All good things come to an end

While the IAS "in its current form will be disbanded", it was agreed that the current academic year “should be a year of transition and winding down for the IAS” and the faculties “should work to support interdisciplinarity in new ways and contribute to plans for a UCL-wide interdisciplinary space”. As conversations between the IAS Deputy Directors, Dr Pushpa Arabindoo and Professor Stephen Hart, and senior management are ongoing, it remains to be seen how the above will play out. 
   
The IAS will be open, active and busy as usual until the end of July. 

One date to save immediately: On 28 April 2026 (the date on our recent newsletter was incorrect!), we will host a one-day symposium that will celebrate the wealth of highly innovative, interdisciplinary research that has been generated within the auspices of the IAS over the last ten years. Details will be communicated in the Institute's newsletter.

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Needless to say, the “winding down” of the IAS is a huge loss for UCL and for the academic and intellectually engaged community. 
   
The IAS has always been about community. Over the past ten years, an exceptional group of scholars and academics from across the world have brought their research to the IAS and joined in conversation with each other. The IAS community also encompasses over 20 Research Centres and Networks which found a home under the IAS umbrella, and whose directors and affiliates come from every faculty at UCL. Our community also extends itself, via our events and publications, to the public. Many of our event attendees come from outside UCL and have become familiar faces over the years. Last but not least, there is the community that is the IAS staff. A small, dedicated team, so invested, hands-on and responsive.   
   
Intellectual exchange and conversation provide the ground for serendipitous opportunities, an often unaccounted for but indispensable element of research. But an increasingly utopian one in the current climate of academia. Maybe the IAS is, after all, a utopian island because of its often immeasurable research impact, engagement and outputs. An island sitting (unprotected) in a sea of hard facts and numbers. Maybe the IAS is too good to be true. Maybe.

Our April symposium will celebrate this culture of the ‘unpublished’ and the valuable tacit knowledge that has been produced in various formats over the decade.
   
If you would like to give your thoughts on this news, leave a comment on what the IAS has meant for you or share memories, you can submit them via this form. We are still thinking about ways to publish these submissions meaningfully, but in the meantime please let us know on the form whether you agree to your comments being made public. 
   
The IAS Team

Image: Photo by jcob nasyr on Unsplash