Imperial College London

      Imperial College London (legally The Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine)is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom. Its origins lie with Prince Albert, Queen Victoria's husband, who championed creating a centre for science, technology and the arts in the area around South Kensington, which came to be known as "Albertopolis" and also comprises the Natural History Museum, Victoria and Albert Museum and Science Museum. Imperial has grown through mergers, including with St Mary's Hospital Medical School (in 1988), the National Heart and Lung Institute (in 1995) and Charing Cross and Westminster Medical School (in 1997). Queen Elizabeth II opened the the recently established Imperial College Business School building in 2004.A former constituent college of the University of London, it became independent during its centennial celebration in 2007.

Imperial is organised into four faculties - science, engineering, medicine and business - within which there are more than 40 departments, institutes and research centres. The main campus is located in Kensington with additional campuses in Chelsea, Hammersmith, Paddington, Berkshire and in Singapore. Imperial is a major centre for biomedical research and is part of the Imperial College Healthcare academic health science centre. It is a member of numerous university associations including the Association of Commonwealth Universities, European University Association, G5, Association of MBAs, League of European Research Universities and Russell Group and forms part of the "golden triangle" of leading English universities.

Imperial is consistently included among the best universities in the world, ranking 2nd in the QS World University Rankings (2014) and 9th in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings (2014).According to a corporate study in The New York Times its graduates are among the 10 most valued in the world.Imperial's faculty and alumni include 15 Nobel laureates, 2 Fields Medalists, 70 Fellows of the Royal Society, 82 Fellows of the Royal Academy of Engineering and 78 Fellows of the Academy of Medical Sciences.

History
The Great Exhibition was organised by Prince Albert, Henry Cole, Francis Fuller and other members of the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce. The Great Exhibition made a surplus of £186,000 used in creating an area in the South of Kensington celebrating the encouragement of the arts, industry, and science. Albert insisted the Great Exhibition surplus should be used as a home for culture and education for everyone. The vision built the Victoria and Albert Museum, Science Museum, Natural History Museum, Geological Museum, Royal College of Science, Royal College of Art, Royal School of Mines, Royal School of Music, Royal College of Organists, Royal School of Needlework, Royal Geographical Society, Institute of Recorded Sound, Royal Horticulatural Gardens, Royal Albert Hall and the Imperial Institute.Several Royal Colleges and the Imperial Institute merged to form what is now Imperial College London.