The Durham Institute of Research, Development, and Invention (DIRDI) is a national independent interdisciplinary scientific research institute, established in partnership with Coltraco Limited and Durham University in 2021. We aim to cultivate the intellectual capital required to solve some of the world’s most complex problems.

DIRDI’s membership includes:

• Over 600 senior academics from leading UK universities, such as Oxford, Cambridge, Durham, Imperial College, UCL, KCL, Edinburgh, St Andrews, and 12 other universities.
• Underpinned by over 150 Visiting Fellows, comprised of Scientists, Economists, Geostrategists, Historians, former civil servants and uniformed officers, enabling science to be undertaken in context.

In so doing, Members and Fellows will help anticipate future challenges or demands and place geostrategic awareness and economic foresight at the forefront of scientific discovery.

Core to DIRDI’s organisation is a passion for highly speculative fundamental research, encouraging blue-skies thinking, a deeply technical focus, and forming an academic community of the brightest and best across disciplines.

Our work sits in areas of ideas, research and development, at the intersection of A. national security, B. economic security and C. “economic hope”.

A key aspect of this community lies in the events organised by the institute, including research projects, conferences, and network events, which provide opportunities for fostering institutional ethos and facilitating the exchange of ideas in accordance with DIRDI’s Five Aims.