Abstract

The Physics of Medicine Initiative has been building up for the last couple of years, and is currently moving into a new building in West Cambridge. Here we aim to house research straddling many disciplines, so that the quantitative rigour and novel methodologies of the physical sciences can be brought to bear on problems relevant to the medical sciences and the clinic. The intention is to create an environment where researchers, particularly students, can freely mix, discuss and share ideas. Projects housed in the building will sit at the interface between the disciplines, and we expect totally new research opportunities to emerge from the mix. Core facilities will be provided within the building, enabling efficiency both in terms of the equipment outlay cost and the knowledge base. Students moving into unfamiliar areas will thus have experts around them to provide appropriate training, and a far wider range of equipment available to them than in any single faculty member’s laboratory. We also expect many new staff to want to seize the opportunities offered by taking their own skills and interfacing them with complementary ones in some distant field. To facilitate this exchange of ideas we will be holding regular seminars at the interface of physical sciences, life sciences and clinical sciences, plus training courses.