Interdisciplinary provider becomes part of French business school

One of the UK’s only interdisciplinary providers is set to join forces with a leading French business school as it targets “international reach”.

The London Interdisciplinary School has been acquired by EMLyon, handing the institution a presence in the UK, alongside its existing sites in Lyon, Paris and Shanghai.

LIS became the UK’s first interdisciplinary higher education institution when it opened its doors in 2021 and the first UK higher education institution to be given degree-awarding powers at inception since the University of Warwick in 1965.

Under the integration, the institutions said that LIS will retain its identity and academic independence while “benefiting from the resources, expertise and international reach” of EMLyon.

It secures the next phase of LIS’s development and growth across undergraduate, postgraduate and executive education, they added.

The French business school said that the move “reinforces” its ambition “to build a Global Management & Tech University”.

Isabelle Huault, president and dean of EMLyon Business School, said that LIS has “developed one of the most innovative educational models in the United Kingdom”. 

“By bringing LIS into EMLyon, we are not simply expanding geographically. We are reinforcing our conviction that the future of higher education lies in interdisciplinary learning, entrepreneurial thinking and the ability to bridge technology, management and society. 

“Today’s most pressing challenges require graduates who can think across disciplines, combine technological understanding with human insight, and turn ideas into action.”

Ed Fidoe, LIS founder and executive director added the partnership “gives us the resources and international reach to build LIS”.

“LIS was built on the recognition that complex challenges can’t be solved via a single discipline as technological, societal and environmental change reshape the world faster than any one field can keep up with the skills employers and students increasingly look for are cross-disciplinary: analytical and creative thinking, adaptability, and fluency with data and AI…We’ve found a partner who shares our belief in connecting intellectual rigour with real-world experience.”

juliette.rowsell@timeshighereducation.com