Transcript:

President and Vice-Chancellor Professor Sir Ian Greer:

As the year draws to a close, and with graduation just around the corner, I want to take a moment to thank each and every member of our university community for making 2025 so very special.

This year, we celebrate 180 years of Queen’s, a milestone that invites us to reflect on our beginnings as Queen's College Belfast in 1845 and reminds us also of our storied heritage and lasting impact. We are now proudly recognised as a world-class centre for education and research, a centre that enables staff and students to push the very boundaries of knowledge.

Every year, we celebrate our foundation at the Queen's Graduates' Association Charter Day Dinner. This year’s event was especially memorable as we marked the significant anniversary; recognised the impact of our alumni across the globe; and announced several Honorary Graduates who have made outstanding contributions to society.

Our 180th anniversary has offered an opportunity to reflect on how much our University has changed since our Foundation Day – a day on which our founders could not have envisioned the massive strides that Queen’s would make in the centuries ahead.

2025 has been a year of achievements and milestones we can all be proud of:

• Ranked in the world’s top 200 universities in the QS and Times Higher World University Rankings 2026, we were recognised nationally as a great place to study, voted number 1 university in the UK in StudentCrowd's 2025 University Awards, as well as Best Students’ Union and placing 3rd overall in the 2025 WhatUni Student Choice Awards;
• Our research, spin-out companies and partnerships, such as our programme of innovation under the Belfast Region City Deal, are driving commercial innovation and job creation, positively impacting the economy both locally and nationally;
• We are preparing to open our new GIFT City campus in India, and look forward with pride to a new chapter in our University history as the campus opens its door for the very first time;
• And we recently announced a major partnership that will see Dundalk Institute of Technology become a University College of Queen’s University Belfast;
• In May of this year, we were recognised as the first University of Sanctuary in Northern Ireland – a status that reflects the support we provide to local refugee, asylum-seeker and migrant communities, as well as the enhanced opportunities we offer to access higher education;
• In August, we became the only university in the UK to be awarded a prestigious Gold Sustainability Tracking, Assessment and Rating System, or STARS, rating for our outstanding sustainability performance;
• Just last month, we published our formal Civic Agreement and celebrated achieving official ‘Civic University’ status, recognising how we work hand in hand with communities and partners to drive positive change across Belfast and beyond;
• And we remain at the very forefront of advancing gender equality, as one of just three UK universities to hold an institutional Athena SWAN Gold award.

These successes belong to all of us.

To our students: thank you for learning with us, sharing your thoughts and ideas with us and for the energy and vibrancy you bring.

For those graduating next week: congratulations. It's been an honour to be part of your journey, and we wish you every success for the future that lies beyond that special day on which you will walk across the stage to collect your degree.

And to our staff: thank you for your dedication and teamwork. Every achievement this year has been possible because of you. You are the heart of Queen’s, and your efforts make a real difference – not just to our students, but to the wider community that we serve.

This is a time for family and a time for rest, and I ask that everyone, both students and staff, enjoy the break and celebrate the festive season with those you love.

I wish you and your family a joyful festive season and a healthy and prosperous year ahead in 2026.