Insights

Insights and opinion from Imperial

Below is a range of insight and opinion pieces from the experts at Imperial. For solutions to your current challenges click the ‘Find an expert’ tab above – or simply contact us with your specific need.

You can also work with Imperial’s experts in other ways, including collaborating on longer term research, licensing our technology – or finding inspiration through our events.

Meet your Net Zero goals

Meet your Net Zero goals

Subsequent to the Paris Agreement and COP26 - recognizing there is no planet B, organisations and individuals alike are getting their heads around what a net zero future looks like and doing their bit to create a greener, carbon-neutral society. Imperial's experts can help. read more

Decision-making under uncertainty

Decision-making under uncertainty

Decision-making under uncertainty - Read how Imperial academics are helping companies maximise performance even in highly uncertain times. read more

Life after lockdown: Work and wellbeing

Life after lockdown: Work and wellbeing

Businesses are under huge strains, from managing the bottom line to understanding ways in which they can continue to operate. Taking care of your staff will be a hugely important factor that is under your influence, so check out how Imperial's ecosystem can help you support your employees' wellbeing 'at work'. read more

New Normal: Batteries, carbon calculators and UK’s electricity mix

New Normal: Batteries, carbon calculators and UK’s electricity mix

Build a more resilient, more sustainable and greener future, whether you’re part of the energy sector, a policy-maker or looking to cut your energy costs to make your business more efficient. read more

Life after lockdown: Research and development

Life after lockdown: Research and development

With lockdown and limited access to labs in-house R&D is proving difficult and costly right now. Imperial's experts can undertake testing, review tech or offer their tech under licence. read more

Life after lockdown: COVID-19 response

Life after lockdown: COVID-19 response

Imperial's experts, from a wide range of disciplines, have and continue to keep us informed about COVID-19 and the coronavirus response, save lives through vaccines and testing - and provide solutions to protect the NHS. read more

Life after lockdown: Energy policy and adapting behaviours

Life after lockdown: Energy policy and adapting behaviours

Build a more resilient, more sustainable and greener future, whether you’re part of the energy sector, a policy-maker or looking to cut your energy costs to make your business more efficient. read more

Life after lockdown: Energy

Life after lockdown: Energy

Build a more resilient, more sustainable and greener future, whether you’re part of the energy sector, a policy-maker or looking to cut your energy costs to make your business more efficient. read more

Life after lockdown: Infrastructure

Life after lockdown: Infrastructure

By making our infrastructure smarter, more resilient and more sustainable we will be better-placed to emerge as a stronger society. It's just requires brave, data-based decisions - and riding the current political and social challenges. read more

Imperial’s COVID-19 vaccine

Imperial’s COVID-19 vaccine

As the first trials of Imperial’s COVID-19 vaccine candidate got underway in June, the team leading this pioneering work talk though the science of the vaccine and how they will find out whether it protects people from the disease. read more

Life after lockdown: Food security

Life after lockdown: Food security

Food security, like energy, is a universal issue. Famine has affected large parts of the developing world for generations and the COVID-19 crisis highlighted shortcomings in more developed countries’ reliance on long chains or big, international suppliers. What's next? read more

Imperial’s response to COVID-19

Imperial’s response to COVID-19

Experts across a wide range of disciplines have been and are continuing to to keep government and society informed about COVID-19, save lives through vaccines and testing - and protect precious workforces like the NHS. read more

Transport – sector’s response to COVID-19

Transport – sector’s response to COVID-19

As a result of the COVID-19 outbreak, transport providers have to change how they manage their organisations and serve their customers. The Transport Strategy Centre at Imperial have summarised these practices and approaches to help others optimise their responses. read more

Life after lockdown: Leadership

Life after lockdown: Leadership

As your business adapts to novel demands on its operations, communications and HR management, ethical leadership could help your company be more agile and productive. read more

Modelling an unprecedented pandemic

Modelling an unprecedented pandemic

During the COVID-19 pandemic, scientists tried to understand the behaviour of the tiny virus particles as well as their effects on very large numbers of human hosts, attempting to bridge these two worlds coherently. But ‘the science’ isn’t a singular entity: it’s highly collaborative, consensus based – and yes, subject to uncertainty. read more

Life after lockdown: Business as unusual

Life after lockdown: Business as unusual

How can you adapt to the 'new normal' without access to facilities, a full workforce or face to face meetings – and with consumers shifting spending even further online? How can you flourish? read more

New Normal: Environment

New Normal: Environment

Lockdown during the COVID-19 crisis meant less unnecessary air travel and fewer vehicles on the road, thanks to more home-working. How can we apply what we learnt to the longer-term fight against climate change?. read more

Life after lockdown: Health and healthcare

Life after lockdown: Health and healthcare

As the first volunteer receives Imperial’s COVID-19 vaccine – academics from across Imperial are working on solutions to take us past the pandemic into life after lockdown. read more

Life after lockdown: Transport

Life after lockdown: Transport

COVID-19 has changed everything. Or has it? How can transport companies, commuters and consumers adjust? Planes, trains and automobiles - best practice, e-mobility and air quality discussed. read more

Mission to the Sun

Mission to the Sun

Understanding the Sun’s moods, and how these influence the solar wind, is the aim of Solar Orbiter, a European Space Agency mission that has Imperial-built kit on board. read more

The search for a cure

The search for a cure

For the past 25 years Imperial has been at the heart of the hunt for a cure for HIV. This is the story of that search – of the highs, the lows, the setbacks and the breakthroughs. read more

Transition to zero pollution

Transition to zero pollution

Building a future that is free from human-made pollution will require a complete realignment of almost all aspects of modern industry – coupled with scientists, engineers and economists collaborating on a scale not seen before. read more

Pandemics and privacy

Pandemics and privacy

Contact tracing apps will take and keep some data from users. This insight discusses ways of minimising privacy implications. read more

Cleaner greener plastics

Cleaner greener plastics

Expertise in upstream material science, chemistry and product design prevents plastic from becoming waste - plus engineering and environmental policy know-how reduce leakage into the environment. read more

Design Psychology

Design Psychology

As human-facing technologies change the way we interact, Dr Nejra van Zalk considers how mental health can be put at the forefront of digital platform design. read more

Factories of the Future

Factories of the Future

Additive manufacturing is an automated production process enabling complex 3D designs to be transformed into physical objects. Read about the benefits and implications. read more

Healthcare AI

Healthcare AI

AI not only automates problem-solving carried out by doctors, but can also make quicker and better decision and apply problem-solving techniques that humans alone could not. read more

Digital transformation

Digital transformation

Some think of business as usual, replacing physical tasks with digital alternatives. Others envisage a more profound change, with new products or services made possible by digital technologies. read more

Do bots spread fake news?

Do bots spread fake news?

If bots aren’t responsible for spreading fake news, could automated systems form part of the solution, helping to identify false stories and check their spread? read more

Carbon capture and storage

Carbon capture and storage

Imperial researchers are working to make CCS more efficient, fine-tune our understanding of risk, and develop economics and policy proposals. read more

Economic impact of COVID19

Economic impact of COVID19

Reactions and analysis of the impact of coronavirus on business and the economy with opinion on economic recovery, government spending, interest rates, global supply chains, ability of businesses to respond and adapt - and carbon dividends. read more

Innovative body modifications

Innovative body modifications

From mind reading machines to edible water bottles, self-learning bionic hands to smart tattoos, the feature article highlights a range of inventions created by staff, students and citizen scientists which aim to make our lives a little more exciting and a little easier. read more

Robotic revolution

Robotic revolution

Robots are already used to pick and pack online deliveries, vacuum our homes, and to enable surgeons to carry out life-saving operations. In the coming decades, robots have the potential to further enhance human capabilities, providing better care, more efficient transport, and tackling mundane tasks. read more

Fighting misinformation

Fighting misinformation

In the midst of the pandemic, misinformation and misrepresentation is more prevalent than ever, from 5G infrastructure being linked to the spread of the virus, the benefits of use of face masks by the public - to how far the airborne virus can be transmitted, potential 'treatments' and more read more

The future of urban air

The future of urban air

How could future technologies and social interventions change urban air for city dwellers? Hover over the map created by Imperial's researchers, futurists and our Tech Foresight team. read more

Life after lockdown: Economy and recovery

Life after lockdown: Economy and recovery

COVID-19 has bought parts of the economy to a standstill and the costs of furloughing great swathes of the UK workforce must be met. Imperial’s academics look at how we can re-boot business – and whether the economy can be re-built with cleaner and greener investment read more

Case studies

Cystic Fibrosis clinical advisory board

Cystic Fibrosis clinical advisory board

Our consultants shared their expertise in Cystic Fibrosis (CF), drug development and clinical trials to help Proteostasis Therapeutics assess the combination of compounds aimed at treatments to improve lung function. read more

Stabilising the Leaning Tower of Pisa

Stabilising the Leaning Tower of Pisa

Professor Burland, a soil mechanics engineer, selected by the Italian Government to help re-position and stabilise the Leaning Tower of Pisa as part of a 14 strong rescue committee. read more

Biofuels greenhouse gas calculator

Biofuels greenhouse gas calculator

Expertise in advanced biorenewables used to help HGCA accurately calculate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the growth and production of raw materials for biofuels. read more