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About us

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  1. Queen Mary University of London
  2. About us
  3. Sustainability
  4. Sustainable development goals
  5. Goal 9: Industry Innovation and Infrastructure
  6. Research and Innovation

Research and Innovation

Engineering better medicine 

Queen Mary’s Engineering Better Medicine research brings together engineering and medicine to develop technologies for diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation. Research ranges from biosensors and organ-on-chip models to machine learning, robotics and advanced biomaterials. In February 2025, Queen Mary opened one of Europe’s largest organ-on-a-chip facilities. The facility supports research into new ways of studying disease and testing medicines, with the aim of reducing reliance on animal testing. It also hosts a new £7 million EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Next Generation Organ-on-a-Chip Technology, which will train 60 PhD researchers over eight years. 

Taking AI research into industry 

Research from Queen Mary’s School of Electronic Engineering and Computer Science led to the creation of Dragonfly AI, a predictive visual analytics platform based on research into human attention. The technology allows organisations to test how people are likely to respond to visual content before it is released. By 2024, Dragonfly AI was working with major companies including GSK, Mitsubishi, Mars and Coca-Cola, and had grown from university research into an established commercial platform. 

Turning research into new companies 

Queen Mary supports researchers in taking ideas beyond the university through Queen Mary Innovation. More than 35 spin-out companies have developed from Queen Mary research, alongside more than 400 intellectual property agreements. These include companies such as Dragonfly AI, hVIVO and Elcella, showing how research in areas ranging from artificial intelligence to healthcare can develop into technologies and services used outside the University. 

Working with industry 

Queen Mary works with businesses to develop research, technologies and new products. Through industry collaboration, companies can work with Queen Mary researchers, use specialist expertise and facilities, and explore opportunities for collaborative research. Queen Mary Innovation and the University’s Business Development team also support intellectual property, licensing, consultancy, commercial partnerships and the creation of spin-out companies. This gives researchers different routes for taking their work into industry. 

Building AI skills across the University 

Queen Mary launched its Centre for Excellence in Artificial Intelligence in Education in December 2024. The Centre is helping to bring AI and digital literacy into teaching and learning across the University. Its work supports staff in using AI in education and aims to prepare students to understand and work with these technologies as they become more common in professional life. 

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