The new institute will examine issues faced by disabled people

IDRIS, the Interdisciplinary Disability Research Institute, was opened at the Queen Mother building.

It brings together experts from various fields connected with conducting disability research.

Experts aim to develop ways of assisting disabled people and others who may acquire impairment.

The group will be based in Dundee with a core partner at the University of St Andrews.

We want IDRIS to be interdisciplinary, relevant to policy, and meaningful in that our research will make an impact on the lives of disabled people Thilo Kroll IDRIS's deputy director

Thilo Kroll, IDRIS's deputy director and a senior lecturer in the School of Nursing and Midwifery, said: "IDRIS was set up to look at disability in a different way.

"Traditionally, clinical researchers have studied impairment and function, social scientists looked at social exclusion or coping.

"We want to bring these disciplines together and work with disabled people to develop a research institute that looks at the person and the environment, at the body and the social context.

"We want IDRIS to be interdisciplinary, relevant to policy, and meaningful in that our research will make an impact on the lives of disabled people."