QUEEN MARY UNIVERSITY OF LONDON

Their core work

Queen Mary University of London is a research-intensive university that excels as a host institution for top individual researchers across a remarkably broad range of disciplines — from materials science and graphene to biomedical research, mathematics, and the social sciences. With 66 Marie Skłodowska-Curie individual fellowships and 21 ERC grants in H2020, QMUL functions as a magnet for early- and mid-career talent across Europe. Their applied research spans cardiovascular diagnostics, computational fluid dynamics, cancer biology, and crime prevention, while their fundamental research covers quantum groups, general relativity, and evolutionary biology.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

In the early H2020 period (2014–2018), QMUL's research concentrated on physical sciences and engineering — graphene, photonics, printed electronics, regenerative medicine, and computational fluid dynamics. By the later period (2019–2022), the profile diversified significantly toward life sciences (stem cells, evolutionary developmental biology), cognitive science (numerical cognition), social and security research (crime prevention, counter-terrorism, media studies), and data-intensive methods (big data, multimedia analysis). The university maintained its materials science thread throughout but clearly broadened from hard science and engineering into interdisciplinary and societal research.

QMUL is shifting from a primarily physical-sciences research profile toward interdisciplinary work blending biomedicine, cognitive science, and security — making them an increasingly versatile consortium partner for societal challenge projects.

How they like to work

QMUL coordinates 57% of its H2020 projects, but this is driven by the dominance of individual fellowships (MSCA-IF, ERC) where the host institution is automatically listed as coordinator. In collaborative research actions (RIA), they participate more often than they lead. With 989 unique partners across 51 countries, they operate as a high-connectivity hub rather than relying on a stable inner circle — reflecting the diversity that comes from hosting researchers from many different fields and nationalities.

QMUL has collaborated with 989 distinct organizations across 51 countries, placing them in the top tier of UK university networks. Their reach is genuinely global, though the partnership density is highest across Western Europe, consistent with MSCA mobility patterns.

What sets them apart

QMUL's distinguishing feature is the sheer breadth of its research portfolio combined with exceptional individual-researcher hosting capacity — few universities of comparable size attract this volume of MSCA and ERC grantees. This breadth makes them unusually flexible as a consortium partner: they can credibly contribute to projects spanning materials science, health, digital, mathematics, and social sciences within a single institution. For consortium builders, QMUL offers a London-based partner with strong international researcher networks and the administrative machinery to handle high volumes of EU grants.

Highlights from their portfolio

• NewNGR
  Largest single grant at €1.28M (ERC) for numerical general relativity — reflects QMUL's strength in fundamental computational physics.
• ENDEAVOUR
  Coordinated a €922K project on software-defined networking at Internet Exchange Points — one of their few large collaborative coordination roles outside fellowships.
• MIROCALS
  Multi-year clinical trial (Phase II) for ALS therapy using low-dose IL-2 — demonstrates QMUL's capacity for translational health research with real patient impact.