Imperial to create cross-cutting ‘convergence science’ schools

Imperial College London is setting up four cross-cutting “schools of convergence science” to encourage staff to work with researchers in different disciplines on grand challenges.

Under a new institutional strategy unveiled on 5 March, Imperial’s staff will join one of four newly created academic schools focused on climate, energy and sustainability; human and artificial intelligence; health, medtech and robotics, and space; and security science and telecommunications – while also retaining their affiliation to their respective departments.

The new structures are designed to improve interdisciplinary research and lead to more cross-disciplinary taught master’s programmes.

Speaking to Times Higher Education, Imperial’s president, Hugh Brady, said the new schools would lead to “cross-cutting research at an unprecedented scale”.

“Some institutions have tried to do this, but here at Imperial we have, for example, close to 1,000 computer science researchers who, when working together with other academics and partners, can have a real impact,” said Professor Brady, who explained that “virtually every member of our community would have a disciplinary home but also a place in a convergence science school”.

The new schools would also create more opportunities for researchers to engage with industry, continued Professor Brady.

“Much of this was inspired by conversations with alumni – including tech engineers working in London and Silicon Valley – and industry leaders. This will give us a more effective shop window [for research ideas] and a new portal into Imperial for industry, as well as being a sandpit for different ideas,” he said.

PhD students had also welcomed the opportunity to work outside their main disciplinary areas, said Professor Brady, who said the idea was partly based on Imperial’s seven Global Challenge Institutes, which brought together researchers from different disciplines, including the Grantham Institute, which is focused on climate change.

Imperial’s new strategy also includes plans to expand Imperial’s second campus at White City, which is focused on innovation and science-based spin-outs. Its Deep Tech Campus will include a major new interdisciplinary centre co-locating mathematical, data and computer sciences, AI and machine learning, and business education, with research facilities for convergence science and industry-engaged research and partnerships.

Professor Brady, who has led Imperial since August 2022, having previously led the University of Bristol and University College Dublin, said he believed Imperial’s historic focus on innovation aligned with its reputation for world-class research meant it was well placed to succeed even if “top-10 universities in the US are much better resourced than we are”.

“If you think about STEM and business focus, our collegial interdisciplinary research culture, the appetite for innovation and our London location, then it’s a special cocktail – in that way, Imperial is a quite unique institution,” said Professor Brady.

Insisting that Imperial was a key part of Britain’s “science superpower” ambitions, he added: “I cannot see any other Plan B for the economy and we definitely want to play our part in that.”

jack.grove@timeshighereducation.com