Upcoming Event - POLIMI Lunch Seminar with Abhijit Sengupta (University of Surrey), 29 October

A lunch seminar with Abhijit Sengupta (University of Surrey) will be held at the Polytechnic University of Milan on 29 October 2025.

Does Interdisciplinarity in Research Really Generate Societal Impact? A Study of Research Collaborations in British Universities

The project addresses the long-standing and critical question of whether the widespread promotion of interdisciplinary research (IDR) in universities genuinely translates into tangible societal impact, specifically through enhanced engagement with industry and society.

Results from a large-scale longitudinal analysis of British universities reveal that a university’s success in generating societal impact depends not simply on the presence of interdisciplinary projects alone, but is critically determined by how widely and evenly this interdisciplinarity is distributed across its entire research portfolio and knowledge domains. The impact it generates varies quite significantly on the engagement pathways undertaken, with both commercialization (through patenting and spinouts) and regional development being largely being unaffected.

However, industry contracted research, consultancies and large collaborative projects involving do get affected by the degree of interdisciplinarity, at least at the organizational level. Ongoing research continues to examine whether interdisciplinarity as a paradigm is a critical mediator between the nature of research collaborations and its eventual societal impact.

To register, please access event page.

• Event Information:

• Room 1.25 (first floor)

• Politecnico di Milano

• Bovisa Campus Building BL26

• Via Raffaele Lambruschini 4/B,

• 20256 Milano