EU Deputy Ambassador joins the Great Exhibition Road Festival

EU Deputy Ambassador to the UK Isabell Poppelbaum called in to the Eureka Zone as part of the Great Exhibition Road Festival.

During the 2025 Great Exhibition Road Festival, Imperial’s Main Entrance played host to an interactive zone highlighting a number of Imperial’s research collaboration across Europe. Hosted by Associate Provost (Societal Engagement) Professor Maggie Dallman and joined by Chair of Council Vindi Banga, Ms Poppelbaum met with ten Imperial research teams working with colleagues across the continent addressing health challenges, developing new sustainable materials and enhancing our understanding of the earth’s atmosphere and beyond.

Several projects within the Eureka Zone have been directly supported through Horizon Europe, the European Union’s research and innovation programme, which funds cutting-edge research at Imperial. Horizon Europe creates the opportunities for researchers to collaborate with leading teams from across Europe and beyond, with Imperial being awarded 290 grants so far across the programme.

These awards include CERTAINTY, a project that seeks to understand how clouds reacts with aerosols and particulates in the atmosphere, facilitating more accurate predictions of extreme weather events and planning of climate change mitigation strategies. Dr Ed Gryspeerdt, Lecturer in Atmospheric Physics in the Department of Physics, described to Ms Poppelbaum how his research as part of the 18-partner consortia will drive global understanding of these phenomena.

The Deputy Ambassador also discussed collaborations with Professor Leroy Gardner, Professor of Structural Engineering in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, who has been part of successive European consortia developing the next generation of steel structures with significantly reduced carbon footprints. 

Strategic partnerships across Europe

The Eureka Zone also featured collaborations with Imperial’s strategic partners, in CNRS and TU Munich. Collaborations with CNRS on cross-disciplinary research projects utilising laser therapy treatments for targeted cancer therapy through the LhARA consortuim, and on designing new materials for applications in batteries were showcased, alongside a collaboration with TU Munich on minimally-invasive surgery techniques.

Ms Poppelbaum met with Professor Sandrine Heutz, Imperial Scientific Director of the Imperial-CNRS International Research Centre (IRC), and Professor Fang Xie and Professor Eric Climent, Co-Directors of the CNRS-Imperial Ayrton-Bleriot Engineering Lab (ABEL). Opened in January 2025, ABEL will harness artificial intelligence and emerging technologies across all engineering disciplines, with a primary focus on tackling grand challenges in sustainability and resilience.

Leading projects across Horizon Europe

The UK’s full association to Horizon Europe means that researchers at Imperial can lead consortia, enabling them to set the strategic direction of large-scale projects. Professor Christopher Chiu, Professor of Infectious Disease in the Department of Infectious Disease is leading the £44m MusiCC project that is driving the development of advanced vaccines against coronaviruses that was presented at the Eureka Zone. Co-funded by Horizon Europe and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), MusiCC is a consortium of over 50 members from across the world.

The Research Impact Management Office (RIMO) from Imperial’s Enterprise Division will lead the project management and communications activities for the MusiCC project. RIMO are one of a number of support offers from Imperial for researchers looking to engage in Horizon Europe and to find out more about opportunities in Horizon Europe, please get in touch with the Research Office and the Enterprise Research Impact Management Office.