Our strategy goals, including for research, education, knowledge exchange and enterprise, and organisational excellence.

Our people commitments

People are our university.

With our students, staff, alumni and partners, we will build a safe, supportive community where we can truly be ourselves.

With greater diversity and inclusivity to reflect society, we will enable our education, research and enterprise to transform the communities we serve.

We will:

• treat each other with fairness and respect by individually and collectively living up to the actions in our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Strategic Plan
• co-develop with staff and students more effective and productive ways of working that support wellbeing and balanced, healthy lives
• become a more culturally rich and inclusive community where everyone belongs and is committed to our shared purpose
• empower everyone to thrive and enable them to achieve their full potential no matter what their vulnerabilities or disabilities
• attract, develop, and retain highly skilled and motivated staff by living our values, nurturing the creation of new ideas and innovations and deepening the partnership between professional service and academic staff
• create a single online gateway to multiple staff development opportunities, with flexible delivery options to suit a diversity of approaches to learning and encompassing all elements of our triple helix approach
• grow strategic partnerships with other world-leading universities and organisations to promote student and staff mobility, helping us tackle the world’s most urgent challenges
• launch our first comprehensive philanthropic and engagement campaign, uniting our students, staff, alumni and supporters to develop a more sustainable and enduring foundation for giving in all its forms

Our education commitments

As a community, it is our collective responsibility to continue to develop and deliver a transformative student experience and support programmes to enable our students and alumni to thrive.

What we teach, and how, will be informed by our triple helix approach and the experiences and knowledge we gain from our global connections.

The result will be a recognisable University of Southampton experience.

We will work in partnership with our students to:

• enable them to be the leaders of tomorrow who will transform the lives of others
• provide exemplary support for students’ wellbeing and to meet disabled students' needs, equipping them with the skills and mindset to flourish in the world of the future
• create a more inclusive and flexible teaching and learning experience, co-produced with students and employers to address their needs and expectations
• enhance our learning environments to foster both flexibility and creativity
• exploit the opportunities for engagement with our world-leading research and enterprise activities to allow students to develop their full potential
• ensure our graduates are recognised globally for a University of Southampton experience that sets them apart as curious, engaged, articulate, ethical, culturally aware, enterprising, and socially and environmentally responsible
• create outstanding University experiences that ensure students can follow their own paths, feel supported to thrive, participate in co-curricular activities and enjoy a sense of pride and belonging as members of our community
• simplify our processes, develop our understanding of people’s needs and enhance our services to support this goal
• support them post-graduation to become part of our vibrant alumni community, enhancing graduates’ career development and supporting them to share their skills and connections with future students

Our research commitments

Our world-class research has its foundations in curiosity-led research, disciplinary excellence, and interdisciplinary collaboration.

Together with our strong enterprise ecosystem, our remarkable people are trailblazers who both tackle global challenges and drive local opportunities.

The diversity and breadth of our research is a strength and ensures its long-term relevance and impact. By strengthening the mutually reinforcing links of our triple helix's approach, we will build an even more dynamic base to inspire the remarkable.

We will:

• better reflect society, starting with an increase in the ethnic diversity of our research community and the number of women in science, technology, engineering and maths, through a strong connection with our education and student experience activities
• ensure that our research activities benefit our educational practice, through student projects and internships, access to laboratory facilities and through interaction with educators who are at the cutting edge of their fields
• attract, support, and retain the next generation of research leaders from across the world, from different backgrounds and experiences
• champion positive change to achieve international excellence by investing in a significant research fellowship scheme
• ensure our vibrant doctoral college, with its focus on skills, wellbeing and career development, maximises collaborative opportunities for postgraduate researchers to gain experience across our triple helix approach
• build on our superb facilities, investing in the infrastructure that keeps our researchers at the forefront internationally and striving to use these to benefit education and enterprise activities
• secure funding to invest in one or more interdisciplinary research centres to harness the breadth of our research, from the creative and performing arts and the humanities to the social, physical and life sciences, to address global challenges and achieve socio-economic benefit
• create a new state-of-the-art interdisciplinary research facility with our partner University Hospital Southampton NHS Trust, bringing together world-class teams and facilitating regional collaboration to transform the future of healthcare and save lives faster
• use the University’s renowned marine research excellence, together with the city’s heritage and position as one of the UK’s major gateways to the world, to create a more environmentally sustainable maritime future
• ensure we remain the partner of choice in established partnerships and develop new relationships with a breadth of organisations, from industry to the health service to the third sector
• ensure that our systems and processes support our evolving research mission in a flexible and agile way
• improve the financial sustainability of our research

Our sustainability commitments

We will make sustainability a part of everything the University does by 2030. 

We will strive to achieve net zero for scope 1 and 2 emissions by 2030. Sustainability will be embedded into our triple helix approach and will be a personal and collective responsibility across all our campuses.

Our research will continue to respond to all of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals and we will make sustainability part of every University of Southampton education programme.

We will ensure that our enterprise activities have a positive environmental impact. We will bring students, staff and local residents together to create a cleaner, greener and healthier University.

We will:

• achieve net zero for by 2030 for both scope 1, direct greenhouse gas emissions that we control such as from operational vehicles and gas boilers, and scope 2, indirect emissions from electricity that we purchase
• measure our total emissions footprint and set targets for reducing scope 3, indirect emissions from sources we do not own or control, including emissions associated with travel, procurement of products, and waste and water
• make sustainability part of every University of Southampton education programme by 2025
• ensure that our research and enterprise activities have a positive environmental impact, developing a sustainability and resilience hub to improve our interdisciplinary impact in this important area
• give our people and the wider community the opportunities to learn more about the United Nations’ sustainable development goals and adapt our triple helix approach to support the changing world
• implement a sustainable and ethical investment policy to support positive change to address the climate crisis

Learn more about our initiatives to become a sustainable university.

Our place commitments

Our foundations and heritage make the University of Southampton a gateway to the world. We are deeply committed to Southampton as a city of culture and across the region will further develop our civic role of making a positive impact.

The mutual strengths of our triple helix approach, coupled with our remarkable people, will promote inclusiveness and improve lives.

We will grow our international footprint sustainably and expand opportunities for more students to experience our distinctive University of Southampton education offer.

We will:

• co-design civic university agreement with local groups, authorities, alumni, and partners to build sustainable communities, promote equality, improve health and wellbeing, transform educational opportunities, close the digital divide, and strengthen economic prosperity
• be an active partner with the city of Southampton to celebrate diversity, bringing people together through culture to create new economic and social opportunities, including by pursuing 'city of culture' status
• establish an evergreen funding mechanism to support investments focused on carbon reduction, sustainability, and environmental protection, to deliver beneficial impact for the region
• grow our international footprint sustainably to meet the aspirations and needs of individual regions
• expand opportunities including digital and online programmes so more students can experience our distinctive University of Southampton education provision
• build on our track record of contributing to a fairer future for all, including through our Access to Southampton and Ignite programmes, Social Impact Lab and Lifelab and the John Hansard Gallery
• strengthen the design of academic skills services for students from under-represented groups, working with them to enhance their careers and employability

Our organisational excellence commitments

Our ambitions require a truly 'One Southampton' approach to be embedded in all that we do. Creating a supportive culture, governance and infrastructure, built around doing the very best we each can, is essential.

Continued financial sustainability will enable us to invest confidently to meet our aspirations. We will enhance our physical estate, facilities and digital infrastructure.

Through collaboration we will devise future ways of working that embody our values and goals.

We will:

• devise future ways of working where our people will be trusted to work in partnership across teams to co-design improvements to our systems and processes
• enable the creativity of our professional services and academic staff to be strongly aligned to realise opportunities for continuous improvement
• ensure sufficient cash flow is generated so that, along with our secured long-term borrowings, we can continue to invest confidently to meet our aspirations
• ensure our governance supports the scale and complexity of our organisation, while being agile and enabling
• enhance our physical estate, facilities and digital infrastructure to provide ever-more creative, vibrant environments to support our ambitions, and strive to deliver services that are digitally leading-edge with a human face