The Durham Institute of Research, Development, and Invention (DIRDI) is an interdisciplinary institute founded as a partnership between Coltraco Limited (Coltraco Ultrasonics) and Durham University. Operating at the interface of academia, industry, and government, the institute brings together a network of Members and Fellows across leading UK universities, government laboratories, and industry to develop and translate scientific research into real-world capability.
DIRDI has continued to grow and has now nearly 650 members and fellows from leading universities across the UK.
DIRDI has 5 aims and 4 of them are entirely public service ones. It is in this spirit that we established specialised sub-units focusing on 3 mutually supporting areas:
- Naval, military, & national security science
- Policy support to senior policy makers and implementers
- UK Civil Science
In 2026, DIRDI has opened 3 new subunits:
Strategic Potential AI Group
An AI Testing & Evaluation Capability to reduce the potential impact of un-validated AI systems being introduced across UK Defence, UK Security, and UK Industry.
Co-led by Dr Oliver Daisey, SPAIG brings together expertise from across disciplines within DIRDI, one of the UK’s largest scientific institute, to shape AI policy in line with national strategic interests. It champions UK Sovereign AI and delivers testing and evaluation services that help public bodies and private organisations ensure the safe, ethical, and effective deployment of AI systems.
Centre for Strategic EMS Research
The Centre for Strategic EMS Research has been opened to support the UK in developing the strategic rather than the operational application of the Electromagnetic Spectrum.
The CSEMSR is co-led by Dr David Ward of the Cavendish Laboratory, Cambridge.
Centre for Biological and Bio-Inspired Physics (CBBIP)
In living systems, energetics and information transfer are intimately coupled, leading to an efficiency largely surpassing existing artificial systems of equivalent size. The complexity of biophysical systems emerges from simple, tractable, mechanistic interactions, even excluding biological quantum effects, but based on different principles and architecture than those used for AI and quantum technologies.
This is based in Durham, co led by Prof. Kislon Voïtchovsky.
