

The Imperial Institute was opened by Queen Victoria, who laid the first brick.

The area included the Natural History Museum, the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Science Museum, the Royal Albert Hall and the Imperial Institute. The area was referred to as "Albertopolis" by sceptics. Under his guidance, the Crown bought land in South Kensington to establish educational and cultural institutions. Imperial was formed indirectly by Prince Albert. It forms part of the 'Golden Triangle' of British universities. Imperial is a member of the G5, the League of European Research Universities, Oak Ridge Associated Universities and the Russell Group. There are currently 14 Nobel Prize winners and two Fields Medal winners amongst Imperial's alumni and current and former faculty. Imperial is ranked 26th in the world (and 5th in Europe) in the 2010 Academic Ranking of World Universities, 7th in the world (and 4th in Europe) in the 2010 QS World University Rankings, and 9th in the world (and 3rd in Europe) in the 2010 Times Higher Education World University Rankings. It had a total income of £694 million in 2009/10, of which £297 million was from research grants and contracts. Imperial has around 14,700 full-time students and 3,330 academic and research staff. With 525,233 square metres, it has the largest working estate of any higher education institution in the UK. IC has a number of other campuses in Central London. It is on the boundary between the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and the City of Westminster. Imperial's main campus is in the South Kensington area of Central London. 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. Imperial ranked 22 in the 2014 Shanghai world rankings. It ranks 2nd in the 2015 QS World University Rankings and 9th in the 2015 Times Higher Education World University Rankings. It became fully independent in 2007, the 100th anniversary of its founding. Imperial College was a constituent college of the University of London. It specialises in business, engineering, medicine and science. Imperial College London (IC) is a large university in central London. Global Alliance of Technological Universities
