Institute of Materials and Investigative Sciences (IMIS)

We're a multidisciplinary institute engaged at the leading-edge of research addressing complex and transdisciplinary challenges that involve scientific application. Researchers publish their work in journals such as Science, Nature, Scientific Reports and Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Our research community is supported by three Research Centres:

Field Archaeology and Forensic Taphonomy.
Fire and Hazards Sciences
Smart Materials

The Institute carries out teaching and research in Archaeology, Chemistry, Materials Science, Forensics and Fire with researchers contributing to teaching in a number of Schools.

The Institute comprises of over 30 academic staff, and members include research fellows and PhD students. Our members are internationally recognised, generating institutional visibility and reputation.

The aim is to generate high impact research publications and global impact by fostering a collaborative, high energy research community.

Members of this institute have successfully carried out research and knowledge exchange projects with researchers at the:

University of Harvard
Max Planck Institute
University of California
Cardiff University
Newcastle University
Maastricht University
University of Cape Town
University of Bonn
Amsterdam Medical University
National Institute of Health in the USA
The Pirbright Institute
University of Cantabria
US National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine.

Research highlights include helping firefighters protect themselves and others from harmful and cancer-causing contaminants encountered during their service. Work has included an important contribution to the Grenfell Tower Inquiry.

Smart materials to facilitate protein crystallization are being manufactured at UCLan and marketed by Industry.

Members of the Institute work with Californian tribal communities to increase their knowledge of their own past. They use innovative virtual reality (VR) immersive platforms.

Members of the Institute undertake consultancy work involving human identification and PMI work, especially in complex contexts like such as mass graves and natural disasters for national police forces, Kenyon International Emergency Services, National Crime Agency and the Home Office on forensic cases.

Researchers are actively working on investigating periods of population movement and migration in the past prehistoric and early historic periods as well as the public understanding of those events.

Research
12 Professors and other researchers in our Institute have submitted research bids of £250,000 this year.
Knowledge exchange
Our research has involved the testing of over 10,000 firefighters across the UK for carcinogens.
Involving the public
Our Institute has been involved in the research of over 450 ancient humans remains.