The School of Life Sciences
The School of Life Sciences has a mission state- ment to understand the mechanisms that drive biological and chemical processes; to develop in- novative and diverse approaches to enhance hu- man health, technology and the environment. It undertakes research, teaching and engagement across a wide range of the Life Sciences, from Chemistry through a range of biological and med- ically-related areas to Conservation Biology. The breadth and depth of cutting-edge research and innovative teaching practice requires a diverse community who work across boundaries to deliv- er excellence. Multidisciplinary is a key strength at Sussex, and the School of Life Sciences is part of two collab- orative cross-School funded Strategic Research Programmes: Sussex Neuroscience (SN) and the Sussex Sustainability Research Programme (SSRP). Sussex Neuroscience brings together broad-ranging neuroscience approaches from the Schools of Life Sciences, Psychology, Engi- neering and Informatics, as well as the Brighton and Sussex Medical School. SSRP brings togeth- er Life Sciences, Global Studies and the Univer- sity of Sussex Business School to address the United Nations sustainable development goals. The School of Life Sciences is the largest in the University in terms of research activity, with an annual research income of around £13 million. The School has a teaching and research faculty of around 90, over 140 research staff, and an administrative team of around 20. The School is structured into five Departments led by a Head of Department. These are Biochemistry & Bio- medicine, Genome Damage and Stability Centre, Neuroscience, Evolution, Behaviour & Environ- ment and Chemistry, working closely with the Sussex Drug Discovery Centre. The Head of School Professor Sarah Guthrie leads the Head of School Executive, which in- cludes two Deputy Heads of School (one fo- cussed on research and enterprise, the other on education), the School Administrator and the Director of Technical Services. Wider School or- ganisation and administration is overseen by the School Management Committee, which includes the Heads of Departments and others in Direc- torship roles.
with opportunities for personal research experi- ence and use of modern technology to enhance learning. The School has a population of around 1500 undergraduates studying a range of sub- jects across the School’s expertise. For each degree we offer a 3-year BSc and a 4-year inte- grated Masters (MSci or MChem). We also offer a Life Sciences Foundation Year, which is ideally suited for students whose A-level (or equivalent) qualifications don’t meet the requirements for di- rect entry on to our BSc/MSci degrees. We have a population of around 85 postgraduate taught students undertaking MSc or MRes courses across our subject expertise. The School is committed to the University’s core values of kindness, integrity, inclusion, collabo- ration and courage. The Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Committee (with representation on
the School Management Committee) promotes and encourages our values across the School, championing initiatives that meet the Universi- ty’s goals of being Equal, Diverse, Accessible and Flexible. We currently hold an Athena SWAN Silver Award and have a BAME Awarding Gap Committee who closely liaise with the University’s Race Equal- ity Charter committee. The School also hosts a wellbeing room and a multi-faith prayer room within its estate and the University supports the Trans Rights are Human Rights UK initiative. We believe that equality, diversity and inclusion is everyone’s business and aim to provide a friend- ly and supportive environment for all who work, study and visit the School of Life Sciences
Our School aims to develop scientists that are able to connect with global issues and develop innovative solutions to the challenges that face the planet. We therefore work to ensure that our research positively impacts our local commu- nity, the economy and society as a whole. We have and continue to develop relationships with business, policy and community partners rang- ing from local SMEs to large scale multinational organisations. Academics, researchers, and stu- dents at all levels are encouraged to engage with non-academic partners through activities such as technology and skills sharing, licencing IP, contract research or consultancy, working close- ly with colleagues in the Sussex Innovations and Business Partnership team. In the recent Research Excellence Framework (REF2021), 90.6 % of our Biological Sciences outputs and 84.8% of our Chemistry outputs were rated as world-leading or internationally ex- cellent. In both areas, 100% of our Impact cas- es were rated as world-leading or internationally excellent. We are proud that our research has diverse impact that includes enabling and en- hancing diagnosis of cancer and rare genetic dis- eases, using novel chemical methods to produce new medicines, saving endangered species, in- fluencing policy and practice in pesticide use to protect bees and establishing conservation, eco- nomic and health initiatives in Papua New Guin- ea and Ecuador. Our vibrant post-graduate research community is made up of around 130 PhD students who are key to our success, undertaking cutting-edge research across all our areas of interest in the Life Sciences. We are part of a number of cross- School and multi-partner PhD programmes: the Sussex Neuroscience PhD programme, 2 Lever- hulme-funded Doctoral Scholarship programmes (Sensation and Perception to Awareness and Biomimetic Embodied AI), the UKRI funded UK Food Systems Centre for Doctoral Training and the BBSRC South Coast Biosciences (SoCoBio) Doctoral Training Partnership. The School’s teaching is firmly based on our re- search excellence and offers students an intel- lectually stimulating and supportive experience,
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