From climate to brain health: exploring new research frontiers with UCL

The two-day workshop brought together researchers from humanities, engineering, medicine, and social sciences to spark new ideas and lay the groundwork for future collaboration. With thematic groups ranging from planetary health and food security, urban living in the climate crisis to young people and mental health, the event encouraged researchers to collaborate across disciplines.

Contributing to sustainable development in Stockholm and London

For Lisa Vanhala, Professor of Political Science and Pro-Vice Provost for the Grand Challenge Theme of the Climate Crisis at UCL External link, opens in new window., the event highlighted the kind of collaboration required to confront global challenges like the climate crisis.

“The climate crisis is a multidimensional challenge that no single discipline can tackle alone,” said Vanhala. “It requires deep interdisciplinary thinking, which is paradoxical in a way — the urgency of the crisis demands action, yet working across borders and disciplines means slowing down, listening, and making our research accessible to others. Workshops like this create the space for that.”

Vanhala participated in the thematic session on “City Living in the Climate Crisis” and noted that increased research collaboration between the universities could benefit both London and Stockholm.

“It was clear that researchers from all four universities share a strong commitment to contributing to science-based policies for sustainable development. Our UCL researchers took away valuable insights from the workshop that we can share with boroughs and partner organisations working on climate adaptation in London. In the current geopolitical moment, it’s more important than ever to strenghten partnerships,” said Vanhala.

From workshop to research proposal: aiming for joint EU funding

Antero Silva, a toxicologist at Karolinska Institutet, studies how chemicals and pharmaceuticals impact human health and food safety. He sees interdisciplinarity and cross-border collaboration as essential for the success of his research.

“Interdisciplinary and cross-border work accelerates research and new discoveries. It was humbling to meet researchers in other disciplines and listen to their wealth of knowledge. As part of the “Planetary Health and Food Security” group at the workshope initiated a collaboration and plan to apply for seed funding,with the aim to develop a joint EU grant application,” said Antero.

He believes universities need to become better at breaking silos, supporting and promoting collaboration across disciplines and borders.

“We should build more bridges like the Stockholm Trio–UCL partnership. To make these collaborations thrive, we need dedicated seed funding for pilot projects, smooth processes for administration and data sharing, and support for staff exchange to help turn ideas into long-term research efforts. I look forward to seeing how this interdisciplinary partnership will develop further.”

Brain research across borders

For Jeanette Hellgren Kotaleski, Professor in computational neuroscience at KTH, the workshop supported closer collaboration with UCL to advance research on the effects of medication on the brain.

“To make a breakthrough in brain health we need to combine both experimental neuroscience, computational and psychological approaches, as none of these fields have treatment successes that by themselves help a majority of patients, said Professor Hellgren Kotaleski who visited the UCL Computational Psychiatry Lab with Stockholm trio colleagues during the visit in London.

“UCL has several relevant experimental as well as computational research environments that can widen our community and encourage interdisciplinary work. We also have wide research environments within Stockholm Trio but there are more funding opportunities if you collaborate across countries.”

Links

UCL and Stockholm Trio initiate joint seed funding to support collaborations Opens in new window.

UCL External link, opens in new window.