Open - Collaborative - Future-oriented

Research - Join up the Dots

Keele is a ‘dual intensity’ university in that it can demonstrate excellence in both research and education. 

ILAS promotes ‘interdisciplinary’ research at Keele. This takes various forms. Sometimes our academics and postgraduate researchers synthesize ideas and approaches stemming from different disciplines. Sometimes they combine ideas and approaches from different disciplines. And sometimes they apply ideas and approaches drawn from one discipline to another.

We think all of these approaches are interdisciplinary. But for us, true interdisciplinary research is characterized by:

  • An open approach which focusses on challenging or contested areas of enquiry and aims to develop shared understandings, methods and languages
  • A recognition that the challenges facing human societies require collaborative ways of thinking and working
  • An awareness that the future is likely to be more rather than less interdisciplinary and we need to prepare for that
  • A desire to communicate specialist insights in ways which promote public understanding

The Keele approach to interdisciplinarity aims to develop synergies between research and education and to support different kinds of conversation – both between academics, and between students and academics.