LJMU: Our 12 Highlights of 2024!

2024 has been another year of success at the university, from a highly-impressive National Student Survey to securing the prestigious British Science Festival for 2025, here are some of our top highlights of the year...

One: New Robotic Telescope project progresses

The New Robotic Telescope: Liverpool’s exciting new telescope project is putting the region on the map in space science. Our £26 million mission to build the world’s largest fully autonomous robotic telescope is on track with engineering work for the 70-tonne scope underway in labs at LJMU and among commercial partners like Arup.

Two: Quality of student experience continues to rise

The quality of student experience at LJMU continues to rise across all measures, according to National Student Survey (NSS) 2024. The highly positive report from the Office for Students is based on the views of hundreds of final year undergraduates and concludes that the university’s scores outstrip the sector benchmarks in 23 of the 27 questions and six of the seven themes.

Three: Face Lab leads the way in creating digital historical avatars 

LJMU’s Face Lab is part of a British team which has recreated the living voice of King Richard III. Cranio-facial identification expert Professor Caroline Wilkinson, was joined by linguists and historians to recreate the 15^th Century monarch’s speech from the shape of his skull and knowledge of his environment. It was heard publicly for the first time in a world first production at York Theatre Royal in November.

Four: New creative cluster to drive forward music research and development

Also in November, the Liverpool City Region was announced as a new £6.75 million UKRI Creative Cluster for the music sector. Led by LJMU and the University of Liverpool, MusicFutures will establish the region as a music research and development powerhouse and ecosystem.

Five: Suicide and self-harm education project trialled in high schools 

Our psychologists were the first to trial a programme in secondary schools to educate youngsters on self-harm and suicide. Backed by Honorary Fellow Mike Palmer MBE, one of the 3 Dads Walking, the pioneering project could usher in a change in the national curriculum to incorporate lessons on suicide as mental health issues among young people continue to grow. Mike, who lost his daughter Beth to suicide, told a conference at LJMU: “Schooling is great for academic education but what about emotional education? We need more life and coping skills taught in schools.'

Six: LJMU revealed as joint host of British Science Festival 2025

In August it was announced that The British Science Festival 2025 would take place in Liverpool, with LJMU and UoL as joint hosts. The festival will be held in September and according to Professor Keith George, Pro Vice Chancellor for Research and Knowledge Exchange, will “showcase the impactful and transformational work the universities and others undertake to promote innovation, social responsibility and a change for good.”

Seven: Momentum for maritime partnerships 

We continue to build partnerships regionally, particularly in growth areas for the Liverpool City Region, like maritime and trade. Our newly-launched Global Centre for Maritime Innovation will provide new opportunities for collaboration and engagement between academics, external partners and the wider industry to deliver impactful research, education and training.

Eight: International connections celebrated

We have also built internationally, in China, S East Asia, Africa and the Middle East bringing the number of students studying for LJMU qualifications abroad to more than 21,000 – one of the highest in the sector. Staff and students took part in cultural projects with partners in Shanghai as part of Liverpool’s 25^th anniversary twinning with the Chinese city.

Nine: Research centre dedicated to tackling climate change is announced

We welcomed a new research centre dedicated to the challenges of climate change and sustainable living. The Liverpool Research Institute for Climate and Sustainability (LiRICS) will deliver knowledge and solutions and is one of the key objectives in LJMU’s Climate Action Plan, which sets out the university’s commitment to work towards a net carbon zero future.

Ten: Degree apprenticeships expansion

LJMU is embracing new ways of learning and this year we significantly expanded our Degree Apprenticeship portfolio with new programmes in Police Constable, Registered Nurse, Construction Site Management, Construction Quantity Surveyor and Chartered Manager and a glowing review by Ofsted.

Eleven: Ranked sixth globally for sport and exercise science research

Our research in sport and exercise science has been world class since we became the first university in the world to run a degree in the subject 50 years ago. In April the QS World Rankings rated LJMU sixth globally for research in the field.

Twelve: 10,000 new graduates embark upon their careers

LJMU prides itself on feeding the local economy and professions with highly-skilled graduates and in 2024, we sent out into the world 10,000 newly-qualified individuals, all set to make their mark and achieve their goals. Good reason for cheer and optimism for 2025!