Sussex 2035 news

This week we are publishing our new strategy - Sussex 2035: creating progressive futures – flourishing, sustainability and progress for the whole world. During 2024 this strategy was developed with over 2700 members of our community, as they helped shape our University’s priorities for the next 10 years.

Drawing on our history

In October 2023, Vice-Chancellor Professor Sasha Roseneil shared a strategy paper to spark debate about Sussex’s identity and future direction. It recognised our rich tradition of interdisciplinary teaching and research, and proposed three transformational themes for Sussex 2035: environmental sustainability, human flourishing, and digital and data futures. These themes reflect our current strengths while tackling some of the world’s most pressing challenges.

Consulting our university community

After sharing the strategy paper, we invited students, staff and alumni to have their say through a survey. We asked for views on the key themes — how inspiring they felt, whether they focused on the right priorities, and if they truly reflected the spirit, strengths and ambitions of Sussex.

Alongside the survey, we hosted a series of in-person events. Over 100 students took part in two workshops with the Vice-Chancellor, while more than 600 staff joined two world-café discussions. We also ran two strategy-themed events for alumni and a dedicated engagement session for IDS colleagues.

Our Mission, Vision and Values

The feedback and ideas of staff have been vital in refining Sussex 2035’s Mission, Vision and Values.

Our Mission sits at the heart of Sussex 2035 and expresses ‘who we are and why we exist’:

The University of Sussex is a diverse and globally minded community of staff, students, and alumni.  We work together, and with partners near and far, to make the world a progressively better place. We do this by educating generations of change-makers, and by creating, disseminating, and applying ground-breaking knowledge and understanding. Our distinctive commitment to interdisciplinarity continues to open up new ways of thinking and solutions to environmental, scientific, social, and technological challenges. Our research and teaching are curiosity-driven and rigorous, addressing the most important issues of our time, and exercising stewardship over, and questioning, existing knowledge. We nurture academic excellence, professional leadership, and global citizenship amongst our students and staff through the development of creativity, critical thinking, and independence of mind.

Our Vision in Sussex 2035 is about harnessing our collective effort to create progressive futures for our university and for the whole world:

We will take strategic action to enable Sussex to thrive as a comprehensive, research-intensive, educationally excellent, student-centred university. We will make a distinctive, inventive and positive contribution to environmental sustainability, human flourishing, and digital and data futures through our research and innovation, our education and student-life provision, through our global and civic engagement, and in our institutional life and actions.

Our Values — Collaboration, Courage, Inclusion, Integrity and Kindness — continue into Sussex 2035. Through the consultation, there was strong support for these, and a new value has been added: Openness.

We will be open to each other, to the world, and to our city and region, welcoming and listening to people of all backgrounds, beliefs, and identities. We will share our knowledge, data, and the products of our research as widely as possible, valuing open-minds and seeking open dialogue.

To read the full Mission, Vision and Values statements, download a copy of Sussex 2035 or visit the strategy part of our website to watch our short strategy video.

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