Our Ambition, Mission and Values

Scotland's 3rd oldest University  
Scotland's 3rd oldest University

Our ambition is to build on our history to enhance the University of Aberdeen’s reputation as one of the world’s leading universities.

Our mission is to be recognised throughout the world as a renowned international university, focussing on society’s future needs and challenges, employing the best staff and delivering a unique and stimulating intellectual experience for students.

Our strengths are our people, both current staff and students and our alumni, scattered widely across the globe.  We will work to engage with all the Aberdeen family in the next few years, through keeping them informed of our successes and engaging them with our plans

Distinctly excellent

Our idea of a university is centred on seven values and we will promote these in all that we do.

Pursuit of excellence

We aspire to excellence in our research, teaching, work with local, national and international partners, and in supporting and developing all students and staff that constitute our University community.

Internationally facing and at the heart of the community

Through acknowledging the international perspective of all our activities we will enhance our position as a global university. We are proud to be one of the most northerly institutions in the world and embrace our role as a regional university contributing to the community and making the most of our academic leadership and civic positioning.

Equality and diversity

We enjoy a diverse and cosmopolitan community which enriches our university, the City of Aberdeen and the North-East of Scotland. We embrace equality and diversity in all our work and encourage all our students and staff to achieve their full potential.

Sustainability and social responsibility

We are committed to the twin principles of sustainability and social responsibility as foundations for all our activities.

Openness, transparency and honesty

Our organisation is built around a community, and the success of any community or family is dependent on openness, transparency and honesty. We treat everyone with courtesy and respect, and endeavour to make our processes ever more transparent.

Ambition and innovation

We will be proactive and innovative in the way we anticipate and respond to future challenges.

Adding value

We aim that in all our activities we will maximise their potential to have a positive impact on the economy, society, health and well-being and environment of Scotland and beyond.

Strategic Objectives

In the following pages we set out our strategic objectives and how we will achieve them:

  • To deliver a high-quality student experience, growing the population where there are opportunities to do so through the recruitment of students with outstanding potential
  • To improve our competitiveness as an international research-driven university, and to be at the forefront of setting and delivering the research agenda, nationally and internationally
  • As well as encouraging blue sky investigator-led research, to use our broad disciplinary base to focus on a small number of multidisciplinary themes in which Aberdeen is, or has the potential to be, a world leader or global partner of choice, and which fit with our institutional values and characteristics
  • To embed a culture of internationalisation across our activities and, in so doing, to enhance our reputation as a global university
  • To continue to promote partnership working in all that we do and to engage fully with our regional, national and international partners, our stakeholders, and our alumni
  • To have in place support and infrastructure that will promote the achievement of our academic aspirations