Digital Virtual Reality Centres for Global Equality in Scientific Training: The 3DI Virtual Reality Institute

A collaborative team from University College London working with universities across the UK, Marmara University in Turkey, and universities across India, coming together to build digital Virtual Reality centres – global platforms for immersive scientific training to create equality in education. 

For educators who are working with exceptional colleagues but have yet to nominate them for an RSC Education prize, here’s some key advice:
 
Recognise their impact: Think about how your colleague’s contributions have had an impact on students, peers, or the broader education community. These could be innovations in teaching, outstanding mentorship, or building inclusive learning environments. If their work stands out, it’s worth recognising.
 
Don’t wait for perfection: Many educators hesitate because they think a nominee’s work needs to be perfect or 'complete'. Instead, focus on the current impact and the potential for future contributions.
 
Work together on the nomination: Collect input from colleagues, students, and others who have seen and taken part in the nominee’s work. This strengthens the nomination and gives a fuller picture.
 
Demonstrate impact: Highlight how their efforts address broader educational goals, such as increasing accessibility, promoting diversity in STEM, or advancing digital learning. The RSC values work that impacts both local and global communities.
 
Be specific: When writing the nomination, provide specific examples of what makes your colleague’s work outstanding. Whether it’s a unique approach to teaching chemistry or creating new resources, detailed examples show the value of their contributions.
 
Acknowledge unsung heroes: If your colleague consistently goes above and beyond but hasn’t received widespread recognition, this is the perfect opportunity to shine a spotlight on their work. Many dedicated educators contribute significantly behind the scenes, and this is a way to honour that!

The creation of the digital institutes, the development of the VR software and its inclusion and use among the various teams across the globe has been a multi-team effort. The initial design and development of the software and its inclusion in UCL School of Pharmacy's curriculum created the basis for this global program. Initial development work on the software by Dr Zaid Muwaffak and my team of PhD students and postdocs at UCL led to the first trial in the undergraduate curriculum for HPLC training. This was supported by Professor Zoë Waller and Dr Gary Parker for its inclusion in the undergraduate programme. The work by Cory Beckwith and Selva Athi Narayanan focused a lot on its applications, and their great work at supporting the teething troubles was amazing.
 
The extension of this into a global programme and centre with India and the creation of the ISCC was led by Professor Anant Kapdi and Dr Stellios Arseniyadis, who put together a wide UK and Indian consortium of 12 academics that was funded by the British Council. This initial concept of a global sustainability centre, and the training of academics in both countries, had to take place mostly remotely in the aftermath of COVID-19, and the array of team members was crucial in bringing it all together. 
The extension of the centres to schools was incredible, but also difficult. Aided by the amazing support from Joe Parker at St John's School, we were able to overcome the technical hurdles needed to embed this in our outreach work. The next stage, development of the concept of the virtual centres, stemmed from a collaboration of academics working in the area of 3D printing, who came together to share their expertise in new technology. This was led by myself, Professor Deepak Kalaskar, Professor Oguzhan Gunduz, Dr Blanka Hilton and Sema Gunduz, and the close working relationship that we all developed enabled us to truly cement the concept of the virtual centre with the training of over 700 people in two years in VR. Dr Hilton has taken the sustainability part further, with her work with industry and the concept of virtual posters as a new sustainable approach to dissemination. Oguzhan and Sema helped pioneer the work with multilingual avatars, testing them and demonstrating that they are a key part of future developments.
 
The greatest strength however comes from my PhD team who have been at the forefront of all of the work over the last four years, sharing all the developments that have come from this, and who are driving its next steps. Their passion for the inclusion of VR into their PhDs has helped push us even further in a digital direction. Watch their steps as they move forward in their careers! 

Our team at UCL is a diverse array of people from around the world. They are driven by the opportunity to break down barriers to education through their innovations, using digital and virtual technologies to create inclusive, accessible, and sustainable learning environments, allowing students and researchers worldwide to access training like never before. (Dr Stephen Hilton, UCL)
 
The collective enthusiasm of working on global solutions to current challenges is an ideal goal for bringing together a group of scientists. The work we did together during COVID to support the NHS laid the groundwork for the creation of digital virtual centres, and the vision of the creation of the virtual centres allowed us all to create a new education paradigm that will change the way we work together forever. (Professor Deepak Kalaskar, UCL) 

This pioneering creation of virtual reality institutes allows scientists and students to meet in digital buildings and speak with lecturers using multilingual AI-voice avatars in virtual reality. The VR institutes also provide digital spaces for conferences, lectures, and poster exhibitions. The concept of virtual reality institutes is also designed to develop green life approaches, because the future of business life will be surrounded with distance learning activities in terms of state-of-the-art VR technologies needed to decrease our scientific carbon footprint. More specifically, we are aligning the skills of students and graduates with industry needs and academicians’ capacity, using an innovative distance learning approach. (Professor Oguzhan Gunduz, Marmara University, Turkey)
 
There is so much that can be achieved by accessing the virtual space and it can also increase the outreach exponentially. (Professor Anant Kapdi, ICT Mumbai, India)
 
By adopting the mantra of 'send headsets not people', we are now able to think about technology transfer, collaboration and training in a totally different way. This is incredibly exciting and important for schools outreach, as we are now able to, in effect, bring university research right into schools using low-cost headsets. This is not just in the UK, but is now globally applicable, as we see from the incredible work from the 3DI centre. (Dr Stephen Hilton, UCL)
 
VR has the potential to transform learning into an immersive adventure, making it exciting and engaging by providing students with experiences they wouldn’t otherwise have. It transports them to locations around the globe and connects them with people on the other side of the world. (Joe Parker, St John's School) 

The biggest impact will be in those areas where the accessibility of high end equipment is not available, then the VR institute could play a significant role to educate students in such places. (Professor Anant Kapdi, ICT Mumbai, India)
 
We are already seeing the impact that this work can have on the next generation. Using the same virtual centres and low-cost VR headsets, we are now able to bring these centres to schoolchildren in their schools. This game-changing approach allows a younger generation to explore laboratories safely from their classrooms and speak with scientists from across the world in an array of languages, bringing STEM outreach on a scale that was never possible before. (Dr Stephen Hilton, UCL)
 
The virtual reality centres are not any longer a futuristic vision of education, but rather a present-day necessity for allowing today's educators to deliver high quality (hard and soft skill) training, without geographical barriers. These are the centres that distance learners have been waiting for. (Dr Blanka Hilton, University of Kent)

Over the next few years, we plan to expand this project by systematically training more students and professionals, ensuring a wider impact across partner universities. We will seek additional funding to include career professionals, offering them a new career path in digital and 3D printing technologies. The project holds tremendous potential for growth, not only as an educational platform but as a transformative business model. VR-based training will become an essential qualification that industries increasingly demand. With over 650 million secondary school students worldwide needing education in advanced technologies like this, we see this project as playing a critical role in shaping the future workforce. Moreover, it will contribute to lowering carbon footprints by reducing travel while fostering international collaborations in cutting-edge industrial applications. (Sema Gunduz, Marmara University, Turkey) 
 
This project can be extended to conduct many events virtually such as conferences and workshops, potentially saving millions in our scientific carbon footprint. Further development could also be included to create virtual spaces for companies to highlight their products, creating a larger outreach. (Professor Anant Kapdi, ICT Mumbai, India)
 
The digital twinning of buildings and facilities is excellent, but buildings are nothing without the people inside them. Therefore the introduction of multilingual intelligent conversational AIs into these spaces that are available 24/7, such as the 3DI centre, is a new paradigm approach to working around the world. (Professor Deepak Kalaskar, UCL) 

The team’s unique qualities lie in their backgrounds, and the group's work in multidisciplinary collaboration. All members combine their expertise in science with 3D printing and VR technology, extending it into scientific education, collaboration and outreach. We are all deeply committed to inclusivity and accessibility, ensuring that our work reaches underrepresented and remote communities. The team thrives on innovation, continuously extending the boundaries of how education can be delivered through immersive, real-time digital environments. Our shared passion for sustainability and global equality in education is what truly sets us apart. (Dr Stephen Hilton, UCL) 

To a young person considering a career in chemistry, I would say: stay curious, embrace challenges, and don’t be afraid to explore interdisciplinary paths. Chemistry is a route to solving real-world problems, from sustainability to healthcare, and it opens doors to diverse careers in research, industry, and education. Embrace collaboration with colleagues from an array of disciplines, embrace new technologies such as AI and virtual reality, and remember that science works best when built on the foundations of innovation and teamwork. Most importantly, don’t stop asking questions and find mentors who can guide you on your journey – there’s always something new to discover! (Dr Stephen Hilton, UCL) 

This project can benefit the wider education community by providing a scalable, immersive network of virtual reality centres around the world that can provide 24/7 access to high quality training and collaborative spaces, regardless of geographic location or financial resources. By using digital twin technologies and AI-driven multilingual avatars, it enables educators to create inclusive, hands-on learning environments for students from underrepresented or remote areas. The project reduces the need for physical travel, aligning with global sustainability goals, while also allowing institutions to share resources, expertise, and educational content on a global scale, enhancing both teaching and learning experiences across diverse educational settings. (Dr Stephen Hilton, UCL) 

Collaboration in the chemical sciences is essential for driving innovation, tackling complex global challenges, and advancing knowledge. By working together, scientists can combine diverse expertise and resources, leading to breakthroughs that wouldn’t normally be possible in isolation. The 3DI Virtual Reality Institute exemplifies the potential of collaboration, bringing together UCL and Marmara University for immersive training and research despite the geographical distance. This cross-institutional effort enhances global access to cutting-edge 3D printing and builds knowledge exchanges across borders. Through partnerships like these, the chemical sciences can address issues such as sustainability and educational inequality, making a lasting impact on both science and society. (Dr Stephen Hilton, UCL) 

Good science education is critical to solving global challenges by equipping future generations with the knowledge, skills, and innovative thinking needed to address complex issues such as climate change, public health, and sustainability.

A strong science-based education can build and facilitate critical thinking, problem-solving abilities, and collaboration, enabling students to apply scientific principles to real-world problems. Initiatives like the 3DI Virtual Reality Institute further enhance this by providing equal access to advanced training, ensuring that students from all over the world, including underrepresented communities, can contribute to global solutions. By providing students with practical, hands-on experiences in cutting-edge fields, good science education prepares them to lead the innovations necessary for a sustainable and equitable future. (Dr Stephen Hilton, UCL) 

The chemical sciences are making the world a better place by driving innovations that improve health, create sustainable solutions, and advance technology. From the development of life-saving medicines and vaccines to creating cleaner energy sources and reducing environmental impacts through green chemistry, chemistry plays a key role in addressing global challenges.

Chemistry helps to design more efficient materials, cleaner industrial processes, and solutions for managing climate change. Projects like the 3DI Virtual Reality Institute also utilise the potential of chemistry: by making scientific training more accessible, this enables future chemists from diverse backgrounds to also contribute to these solutions. The chemical sciences are essential for building a healthier, more sustainable, and equitable world. (Dr Stephen Hilton UCL)

Chemistry is important because it is the foundation of everything in the natural world, from the air we breathe to the medicines we use. It helps us understand the composition, properties, and changes of matter, enabling us to solve critical challenges in health, energy, environment, and industry. (Dr Stephen Hilton, UCL)