Imperial expands links with Chinese innovators

Imperial’s President Alice Gast will be joined in China (from Monday 7 September) by some of the world top ten university’s most visionary scholars including immunologist Professor Maggie Dallman, data scientist Professor Yike Guo and synthetic biologist Dr Karen Polizzi. The trip comes ahead of President Xi Jinping’s first state visit to the UK.

Imperial College London is the UK’s number one academic research partner with China. Its Chinese collaborators include Huawei, CSR, Tsinghua University and Zhejiang University. These partnerships include cutting-edge research in fields including nanotechnology, bioengineering, computing, data science, advanced materials, offshore energy, environmental engineering and public health.

Professor Alice Gast, President of Imperial College London, said: “Imperial is pleased to collaborate with China’s leading businesses and universities while educating many of the country’s finest students. We have much to learn from each other, and we can achieve a lot together.

“Imperial offers a network of world-class academics, students and partners, an entrepreneurial and innovative culture, and access to the world’s most exciting city, London. We are furthering research that adds real value to society. Our Chinese graduates leave Imperial with the skills and innovative mindset needed to thrive in a fast-changing world.

“Working with Chinese colleagues is enabling us to tackle fundamental questions and challenges. From climate change to making big data work for society, from aircraft and train efficiency to personalised healthcare. The challenges are formidable, but the potential rewards are great.”
Public-private collaboration

At the World Economic Forum in Dalian on 10 September, Professor Gast will speak about how the public and private sectors can successfully collaborate to boost innovation, research and development, while colleagues working in the emerging field of synthetic biology will present their latest research findings and how they could be put to industrial benefit.

Other Imperial presenters at the World Economic Forum in Dalian include a group of synthetic biologists: Dr Karen Polizzi, Dr John Heap, Dr Guy-Bart Stan and Dr Tom Ellis. They will contribute to an Ideas Lab exploring how synthetic biology is leading to pharmaceutical breakthroughs, reducing industrial waste, the design of new biological systems, and small-scale medical manufacturing.

Also participating in Dalian are two Imperial academics, Chinese biochemist Dr Jia Li and Ukrainian computational medic Dr Kirill Veselkov, who have been named among the World Economic Forum’s “40 extraordinary scientists under 40”.

At the same gathering, Imperial chemist Professor David Klug will deliver an introductory talk on 'hyperconnected healthcare’.

The Imperial group will join global leaders from government, business and academia at the World Economic Forum as they explore how technological progress, investment in productive capital and proactive responses to demographic shifts can contributed to more balanced economic growth.

Innovating education

Imperial has more than 2,000 Chinese students – the largest nationality apart from Britons. Applications from Chinese students are at an all-time high.

"The essential ingredients for great science remain creativity, innovation, adaptability and keeping an open mind," said Maggie Dallman, Associate Provost for Academic Partnerships.

During their trip to China, visiting Beijing, Dalian and Hong Kong, the Imperial team will meet some of the country’s brightest students who are considering applying to Imperial and taking up careers in science, technology, engineering and medicine.

During a series of Beijing high school visits, Professor Maggie Dallman, Associate Provost (Academic Partnerships) at Imperial College London, will emphasise the ways in which creativity and innovation are vital skills – alongside academic excellence – for successful scientists.

Professor Maggie DallmanProfessor Dallman (pictured) said: "As the great scientific discoveries of the past have shown us – from penicillin to graphene, holography to the Higg’s Boson – the essential ingredients for great science remain creativity, innovation, adaptability and keeping an open mind. Our education is designed to nurture these talents and prepare our students to use their knowledge in solving the challenges we face.

“Almost every day I meet brilliant Chinese students at Imperial who are willing to take risks, and to apply their outstanding intellectual skills to tackling societal problems. They are helping defeat climate change, cure diseases and to create new opportunities for economic growth. I look forward to exchanging ideas with more young scientists in China.”

The Imperial group will also present some of the College’s latest discoveries to alumni, students, parents and guests in Beijing.

Those presenting in a session chaired by Professor Dallman include:

• Dr Karen Polizzi, who will talk about her work with biosensors to see what is happening inside cells and measure their stress response. This has applications for treating neurodegeneration and for developing new pharmaceutical drugs.
• Dr John Heap, who will show some of his work to convert industrial waste into useful products, like energy.
• Dr Guy-Bart Stan, who will explain how his Imperial team are developing ways of designing and controlling new biological systems as easily as humans can architect buildings, create software or manage industrial machinery.
• Dr Tom Ellis, who will talk about the future possibilities of reprogramming simple cells, such as yeasts, which could lead to the routine small-scale manufacturing of new medicines and materials.