Brunel University London has today been shortlisted for the 'Outstanding Entrepreneurial University' category of this year's Times Higher Education Awards.
It joins five other universities each hoping that judges will announce them as category winners at the ceremony in Liverpool on 7 December.
Brunel's submission, summarised on the Awards website, highlights how it is a pioneering institution that instils entrepreneurship and innovation into its core to ensure that all students develop the entrepreneurial mindset and skills needed to succeed in the future, regardless of their background.
This was reflected in Brunel being ranked 6th in the UK for student social mobility by the IFS and the Sutton Trust in November 2021, as well as being ranked the 14th best UK university for producing the most employable graduates by the Global University Employability Ranking 2022.
The submission also draws attention to:
- The Entrepreneur Hub, which provides comprehensive support, advice and guidance to students and recent graduates and helps develop the entrepreneurial and transferable skills they need to succeed in their future workplaces.
- Embedding entrepreneurship in the curriculum, such as the final-year design student project showcase Made in Brunel.
- Brunel's academic and service departments, which embrace an interdisciplinary and collaborative approach that caters to the unique needs and objectives of our community.
- Extra-curricular enterprise and entrepreneurship activities, which are recognised under the Brunel+ award.
- The social impact innovation READY programme, which is delivered in partnership with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
- The Design Factory London, which challenges enable students to work across national and professional discipline boundaries to develop innovation solutions to real-world problems.
- Numerous mutually beneficial international, national and local partnerships such as the PlusX in Hayes, a co-working space with specialist ‘maker’ facilities that provides many Brunel students and graduates with hands-on entrepreneurship opportunities.
The judges – including Chris Skidmore MP and many well-known names from the Higher Education and associated sectors – will be considering Brunel's submission alongside those from the University of Edinburgh, Kingston University, London South Bank University, Royal Northern College of Music, and Swansea University.
In the Times Higher Education's announcement of the 20-category shortlist, John Gill, the THE's editor, described it as "a clear indicator of the great strength in depth of UK and Irish higher education".
The contest has been running for 19 years, during which Brunel has won Times Higher Education Awards for Outstanding Support for Students with Disabilities in 2008 and Business School of the Year in 2013.
Reported by:
Joe Buchanunn,
Media Relations
+44 (0)1895 268821
joe.buchanunn@brunel.ac.uk