The Age of Designed Biology @ IDEALondon
We’re back with the second session of Deeptech Futures, a new monthly series from UCL Engineering, hosted at IDEALondon.
In honour of London Life Sciences Week, this month we’re diving into Drug Discovery 3.0: The Age of Designed Biology. For decades, medicine has been built on trial-and-error. Today, deeptech is rewriting the rules, from AI-driven drug design and lab automation, to computational biology and synthetic systems that turn code into cures.
We’ll explore how science and technology are converging to accelerate discovery, reduce costs, and open doors to therapies once thought impossible.
These talks are open to the broader community beyond UCL Engineering. We invite all founders, operators, researchers, academics, investors and ecosystem builders to join us.
What you’ll get out of it
Hear from world-class UCL researchers on the science reshaping drug discovery
Get the investor view on where opportunities (and bottlenecks) are emerging
Learn how breakthroughs in biology + tech are opening new paths for founders and startups
Meet peers, collaborators, and potential partners working at the frontier of medicine
Agenda
5:30 pm — Arrival, refreshments & networking
6:00 pm — Drug Discovery 3.0 – The Age of Designed Biology
6:45 pm — Audience Q&A
7:15 pm — Networking with drinks & snacks provided
8:00 pm — Close
🎤 Speakers:
To be released soon
Moderator: Dr Rob Thompson, Vice-Dean (Enterprise), UCL Engineering
About the series
Deeptech Futures: Conversations at the edge of what’s possible is a monthly series from UCL Engineering that puts leading academics, pioneering founders, and visionary investors in the same room to explore how breakthrough technologies will reshape the way we live, and the opportunities they’ll create. Each event focuses on a different technology area in which UCL is world-leading, from immersive reality and robotics to climate engineering and space innovation, unpacking both the science and the real-world pathways to impact.
About UCL Engineering
With ten departments crossing a whole world of activity - from cybersecurity to biofuels, and synthetic tissues to international trade - UCL Engineering is one of the most diverse Engineering schools in Europe. As part of UCL, London's Global University, it crosses boundaries to work with other disciplines, universities, and cultures..add our usual blurb for idealondon
About IDEALondon
IDEALondon is UCL Engineering’s home for ambitious founders in the heart of Shoreditch, run by WilbeLAB. We bring together startups in AI, biotech, fintech, climate, and more, giving founders workspace, community, and direct access to London’s deep-tech and investor network.