Watching Philosophical Paint Dry - A fascinating conversation with Prof Ian Mabbett

Professor Ian Mabbett

Deputy Pro Vice Chancellor for Research Culture, Swansea University

Returning to our former pattern of having a Welsh connection in our Think Education podcast, Chris and Judith are joined by Professor Ian Mabbett.  In a deeply engaging conversation that was parts philosophical, ethical and practical.

Ian talked about his background in chemistry and revealed the wonderful titbit that his PhD was about ‘watching paint dry’.  His main focus was on looking into how we can make things that are less resource intensive, and this led him to an interest in international and global challenges – in turn leading him to think about the place and role of universities overseas.

Ian asks the critical question - how are our research activities and our outreach activities connected.  He goes on to discuss the way in which we can connect research output, employability and community need.

We talked about the current state of international higher education and the intersection of identity and research culture.  Ian talked about the changes he has seen over the past few years – a lot of consolidation of effort in key areas of university focus.

Ian argues that there is a balance to be struck between the richness of our international student body and the funding mechanisms around research activity.  Ian argues that we have sharpened our minds on how interconnected these issues are.

Ian talked about the interconnectness between international research activity and ethics and argued for the personal connection and understanding that this can bring.

The aim should be to bring together all the key areas and think about things holistically.

Innovation is about disruption and where we disrupt, we get a skills gap. If we then think about this properly, we can plan for addressing this gap and build relevant partnerships. If we can answer the question ‘how does this benefit both sides’ you have a much greater chance of succeeding.

 

Remember, we are not always lost, we are just sometimes directionally challenged.

 

#culture #internationalisation #researchoutreach #researchculture #partnerships #employability

https://www.swansea.ac.uk/staff/i.mabbett/