University of Leeds awarded Queen Elizabeth Prize for Education in recognition of its pioneering research in textiles and fashion

This is the fourth time the University has received the honour, following awards recognising achievements in climate change research, transport studies, and biomedical engineering

The University of Leeds has been awarded the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Education (QEP) – the UK’s most prestigious national honour for higher education – in recognition of its 150-year legacy of innovation and excellence in textile research. 

The Queen Elizabeth Prizes for Education (formerly the Queen’s Anniversary Prizes) celebrate outstanding work by UK universities and colleges that demonstrates quality, innovation and real public benefit through education and research. Around twenty Prizes are awarded in each cycle. 

Leeds’ award highlights the University’s global leadership in textiles, from its historic foundations through to the cutting-edge research – undertaken at the Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Cultures’ School of Design, and at LITAC (Leeds Institute for Textiles and Colour) – that continues to transform industries, consumer practices and communities today. 

Professor Muhammad Tausif, Head of the School of Design, said: 

“This award honours not just the University of Leeds’ rich history of pioneering research and achievements in textiles, fashion and colour, but also our restless drive for excellence and innovation. At the School of Design, our curiosity and challenge-led research combines creativity, technology, and science to unearth new seams of knowledge and deliver solutions that truly make a difference for industry, for people, and for the planet.  

“Leeds researchers are developing new materials and processes that are helping industries address critical challenges, from sustainable fashion and circular economies to textiles used in healthcare, filtration and advanced materials. We continue to offer world leading student education and professional education in textiles, fashion and colour.  

“As Head of the School of Design I extend my warmest congratulations to past and present colleagues at the School, at LITAC and indeed to all of our valued partners, who have played a part in this incredible achievement. Here’s to the next 150 years.” 

Professor Stephen Russell, Director of Leeds Institute of Textiles and Colour (LITAC), said:  

“The Queen Elizabeth Prize for Education has recognised textiles as a key area of research and innovation at the University of Leeds. With our large global alumni network, creative education programmes and research partnerships with some of the world’s most well-known retailers and textile companies, the University’s impact extends far beyond academia. Thanks to its wide-ranging research expertise and strong culture of collaboration, Leeds is exceptionally well-positioned to address key challenges in the textile industry and to drive innovative advances in colour and polymer science with applications across multiple sectors.” 

Professor Andrew Thorpe, Executive Dean of the Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Cultures, said: 

“Textiles are woven into the history of Leeds and the west Yorkshire region, and this Prize recognises the University’s essential and ongoing role in that story. We are incredibly proud of our colleagues in Design and LITAC, and of all the brilliant work they do to shape a more sustainable, prosperous equitable and vibrant future.” 

Leeds’ 150-years of outstanding textile research and teaching 

The University’s QEP submission showcased the rich heritage of textile innovation at Leeds – tracing its roots in the Yorkshire College of Science (founded 1874), established with support from the Clothworkers’ Company in the late nineteenth century. From these origins, Leeds has built one of the world’s foremost centres for textile research, combining scientific excellence with industrial collaboration to shape advances in manufacturing, sustainability, and design. 

Pivotal to the recognition of textile research at the University of Leeds is the Leeds Institute of Textiles and Colour (LITAC), a university wide interdisciplinary research institute, which is the result of a significant co-investment by the Clothworkers’ Company and the University of Leeds. This co-investment marks the continuous commitment to textile innovation by the Clothworkers’ Company at the University.  

Paired with the most extensively equipped textile research facilities in the School of Design, LITAC is positioned to deliver research and partnerships that prepare students for leadership across global sectors. 

Professor Shearer West, Vice-Chancellor and President of the University of Leeds, said: 

“We are proud of the University's extensive textiles heritage and our long-standing contribution to one of the region's key industrial sectors. This prestigious prize, awarded at the highest level of state, recognises not just those talented teams innovating in this broad-ranging discipline today, but our institution as a whole. Our researchers are addressing a vast range of global challenges in areas including sustainability, healthtech and performance textiles. I am looking forward to seeing how the next phase of collaboration and innovation unfolds.” 

The Hon Mary Ann Slim, Master of The Clothworkers’ Company, said:  

“Today’s University of Leeds emerged from small beginnings in textiles, in a region throbbing with textile mills. In the late-19th century, The Clothworkers’ Company helped enable those early steps, fostering innovation, then as now. With the stark reality of climate change and acute economic pressures on the textile industry, the coming into being of the Leeds Institute of Textiles and Colour (LITAC) was a timely and essential development. In four short years, LITAC has forged a highly effective, collaborative, industry-facing engine of opportunity for exciting and relevant innovation. The technologies that emerge have the potential to be transformative and will have sustainability at their core. The Clothworkers’ Company is proud to have supported LITAC in 2021, with the largest grant in our near 500-year history – a landmark in an ongoing partnership of over 150 years. We are delighted for the University at this further, exciting achievement.” 

Leeds is among approximately 20 institutions to receive a Queen Elizabeth Prize for Education this year. The formal announcement will be made at a reception on Tuesday 25 November 2025, with the Prize to be presented by a senior member of the Royal Family at a ceremony on Tuesday 24 February 2026. 

This is the fourth time the University has received the honour, following awards recognising achievements in climate change research, transport studies, and biomedical engineering. 

For more information about the award, contact the University of Leeds Press Office at pressoffice@leeds.ac.uk. 

Read more about the University of Leeds’ history of innovation in textiles and fashion.