The School of Life Sciences
The School of Life Sciences has a mission statement to enhance human health and environmental sustainability, through research, education and knowledge exchange. It under- takes research, teaching and engagement across a wide range of the Life Sciences, from Chemistry to Conservation Biology. The breadth and depth of cutting-edge research and innovative teaching practice requires a di- verse community who work across boundaries to deliver excellence. The School is strongly committed to Equality Diversity and Inclusion (EDI), and has a strate- gy to increase the representation of minorities among its staff and students. EDI considera- tions and issues lie at the core of all we do. The School is the largest in the University in terms of research activity, with an annual research income of c£13m, and is one of the largest in terms of student and staff popula- tion: The School has a teaching and research faculty of around 90, over 200 research fel-
lows and technicians, and an administrative team of around 25. We aim to develop sci- entists who are able to connect with global issues and develop innovative solutions to the challenges that face the planet. Academics within the School of Life Sciences apply their research to create impact in areas as diverse as addressing neurodegenerative diseases, saving endangered species, fos- tering sustainable agriculture and developing diagnostics for cancer and rare diseases. Research in the School of Life Sciences is structured into six collaborative Subject Groups, led by a Subject Chair who is a lead- er in their field. These are Biochemistry & Biomedicine, Genome Damage and Stability Centre, Neuroscience, Evolution, Behaviour & Environment, Sussex Drug Discovery Centre and Chemistry. The School’s teaching is firmly based on our research excellence and offers students an
intellectually stimulating and supportive experi- ence, with opportunities for personal research experience and use of modern technology to enhance learning. The School has a popula- tion of around 1650 undergraduates studying a range of subjects. The School has laboratories, offices and teach- ing spaces that are spread across 5 buildings. We run Technical Hubs that house equipment providing excellent facilities spanning a range of disciplines including analytical chemistry, molecular and cellular biology, protein work, electrophysiology, imaging, and covering a range of animal models including ants, bees, Drosophila, snails, zebrafish and mice. We maintain core technical hubs for mass spectrometry, X-ray crystallography, siRNA screening and NMR. Mass spectrometry is used by chemists, structural biologists and bi- ochemists, and is employed in studies includ- ing drug design and optimisation and analyses of environmental pesticides. X-ray crystallog-
raphy has underpinned the elucidation of the structural basis for the function of macromo- lecular complexes involved in DNA damage and repair and chaperone pathways and the development of structure-led drug discovery projects across multiple areas. The Wolfson Centre for Biological Imaging houses 18 sophisticated microscopes, including confocal, multiphoton, spinning disk and super-resolution. We are currently expand- ing our Electron Microscope capability, with high resolution cryo-EM, which will be used across multiple subject groups. There are a wide range of tissue culture facilities for cell lines and primary cells and microbial work. For ecological work, we maintain field vehicles, greenhouses and a large range of field equip- ment; ecological projects involve a range of field sites on or near the campus, including bee hives and a grassland reparation project.
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