Driving forward growth and making a difference

Our Acting Vice-Chancellor, Professor Maria Fasli, gave a speech outlining our achievements and exploring how we're meeting the challenges facing the whole sector at our Annual Meeting. Read it here.

I am so pleased to be among the friends of the University and I want to extend a warm welcome to you all.

It is wonderful to have with us so many representatives from the partners we have worked with on many projects in the past year, including the NHS, charities, Essex Police and our local authorities. And a big welcome to our alumni, who support us in so many ways.

I am also delighted to welcome our incoming Vice-Chancellor Professor Frances Bowen, who I will officially be handing over to at the end of July.

You join us each year as members of Court and our University community to review the past year and our future strategy. We aim to inspire you to get more involved in our work and encourage you to go and champion the University to the outside world. At this moment, we need you to do that more than ever before. We remain a University totally committed to our civic duty of delivering a transformative education and working with partners to improve the prosperity and wellbeing of the communities we serve in Essex and beyond. Our research and education is supporting the Government’s new industrial strategy in numerous ways and driving forward growth in key sectors such as the creative industries, data science, the life sciences and financial services.

Achievements in 2023-24

I will begin by reviewing our performance in the academic year 2023-24, which is covered by our latest Financial Statements which are published each year and can be found online.

In 2023-24, our turnover remained above £300m for the third year running at £316 million.

Through prudent and careful management of our finances, we delivered a cash surplus of £5.4m – 1.7% of turnover – despite the pressures the university sector was seeing emerge.

We put in place a number of measures that looked to safeguard the student experience and protect our range of subjects and disciplines.

At the same time, we still enjoyed many successes - rising to 23rd in the Guardian University Guide, 30th in the Complete University Guide and going up 10 places to 46th in the Times Good University Guide.

In 2023-24 we were also ranked in the top 100 institutions for the third year running in the Times Higher Education Impact Rankings for our promotion of sustainability through research and education.

Our financial situation

In 2024-25, we have had many more successes but faced even greater financial challenges. Economic crisises in key markets, concerns over visa changes, the decreasing real-term value of tuition fees and many other factors have had an increasing impact.

Due to a significant fall in student numbers, we announced a series of measures in November to ensure our financial sustainability while again also looking to maintain our student experience and our research.

Our financial sustainability plan set out the measures required to cover this year’s financial shortfall and return to generating a cash surplus of 2% of income by July 2027. As part of this we have had to make some very, very difficult choices across all departments. Every part of the university’s spending has been reviewed and we have had to say farewell to longstanding friends and colleagues through a Voluntary Severance Scheme.

Hopefully all these actions will take us to a more sustainable position which will allow us to continue our educational and research mission.

Successes in 2024-25

Business and Knowledge Exchange

So I have set out the situation we face, but I don’t want to lose sight of the amazing achievements of our staff and students in 2024-25 – despite everything.

We need to remain bold and ambitious, so today we are announcing that we are helping to launch Research Plus, a new strategic partnership of ten leading universities which are totally committed to driving UK growth and prosperity through research, research-informed education and advanced skills development.

We are incredibly successful in taking our research out into the community and into business. So I am immensely proud the Government’s latest Knowledge Exchange Framework showed Essex was ranked 11th out of all universities for using our expertise to benefit the economy and society.

As the national Knowledge Transfer Partnership programme celebrates its 50th anniversary, we are also very proud that we are still first for the number of KTPs we’re leading on with a record total of projects with businesses, organisations and charities. And we're also in the running for two national awards as part of Innovate UK’s Knowledge Transfer Partnerships Awards 2025. Building on our successes in previous years.

Our business engagement team is shortlisted for its work connecting companies to our researchers and our partnership with Check4Cancer is up for the Changing the World Award. On top of all this our Knowledge Gateway research and technology park celebrated its 10th anniversary this year. More than 50 businesses are now based across Parkside and the Innovation Centre so a very warm welcome to the Knowledge Gateway businesses who have joined us today.

Research success

After securing our highest level of research funding last year we are now on track for another record year with our researchers attracting just under £40 million from funders. We’re proud to use that investment to make a difference through research that improves lives and shapes policy. I will try to give you an insight into the scope of our work.

Our life scientists are developing a new blood test for bowel cancer, designed to improve early detection and make screening more accessible, ultimately saving lives.

Our Institute for Public Health and Wellbeing has secured £2.5 million to work with communities and mental health providers to improve services across Essex, Southend and Thurrock.

We’re also at the forefront of health technology. Our scientists and legal experts are working on a £1.2 million project to develop eye-scanning technology that can more accurately measure fatigue.

In cyber security and AI, our researchers are part of a £1 million project to improve the security and efficiency of UK ports and warehouses.

The first footage of a colossal squid in its natural environment grabbed news headlines around the world and this international expedition to the waters near Antarctica was led by our very own Dr Michelle Taylor.

Coastal communities need more support to deal with issues like climate change and our social scientists are leading a £2.9 million project to bring together a national network of universities and partners to do just that.

Meanwhile, the Institute for Social and Economic Research (ISER) continues to shape policy through long-term, data-driven research. Its landmark studies include Understanding Society — the ESRC’s largest-ever investment, with funding of over £100 million.

Finally, I am really proud that research at East 15 helped teenage girls from Southend use poetry to challenge stereotypes about the county. The work they created for an audio exhibition at Clifftown Theatre was so powerful that the project was seen by millions on The One Show on the BBC and continues to generate huge interest.

National and international awards.

We've also picked up a number of national and international awards

Professor Reinhard Pekrun from Psychology received a Lifetime Achievement Award, recognising his pioneering research into human motivation and emotion.

Dr Carolyn Laubender, from Psychosocial and Psychoanalytic Studies, won the 2025 Book Prize from the American Psychoanalytic Association.

Professor Paul Whiteley, from Government, received the Sir Paul Curran Award from The Conversation for articles on UK and US politics which have informed and inspired millions.

In robotics and AI, Professor Klaus McDonald-Maier and Dr Vishuu Mohan were recognised at the UKRI AI & Robotics Awards for their work revolutionising agriculture.

Professor Nick Cooper and Dr Mark Wheeler, from Psychology, were highly commended in national NHS awards for their innovative work using fishing to support mental health — a powerful example of research changing lives.

I was personally delighted to be able to hold our first AI Summit this year to bring our researchers together with partners, including our local councils, to find more ways to unlock the power of AI for the benefit of residents. Colchester MP Pam Cox is championing this work within Parliament as an example for others to follow and the event was perfectly timed as we celebrate the 6th anniversary of the establishment of the Essex Centre for Data Analytics (ECDA). ECDA is placing Essex at the forefront of the use of data in public services and our researchers and students are pioneering data-driven projects within Essex County Council and Essex Police.

60 years of research and education

Over our 60th anniversary, we’ve looked to showcase some of our work through 60 Stories – an online series of articles celebrating our research and education. Here is a flavour of some of the research stories we’ve covered so far.

We’ve just been able to give you a taste of five stories - you can discover much more on the 60 Stories website.

Other projects

We constantly look for ways to make a positive difference in our communities.

We’ve just celebrated the first anniversary of the Centre for Healthcare Science, which is driving forward awareness of the importance of healthcare science, developing new courses, creating new CPD opportunities and inspiring young people to think about careers in the sector. To mark this anniversary, Deputy Chief Scientific Officer for NHS England, Professor Dee Ripley, visited our Colchester Campus to find out more about our work.

We’ve also just celebrated the first anniversary of the Health, Wellbeing and Care Hub – with a programme of services now available for the public and our students benefitting from the placements at the Hub. All developed in collaboration with our NHS partners.

Meanwhile, the University’s Outreach team is helping those facing the greatest barriers to pursuing university study, working with schools across Essex to deliver hundreds of activities and connect with thousands of pupils. The team has also delivered programmes across the region – including Colchester, Tendring and Southend - focused on inspiring young people into careers of the future, from healthcare science to green technology.

International partnerships

I’ve mentioned that expanding our international partnerships is a vital priority and we have enjoyed incredible success in growing our portfolio. This work is built on delivering for partners and Government priorities, and we have seen amazing new partnerships launched this year.

These include a major collaboration with leading education provider Beaconhouse International College in Pakistan to deliver Essex degrees across multiple campuses.

We’ve partnered with the National Institute of Business Management in Sri Lanka to offer psychology courses.

And we took part in a UK Government-backed mission to Egypt to identify ways we can support its higher education sector.

We have a really ambitious agenda to grow our partnerships further so more students in the UK and internationally can benefit from an Essex education.

And at the same time as building this wider global network we are maintaining research and education links with Europe through our two partnerships Young Universities for the Future of Europe (YUFE) and the Young European Research Universities Network (YERUN) – with YERUN celebrating its 10th anniversary this year.

Student success

We’re pleased that our students value the experience we deliver and the most recent National Student Survey placed Essex first in the East of England for the 'overall positivity' measure and 30th nationally – based on student feedback.

We’re also aiming to create vibrant and supportive communities so we’re delighted Accommodation Essex won a national award from Property Week for creating accommodation for key communities including athletes, entrepreneurs, volunteers and our LGBTQ+ community.

The Essex Spirit was exemplified by the success of the Edge Hotel School team, who were crowned European champions after winning the prestigious EMCup after beating off competition from the best hospitality management schools from across Europe. Judges described our team as “incredible” as they won the coveted title at their first attempt.

The Students’ Union has had another amazing year of success and has focused in on shaping the university experience. This culminated in the SU’s first student experience conference on Monday this week, bringing staff and students together to drive forward improvements.

The SU has been as busy as ever with a packed year of events and volunteering. It’s also been a record-breaking year for sport with 2,863 Blades members participating across 62 teams. This shows our success in encouraging participation at every level, while we’ve also seen our Women’s Basketball, and Men’s and Women’s Volleyball winning national titles. The Women’s Volleyball team has even been shortlisted as one of the national university teams of the year – a brilliant achievement after an incredible season. Our teams have also won 10 league titles across many different sports and placed us in the top 30 yet again and delivering what must be our most successful year of sport ever.

Our elite Essex Rebels teams contributed to that national success. They’ve brought thousands of fans to our Essex Sport Arena to enjoy basketball and volleyball with the Essex Rebels men’s volleyball team winning our first national volleyball cup. And our elite sport offer is growing with an exciting new partnership with Essex Cricket’s women’s team, who are now using the Colchester Campus as a training base and linking in with our other Rebels teams.

Volunteer of the Year

Just before I move onto my final remarks, I wanted to emphasise the contribution of our alumni community once again who support us in so many ways, and I want to pay a special tribute to our Volunteer of the Year, Frank McKenna, who is with us today. Frank’s support has been truly inspiring. Thanks to Frank, we hosted our After Essex event series at his London Liverpool Street offices, bringing together alumni and friends to network and reconnect with the University. He has also volunteered in a number of key roles, including as a mentor and as a guest speaker, sharing his story since graduating.

Making change happen

Our University has never done more to drive growth, develop job-ready graduates, support partners, make a difference in our communities, expand our international networks and deliver research focused on making change happen, but, at this same moment we are facing financial challenges which mean our role in delivering all those benefits is coming under incredible pressure.

Nonetheless, I am confident the University of Essex can continue to thrive by embracing innovation, expanding our international profile, diversifying income, and working with our SU to deliver the best possible student experience.

Thanks to the amazing academic and professional services staff we have here we will continue to battle for what we believe in – an educational and research environment built around ‘living and learning’ together, a commitment to our communities and powerful partnerships at local through to international level.

As I said at the start we need you to be our champions. Many of you already support us – like Frank McKenna - in a whole variety of ways, but if you have ideas about how you can help us more please let us know. Just by sharing our successes, speaking positively about the difference we make, and helping us tell our story, you can make such a positive difference to our work.

Personal reflections

As I come towards the end of my time as Vice-Chancellor of the University, I find myself reflecting, not only on the past year, but on my years of experience at this amazing place. I am immensely proud of this university’s many achievements across all sorts of different areas and of the people that make all these amazing things happen.

I have experienced the University from all angles…through being a student, through my academic career, as a senior manager, and this last year serving as Vice-Chancellor. I can’t pretend it hasn’t sometimes been a challenge (because believe me it has), but it has been so rewarding and an absolute honour.

The University of Essex will always be in my heart and I hope you realise how special this place is.