Writing about Imperial College London

Our name

Imperial College London.

Do not use:

  • Imperial College
  • Imperial College, London
  • Imperial College of London
  • IC
  • ICL

Always use 'Imperial College London' the first time you refer to the College in a piece of writing. Thereafter, our name can be shortened to 'Imperial' or 'the College'.

Leadership

President

The President of Imperial is Professor Hugh Brady. On first mention of the President in a piece of writing, use the President's full name and title:

'Professor Hugh Brady, President of Imperial College London'

Subsequent mentions can be abbreviated to 'President Brady' or 'the President'.

Provost

Professor Ian Walmsley is Imperial's Provost. On first mention of the Provost in a piece of writing, use the Provost's full name and title:

'Professor Ian Walmsley, Provost of Imperial College London'

Subsequent mentions can be abbreviated to 'Professor Walmsley' or 'the Provost'.

Please note, Professor should not be abbreviated to 'Prof' or 'Prof.'.

Find out more

Read more about the President and Provost on the College's Leadership and Strategy pages. You can also find out more about writing about job and formal titles in the people and titles section of our writing style guide.

Faculties

Imperial is comprised of four faculties: the Faculty of Engineering, the Faculty of Medicine, the Faculty of Natural Sciences, and Imperial College Business School.

Within faculties, there are departments, schools, institutes and centres. When using these words as part of a title or to refer to a particular unit, capitalise the first letter. Elsewhere, do not capitalise.

 For example:

  • The Faculty of Engineering at Imperial College London supports world class research across the full range of engineering disciplines. Academics from the Faculty frequently collaborate with colleagues from other faculties at the College.
  • The Head of the Department of Chemistry is responsible for all areas of departmental business.
  • The National Heart and Lung Institute (NHLI) carries out research, development and education in cardiovascular and respiratory science.

Campuses

Imperial has nine campuses. When referring to a specific campus, the first letter of each word should be capitalised, including ‘Campus’. Elsewhere, sentence case should be used.

For example:

  • Most undergraduate and postgraduate activity at Imperial takes place at the South Kensington Campus, but students can travel easily to our campuses in West London using the Campus Shuttle Bus.

Please note: Imperial’s new campus at White City is called White City Campus. It should not be referred to as ‘Imperial West’.

Institutes and building names

Institute and building names have initial capital letters but the word ‘the’ does not need to be capitalised unless it is in the official name. For example, 'the' is not part of the name of Abdus Salam Library, nor Brahmal Vasudevan Institute for Sustainable Aviation. 

For example:

  • Research took place at the Brahmal Vasudevan Institute for Sustainable Aviation. 

Find out more:

Rankings

If you mention College rankings in a piece of content, you should include the name of the table in which this ranking appears, either within the prose or referenced using parentheses. 

For example:

  • According to the Complete University Guide 2021, mechanical engineering at Imperial is ranked second in the UK.
  • Mechanical engineering at Imperial is ranked second in the UK (Complete University Guide 2021).

Get up to date information about rankings on the College's league table webpages.