Start something new

Application > New Activities Incubator > Fully-fledged society

Your application is submitted to the New Activities Committee (NAC) and Activities team who will review your initial idea. If your initial idea meets the criteria, you will develop it with the support of the NAC Committee and Activities team. Once developed, your idea will go through the final review stage. If successful you will enter the New Activities Incubator (you will find out more about this stage if your application is approved). If you are successful in meeting all the Incubator milestones you will graduate into a fully-fledged society.

Successful applications:

Ideas that are approved will be placed in the 'New Activities Incubator' (NAI or 'the Incubator'); this is a ‘buffer’ period whereby you receive support and training from the Activities team to allow you to develop into becoming a fully-fledged Club or Society. You will receive an email with the outcome of your application and then another email regarding the next steps once we have set you up on the system (this may take 2-3 weeks).

Unsuccessful applications:

The reason for this might be that your idea is too similar to an already existing society and/or does not meet the criteria. In this case, the committee would recommend that you engage with the existing society and work together on your idea. Another reason could be that the application itself is not as strong as it could be. You may reapply in the next academic year.

• An idea for a club and society that does not already exist and contributes towards the student experience 
• An idea that aligns with Union & university values
• Activities and aims should not overlap with existing Clubs, Societies or Projects (here are all our current groups)
• You need 3 founders (including yourself) who will lead the new group for the rest of the academic year. Submit a ticket here

• Check your idea. Does your idea meet the criteria? What are the aims and objectives of your group? What will our core activity consist of? Does this idea for a club, society or project already exist?
• Who is going to help me run my club or society? You need 3 founders (including yourself) who will lead the new group for the rest of the academic year. We advise that all founders can commit to the full timeline (from inception to fully-fledged society)
• Who is going to join my club or society? All societies need a minimum of 20 members, but we will support you to get there.

First review by new Activities Committee & Activities team

• Initial idea approved or rejected- at this stage you may be unsuccessful if the idea does not meet the criteria, or you will be assigned support to develop your idea 
• Assigned a student sponsor (from a Management Group) - to help build and develop your idea and understand the union's processes

Final review by new Activities Committee & Activities team

• Successful groups created and enter the incubator
• Onboarding - learning more about Union processes, training & information

If you have any questions about the application process you can submit a ticket via our portal here

Here are only a few of the many reasons as to why it is good to take on this challenge:

• You will gain invaluable skills that employers are looking for
• You will meet likeminded individuals who can become your friends
• You support others to build a community and find a sense of belonging
• The activities you deliver will support students to advance their academic development

Sports club – a physical activity with the potential to compete, or a recognised sport by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). At the point of application, the Union will review whether it is appropriate for sports clubs to be part of the Imperial athletes community.

Society – the majority of our student groups are called societies. These vary widely from faculty and departmental societies, to arts or cultural groups, and many more. Where it is clear that a group is not a sports club or student-led project, they will be labelled as a society.

We also have other student community groups at Imperial that have a different purpose within the Imperial Community that fall under the category of representation. You can find out more about campaign groups and Liberation networks by emailing the Representation team at icu.representation@imperial.ac.uk

If you are interested in starting a Club or Society, you can follow the new activities application process which is led by the Activities team.