By Pooja Thakar

How do you develop AI that does what you want it to do in a safe manner? How can data science be harnessed to tackle air pollution, study psychology or archaeology? Universities in the UK are doing research and offering courses that straddle different disciplines and are looking to equip students with critical thinking and transferable skills.

At the University of York, for instance, the Institute for Safe Autonomy looks at application of autonomous systems, robotics and AI, and their ethical, social and regulatory implications. This interdisciplinary approach, with schools for business & society, and creative arts & technology, “enables you to produce outcomes for students, which are very pertinent to the modern labour market,” vice-chancellor & president Charlie Jeffery told FE.

Universities find that more and more employers in the UK are not looking at the subject of study, but at the analytical skills a graduate has picked up while earning a degree.

Durham University, for example, has seen psychology and behavioural sciences students being recruited by auditing firms like Deloitte and EY. A significant portion of biosciences students at the University of Manchester take up non-science, analytical roles at pharmaceutical companies or auditors like PricewaterhouseCoopers. Besides, some emerging fields and ‘technologies of the future’, such as nanomaterials, are by their nature interdisciplinary.

“The real attractiveness is in the future when nanomaterials start to make a bigger impact, particularly in fields such as net-zero, clean energy, sustainable transport, nanomedicine… So, a student who specialises in nanomaterials and nanotechnology is preparing to be at the forefront,” said Aravind Vijayaraghavan, professor of Nanomaterials at the Department of Materials and National Graphene Institute, University of Manchester.

While employer and industry interest are a key concern, the approach is a part of a wider idea to ensure students get more than just a degree from a reputable institution.

“We also want our students to become global citizens… make a positive contribution to the world, to society. So that personal development, that personal growth is important for us. That sits alongside academic growth,” said Rob Lynes, principal at Stephenson College and associate pro-vice chancellor (global) at Durham University.

Durham, the third oldest university in England after Oxford and Cambridge, prides itself on its ‘wider student experience’ with its collegiate system. Its colleges (think Hogwarts houses in Harry Potter) are not where teaching takes place, but where students across faculties live together, have meals and take part in extracurricular interests. Teaching takes place at the departments.

This sense of community — apart from rankings — is a big factor for more and more Indian students opting for universities further away from London. Lower cost of living is a factor as well.

Durham University has seen the number of Indian students jump from around 50 a few years ago to 300-350 at present. Raaga from Hyderabad, a Master’s student in English literature at Durham, said, “I wanted to experience this kind of environment, a smaller city… And Durham’s reputation for English is excellent.”

Durham was ranked 78th in the latest QS World University Rankings. Similar is the case for Navin Shirdokar from Goa, a third-year genetics student at the University of York. While the high ranking of York’s biological sciences department was a deciding factor, Navin said, “I did not want to be in a city university, I wanted to be at a campus university… surrounded by wildlife and away from the hustle and bustle of the city.”

York, among the top 200 in QS, has seen a jump in the number of Indian students, from 45 in 2018 to over 550. Its international student headcount increased 62% to around 4,700 during this period.

For Megha Manoj from Chennai, who is pursuing a Master’s degree in medical and molecular virology at the University of Manchester as a British Council Women in STEM scholar, finding the right course that matched her interest was the key factor. “I want go into vaccine research, and I want to work in India. I thought I’ll get a degree from a different university (outside India),” said Megha.

University of Manchester, which has around 1,300 students from India, is ranked 32nd in QS. Ultimately, it is not a one-size-fits-all approach, according to Suneet Singh Kochar, CEO of Fateh Education, a study abroad consultancy firm. He said each student is different and it is about finding the right fit for that individual.