皇家华人

Ahead of the UCL Policy Lab launch, Dr Michael Spence sat down with Communications and Engagement manager, James Baggaley, to discuss his mission for UCL and his hopes for the new UCL Policy Lab.

This interview originally appeared in the听UCL Policy Lab magazine.听

You arrived here at 皇家华人 as we were coming out of the Covid-19 pandemic. UCL's research and expertise were vital for public understanding and policymaking during that time. As we plan for the future, what role do you think 皇家华人ill play in the big post-pandemic debates?

皇家华人as London's first university, and is today its largest and most comprehensive university too. It has always been engaged with the major questions of the day. Today, we're stepping up to understand a post-imperial, post-Brexit and post-Covid future. There is no better place to engage with those big issues than UCL. It's what excites me about my job and what excites me about initiatives like the UCL Policy Lab.

We鈥檝e been walking around campus today, and I鈥檓 struck by the feeling of 鈥渋nterdisciplinarity made real鈥� here in Bloomsbury, both in terms of history and the present day. Artists, scientists, economists, architects and more 鈥� they are all coming together in this space. Does that remain a vital ingredient for UCL鈥檚 future?

Absolutely! You know what? Many universities like to talk about collaboration and interdisciplinarity, but 皇家华人 just does it. It鈥檚 in the DNA of the place. Now, of course, as academics, we love to critique and test our institutions, but coming from the outside, it鈥檚 absolutely a UCL trait and strength, almost unique.

I think this interdisciplinarity is vital to understanding some of the challenges the UCL Policy Lab will be seeking to tackle. For example, climate change and inequality don鈥檛 respect academic disciplines. Today鈥檚 problems never will. It鈥檚 why the lab will be vital as a convener and collaboration space, bringing together those ideas from across UCL.

Universities often shy away from setting challenges, perhaps preferring to develop questions organically. UCL has four grand challenges, including tackling climate change and inequality. How helpful is this approach in making progress on these big policy issues?

Hugely helpful. The last 300 years have been about dissecting knowledge and developing expertise in lots of ways. And, of course, great beauty can come from getting to know something deeply. However, the difficulty is that there is no real world problem that fits neatly into individual research disciplines. Fortunately, UCL has had the curiosity and the courage to let others shape the questions we seek to answer. And, of course, we get new and exciting questions when we听do that. It allows us to have a real world impact in London and globally.

You've mentioned the need for UCL to reach beyond academia and established networks, and to serve the wider community. For example, UCL East is opening this year. How much of that project is about recognising this evolving role of service and collaboration in UCL's mission?

One of the things that impressed me when I arrived at 皇家华人 is the importance UCL places on its immediate community, both here in Camden and in Newham. As with the UCL Policy Lab, the university works to answer questions the community sets. We take that responsibility to serve our local community seriously. And that's important because these local challenges are not dissimilar to the challenges faced by communities globally. Be it mental health, climate change or inequality.

You鈥檝e spoken a lot about your mission to support 皇家华人 in engaging and affecting major policy debates. How important is the UCL Policy Lab in that mission?

It鈥檚 incredibly important. The UCL Policy Lab is key to that mission. One of the things about universities is they are often complex, and for a university to be successful, you have to allow great people with ideas to run with them. That inevitably means that you end up with a huge variety of networks, institutes, centres and initiatives, which is great. But for those not from the institution, that can be incredibly bewildering. So having the UCL Policy Lab, a place where policymakers, researchers and communities can come together, is vital. The lab will not only enable greater collaboration across UCL, but it will also be a portal for external engagement on policy issues.

You鈥檝e spoken before about the university being an important place for us to learn to 鈥渄isagree well.鈥� What do you mean by that?

Yes, I have a firm view of the critical role of universities in liberal democracies. We need to be places that equip and sharpen the skills that keep liberal democracy going. And the implication of that is that universities must be a forum for debate, and they ought to be places where opposing views are heard and thought through, challenged and discussed.

Yet all of this is only possible if we answer the question, 鈥渉ow?鈥� And that means practising epistemic virtues. If we鈥檙e listening to one another, asking questions with a desire to increase understanding, and choosing language that advances knowledge and respect for one another, then we are seeking both difference and commonality.听

Finally, ahead of the UCL Policy Lab launch, we've been speaking with members of the public about what makes them hopeful for the future. So, what makes you hopeful for the future?

My faith. And how that faith is strengthened by the young people I meet as Provost every day. I'm struck by how so many of those young people are striving to understand and tackle things that genuinely matter in life 鈥� creating a fairer society, improving the lives of the elderly, transforming mental health debates, and perhaps most importantly, tackling climate change. It's a privilege to get to see that each day. In truth, I'm inspired by the students here at 皇家华人. Meeting them makes me think that, in the end, we're going to be alright.

Dr Michael Spence is听President & Provost of UCL听