There is a new UCL tradition that the Provost is invited to deliver the opening lecture in the lunch hour series every second year. This is to some extent a state of the nation speech, but it also explores some of the key issues confronting UCL and UK higher education more generally. The external environment is changing rapidly; the effects of globalisation in higher education are already being felt, and within UCL there are several major academic projects in the pipeline which will have significant impacts across the entire institution. There will be changes in our relations with London-based organisations, with our partner hospitals, with the City and with international collaborators.