

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hayfever vaccine studyResearchers at Imperial College London and King’s are developing a new vaccine for hayfever which could be more effective, less invasive and less expensive than vaccines already available within the NHS. After a study which showed a significant reduction in skin sensitivity to grass pollen associated with an increase in ‘blocking antibodies’ in the bloodstream, the College has launched a clinical trial in collaboration with Guy’s Hospital in September 2012, as part of King’s Health Partners. Funded by the Medical Research Council and National Institute for Health Research via the Efficacy and Mechanism Evaluation programme, this trial will further investigate the vaccine as a potential new hayfever treatment.

King’s and JNU expand partnershipKing’s and Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi, have embarked on the second phase of their strategic partnership agreement. A senior delegation from King’s, led by Principal and President Professor Rick Trainor, visited the JNU campus in September 2012 as part of a major initiative to expand the College’s links in India and broaden overall engagement with strategic partners worldwide, developing links for research collaboration and encouraging the mobility of staff and students. The new Memorandum of Understanding between King’s and JNU builds on the original agreement of 2008 and a successful collaboration between King’s and JNU’s Centre of Social Medicine and Community Health.

Magna Carta for 21st century Researchers at King’s College London are collaborating in an examination of the 1215 Magna Carta, which for the first time in English constitutional history asserted the rights of the monarch’s subjects against the crown. The three-year project, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council, will be completed for the 800th anniversary of the charter. David Carpenter, Professor in Medieval History at King’s, will work with historians from the Universities of East Anglia, Oxford and Christ Church, Canterbury to produce the first clause-by-clause commentary on its content in a hundred years.

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Professsor Sudhir Kumar Sopory and Professor rick trainor signing the Mou

The study showed a significant reduction in sensitivity to grass pollen

the study will produce a clause-by-clause commentary on Magna Carta

with a 180-year tradition of excellence, distinguished new premises in the heart of the legal and political world, and a £40 million programme of investment, King’s Law School is poised to build on its powerful reputation and to become a leader in the field of transnational law.

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Law without frontiErs

her Majesty the Queen, accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh, officially opened Somerset House East Wing in february 2012. this elegantly refurbished historic building extends King’s Strand Campus to the West, providing a home for the newly-renamed Dickson Poon school of Law and a focal point for many of the cultural aspects of the College.

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the dickson Poon school of Law’s recent move into Somerset House East wing provides it with an appropriately prestigious home in the heart of the British legal and political world, while a remarkable gift of £20 million from Dickson Poon CBE, the British hong-kong based

philanthropist and owner of harvey nichols, enables the school to embark on a £40 million programme of investment. This will establish the School as a dynamic international centre for legal research, bridging the worlds of higher education, policy and business.

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a written constitution for the uk?

Characteristic of the hands-on, high-profile, politically and internationally significant work of the School is research commissioned by the House of Commons Political and Constitutional Reform Committee about the possibility of a written constitution for the uk.

The report of a project led by Robert Blackburn, Professor of Constitutional Law and Director of the Centre for Political & Constitutional Studies at King’s, was published in May 2012 and is being used as the basis for national consultation on the subject of a written constitution for the UK.

‘Comparing the UK’s constitution with those of other democracies, the most distinctive aspect of ours is the absence of a written documentary source,’ Professor Blackburn explains. ‘Indeed, in the USA and other countries, the UK is widely regarded as having no constitution at all. For example, there is no law that even provides for the office of the Prime Minister, which simply relies on political practice and the nebulous idiom that the monarch appoints whoever commands the confidence of the House of Commons to preside over the country’s executive government.’

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The Rt Hon Sir John Major, Chairman of the World questions | king’s answers fundraising campaign, with the Principal and dickson Poon, at a celebration in March 2012 to mark Mr Poon’s generous gift to the Law school. this is the largest donation from an

individual in king’s history, and the largest ever to a European law faculty. it will fund up to eight new distinguished chairs and seven academic ‘rising star’ positions, with some 80 scholarships a year, including 15 for students from Hong Kong and China.

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No uniform processAs a result of the UK not having a documentary constitution with its own prescribed amendment procedure, there is no uniform process of constitutional reform in this country. Many informal changes occur through the evolution of conventions and judicial decisions on the powers of government, and there are no special formal requirements applicable to Acts of Parliament making constitutional changes.

‘Our study of the major constitutional legislation of the 20th century shows how the processes adopted in each case were dictated by the individual circumstances of the time,’ Blackburn says. ‘In particular, the advent of the 1997 Labour Government heralded a markedly different approach to constitutional change, with a wide-ranging programme of reform including devolution to Scotland and Wales, the Human Rights Act, an elected London Mayor, and the removal of the hereditary peers from the House of Lords.’

incoherence and inconsistencyIn this new era, where governments have had an express policy of constitutional change, the incoherence of guiding principles and inconsistency in procedures adopted by government and Parliament in dealing with major amendments to the constitution

has, Blackburn says, become a matter of serious concern to the integrity of the political system and quality of the reforms being implemented. ‘Even on matters of the utmost importance to the political system and its democracy, too many measures have been presented to Parliament without adequate prior consultation and been rushed through both Houses on a three-line governing party whip, weakening the quality of genuine parliamentary debate and scrutiny of legislative proposals.

‘For example, the Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011 – which in effect prolongs the period between general elections from four years to five and weakens the political accountability of those who govern the country – was implemented by the Conservative/LibDem Coalition Government immediately it took office, with scant regard for parliamentary scrutiny or consultation. It had little political or public support, was rushed through Parliament on a three line whip, and few ordinary people ever realised that this reform to the main event in our political democracy was taking place. Compliance with good practice in the preparation and passage into law of a new permanent constitutional structure for the timing of general elections in the future was very much a secondary consideration.’

Judges at the State Opening of Parliament. Many informal changes to the constitution occur through the evolution of conventions and judicial decisions on the powers of government.

thE CEntrE for PoLitiCaL & ConstitutionaL studiEs Part of the Institute of Contemporary British History at King’s, of which Professor Blackburn is also the Director, this inter-disciplinary constitutional project team comprises political scientists, lawyers and contemporary historians, with specialists in comparative government, political philosophy and public opinion. The team includes Dr Andrew Blick (Senior Research Fellow) and the well-known political commentator Professor Vernon Bogdanor. 

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ReferendumsBlackburn also criticises the way in which referendums have recently been utilised as part of a constitutional amendment process in the UK without any consistency of purpose, and more often than not have been used for crude political advantage by the party in office.

‘Some would argue that the problem of poor process in political and constitutional reforms in recent years is symptomatic of a wider malaise, which is the peculiarly flexible nature of the UK constitution. This may have been a virtue in earlier times, but now in the changed circumstances of today may no longer be appropriate,’ he says. ‘In a time of modernisation and change, constitutional conventions as a species of political regulation are no longer as robust as they once were, and are in a state of decline. There needs to be a recalibration between flexibility and rigidity in the working of the UK constitution, which is the key question of balance that lies at the heart of any constitutional settlement.

‘Although the UK is rightly proud of its historic reputation for good governance, it is likely that it has lessons to learn from comparative constitutional experience, especially as it has virtually no history of its own of obligatory or entrenched procedures governing constitutional change, apart from its

interaction with the written constitutions in Commonwealth countries based on the Westminster system of government.’

to codify or not?There are diverse arguments for and against the wider question of whether the UK should now codify its constitution. ‘Even the nature of the idea can be differently construed, either as a radical measure upsetting the status quo, or a conservative measure consolidating and protecting the UK’s national traditions,’ Blackburn points out. ‘The idea of changing the constitutional system has gathered momentum from the mid-1970s, when senior Conservatives such as the former Lord Chancellor Lord Hailsham called for this reform, up to the 2010 general election when Labour and Liberal Democrats both signalled their support for a written constitution in their manifestos.’

Blackburn was invited twice during the Labour years in office to 10 Downing Street for talks on the feasibility of preparing a written constitution, and the signs are that the next incoming Labour administration will want to act on this highly symbolic legal reform, although the scale and magnitude of the work involved will take a considerable length of time. ‘It is conceivable that

Rolls recording Parliamentary legislation. when a law is passed, the act is recorded on vellum (now in book form, but originally rolls) and stored in the Parliamentary Archives.

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future events might serve as a catalyst, arising from Scottish claims for independence, a new relationship with Europe, or the position of the Crown after Elizabeth II,’ he says.

For now, Blackburn’s report sets out in one document the issues that need to be resolved in seeking agreement, or otherwise, on the principle of the UK adopting a written constitution. The report assesses the key characteristics of the UK’s constitution in its current ‘uncodified’ form and goes on to discuss the desirability, or otherwise, of consolidating a written document or ‘codification’ and the consequences, and matters arising, in doing so. 

Breaking new ground‘Up to now, there has been no official inquiry into the desirability or the options for a codified constitution and, crucially, no discussion about how one might be prepared and implemented,’ Blackburn points out. ‘The Commons Political and Constitutional Reform Committee is breaking new ground by addressing this fundamental question, generating a body of documentation and evidence that a government in the future can use as the starting point for serious consideration of enacting the measure. Its formal association with a university research body in producing research reports on the subject is also

unprecedented and unique for a parliamentary committee.’

In the next two years, Blackburn and his colleagues will produce studies of constitution-building and constitution-amending exercises in comparable democracies and will identify appropriate techniques for engaging popular opinion in the design and implementation process of a new constitution. They will produce three alternative blueprints for what the substance of a codified UK constitution might be, serving as detailed points of reference for further debate. The project is funded by the Nuffield Foundation and Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust n

Professor robert Blackburn has written or edited more than 12 books and many articles on constitutional affairs. For his work on constitutional amendment in the UK, see in particular Engineering Constitutional Change: A Comparative Perspective, edited by Xenophon Contiades (Routledge, 2012). He has just finished editing the 500,000-word volume on Constitutional and Administrative Law for Halsbury’s Laws of England (Butterworths, 2013), and is advising on proposed changes in the laws of succession to the British monarchy and royal marriages, and contributing to plans for international celebrations of the 800th anniversary of Magna Carta in 2015.

the state opening of Parliament. Although the UK is rightly proud of its historic traditions, Blackburn believes it is likely to learn useful lessons from comparisons with other countries with different procedures.

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king’s and iPsos Mori PartnErshiP

In October 2012 King’s entered a new partnership with Ipsos MORI, one of the country’s best-known and longest-established research companies, bringing together researchers from the two institutions to develop new opportunities and enhance the excellence and impact of the work of both. Ipsos MORI is known in the field of social research for its technical excellence in public policy in Britain. It has been conducting regular opinion polls in Britain since its foundation in 1969 and has a substantial archive of data on political and social attitudes, with trends stretching back many decades. This archive, along with new research, will be made available to academics across a wide range of disciplines at King’s, and senior staff from the two institutions will work together in interpreting and analysing the results in areas such as welfare, health, defence and the political process. Three Ipsos MORI staff members have taken up posts at King’s. Dr Roger Mortimore is on a part-time secondment as Professor of Public Opinion & Political Analysis in the Institute of Contemporary British History at King’s, while Sir Robert Worcester, the founder of MORI, has been appointed a Visiting Professor based there. Bobby Duffy is a Visiting Senior Fellow based in King’s School of Social Science & Public Policy.

thE QuEEn and thE MonarChy

The first public event in the King’s/Ipsos MORI partnership programme was a panel discussion on ‘The Queen and The Monarchy’ at King’s in November 2012. Professors Blackburn (centre), Mortimore (left) and Bogdanor discussed questions from the audience on the Queen’s contribution to public life and the changing nature of monarchy during her 60 years on the throne. A poll conducted by Ipsos MORI to mark the event showed that nine out of 10 people in Britain said they are satisfied with the way the Queen is doing her job as Monarch. But even the Queen’s popularity was surpassed by that of Prince William. When people were asked to name the two or three members of the Royal Family they liked the most, the Prince was named by 62 per cent, compared with 48 per cent who picked the Queen.

soMErsEt housE East wing CoMEs aLivEKing’s Cultural Institute is a cross-disciplinary teaching and research initiative engaging in innovative collaboration across the cultural sector. The Inigo Rooms provide a focal point and showcase for many of the cultural aspects of the College.

The storyteller, artist and critic John Berger was the subject of an exhibition, Art and Property Now, in the Inigo Rooms in Autumn 2012. Presented by the British Library and King’s Cultural Institute as part of King’s Arts & Humanities Festival, the exhibition drew from 60 years’ worth of Berger’s

papers, given to the British Library in 2009. It took its title from one of the essays that fed into his Ways of Seeing (1972), the collaborative series of films and later book which changed the way we understand art and its private

and public ownership. The Independent’s Peter Popham gave the exhibition a four-star rating, describing it as ‘a lightning tour through a unique career’.

Somerset House East Wing houses King’s Executive Centre, which offers a range of training suites, seminar, meeting and breakout rooms, lounges and a business centre.

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An estimated two million people in the uk repeatedly see things that are not there. Dr Dominic ffytche of the institute of Psychiatry at king’s discusses his current research on visual hallucinations.

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‘The animal in me.’ an illustration drawn by a patient at the Psychiatric Clinic of the university of göttingen as the result of experiences during an Lsd session.

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Simple patterns and colours, grotesque disembodied faces and bizarre figures in elaborate costume, nonsense text, letter strings and extended landscape scenes: there is a great variety in the objects that people see without external stimulus. ‘Visual hallucinations occur in several clinical conditions, of which eye disease, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias rank highest in terms of the number of people affected, causing distress both to those having hallucinations and to their carers,’ Dr ffytche explains. Until recently, relatively little has been known about visual hallucinations or how to treat them. But now a team led by Dr ffytche and Professor Robert Howard, working with the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust (SLaM), has been awarded a grant of nearly £2 million by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) to research visual hallucinations and to develop a much-needed evidence base to inform NHS practice in managing and treating the symptoms.

Do treatments work?‘At the moment, no single clinical speciality has an overview of visual hallucinations,’ Dr ffytche explains. ‘Depending on whether the hallucinations are a symptom of Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s or eye disease, you might be seen by a psychiatrist, a neurologist or an ophthalmologist, often with very different advice on how to treat the condition. And despite the large

CoLLaBorationIn order to provide the comprehensive overview of visual hallucinations that has been missing until now, this research project involves experts in psychiatry, neurology and ophthalmology from across King’s Health Partners Academic Health Sciences Centre.

KHP brings together King’s College London and the three London NHS Foundation Trusts of guy’s and St Thomas’, King’s College Hospital and South London and Maudsley. Accredited as one of the UK’s first five Academic Health Sciences Centres in 2009, this partnership enables researchers, healthcare professionals and students to develop world-class treatments for patients locally and worldwide.

Also involved in the visual hallucinations project are research teams in universities and NHS trusts in Newcastle, Cambridge, Liverpool and London, and patient charities including the Macular Disease Society, Parkinson’s uK, the Alzheimer’s Society, the Royal National Institute of Blind People, the Thomas Pocklington Trust and the 2020 Vision uK Dementia and Sight Loss Interest group.

drawings of their visual hallucinations by patients with eye disease.

This hallucination (above) occurred while the patient was being driven on a motorway. ‘I was left with a large yellow-green circle with a female head in the centre on a blue background surrounded by another wreath of roses. … i lived with this vision for about a month,’ the patient commented.

the patient who drew these sketches (above and right) of his hallucinations described them as ‘beautiful arrangements of pure colour of a translucent effect, existing in most cases of spots or short dashes much like falling rain and tending to shimmer’.

number of people suffering from these distressing symptoms, there is no clear evidence that any of the treatments actually work. The aim of our research programme is to understand what causes visual hallucinations, identify which treatments work and, ultimately, change NHS practice and policy in this area to better meet patient needs. The treatment recommended for hallucinations in eye disease is very different to the treatment recommended for hallucinations in dementia or Parkinson’s disease, and we are left with the problem of knowing what to do for up to 118,000 people in the UK with hallucinations caused by a combination of both eye disease and dementia.’

neuroscience of hallucinationsThe apparently simple question of how we see and how ‘seeing’ can go wrong continues to challenge neuroscientists, and the legacy of past attempts to classify visual hallucinations and related perceptual symptoms has caused much confusion and obfuscation. ‘Until recently, our approach remained heavily influenced by theories advanced in the 1930s that visual hallucinations were a unitary pathological symptom, distinct from illusions, with their specific content being of little significance,’ Dr ffytche says. ‘However, recent advances in perceptual neuroscience are questioning these core assumptions. Imaging studies of the visual system have identified activations

in different parts of the brain linked to different types of hallucination.’

When, for example, Dr ffytche and his colleagues used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to study patients with Charles Bonnet Syndrome (where hallucinations are experienced by patients who have suffered a sudden deterioration is visual abilities but are in other respects neuro-psychiatrically normal) they found that these patients’ hallucinations of coloured blobs, cartoon-like faces, brickwork, Egyptian pyramid artefacts and futuristic cars correlated with brain activity in specific brain areas known to respond to these stimuli.

‘The experience of having a visual hallucination of a face is identical to the normal day-to-day experience of seeing a real face, as the same parts of the brain are involved,’ Dr ffytche says. ‘However, patients can learn to recognise what is real and what is an hallucination because of the bizarre nature of the hallucinations and the fact that, if you have eye disease, the hallucinations are seen in greater clarity and detail than your day-to-day vision.’

The new research will investigate the difference between the hallucinations experienced by patients with sight loss and those with dementia or Parkinson’s disease. ‘Some 10 or 20 per cent of people with sight loss have visual hallucinations, but these tend to get better over time,’ Dr ffytche says. ‘About the same proportion of people with dementia or Parkinson’s

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disease have hallucinations, but in these conditions the hallucinations persist over time, become distressing and may precipitate the move to a care home.’

guidelinesThe research programme began in September 2012. It will seek to establish how many people with eye disease, dementia or Parkinson’s disease have visual hallucinations and how a combination of these conditions influences the likelihood of having the symptom. It will follow people with visual hallucinations in each clinical group over time to find out what happens to their hallucinations and how the symptoms are managed within NHS or social care settings, determining how the hallucinations impact upon people’s quality of life and the economic cost of the symptom. It will also explore treatment options and address a key unanswered question of whether a single type of treatment will work for visual hallucinations in eye disease, dementia and Parkinson’s disease, or whether different types of treatment are required for each condition. By 2017 a comprehensive set of guidelines on the clinical management of visual hallucinations will be available for both clinicians and patients, as well as an evidence-base from which to plan future NHS services n

‘spiralling triangle girls’ by artist Maryanna darrigo.‘This piece is a depiction of my first geometric animated hallucination that i experienced upon awakening in 2002. It completely expanded my field of vision as it spiralled in electrifying colours. its duration was approximately 20 seconds and it was an exciting yet mystifying experience.’

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‘fear, aggressivity, and hate’. Drawing made under the influence of LSD-25 at the Psychiatric Clinic of the university of göttingen.

drawing by a patient with Charles Bonnet Syndrome (CBS). although the pianist is dressed in a dark colour, she would appear to someone with CBS like the person painted next to her. ‘Usually a complex pattern is achieved which exactly follows the shape of the person or the object in question,’ the patient explained.

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rEthinking our ModELsCould an academic approach to financial management help banks and governments to manage their affairs better? REPORT asked Teemu Pennanen, Professor of Mathematical Finance, Probability & Statistics, from King’s leading Financial Mathematics Group, for a mathematician’s views on some current financial crises.

Martin wheatley of the uk’s financial services authority spoke about his recommendations for reforming the Libor system at London’s Mansion house in September 2012.

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Q What is financial mathematics?

Professor Teemu Pennanen It’s a discipline that focuses on mathematical modelling and managing financial risks. It’s widely applied in banking and insurance and wherever people need to manage and evaluate uncertain cash-flows. Like any branch of applied mathematics, financial mathematics analyses a given problem by first building a mathematical model for it and then analysing the model. Both steps involve many interesting strands of research including probability, statistics, optimisation, computer science and many more traditional fields of mathematics.

Q Why is it important for the day-to-day functioning of financial institutions?

A A financial institution’s position is affected by several risk factors. Mathematical models help in describing these complicated systems. Such models are used in managing the basic operations of a financial institution, including pricing of financial products, asset allocation and risk management. Financial risks can be reduced by trading in financial markets, but finding the appropriate transactions can be difficult without appropriate quantitative techniques.

Members of the ‘Occupy’ movement in London protested against social and economic inequality, october 2012.

King’s research rating for applied mathematics, including financial mathematics, is the highest in London and one of the highest in the UK. It benefits greatly from the College’s close proximity to the City of London’s financial centre. The Financial Mathematics Group offers an MSc and PhD in Financial Mathematics, and also in-house training for financial institutions on a wide range of specialised topics, as well as specialist consultancy.

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Q Does it assist financial risk management?

A Yes. Risk management shouldn’t be viewed as something separate from the day-to-day functioning of a financial institution. Sensible management of the core business is the best way to manage the risks. Involving risk management in the basic operations adds consistency and transparency between different levels of business. It also forces decision makers to think more about their risk preferences and views concerning the uncertain future. Views and preferences are of course inherently subjective, but they affect every decision and they define the whole risk management process. They can be described more or less qualitatively but quantitative models can be extremely useful since they allow for more systematic analysis. That often leads to improved solutions which may be hard to come up with otherwise.

Q What is the Black-Scholes financial model, and what role does that play in financial markets?

A The Black-Scholes model is probably the best known mathematical model for asset-liability management. It says that the price of a financial product should be the same as the initial cost of a trading strategy that produces the same payoff. The model is somewhat academic, since in practice one can rarely replicate payoffs of financial products simply by trading other securities. In reality, the business of trading uncertain cash-flows usually involves the risk of loosing money. Nevertheless, the Black-Scholes model is still well worth the Nobel Prize won in 1997 by Robert C Merton and Myron S Scholes, who developed, in collaboration with the late Fischer Black, this pioneering formula for showing the intimate connection between asset management and the pricing of financial liabilities.

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Riot police faced petrol bombs thrown by protesters near the Parliament building in Athens, November 2012.

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Q How could financial mathematics help with the EU financial crisis?

A The crisis suggests that risk management tools employed by the industry have not been sufficient. Many models concentrate solely on pricing of things without an explicit account of the asset management side. Accounting standards are often based on so called risk-neutral valuation principles or even simpler rules of thumb that ignore the interplay between assets and liabilities. This may lead to problems when the pricing models fail, as we have seen in the past. Instead of pricing, risk management should be based more on the actual cash-flows of both the assets and liabilities. The most important task of a financial institution is to manage its assets so that their proceeds match the institution’s liability cash-flows as effectively as possible. This is where mathematical research has a lot to offer.

Q Could better financial modelling have helped prevent the collapse of the west Coast rail franchise process?

A Yes. My impression is that poor modelling was exactly the problem. The civil servants concerned missed something essential in the description of the uncertain future cash-flows of the proposed rail franchising contracts and that led to strange valuations. These contracts look quite complicated, and the evaluation of complicated contracts is never easy. We should simplify the contracts in order to make them more transparent with respect to the involved risks. Simplicity is always good for risk management. The banking industry learned this the hard way when they made big losses with complex credit derivatives during the credit crisis.

Q Do you think the LIBOR-fixing scandal could have been avoided?

A LIBOR (London Interbank Offered Rate) rates are based on a questionnaire rather than actual data from an open exchange. If banks have incentives to manipulate the rates, it’s not surprising that they do so. If LIBOR rates were based on the actual interest rates that banks offer each other, their manipulation wouldn’t be so easy.

sir richard Branson’s virgin company continued to run the west Coast Main Line after the competition to provide this service was cancelled following the discovery in october 2012 of significant flaws in the franchise process.

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Q what other lessons do you think bankers need to learn?

A It’s always a good idea to learn more financial maths but, in the end, bankers’ behaviour is driven by their incentives. If we’re aiming for more transparent and better-functioning financial markets, bankers’ incentives need to be better aligned with the state of the business they’re running. The banks should have real incentives to manage their own and their customers’ risks. This is an important lesson not just for bankers but also for regulators and legislators worldwide!

Q What future developments in this area will affect us all?

A I anticipate that there will be a shift from traditional complete market models to more realistic ones that take into account the practical limitations of asset management. The so-called ‘indifference pricing approach’ unifies pricing, asset allocation and risk management conveniently under a single model. It increases transparency and consistency between the day-to-day functioning of financial institutions and their risk management. At present, inconsistencies between trading, risk management and financial supervision may lead to strange situations where an institution is encouraged to behave irrationally. At times of financial distress, this may have serious consequences. When more consistent pricing and risk management models find their way into the day-to-day management of financial institutions and financial supervision, we can expect to see more stable financial markets. This applies to banking as well as to the insurance industry, both of which are going through major changes in supervisory standards at the moment n

a 24-hour general strike in thessaloniki, greece, in october 2012 was part of protests against the country’s new package of austerity measures.

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froM MaxwELL to higgs

‘D’où venons nous ? Que sommes nous ? Où allons nous ?’ (1898) by Paul gauguin.

Professor Ellis comments: ‘These are the same questions being asked by particle physicists today. how has the universe evolved? what is matter? What is the future of the universe?’

Professor John Ellis shows how two great king’s physicists have contributed – 150 years and 50 years ago respectively – to theories unifying all the forces of nature.

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Physicists try to understand the basic laws describing how the Universe works, and a primary objective of theoretical physics is to arrive at a unified description with equations that fit on a T-shirt. This effort is in constant struggle with experimental physics, which continually reveals new tricks up nature’s sleeve, as John Ellis, Clerk Maxwell Professor of theoretical Physics at king’s, explains.

James Clerk Maxwell, Professor of Theoretical Physics at King’s from 1860 to 1865, helped to initiate the enterprise of unification, and Peter higgs, a student at King’s from 1947 to 1954, has played a key role in the latest step in the unification of the fundamental interactions. His ideas are apparently on the verge of confirmation through the discovery of the particle that bears his name.

Simulated production of a higgs event in atLas. this is an example of simulated data modelled for the atLas detector at the Large hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN.

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Unifying

newton to faradayThe first great unifier of the fundamental forces of Nature was Isaac Newton, who famously showed in the 17th century that the fall of an apple and the motion of the Moon could be described by the same unified theory of gravitation. However, at the beginning of the 19th century the other fundamental forces of Nature still presented a confused picture. Both electricity and magnetism had been known since the days of the ancient Greeks (their names are derived from the Greek word for amber and the region of Greece where lodestones were found) but the relation between them was unknown. This changed gradually during the first half of the 19th century, thanks in particular to the experiments of Michael Faraday, who discovered electromagnetic induction and invented the electric motor. Famously, when asked by Gladstone what was the use of his work, Faraday replied that he did not know, but ‘one day, sir, you may tax it.’

MaxwellWhile Maxwell was at King’s he built upon Faraday’s experimental work and developed the unified theory of electricity and magnetism that is described by his T-shirt-able equations. One of the key predictions of Maxwell’s equations was the existence of waves of electricity and magnetism that could travel through

empty space. Imagine his surprise when he calculated their speed, and found it coincided with the known velocity of light! Indeed, now we understand both light and radio waves as examples of Maxwell’s electromagnetic waves. This is just a part of the legacy from Maxwell’s work at King’s: for example, he also made the first colour photograph and established a standard for electrical resistance.

It is difficult to overestimate the importance of Maxwell’s work, and Albert Einstein was particularly appreciative, commenting that ‘The work of James Clerk Maxwell changed the world forever’ and that his ‘change in the conception of reality is the most profound and the most fruitful that physics has experienced since the time of Newton.’

EinsteinCertainly much of Einstein’s own research was based on Maxwell’s theory. For example, Einstein’s special theory of relativity was based on the principle that the velocity of light calculated by Maxwell should be universal. Einstein also postulated that Maxwell’s electromagnetic waves should interact with matter as physical particles called photons. This was a key step in the development of quantum physics, which is said to have been the basis for over one third of the US economy in 2001. The quantum theory of Maxwell’s equations, known as Quantum Electrodynamics

Maxwell’s equations (1861-2)

Einstein: ‘The work of James Clerk Maxwell changed the world forever.’

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(QED), was finalised in the 1940s, and is the most precise, and successful of our theories of the fundamental forces.

strong and weakHowever, while Maxwell’s theory was on its way to this apotheosis, two other fundamental forces came to light. One is the strong nuclear force that holds atomic nuclei together, and the other is the weak nuclear force responsible for many types of radioactivity. For many years, their similarities with Maxwell’s theory were not apparent, and the road to unification seemed blocked. However, following the recognition that nuclei are complicated objects made out of protons and neutrons, which themselves are composed of elementary particles called quarks, the way was open to constructing theories of the strong and weak nuclear forces, and it was natural to look for theories based on ideas similar to those of Maxwell.

In the case of the strong interactions, a candidate theory called Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD) was formulated in the early 1970s. Although technically more complicated than QED, it bears many similarities. In particular, QCD predicted that the strong nuclear interactions should be associated with particles called gluons, much as Maxwell’s electromagnetic waves were associated by Einstein with the photon particle. However, although QCD

had many qualitative successes, direct evidence for the existence of gluons was lacking for much of the decade. In 1976, Mary Gaillard, Graham Ross and I proposed an experiment to find gluons, which was carried out successfully at the DESY laboratory in Hamburg in 1979, and QCD was finally established beyond any doubt.

BosonsThe weak interactions were an altogether harder nut to crack. There were many suggestions that they too should be associated with particles akin to photons, but these would have to be as heavy as medium-sized nuclei, unlike the photons and gluons, which have no masses. This is where Peter Higgs came to the rescue in 1964, when François Englert, Robert Brout and he showed how to give masses to photon-like particles. Their work opened the way towards unified theories of all the particle interactions. Going further than his colleagues, Higgs also pointed out that his theory predicted the existence of another massive particle, the one we now call the Higgs boson.

However, their work was largely disregarded until 1967, when Steven Weinberg and Abdus Salam showed how it could be incorporated into a unified theory of the weak and electromagnetic interactions proposed some years previously by Sheldon Glashow, resulting into a more complete T-shirt-able theory.

Peter higgs Ch frs fkC came to King’s as an undergraduate in 1947 to read natural sciences in the field of physics, graduated with a first-class BSc in 1950 and an MSc in physics in 1952, and was awarded his PhD in 1954 for a thesis entitled ‘Some problems in the theory of molecular vibrations’. He received the

Fellowship of King’s in 1998 and an honorary doctorate in 2009.

John Ellis CBE frs has been Clerk Maxwell Professor of Theoretical Physics at King’s since 2010. He is considered one of the UK’s most influential and eminent particle physicists of the modern era, and has also made important contributions to astrophysics, cosmology and quantum gravity. He has been influential in setting CERN’s strategic direction over recent decades and, as an advocate and supporter of new-generation accelerators, including the Large Hadron Collider, he has provided an important bridge between the experimental and theoretical domains. 

Unifying

This work was, in its turn, largely ignored until 1972, when Gerard ’t Hooft and Martinus Veltman showed how incorporating the ideas of Higgs et al enabled one to make accurate predictions using the theory of Glashow, Weinberg and Salam. This promoted it to a theory as powerful and reliable as QED and QCD.

hunting the higgsThe following years have seen many experimental successes for this unified theory of the fundamental forces. It predicted a new form of weak interaction, which was discovered at CERN in 1973, and the massive weak boson particles responsible for radioactivity were also discovered there in 1983. During the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s, the experimental tests of the theory became ever more precise, but one key element was lacking: where was the Higgs boson that should be responsible for particle masses?

Some ideas for how to look for the Higgs boson had been proposed in the early 1970s, and in 1976 Mary Gaillard, Dimitri Nanopoulos and I made the first attempt to think systematically how it might show up in experiments. However, experiments at CERN and elsewhere failed to find it, so the search for the Higgs boson became one of the main objectives of the ATLAS and CMS experiments at CERN’s Large Hadron Collider (LHC) that started taking high-energy data in 2010.

a new particle The first hints of some new particle resembling the long-sought Higgs boson emerged from the LHC experiments towards the end of 2011. Then, on 4 July, 2012, ATLAS and CMS were both able to announce simultaneously the independent discoveries of a new particle that looks very much like the Higgs boson. It is certainly different in nature from the known force particles such as the photon, gluons, and weak bosons, and my student Tevong You and I have been able to present the first evidence that it behaves as it should if it does indeed give other particles their masses.

The data available at the end of 2012 should enable the properties and the nature of the new particle discovered by ATLAS and CMS to be established. Time will tell whether it really is the missing Higgs boson, but all the auguries are currently favourable. If so, the long march towards unification started by Maxwell at King’s 150 years ago will reach the end of an era, and the beginning of a new one. Much of particle physics in the 21st century will be aimed at studying the Higgs boson and examining it for hints about the next breakthrough in fundamental physics. Many questions are still open, and the Higgs boson may provide some of the answers n

an event recorded with the CMs detector at CErn in 2012, showing characteristics expected from the decay of the higgs boson to a pair of Z bosons. one of these subsequently decays to a pair of electrons (green lines and green towers) and the other decays to a pair of muons (red lines).

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fEELing BEttEr?research by king’s florence nightingale school of nursing & Midwifery shows that patients place great value on feeling cared about, and that the NHS in England must respond better to ‘what matters most’ to patients and their carers.

By listening to and acting upon patient feedback, healthcare organisations can respond better to what matters most to their patients as well as improving the experiences of their staff.

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Commissioned in 2010 by the NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement and the Department of Health, and carried out by the College in partnership with The King’s Fund, the aims of the research led by Professor Robert were to inform national policy decisions and to help NHS organisations enhance their systems and processes for improving patient experience.

interviewsThe project included interviews with 50 patients and carers; a survey of patient and voluntary organisations; analyses of postings on two national patient feedback websites; a national survey of training in improving patient experience, and studies of health and social care organisations that are leading the way in improving patient experiences.

‘The overall results clearly show that patients place significant value on the “relational” aspects of their care, such as whether they feel cared about, alongside more “functional” components of quality, including the clinical and technical aspects of their treatment,’ Professor Robert says.

‘However, even in our case studies in 12 leading organisations which explored what actions they were

‘Improving patient experience is a key aim for the NHS,’ explains glenn robert, Professor of healthcare Quality & innovation at the national nursing research Unit (NNRU) at King’s. ‘By asking for, monitoring and acting upon patient feedback, healthcare organisations can respond better to what matters most to their patients as well as improving the experiences of their staff.’

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taking to capture, understand and improve patient experience, we found that, while the organisations used an impressive range of methods for collecting feedback from patients, they made relatively little use of this for improving specific services or to underpin wider attempts to improve the quality of care they provided. ‘Furthermore, although all the organisations used ways of collecting timely information on the experiences of their patients, they typically only focused on one part of the experience and not the whole episode of care. We found that none of the organisations had budgets for measuring or improving patient experience, and none had attempted to estimate the resources required to place the quality of patient experience alongside other organisational priorities, such as patient safety and clinical effectiveness.’

training neededIn the first-ever national survey exploring how NHS staff are currently trained in measuring and improving patient experience, the researchers found that of the 150,000 NHS staff who responded, 41 per cent said they had not received patient experience training and 22 per cent said it was not applicable to them.

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‘The detailed findings of this survey provide much-needed evidence about the variable nature and extent of patient experience training available to healthcare students and staff,’ Professor Robert comments.

‘Our findings reveal a gap between national policy aspirations for improving patient experiences and the delivery of appropriate training to enable NHS staff to collect and use local patient experience data in ways that will not only improve this crucial aspect of patient care, but also their own experiences of providing services.’

The results of the overall research project have been used to underpin a new Transforming Patient Experience guide, which was launched by the NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement in February 2012. As recommended by the research team, the Department of Health, through its National Quality Board, has adopted a modified version of the Picker Institute Principles of Patient-Centred Care framework to provide a common evidence-based list of what matters most to patients. This framework can be used to direct efforts to improve services by, for example, helping to define what questions to ask patients and how to do this in an efficient and timely way.

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disseminated in the NHS and worldwide through a web-based EBCD toolkit hosted by The King’s Fund. Independent evaluations of EBCD, for example in three emergency departments in Australia, have found that it leads to significant improvements.

Researchers, staff and patients who participated in the Australian evaluation all agreed that co-design can help to strengthen the relationships between service providers and service users. This evaluation concluded that co-design ‘harbours a collaborative principle that should be woven into how health services and health departments conceptualise and structure their communication with patients, families and the public.’

Such examples of the national and international impact of this approach are important, but its focus remains the experiences of individual patients and staff. A patient in an acute psychiatric ward commented after participating in an EBCD project: ‘I feel respected in regards to my thoughts and feelings of the experiences I had in the unit, and although I have a mental illness I now feel I’m respected as a human being, which can be a rare feeling.’

Similarly, a carer of a patient suffering from head and neck cancer reflected on what it was like to work

working together In pursuit of ways of measuring, understanding and improving patient experience, the National Nursing Research Unit has also helped develop an approach called ‘Experienced-based Co-design’(EBCD). Coined by Professor Glenn Robert and Professor Paul Bate (of UCL), this term describes how the experiences of patients, carers and staff can be used to redesign all or part of a particular health care process to make it more efficient, safe and a better overall experience for both patients and staff. EBCD is part of a much broader movement concerned with how the design and production of public services should be driven by a close partnership between those who provide services and those who use them (referred to as ‘co-design’ and ‘co-production’).

The 2010 NHS White Paper Equity and excellence: Liberating the NHS cited the EBCD approach in support of the need to put patients and the public first. This filmed, narrative-based and collaborative approach to change has now been implemented in a wide range of different healthcare services (including neonatal intensive care, lung cancer services, intensive care, and sickle cell and thalassaemia services) in six countries, and continues to be widely

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Defining what questions to ask and how is an important part of the research.

in partnership with staff to improve services. ‘We were all in it together,’ she said. ‘There was that terrific sense of an equal playing field. Anybody could speak. There was no sense of fear, there was no hanging on status or using it. It was quite incredible really.’

Further adaptations and extensions of the EBCD approach are now being tested in several NHS organisations through research funded, for example, by grants from the National Institute for Health Research Health Services and Delivery Research Programme and Dimbleby Cancer Care.

Caring for carersCarers play an essential role in supporting patients during chemotherapy, and both patients and healthcare professionals value that support. However, this can be very challenging for carers, who not only have to assist in planning and attending appointments, managing medication, monitoring and managing side-effects and seeking help when patients become unwell, but also have to handle their own emotions during the treatment.

Emma Ream, Professor of Supportive Cancer Care at King’s Florence Nightingale School of Nursing & Midwifery, is studying how carers of outpatients

undergoing chemotherapy can be better supported. Using the experience-based co-design (EBCD) approach, she has brought together carers and healthcare professionals in three focus groups, asking both ‘sides’ to share their experiences and perceptions. This has allowed carers and clinicians to gain a better understanding of each others’ roles, and to work together to develop a programme that can improve the carer experience yet is feasible to deliver in a busy clinical environment.

A new carer support programme, designed in three focus group events, Take Care, involves a group session for new carers, guided by a facilitator, and an accompanying DVD and booklet. These aim to provide information, enhance carers’ understanding of chemotherapy and develop their confidence in supporting their friend or relative. The effectiveness of the programme is now being evaluated in outpatient settings by seeking the views of carers, patients and clinicians n

Listening

‘There was that terrific sense of an equal playing field. Anybody could speak. there was no sense of fear, there was no hanging on status or using it. it was quite incredible really.’

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new neurotechnologies and devices that can alter brain function are giving rise to urgent ethical, social and legal debates, as Professor nikolas rose, head of king’s new Department of Social Science, Health & Medicine, explains.

intE r vEning in thE Brain

Intervening

Hypnosis (1935) by Julian Trevelyan

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Outside the strictly medical sphere, there is significant interest in the development of trans-cranial magnetic stimulation for the enhancement of mood and cognitive skills such as problem-solving and memory, and brain-computer interfaces for computer games and military applications. Some of these technologies also have potential implications for the mental health and criminal justice systems. BCIs, for example, which are being developed to ‘read out’ signals from the brain for those with locked-in syndrome may also be developed to ‘read in’ signals, in order to control undesirable impulses or to erase traumatic memories. 

Mind control?‘Many people believe these direct interventions into the human brain could prove a more effective pathway for therapy and rehabilitation than the current reliance on psychiatric drugs or cognitive therapies,’ says Professor Rose, a sociologist and an expert in this area, whose book Neuro: The New Brain Sciences and the Management of the Mind was published by Princeton University Press in 2012. However, he adds, the possibilities for an adverse outcome, or even ‘mind control’, raised by such direct intervention into the human brain also cause significant concerns. ‘The human brain is the most complex and least

while established neurotechnologies such as psycho-pharmaceuticals and electro-convulsive therapy have been discussed for several decades, some more controversial ‘novel neurotechnologies’ that intervene directly on the brain such as neuron replacement therapy (NRT), deep brain stimulation (DBS), brain-computer interfaces (BCI) and trans-cranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) are now in the early stages of translation from the laboratory to use in medical treatment or non-medical settings.

Neuro The New Brain Sciences and the Management of the Mind

Nikolas Rose and Joelle M. Abi-Rached

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BCI Brain-CoMPutEr intErfaCEA brain-computer interface (BCI) is a system for measuring and analysing brain signals and translating them into outputs such as computer-based communication or control of a device. Possible medical uses include restoring communication for patients with locked-in syndrome and developing a BCI-controlled wheelchair for people who are paralysed.

dEEP Brain stiMuLation DBS involves the placement of an electrode inside the brain with a wire running down the neck connected to a battery pack or pulse generator under the skin in the chest or abdomen. It is currently used to treat Parkinson’s disease, epilepsy, stroke, intractable depression and severe obsessive compulsive disorders. Research is underway into its use to treat obesity, Tourette’s syndrome, anorexia and addictions.

DBSnEuron rEPLaCEMEnt thEraPyNRT uses transplanted neuronal cells or stem cells to replace cells that are lost in disease or to enhance the growth of new neurons, and is being investigated as a means of treating neurodegenerative conditions such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and Huntington’s diseases.

NRT

transCraniaL MagnEtiC stiMuLation TMS is a non-invasive technique that involves applying a magnetic field to induce electrical currents into the brain. It is used to treat depression, and some suggest that it might enhance cognitive functions such as attention, understanding and perception. Future applications may include treatment for severe migraines.

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understood human organ, crucial for our sense of self, identity and personality, for our memories and our mental states, for our wishes, intentions and desires,’ Rose points out. ‘And while we have made huge strides forward in understanding some basic neurological mechanisms, much remains unknown: not least the way that brain mechanisms are actually involved in our cognitive functions, our emotions and our will.

Humility‘How can one balance the desire for rapid treatments for some of our most severe and intractable problems – brain injury, neurodegenerative diseases and intractable psychiatric problems – with the need for social responsibility in research and innovation, for caution in our interventions and humility in the face of so much that is unknown?’ he asks.

These issues are among the key research priority areas of King’s new Department of Social Science, Health & Medicine, of which Professor Rose is Head. His and his colleagues’ expertise is internationally sought after, and Rose is, for example, a member of the Nuffield Council on Bioethics: an independent body with an international reputation for examining and reporting on ethical issues in biology and medicine, and advising policy makers, funded by the Nuffield Foundation, the Wellcome Trust and the Medical Research Council.

Rose and his colleague Dr Ilina Singh are both members of the Nuffield working party on novel neurotechnologies, while he and Professor Bronwyn Parry (who is also a Nuffield Council member), are contributing to the Council’s working party on emerging biotechnologies.

synthetic biologyOne such emerging biotechnology – synthetic biology – is another focus of the work of the Department, and Rose and his colleagues were part of a recent high level group that developed a ‘roadmap’ for the development of synthetic biology in the UK. With very significant funding from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, they are also working closely with partners at Imperial College, and Cambridge, Newcastle and Edinburgh universities, who are using novel forms of biological engineering to create products ranging from biosensors that will detect pathogenic bacteria or harmful pollutants, and novel pharmaceuticals perhaps linked to biosensors to detect biomarkers of disease, to those aiming to provide new sources of energy based on highly efficient biofuels.

‘Some people believe these exciting developments will be the basis of a new industrial revolution, with major implications for the British economy,’ Professor Rose comments. ‘Such technologies that aim to design and engineer biological organisms to produce innovative products to address urgent challenges in areas of health, energy and sustainability have great promise. But they also raise important questions of regulation to ensure safety and security, and for some people they raise anxieties concerning possible malign uses and the threat of bioterrorism using synthetically engineered pathogens. We are working with our partners to ensure robust governance of these emerging biotechnologies, and to provide recommendations as to the most effective ways in which early scientific discoveries may translate safely into innovative products that generate genuine public benefits’n

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dEPartMEnt of soCiaL sCiEnCE, hEaLth & MEdiCinEAs a pioneer of interdisciplinary collaboration between social scientists, biomedical researchers and clinicians, the establishment of the new Department of Social Science, Health & Medicine in 2012 confirms King’s as a world leader in social scientific approaches to health and medicine, with innovative research and research-led teaching as the basis for a significant input into global health policy.

At the Department’s heart is the belief that the path to better individual, public and global health must be based on an understanding of the social, cultural and economic processes that generate illness and shape the provision of medical and health care services, and hence lead to health inequalities.

unique‘We are unique in the uK and Europe,’ Professor Rose points out, ‘not just because of our interdisciplinary focus on health and disease, and our integrated collaborations with biomedical researchers and clinicians, but also because we will use this as the basis for a full research led teaching and doctoral programme, as well as consultancy and policy work.’

‘We believe that questions of health and illness have to be understood by bringing the resources of all the social sciences together, and by collaboration between social scientists, biomedical researchers and clinicians. King’s unrivalled concentration of health and medical education provides a unique opportunity to develop this kind of collaborative work where rigorous social scientific research is coupled with the development of biomedical innovation and health policy.’

Research activities are clustered around four main themes: ageing and society; culture, medicine and power; biomedicine, ethics and social justice, and biotechnologies, pharmaceuticals and public policy, with a number of crosscutting themes, notably mental health and neuroscience. For example, the Department is collaborating with the Institute of Psychiatry at King’s on key challenges in psychiatry and global mental health, and on cancer policy with the College’s Integrated Cancer Centre on the questions raised by the move to personalise medicine in cancer care, and the evaluation of cancer care services in developed and developing countries.

‘These collaborations exemplify how we work between the social sciences and with clinicians and policy makers,’ Professor Rose says. ‘Doctors can’t address these major challenges of biomedical innovation and global health on their own, and the most effective ways of combating conditions such as mental disorder and cancer have to be based on an understanding of the social, political, economic context in which research translates into therapies, and in which illness arises and clinicians work.’

The Department also runs a large and vibrant MPhil/PhD programme and a portfolio of master’s programmes. From September 2013 these will include an MSc in Medicine, Science & Society, an MSc in global Health and an MA in Bioethics & Society, the latter taught jointly with the Centre for Medical Law & Ethics in The Dickson Poon School of Law. And in September 2013, there will be the first intake of the innovative flagship undergraduate programme, a BSc in global Health & Social Medicine.

‘What has delighted me, and made the whole mission of the Department possible, is the welcome and genuine interest to collaborate that we’ve had from colleagues across the College and King’s Health Partners,’ Professor Rose comments.

intErdisCiPLinary grouPsKing’s is noted for the way its research and teaching brings together academics from a wide variety of subject-areas and disciplines. Other interdisciplinary research groups at King’s include the King’s Brazil Institute, the Lau China Institute and the India Institute; King’s Policy Institute; the College’s centres for Humanities & Health; for Language, Discourse & Communication, for Neuroscience and for Military Health Research, as well as Creative King’s: a College-wide initiative exploring the notion of creativity and its place in academic life.

‘king’s unrivalled concentration of health and medical education provides a unique opportunity to develop this kind of collaborative work where rigorous social scientific research is coupled with the development of biomedical innovation and health policy.’

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writing at king’s

There is a remarkable tradition of creative writing among King’s staff, students and alumni. This legacy is very much alive today, with important recent appointments in the College’s English Department and a novel written by a king’s undergraduate published to acclaim in 2012.

froM kEats to ContEMPorary

Writing

John Keats studied medicine at Guy’s hospital and was licensed as an apothecary in 1816. he was apprenticed to a surgeon but found the work agonising, and within a year gave up medicine for literature.

Thomas Hardy took evening classes in modern languages at King’s between 1859 and 1860 when he was working in London as an architect’s assistant.

virginia woolf and her sister vanessa Bell attended classes at the king’s College Ladies’ Department in Kensington from the late 1890s. Their father, sir Leslie stephen (founding editor of the Dictionary of National Biography) studied at king’s 1848-50.

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VarietyMany 20th-century and contemporary writers have graduated from King’s and its constituent institutions in a wide variety of subjects. Former medical students include W Somerset Maugham, who trained at St Thomas’ Hospital in the 1890s; Christopher Isherwood, who briefly studied medicine at King’s in 1928-9, and the poet and author Dr Dannie Abse who graduated in medicine at King’s College Hospital in the 1940s and became a fellow of King’s in 2009. Novelists Susan Howatch and Hanif Kureishi graduated respectively in law in 1961 and in philosophy in 1977, and satirist and playwright Rory Bremner in French & German in 1984.

Among the creative writers who have studied English at King’s are the writer and director Derek Jarman; children’s author, Helen Cresswell; writer, producer and director BS Johnson; novelist, poet and screenwriter Maureen Duffy; Susan Hill, whose powerful and successful fiction includes The Woman

Pupils at King’s College School in the 1830s, drawn by Dante Gabriel Rossetti who was a pupil there with his brother William. John Ruskin also studied English Literature at King’s from 1835.

in Black, and Michael Morpurgo, author of War Horse and former Children’s Laureate. Duffy, Hill and Morpurgo are Fellows of King’s.

Teaching and writingMany staff members of King’s have combined creative writing with distinguished work as critics, scholars and teachers of language and literature at the College. Among the lecturers in the College’s pioneering Evening Department in the 1860s were the biographer, and journalist colleague of Charles Dickens, Henry Morley, and the founder of fantasy fiction, visionary and novelist George MacDonald. Nobel Literature Laureate Mario Vargas Llosa, one of the world’s leading novelists, was a member of the King’s Department of Spanish in the 1970s. General Sir John Hackett, World War II hero and Principal of King’s 1968-75, co-authored The Third World War: a 1978 novel which imagined a post-Soviet world.

The Booker Prize-winning novelist Anita Brookner FKC received a general degree in 1949 and is a fellow of King’s.

Sir William S Gilbert, librettist of Gilbert and Sullivan fame, graduated from King’s with a University of London degree in 1857.

Radclyffe Hall took Latin classes at King’s in the early 1900s.

Quentin Crisp studied journalism at King’s in the 1920s.

Science-fiction writer Arthur C Clarke FKC learnt his science at King’s, with a degree in Mathematics & Physics in 1948.

Eric Mottram, Professor of American Literature at King’s, was a poet in his own right.

General Sir John Hackett FKC, former Principal of King’s, co-authored a 1978 novel.

Nobel Literature Laureate Mario Vargas Llosa FKC taught Spanish at King’s in the 1970s.

Derek Jarman graduated in English, history and art history from King’s in 1960.

W Somerset Maugham studied medicine at St Thomas’ Hospital in the 1890s. c

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as well as ‘literature’. Journalism was taught at King’s during the 19th and early 20th centuries, but it was not until the final decade of the 20th century, when the College began to devise its own courses rather than working to a University of London English degree syllabus, that a specific course in Creative Writing was introduced.

CreativityIn the 1990s and 2000s Professor David Nokes combined distinguished scholarship and research on 18th-century topics with teaching creative writing and his own creativity: publishing acclaimed biographies of Jonathan Swift, John Gay, Jane Austen and Samuel Johnson; screenplays for classic novels such as Clarissa and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, and a ‘campus’ novel, The Nightingale Papers, in 2005. Among his PhD students were the writers David Profumo and Lawrence Norfolk.

Professor Eric Mottram, ‘the father of American Studies’ outside the USA, taught American literature at King’s 1960-90 and was a notable poet in his own right. Helder Macedo, one of Portugal’s leading novelists, was Camoens Professor of Portuguese at King’s until 2004 and is now Emeritus. Roderick Beaton, Koraes Professor of Modern Greek & Byzantine History, Language & Literature, has achieved distinction as the biographer of George Seferis, and as a novelist and translator of Greek novels and poetry. Before joining King’s in 2011 as Professor of Literature and Visual & Material Culture, Patrick Wright was already well-known as an author, Guardian feature writer, broadcaster and presenter.

King’s College London was one of the first university institutions to establish a professorship of English (in 1830), and the College’s first prospectus specified that English ‘composition’ should be taught

Writing

Professor david nokes combined 18th-century scholarship with the teaching of creative writing at king’s.

helder Macedo fkC, one of Portugal’s leading novelists, was Camoens Professor of Portuguese at king’s.

roderick Beaton, koraes Professor of Modern greek & Byzantine history, Language & Literature, is the biographer of george seferis, and a novelist and translator of greek novels and poetry.

the author, Guardian feature writer, broadcaster and presenter, Patrick wright, joined king’s as a professor in 2011.

the writer, philosopher and television presenter alain de Botton studied philosophy at king’s in the early 1990s.

Author Maureen Duffy fkC graduated in English from King’s in 1956.

susan hill fkC is the author of The Woman in Black.

dr dannie abse fkC studied medicine at king’s College hospital.

Michael Morpurgo fkC is a former Children’s Laureate.

Impressionist Rory Bremner fkC is also a playwright and librettist.

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Life-writingAn innovatory MA in Writing Lives was introduced in 1997 by Professor Max Saunders, eminent critical biographer of Ford Madox Ford. The current MA in Life-Writing offers students the chance to explore topics from the 18th century to the present, and provides research training in a wide range of aspects of life-writing, including writing skills. The Centre for Life-Writing Research, co-directed by Saunders and Clare Brant, Professor of Eighteenth-Century Literature & Culture and a distinguished poet, brings together academics involved in life-writing across King’s and encourages public engagement. Through its flagship project Strandlines (www.strandlines.net) it has developed relationships with London cultural organisations including the National Portrait Gallery, the British Museum and the Museum of London, and with local groups such as the Cabinet of Artists.

Michael Billington FKC, Drama Critic of the Guardian, is a Visiting Professor in the Department of English and received a Fellowship of King’s in 2009.

fellow in Creative writingIn 2011 the College appointed the prize-winning novelist, dramatist and essayist Andrew O’Hagan FRSL as its first Professorial Fellow in Creative Writing in the Department of English. O’Hagan’s work, including The Missing; Our Fathers; Be Near Me and The Life and Opinions of Maf the Dog and of His Friend Marilyn Monroe has been the recipient of the EM Forster Award of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the Winifred Holtby Prize for Fiction, the James Tait Black Memorial Prize and the Los Angeles Times Prize for Fiction, as well as twice being nominated for the Booker Prize. King’s has deployed his experience and skills in the teaching of popular undergraduate courses in creative writing in fiction, drama, and now poetry (taught by poet Neil Pattison), and to enhance the English Department’s research and teaching by interaction with contemporary writers, performers and artists. In 2012 he was joined by Edmund Gordon, who is working on a biography of Angela Carter, as a lecturer in creative writing.

The performance artist Gregg whelan currently holds an ahrC-funded Creative Fellowship in the Department of English. working with gary winters, as the duo Lone twin, he produced the striking boat, ‘Collective Spirit’, made from thousands of individual wooden items, which visited the Strand Campus and formed the centrepiece of the 2012 king’s Arts & Humanities Festival.

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artists in residenceKing’s has a long tradition of artists in residence appointed by individual departments and Schools to bring together practice and theory and enrich student experience. Among those who are involved in creative writing are Lisa Appignanesi, based in the Centre for the Humanities & Health. Current and recent Royal Literary Fund Writing Fellows at King’s, who provide instruction in writing to students across the College, include novelist Jennifer Potter; poet Hilary Davies and US television writer Phil Baker.

Poetry prizeThe Cosmo Davenport-Hines Prize for poetry was founded in 2008 in honour of an undergraduate who died in the final year of his English degree. In 2012 the theme of the Olympics drew a particularly strong field of entrants, and the winner of the £250 Prize was Geography MA student Seth McCurry. The winning poem each year is published in the London Library magazine.

visiting speakersKing’s provides a lively and welcoming venue for creative writers to discuss their work with students, alumni and visitors, and to address both academic and public audiences. Recent speakers at College events include Brenda Maddox, Hilary Mantel and Terry Pratchett (all honorary fellows of King’s); Alison Bechdel, Michael Frayn, Sir Andrew Motion, Paul Muldoon, Will Self, Fay Weldon and Edmund White.

With financial support from the College’s alumni and friends through the King’s Annual Fund, Professor O’Hagan will be curating a festival of writing, Novelists@King’s, in May 2013. This will see some of the world’s most distinguished creative writers performing at King’s including Colm Tóibín and Alan Warner n

author Bill Bryson was one of four recipients of the College’s honorary doctorate in November 2012. Speaking at the degree ceremony, Bryson praised the ‘instinctive’ elegance with which British universities conducted such events, describing uk higher education as ‘possibly the most outstanding thing in Britain’.

history student Chibundu onuzo celebrated the successful publication of her first novel in March 2012 and went on to graduate with first-class honours in July. Set in Nigeria, where Chibundu was born in 1991, The Spider King’s Daughter tells the story of a romance between a 17 year-old poverty-stricken hawker and the cosseted daughter of a wealthy businessman. The novel was long-listed for the Desmond Elliot Prize and Chibundu became the youngest female author to be signed by Faber & Faber. Despite the College’s rich tradition of producing creative writers, she is believed to be the first to have written and published a novel while an undergraduate at king’s.

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Mythographer and novelist Professor Marina warner received an honorary doctorate from King’s in 2009.

as universities are challenged to raise their game on social mobility, rEPort asked key people at king’s about the importance of widening participation and fair access for students, and the College’s response to this agenda.

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Q University Challenge: How Higher Education Can Advance Social Mobility, by alan Milburn, the independent reviewer on social Mobility and Child Poverty, was published in october 2012. Do you welcome its assessment and recommendations?

A: Anne-Marie Canning, Head of Widening Participation (WP): The Milburn report is a great tool for helping us to reflect on our work and think about how we best target our efforts. For me, the report felt like a summation of many of the things we have learnt in widening participation over the past few years. I think it’s a fair assessment, and it’s refreshing to see a report with so many practical recommendations. The emphasis on the full life-cycle of the student is very important. Yes, we need to get promising students to come to university, but we also need to make sure they have a successful transition into university life and that we set them up with the skills to be happy and successful members of the King’s community.

Q Alan Milburn’s team visited King’s and interviewed staff and students here. What impressions and messages did they take away with them?

A: Dr Jess Pearce, Strategy & Policy Co-ordinator Programme Manager for WP: The team met a range of people from King’s, including the Director of Marketing and a panel of student ambassadors who identified themselves as coming from a widening participation background. They were impressed by our approach to widening participation through building long-term, sustained relationships with schools and individuals, and working with a wide range of partner organisations. WP staff at King’s expressed a hope that OFFA would in future consider using collaborative targets to support more strategic partnership work, and this hope was reflected in the

Milburn Report. The Report also spoke favourably of one of King’s current

strategic partners, Realising Opportunities.

the ‘Mission discovery’ programme at King’s brought together nasa scientists, including astronaut ron garan, and the College’s own aerospace experts, with young scientists from all over the UK.

k+ is a structured programme of events and activities at king’s to encourage bright young people with the potential to succeed at university.

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Q king’s has a proud record of encouraging non-traditional students into higher education. what particular contributions has the College made in recent years?

A: Professor Eeva Leinonen, Vice-Principal (Education): The College community makes its mission statement ‘in the service of society’ come alive through the way in which it advances access to high calibre education at King’s for all who can benefit from it. The College’s flagship Extended Medical Degree Programme is in its 12th year of providing access to medicine for students from under-performing schools. Building on the success of this programme, we have recently launched the Enhanced Dentistry Programme, and other professionally focused programmes are under consideration.

Q What are King’s aims and objectives in this area?

A: Professor Eeva Leinonen, Vice-Principal (Education): The College has exacting targets for widening the diversity of its student populations, reflected in indicators such as numbers of students from state school backgrounds, from low participation neighbourhoods, lower socio economic backgrounds and minority ethnic groups. Our plans include bursaries and scholarships; academic innovation;

Widening

king’s current students, and in particular the College’s student ambassadors, are closely involved with k+ and provide mentoring and guidance for participants.

outreach; partnership working with other universities, schools, charities and employers, and supporting students to gain value from their education at King’s. The College is also committed to providing its students with opportunities for enhancing their learning and employability by enabling engagement with the external world through activities such as study abroad, volunteering, attendance at summer schools, internships and work experience. Students from disadvantaged backgrounds may not have the networks, skills or financial means to benefit from such opportunities and to this end we have set aside funding to support these students.

Q What motivates academics at King’s involved in the widening participation agenda?

A: Dr Bernard Gowers, WP Co-ordinator for the Department of history, and winner of the 2012 king’s award for outreach and Widening Participation: Intellectual excellence and a passion for learning come in every walk of life, so I’ve found it tremendously stimulating to teach pupils from non-traditional backgrounds through the History Department’s link with sixth-forms in Hackney. I’m delighted that this opportunity will now be open to many more pupils through K+. Academics want to teach the brightest, most engaged students, so for us widening participation is an intellectual imperative, as well a social good.

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Q what are the College’s current wP activities?

A: Anne-Marie Canning: Launched in May 2012, K+ is a structured programme of events, activities and opportunities for young people from local schools and colleges who would be the first in their family to go to university, are from lower socio-economic groups, or who are overcoming barriers such as coming from an area where very few people go on to higher education, or living with a disability, or being in care. K+ focuses on building long-term relationships with those who have the potential to succeed at King’s but may face barriers to doing so. After joining the scheme in Year 12, pupils are invited to attend regular events and workshops, including the week-long K+Spotlight summer school. They attend sessions focused on topics that really matter to students, such as finance, personal statements, study skills and careers. They also receive e-mentoring from current King’s students and complete supported academic assignments with help from PhD students. Academics from the College provide subject-specific master classes, and pupils also take part in cultural events such as visits to galleries, museums, and events held by the Students’ Union.

the keynote speech at the launch of the k+ widening participation initiative was delivered by Rt Hon Simon Hughes, MP for Bermondsey and Old Southwark, Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrats, and the Government’s Advocate for Access to Education. He reiterated the importance of outreach programmes in ensuring that talented young people from disadvantaged backgrounds reach their potential.

The K+ scheme offers social activities and cultural experiences that build social capital and friendships.

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build social capital and friendships. The acid test for me is the question, ‘Would I have liked to be on the scheme as a 17 year old?’ And the answer with K+ is a resounding yes!

Q Is King’s succeeding in attracting more non-traditional students?

A: Anne-Marie Canning: Work to improve access to highly selective universities like King’s should be considered as a long-term project. The signs are promising but I find the saying ‘constant dripping hollows out a stone’ is a useful refrain in my line of work. Sometimes we are working from primary level up, and the fruits of some of our labours will not be felt for years to come. It’s heartening to see so many young people from our pilot K+ programme applying to King’s for 2013 entry, and this will certainly assist in achieving our benchmarks that we have agreed with the Office for Fair Access.

Q what are the College’s future plans?

A: Anne-Marie Canning: We’re currently working towards Buttle Trust Care Leavers accreditation (only one per cent of young people who have been in care progress to university). I’m also delighted that we’ll be holding our first ever Sutton Trust Summer School in 2013 – a great milestone for King’s n

Q What did students gain from the 2012 K+Spotlight summer school?

A: Sinmi Kesinro, A-level student at St Francis Xavier Sixth Form College, Clapham: I’m hoping to study law at a Russell Group university, which I think will broaden my opportunities in life. The law classes I have taken here at King’s have shown me how I can apply what I have learned at sixth form to a university course.A: Abigail Kolawole, from Christ the King Sixth Form College, Lewisham: The classes helped me realise that law was the right subject for me to pursue. I’m looking forward to studying law at a deeper level, and being taught by professors with so much experience in the field.A: Alfredtina Boaitey, from St Francis Xavier College: There was a lot of practical advice on how to make the transition from sixth form to university. I am now more confident that I can handle the workload and make friends easily.

Q what is unique about king’s approach to wP and fair access?

A: Anne-Marie Canning: In the K+ scheme we have something very special and promising. The students self-select to take part and we work to enhance their academic achievements, educational ambitions, soft-skills and confidence and resilience. We also offer them social activities and cultural experiences that

K+ students enjoy subject-specific masterclasses given by academics from King’s.

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It was July 2011, and most students were on their holidays. I pinched myself. I had graduated, worn the Vivienne Westwood robe and collected the scroll, and now it was time to step over the line and into the Student Officer role. 

July is a time of planning, preparation, King’s Summer School and dissertations. It’s always quieter on campus. In the summer of 2011, when thinking ahead, as well as business as usual, we knew that this year would be a transitional year for higher education and students. The aftermath of the cuts, which saw a rise in tuition fees to £9,000, left universities and unions having to find their feet within the new regime. There was a sharpened focus on employability, community and widening participation, in an effort to combat any negative change and to remain adaptable as a union, as a university and as students. Further to this, it was a big year in other ways: there was the Olympics and London 2012, the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, and Somerset House East Wing was soon to be ours, as the Law School would move in and occupy it at last!

Olympic themeSo when plotting this year’s calendar, it seemed busier than most, and in true student style we plunged head-first into activity. Our Olympic theme was active from early September, when we began our bid for the torch relay to visit King’s during its tour of the country. We were successful in our bid to be one the 22 institutions

studEnt diaryHannah Barlow reflects on her year as President of king’s College London Student Union (KCLSU).

2011-12

… graduated, worn the vivienne westwood robe and collected the scroll …

… the aftermath of the cuts...

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to be visited by the torch, and students celebrated its arrival in July 2012 at the Guy’s Campus with performances from our Bhangra and Dance Societies. Local schools were invited to come and take pictures with the torch, and we saw the coming together of students of all ages, from primary school to our postgraduates. It was a welcome event at Guy’s, as students from the Strand and other campuses were encouraged to venture afield from their home campus to benefit from our multi-site set-up.

Two students, Abigail Morris and Laura Arowolo, and lecturer Professor Ian MacFadzean, were nominated by their peers to carry the torch in the relay. This was a great Olympic honour, and an opportunity to represent King’s at the global event. The Olympic theme continued when Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson, Great Britain’s most successful Paralympian and a key member of the bid team for London 2012, came to speak to students about her life experiences. Her powerful message was that goals are achieved through perseverance and commitment. It was an impressive address and gave students a boost as the exam period drew closer. It also gave us an opportunity to celebrate student successes, ranging from those of our elite athletes to those of our ‘Get Active’ programme, which encourages participation in sport on a recreational level.

viP guestsTwo other guests of special importance to students this year were Her Majesty The Queen and our alumnus Archbishop Desmond Tutu. The Queen’s visit marked the opening of the much-awaited Somerset House East Wing. Law students were excited to move into their new home and welcomed the improved facilities. Archbishop Tutu’s arrival gave us the opportunity to present him with an 80th birthday present: a book of personalised messages from students along with a King’s hoodie reading ‘Tutu 80’.

 King’s has always been a university of many parts. The geographical distances between our campuses have provided us with healthy competition, as we continue to have two sports teams that represent the College – one for the Health Schools and the other for Arts and Sciences. In the second semester, after our league provider British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS) challenged our two-team approach, we held a referendum to ask students for a steer on the future of their teams. Student engagement in this – the first referendum to be held in over 10 years – reached dizzy heights, as people lobbied and voted ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to maintain the separate teams. A prominent ‘yes’ campaign spread across the College, with the value of inter-campus competition and the perceived differences between the Schools ruling out, for many, the possibility of a ‘merger’. This decision no doubt stemmed from the 827 students who make up our sports teams, and who achieved 25 league and eight cup wins this year alone!

As we moved through the final year of the old tuition fee system we realised the importance of encouraging a diverse range of students to follow in our footsteps in applying to King’s. Student initiatives for widening access have developed over the year, with the larger projects involving hundreds of students. The Young Educational Learners Programme (YELP), KCL Pro Bono and our Paediatric Society are great examples of projects working with young people, helping to raise aspirations and awareness of King’s. This is a joint ambition of students and staff, as we worked with the College and welcomed the launch of the K+ Scheme which supports and mentors pupils before university application. The K+ Scheme also involves student ambassadors, of whom we have more than 400. These roles not only benefit the pupils involved in K+, but also our students, since the relationship provides two-way learning. It is these activities and students’ commitment which continue to prove King’s

… the coming together of students of all ages …

… viP guests …

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graduates to be of the most employable. Alongside this we have been working with the College to ensure an increase in the number of bursaries distributed to students from widening participation backgrounds. These investments are a necessary step in making sure the College is committed to the diversity of its students.

LeadershipStudent-led initiatives and activity groups are not a new endeavour. They are, however, more prominent than ever, and their impact is being felt within immediate, national and global communities. Students are the leaders of tomorrow, and this year over 200 from the College took part in the King’s Leadership Award – a development programme which empowers people to lead within their groups and amongst their peers whilst working within teams, managing projects and relationships. Claire Matthews – who was President of Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE), of KCL Paediatrics, and of KCL Sailing Club – and Sharan Reddy, Treasurer of the KCL Dental Society and Fundraising Manager and Co-Treasurer for KCL Smile Society – gave special presentations at our award ceremony, since the projects they led were excellent and impressive examples of the impact students can have on each other and our communities.

Other groups who have shown success this year include our Islamic Society, Raising and Giving (RAG) and the Diwali Show, who all broke their fundraising records for their chosen charities.

Our Student Officer elections this year extended over two weeks, as (to everyone’s disappointment) the first ballot was declared null and void before the end result. At this difficult time candidates showed great strength and perseverance as they ran their campaigns for a second week. When times are hard individuals will shine, and our newly elected Student Officers did just that. Congratulations to the new team of Thomas Clayton (President), Lucy Hayes (Vice President Academic Affairs), Charlotte Richardson (Vice President Student Media and Engagement) and Kirsten Johnson (Vice President Student Activities and Facilities).

As my presidential year drew to a close, and it became noticeably more quiet from the middle of May, I reflected and realised what a unique cycle the university year is. Great bursts of energy and activity are tied in with essay deadlines, work commitments and study leave. The breadth of activity and the commitment of those involved impresses me daily. We are a part of something very special, and I thank King’s students, King’s staff, the Principal and his central team, and our wider King’s community, which I now step into as an engaged alumna. Thank you n

… Student Officer elections extended over two weeks …

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giving to king’s

Academy of Medical SciencesAction Medical ResearchALS Therapy AllianceAlzheimer’s Research uKAlzheimer’s SocietyArthritis Research uKAssociation for International

Cancer ResearchThe Atkin FoundationThe Atlantic Philanthropies LtdAutism SpeaksAvantha groupBaily Thomas

Charitable FundBaillie Gifford & CoThe late Dr John Beckerson &

Mrs Judith BeckersonBig Lottery FundBill & Melinda gates

FoundationBlind Veterans uKBreakthrough Breast CancerBreast Cancer CampaignThe late Mrs Jean BrewerBritish Heart FoundationBuPA FoundationCalouste gulbenkian

FoundationThe Rt Hon Kim CampbellCancer Research uKProfessor Jack CannCarnegie Corporation of

New YorkCelgene CorporationCHDI Foundation, IncMr Anthony &

Mrs Susan ChowDr Michael ClarkMrs Maryann CochraneThe Cohen Charitable TrustColgate-Palmolive CompanyMr Stephen ConwayMr Dennis CopeMs Suzie CorfeMr Ian CreaghMr Michael DalgleishDhammakaya International

Society of the united Kingdom

Diabetes uKDimbleby Cancer CareMr Bill DodwellThe Dorset Foundation which

was established by the late Harry M Weinrebe

The Marquess of Douro OBE & The Marchioness of Douro OBE

Dystrophic Epidermolysis Bullosa Research Association

Mr Nicholas & Mrs Matrona Egon

Esmée Fairbairn Foundation

we are very grateful to all those who supported the College during the past academic year. The gifts that we have received from individuals, grant-making trusts and other organisations have enabled us to undertake research, establish scholarships, create new academic posts and provide improved facilities. We would like to thank all our supporters who are allowing us to fulfil our vision for the College (including those who wish to remain anonymous). In particular, we warmly acknowledge those listed on these pages.

Campaign countsFundraising for the World questions | King’s answers campaign has surpassed £394 million: an achievement made possible with the support of alumni, staff and the wider King’s family. ‘We have made great strides toward our goals,’ comments the Principal, Sir Richard Trainor. ‘We have renovated Somerset House East Wing; we’re working on a vaccine for brain cancer and developing a blood test to detect Alzheimer’s, and the Annual Fund this year provided more

than £350,000, funding scholarships and 26 innovative programmes for our students, from digital forensics equipment to the creation of King’s TV. The Dickson Poon School of Law also welcomed its first cohort of scholarship recipients in autumn 2012 thanks to the remarkable generosity of Mr Poon. Another generous gift of £6 million, from the family of Hong Kong alumnus Dr Lau Ming-Wai, will support the China Institute, which has been renamed the Lau China Institute.’

Students in the Quad outside Somerset House East Wing, Strand Campus.

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European College of Neuropsychopharmacology

Fight for SightFood Allergy InitiativeFoundation Open Society

InstituteProfessor Sir Lawrence

Freedman KCMg CBE FKCThe Garfield Weston

FoundationgBS/CIDP Foundation

InternationalgE HealthcareThe John & Lucille van geest

Foundationglobal Business Services LtdProfessor John greenspan

FKC & Professor Deborah greenspan

guy’s & St Thomas’ CharityLord Harris of Peckham FKC

& Lady Harris of PeckhamHuman Frontiers Science

ProgramMrs Pamela Jacobs, née MilesJuvenile Diabetes Research

FoundationJuvenile Diabetes Research

Foundation InternationalMr Neil Kaplan CBEThe Hon Lady Keswick FKCKidney Research uKKing’s College Hospital CharityKing’s College Hospital

NHS Foundation TrustKing’s Medical Research TrustMr george KoukisMr William Kwan FKC &

Mrs Irene KwanThe Lau FamilyLeukaemia & Lymphoma

ResearchDr Bertrand Leung Mrs Nienling LeungAg Leventis FoundationLeverhulme TrustDr Zudong LiuThe London Law TrustThe John D. & Catherine T.

MacArthur FoundationMaudsley CharityDr Dipak & Professor Pauline

MazumdarThe Andrew W. Mellon

FoundationDr Vivien Millar, née LeaskMinistry of Culture,

government of IndiaMotor Neurone Disease

AssociationThe JP Moulton Charitable

FoundationMultiple Sclerosis SocietyNational Institute on Allergy &

Infectious Diseases

avantha Chair In late 2011, the India-based Avantha Group and its Chairman, Gautam Thapar, awarded King’s £3.5 million to establish the Avantha Chair, advancing the India Institute’s goal to become the leading international centre for the study of contemporary India. The first holder, India Institute Director Professor Sunil Khilnani, has just completed his first year in post. ‘The Institute’s vision dovetails with our belief that a holistic and nuanced understanding of contemporary India is essential to explore and fruitfully engage with India,’ said Chairman Thapar. ‘It is also vitally important for

India to develop new tools, strategies and outlook in its dealings with the international community.’

The Institute’s formal launch earlier this year drew guests including UK Foreign Secretary, Rt Hon William Hague, and Acting Indian High Commissioner to the UK, Rajesh Prasad. ‘Now is the time to study India, to invest in India and to work with India,’ the Foreign Secretary said. ‘The rise of India and other nations is good for the people of those countries; it is good for the world; and it brings immense opportunities for a country like Britain that is able to seize them.’

First moments, lifetime impactsThe period immediately before, during and after birth is critical for future health. What happens to babies at this time can have a profound impact on the rest of their lives. For example, lack of oxygen around the time of birth – birth asphyxia – accounts for about 20 per cent of all cerebral palsy in the developed world. With funding support from the London-based Garfield Weston Foundation, the College’s new Centre for the Developing Brain is home to a 60-plus research team led by Professor David Edwards, who joined King’s after two decades as head of the Weston Neonatal Research Group at Imperial College. Professor Edwards’ work has already led to the first successful treatment for birth asphyxia, which is now in use throughout the NHS and around the world, and he

and his team are now drawing on the College’s expertise in neuroscience and paediatrics to expand their work in areas such as autism.

Rt Hon William Hague MP; Lord Douro, Chairman of the College Council; Professor Sunil Khilnani and Gautam Thapar.

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Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research

Stavros Niarchos FoundationOak FoundationMrs Elizabeth &

Mr Daniel PeltzMr Dickson Poon CBEPsychiatry Research TrustMs Francesca quint AKC,

née gomezMr Iuri RapoportMr James RobertsRosetrees TrustDr Maurice & Mrs Susan

RothschildThe Dr Mortimer &

Theresa Sackler FoundationEdmond J. Safra Philanthropic

FoundationMrs Lily Safra FKCSt Thomas’ Lupus TrustSantander universitiesHenry Schein IncDr Angela Scott, née grundySir Harry SolomonSparksSustainable Food AllianceMr Henry SweetbaumMr Michael TaylorThe late Dr Geoffrey ThomasTommy’s The Baby CharityThe late His Honour Judge

John Toulmin CMg FKC & Mrs Carolyn Toulmin AKC née gullick

Professor Sir Richard Trainor KBE FKC & Professor Marguerite Dupree

The late Mrs Diana Trebble, née Jennings

Professor John Uff CBE FKC & Mrs Diana Uff FKC

The Waterloo FoundationWellcome TrustProfessor Nairn Wilson

CBE FKCMr Chris Wiscarson FKC &

Mrs gilly WiscarsonHenry & Krystyna

Wisniewski Foundation for Neuroscience Research

The Wolfson FoundationMr Charles Wolfson TownsleyMaurice Wohl Charitable

FoundationMr Dawson WooPC Woo & CoMr Mark Woodhouse AKCProfessor Sir Robert

Worcester KBE FKC & Lady Worcester

The Worshipful Company of Barber Surgeons

The late Mrs Leonora Yonge

telling it like it isDespite – or perhaps because of – the ubiquity of communication through technologies such as mobile phones, tablets and laptops, the need to prepare young health professionals for thoughtful face-to-face communication is more essential than ever.

One of the toughest moments for young nurses and doctors, for example, is the first time they need to speak to a patient who is dying. Few nursing and medical students receive training in how to converse with terminally-ill patients and their families – a shortfall cited by both the General Medical Council and the Nursing and Midwifery Council. Now, thanks to

donors’ generosity, an Annual Fund grant is enhancing the confidence of hundreds of King’s medical and nursing students in these situations, through the use of a simulation tool and role-playing.

Another Annual Fund-supported initiative uses interactive lectures, role-playing with professional actors and feedback from patients and doctors to help students identify symptoms of mental health problems, which affect one in four people in the UK at some point in their lives. The course also aims to erase the stigma around mental health disorders. See alumni.kcl.ac.uk/annualfund.

a service close to his heartFamily experience of a lack of paediatric specialists in the area of rheumatoid arthritis has led Greek-born philanthropist George Koukis to support the establishment of the new George Koukis Paediatric Rheumatology Service at Evelina Children’s Hospital. He also has a long history of supporting the St Thomas’ Lupus Unit. Paediatric rheumatoid arthritis, which affects hundreds of children each year, is not a single disease but an umbrella term describing a variety of children’s conditions including chronic arthritis. The new service will provide specialist clinical care for and research into this condition.

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studEnts in sChooLs of study 2011-12

school Campus Number of students

undergraduate Postgraduate total % of total

Taught Research

Arts & Humanities Strand 2,380 889 558 3,827 15.6%

Biomedical Sciences guy’s, Waterloo 1,812 328 176 2,316 9.4%

Dental Institute guy’s, St Thomas’, Denmark Hill 788 333 68 1,189 4.8%

English Language & other centres Strand 156 0 0 156 0.6%

global Centres & Institutes 0 73 15 88 0.4%

Institute of Psychiatry Denmark Hill 81 657 310 1,048 4.3%

King’s Learning Institute 66 381 5 452 1.8%

The Dickson Poon School of Law Strand 993 1,045 92 2,130 8.7%

Medicine guy’s, St Thomas’, Denmark Hill 2,512 496 388 3,396 13.8%

Natural & Mathematical Sciences Strand 1,267 313 178 1,758 7.2%

Nursing & Midwifery Waterloo 2,278 736 71 3,085 12.6%

Social Science & Public Policy Strand, Waterloo 1,645 2,408 573 4,626 18.8%

Study Abroad 457 21 1 479 2%

grand total 14,435 7,680 2,435 24,550 100%

There are 10,115 postgraduates in all, constituting 41.2% of the total number of students.

Waterloo, Strand

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STUDENT NUMBERS BY GENDER 2011-12

Gender Number of students

Undergraduate Postgraduate Total % of total

Taught Research

Female 9,173 4,579 1,304 15,056 61.3%

Male 5,262 3,101 1,131 9,494 38.7%

Grand total 14,435 7,680 2,435 24,550 100%

STUDENT NUMBERS BY aGE 2011-12

age Number of students

Undergraduate Postgraduate Total % of total

Taught Research

20 and under 10,427 46 2 10,475 42.7%

21 to 29 2,750 4,785 1,404 8,939 36.4%

30 to 39 752 1,798 653 3,203 13.0%

40 to 49 389 798 257 1,444 5.9%

50 and over 117 253 119 489 2.0%

Grand total 14,435 7,680 2,435 24,550 100%

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studEnts’ Country of doMiCiLE 2011-12

Domicile Number of students % of total

united Kingdom 17,257 70.3%

Other European union 2,779 11.3%

Overseas 4,514 18.4%

total 24,550 100%

MEMBERS OF STAFF ON 1 JANUARY 2012

school Academic and research staff

Other staff Number of employees

Arts & Humanities 290 415 705

Biomedical Sciences 318 199 517

Dental Institute 264 89 353

Institute of Psychiatry 670 256 926

The Dickson Poon School of Law 58 80 138

Medicine 883 400 1,283

Natural & Mathematical Sciences 163 56 219

Nursing & Midwifery 124 66 190

Social Science & Public Policy 298 193 491

Professional Services 75 1,216 1,291

grand total 14,435 2,970 6,113

2011-12 2010-11

£000 £000

Income

Funding body grants 140,908 147,211

Tuition fees and education contracts 146,544 130,746

Research grants and contracts 154,745 147,099

Other operating income 103,832 93,561

Endowment and investment income 8,191 5,493

Total income 554,220 524,110

Expenditure

Staff costs 324,604 307,698

Other operating expenses 161,152 152,600

Depreciation 24,654 23,946

Interest payable 12,297 12,361

total expenditure 522,707 496,605

Surplus on ordinary activities 31,513 27,505

Taxation (8) 2

surplus on ordinary activities after taxation 31,521 27,503

Receipts from property transactions 5,060 –

Profit on sale of shares 7,054 –

surplus after depreciation of assets at cost and tax 43,635 27,503

inCoME & ExPEnditurEfor the year ended 31 July 2012King’s credit rating was confirmed by Standard & Poor’s as ‘AA/stable’ for 2012.

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visitors to king’s

Because of its distinction, connections and central London location, King’s attracts many eminent visitors and speakers. in 2011-12 these included her Majesty the Queen and hrh the Duke of Edinburgh; françois hollande, now President of France; former Prime Minister Rt Hon Sir John Major; Rt Hon William hague MP, Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs; Universities and Science Minister rt hon david willetts MP; London Mayor Boris Johnson; Rt Hon David Trimble, nobel Laureate and former First Minister of Northern Ireland; Professor Dame Sally Davies, the Chief Medical Officer; senator george Mitchell, former US Special Envoy for Middle East Peace; Her Excellency Chandrika Kumaratunga, former President of Sri Lanka; Nobel Laureate Sir Paul Nurse; astronaut and moon-walker Buzz Aldrin; alumnus, Archbishop Emeritus and Nobel Laureate Desmond Tutu; alumnus Professor Peter higgs, proposer of the ‘Higgs Boson’ particle; writers Bill Bryson, Michael frayn, hilary Mantel hfkC, Michael Morpurgo fkC, sir andrew Motion, Paul Muldoon, will self and Fay Weldon; explorer Sir Ranulph Fiennes; actor David Suchet; former Director of the BBC greg dyke and broadcaster David Dimbleby.

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