Dr Colm Durkan, head of the Department of Engineering, has allegedly said that divestment from companies in the arms industry poses an “existential” threat to the department and the wider University.

On Wednesday evening (02/07), the activist group Cambridge Artists for Palestine shared an Instagram post, alongside four other accounts. The post claimed that Durkan sent an email to a group of engineering students, saying that “if this discussion [about divestment] is unbalanced and the University Council votes for a ban, the consequences for our Department and a large part of the University would be existential”.

This comes amid a University-wide review on investment in arms companies. Less than two weeks ago, the University held an open meeting about research and financial ties with arms companies, in which students and staff were invited to express their views on the subject.

In the email, the academic described this meeting as “heavily oversubscribed” and said that “many people did not get the opportunity to contribute”.

The Professor also stressed the ambiguity of the term “defense sector companies” which he says could include “many firms who we interact with on a daily basis (who have activities that have nothing to do with defence),” and whose products we rely on”.

Durkan said that “I am in no way indicating which way you should go, but it is important to be aware of the consequences”. However, he “urge[d]” recipients of the email to “make their views on the subject clear” by filling in a form for people to express their views.

Durkan told Varsity that the leaked email was sent only to staff and not to students, stating that he has not “urged students to do anything whatsoever”.

He added: “Defence divestment is of critical importance to the University and I wrote to Engineering staff to ensure that all voices had the opportunity to contribute to the debate.”

Durkan is the founder of the NanoEngineering Lab in Cambridge as well as Director of the Institute for Manufacturing Engage LTD, a company connected to the Engineering Department.

IfM Engage Ltd provides consultancy and training services to companies and governments, including a number of companies with links to the defense sector, such as BAE Systems and Caterpillar.

The profits made by IFM Engage Ltd are “gifted to the University of Cambridge to fund future research”. In 2024, the company reported a profit of £751,876, with a turnover of more than £7 million.

Cambridge Artists for Palestine have claimed that this email “exposes how a Professor with deep financial ties to the defence industry urges students to protect the status quo”.

Durkan has since refuted this claim, stating that he has “no financial interest in IfM Engage,” adding that his intention was “simply to remind staff of all views [and] to take this opportunity to air them, but do so in a pragmatic way in which is based on facts”.

This comes amid a wave of student calls for colleges to divest from arms companies. This week, the student bodies at St John’s and Clare both urged their colleges to commit to divestment.

In May, King’s College became one of the first in the University to pledge divestment from arms companies and firms engaging in “illegal” activities.

Dr Colm Durkan, the University of Cambridge, and IfM Engage Ltd, were contacted for comment.