UCL was established in 1826 to open education in England for the first time to students of any race, class or religion. UCL is ranked eighth in the world’s top ten universities by the QS World University Rankings (2020) and the top- rated university in the UK for research strength (Research Excellence Framework 2014), by a measure of average research score multiplied by staff numbers submitted. It was rated top not only in the overall results, but in each of the assessed components: publications and other research outputs, research environment and research impact. Nobel Prizes have been awarded to 29 people who were students or academics at UCL. UCL attracts the third highest number of academic citations per faculty member in the UK showing the high esteem and relevance of the institution’s research (QS 2013).

The Bartlett at UCL is a world-leading, multidisciplinary faculty of the built environment. According to the QS rankings, the Bartlett is ranked #1 in the world in the subject area of the built environment. This recognition reflects the wide-ranging and far-reaching impact of the research undertaken by staff members. The Bartlett School of Environment, Energy and Resources (BSEER) is home to the Faculty’s Institutes that specialise in Energy (UCL EI), Environment (UCL IEDE), Resources (UCL ISR) and Heritage (UCL ISH). BSEER allows staff to participate more easily in multidisciplinary research to solve real-world problems. The BIMERR project will be based at the Institute for Environmental Design and Engineering (IEDE) which includes members of BSEER and has been recognised as “world-leading” in REF2014, where it was ranked top in the UK for “Research Power” and “Research Environment” (“An environment that is conducive to producing research of world-leading quality, in terms of its vitality and sustainability”). Also, IEDE had the greatest number of published outputs in the UK rated as “world- leading in terms of originality, significance and rigour.