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Horizons Institute

Four people presenting notes written on a large sheet of paper, stood in front of a large screen with a presentation slide on it about the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals.

Discover how we can work together to expand knowledge, broaden research perspectives and create thriving interdisciplinary connections.

Developing interdisciplinarity

Horizons Institute

Horizons Institute

The Horizons Institute fosters early-stage interdisciplinary research to address complex challenges, with programmes and interventions designed to ignite creative approaches and new ideas.

We equip researchers with the skills and means to build thriving collaborations, helping them explore their work from different perspectives and find new opportunities for collaborative interdisciplinary working.  

We work with researchers, higher education institutions and sector-wide initiatives across the UK and globally to support the development of a better connected and more equitable interdisciplinary research community. 

The Horizons Institute exists to bring people together from across all disciplines, to collaborate on high-risk, high-reward research addressing complex challenges. This can only be done by investing in the people we work with, developing skills and connecting across areas of expertise.  

Stuart Taberner, Director of the Horizons Institute

Learn more about our ambitions and measures of success, and read our Inclusion Strategy to find out more about the values that drive our work. 

News and blogs

Read the latest news and blogs from the Horizons Institute and our research community.

  • As part of our collaborative work in support of Bradford 2025, one project team has been looking at how creative practice can be used to enhance wellbeing for individuals and communities.

    A participant creates a visual display in their journal

  • Samantha Aspinall reflects on what she has learnt through her experiences as an observer on nine rounds of UKRI Future Leader Fellows and Cross Council Interdisciplinary Scheme.

    Wooden figures with speech-bubble graphics, representing many conversations happening at once

  • The Healthy Buildings Network have chosen to fund four diverse and novel research projects through their pump-priming scheme. Find out more about this in this blog post.

    A person wearing work gear, including a green cap and work gloves, sits on the edge of a living roof.

  • Crucible helps develop researchers' interdisciplinary skills, while nurturing and strengthening a global interdisciplinary community. Read participants' reflections in Siying Shen's blog post.

    Participants from the Global Crucible 2024/25 cohort pose in a group with posters showing graphic depictions of their research

  • Alongside her role in the Horizons Institute, Samantha Aspinall has been working with UKRI on their innovative cross-council funding call. Read about her experiences and take-aways in this new blog.

    Samantha Aspinall presents on the UKRI definition of interdisciplinary research

  • We are funding five projects through our Horizons Platform Exploratory Fund. Read more about them, as well as the aims of the programme, on our blog.

    Multicoloured arrows representing the flow of different ideas.

Case studies