New research institute paves way for multidisciplinary research

The inaugural workshop of IMSE took place in September 2015 to discuss multidisciplinary partnerships for addressing grand research challenges.

The Institute for Molecular Science and Engineering (IMSE) is the newest of six global institutes at Imperial College London, founded to establish and support multi-disciplinary research to address emerging grand challenges where molecular innovation plays an important role. IMSE aims to foster a new way of thinking via integrated, collaborative activities that enable engineering to create better products and solutions through molecular science. Multi-disciplinary research is more important than ever, as today’s novel product solutions have to deliver an all-round package, from functional molecules and materials up to formulation and manufacturing in order to reduce energy and material consumption, and gain a competitive advantage which will eventually lead to successful product deployment.   

IMSE brings together a range of academic skills required to address key industrial and societal challenges, aiming to create an environment that stimulates multi-disciplinary thinking by promoting research, education and translation. At Imperial, the institute supports the development of a Molecular Science and Engineering community.

In addition to encouraging collaboration across different departments, IMSE also aims to engage industrial partners and other stakeholders to develop grand challenge solutions through workshops and roadmap building that help to find opportunities for large-scale projects and to enhance discovery and innovation within the molecular field. While some projects on fundamental understanding are valuable across different disciplines in the long-term and, thus, receive support and attention from academia as well as industry, industrial research requires, at least in part, a fast ‘time-to-market’ in order to maintain a competitive edge.

IMSE’s inaugural co-creation workshop, held jointly with BASF, took place on 16 September 2015. A group of 25 Imperial academics and early career researchers from six departments, teamed up with 12 representatives from several BASF departments to discuss and develop new ideas and collaborations. Wide-ranging discussions were focused on addressing the two grand challenge areas identified to be of particular interest to BASF. The workshop set out to bring together industry experts from BASF with those from Imperial College to discuss ways to reduce energy and material consumption with focus on novel isotropic materials, self-healing materials, as well as improvements in manufacturing methods and computational modelling for the realisation of these materials. Several topics found interest from BASF and will be discussed in more detail.

Since 2013, Imperial has been one of 15 BASF strategic university partners, forming part of UNIQUE-The BASF Academic Partnership Program. The aim of the programme is to develop long-lasting relationships with top universities to strengthen BASF‘s innovation portfolio, visibility, and access to new technologies through identifying new opportunities and facilitating research collaborations. Imperial was selected to join the programme based on a number of criteria, including scientific competence and fit to BASF strategy.

Over the course of a day of stimulating discussions, common research interests were identified and areas of complementary research expertise were highlighted. The workshop also generated several unexpected outcomes, with new contacts and collaborations established at the Imperial-BASF interface and between Imperial College London participants. This underlines the potential for long-term collaboration between BASF and Imperial as well as the benefits of developing much stronger links across molecular science and engineering.

For further information on IMSE and its activities, including co-creation workshops, please email IMSE@imperial.ac.uk.

Quotes:

Jens Rieger, Senior Vice President Advanced Materials and Systems Research - Technology Incubation, BASF SE, said, "BASF has a long tradition of working with academia to translate innovate idea into important industrial products. In fact several products that have impacted society have come out of such close cooperations. The IMSE approach should help identifying topics and projects successfully that are relevant for both partners."

Professor Claire Adjiman FREng, co-Director of IMSE said, “Through IMSE we have a unique opportunity to lead engineering research and education in new directions and to sink our teeth into some of the grand challenges faced by industry and society. The creative buzz at the IMSE-BASF co-creation workshop was a clear demonstration of the potential of this joined-up integrated approach.”

Professor Nic Harrison FRSC FinstP, co-Director of IMSE said “IMSE is about a new way of thinking that allows fundamental advances in molecular sciences to be applied to innovation in engineering. The workshop was an excellent example of how the diverse research community at Imperial College can cooperate with a key industry partner to identify opportunities for the translation of current research into better products”.

Dr Lisa Kleiminger, a Research Associate at the Department of Chemical Engineering at Imperial College London said, “The discussions at the workshop were really lively and we identified some exciting projects for development. It was quite exceptional to be in a room of people with such wide-ranging areas of expertise: from molecular science, chemistry, engineering to industry and commercialisation”

About Imperial College London:

Imperial College London is one of the world's leading universities. The College's 14,000 students and 7,500 staff are expanding the frontiers of knowledge in science, medicine, engineering and business, and translating their discoveries into benefits for society.

Founded in 1907, Imperial builds on a distinguished past - having pioneered penicillin, holography and fibre optics - to shape the future. Imperial researchers work across disciplines to improve health and wellbeing, understand the natural world, engineer novel solutions and lead the data revolution. This blend of academic excellence and its real-world application feeds into Imperial's exceptional learning environment, where students participate in research to push the limits of their degrees.

Imperial collaborates widely to achieve greater impact. It works with the NHS to improve healthcare in West London, is a leading partner in research and education within the European Union, and is the UK’s number one research collaborator with China.

Imperial has nine London campuses, including its White City Campus: a 25 acre research and innovation centre in West London. At White City, researchers, businesses and higher education partners are co-locating to create value from ideas on a global scale.

About BASF:

At BASF, we create chemistry – and have been doing so for 150 years. Our portfolio ranges from chemicals, plastics, performance products and crop protection products to oil and gas. As the world’s leading chemical company, we combine economic success with environmental protection and social responsibility. Through science and innovation, we enable our customers in nearly every industry to meet the current and future needs of society. Our products and solutions contribute to conserving resources, ensuring nutrition and improving quality of life. We have summed up this contribution in our corporate purpose: We create chemistry for a sustainable future. BASF had sales of over €74 billion in 2014 and around 113,000 employees as of the end of the year. BASF shares are traded on the stock exchanges in Frankfurt (BAS), London (BFA) and Zurich (AN). Further information on BASF is available on the Internet at www.basf.com.