King's College London wins Queen's Anniversary Prize
15 Nov 2002, PR 50/02 King's College London has been awarded a prestigious Queen's Anniversary Prize for Higher and Further Education. The award is in recognition of the achievements of the War Studies Group as a whole, as exemplified by the Defence Studies Department's work at the Joint Services Command and Staff College (JSCSC) over the past six years.
Since the Cold War, the requirement for command and defence decision-making has undergone considerable change, necessitating a new approach to military education that has been met through an academic-military partnership at the JSCSC, whose mission is to 'provide command and staff training at junior, advanced and higher levels for all three Services to a world-class standard'. Education and training at the JSCSC is provided by 40 academics from King's College now based in a new purpose-built facility at Shrivenham, in addition to military staff who are appointed for a term of duty.
The War Studies Group (comprising the Department of War Studies, the Defence Studies Department at JSCSC and the International Policy Institute (IPI) at King's College London has over 80 academic staff (including those based at Shrivenham) and a turnover of £2 million.
The Department of War Studies is one of only two such departments in the country to be consistently awarded the highest rating over the last three Research Assessment Exercises, and in 2001 both the Departments of War Studies and Defence Studies were also awarded the highest possible mark of 24 by the Quality Assurance Agency for the quality of their teaching. Also over the last year the Department has hosted high profile lectures by Geoff Hoon, Defence Secretary, Jack Straw, Foreign Secretary, and Tom Ridge, Assistant to the President for Homeland Security.
Members of the War Studies Group play an important national and international role in the development of defence and security policy, working with governments, international organisations and NGOs. This ranges from studies supporting the 'New Chapter' of the Ministry of Defence's Strategic Defence Review, to advice to countries in Africa and Asia seeking to assert civilian control over their military establishments, to offering comment and analysis to the world's media.
King's College London also won the Queen's Anniversary Prize in 1996 in recognition of the work of the Centre of Medical Law & Ethics.
Principal Professor Arthur Lucas commented :
"It is a tremendous honour for the College to receive the Queen's Anniversary Prize, and this is in recognition of how our staff in the War Studies Group have so rapidly, and so confidently, become a vital part of the academic training of the British armed forces."
Notes to editors Queen's Anniversary Prize
The Queen's Anniversary Prizes for Higher and Further Education recognise and reward the outstanding contribution that universities and colleges in the United Kingdom make to the intellectual, economic, cultural and social life of the nation.
The Prize Scheme was established in 1993 by The Royal Anniversary Trust, which was created as a charity on the 40th Anniversary in 1992 of the Accession to the Throne, with the consent of The Queen and the approval of the Prime Minister and all political parties. The first prizes were awarded in 1994.
King's College London
King's is one of the oldest and largest colleges of the University of London with some 12,400 undergraduate students and over 4,700 postgraduates in ten schools of study. The College had 24 of its subject-areas awarded the highest rating of 5* and 5 for research quality, demonstrating excellence at an international level. It is in the top group of five universities for research earnings and has an annual turnover of over £300 million and research income from grants and contracts in excess of £90 million (2001-2002).
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