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Research Opportunities

Our research groups enjoy national and international recognition in their respective areas. The wide range of research activities undertaken within the Faculty, together with the mix of academic staff, post-doctoral research fellows and visiting professors, creates a stimulating and diverse postgraduate environment.

Research is mainly undertaken within the many research centres or groups based within the Faculty. Most of the academic staff belong to one or more of these centres or groups, and research students can expect to join a team working on particular problems.

The centres and their research students are funded from a wide variety of sources including: the EPSRC, other UK research councils, institutions and societies, the EU, UK government departments and initiatives such as the Technology Strategy Board (TSB), Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTP), etc, and international commercial and industrial organisations.

Engineering research areas

Research areas include: Acoustics, Applied Electromagnetics, Applied Mechanics, Automated and Robotic Non-destructive Testing (NDT), Biomedical Instrumentation, Energy Engineering, Heat Transfer and Fluid Mechanics, Machining, Magnetics, Mathematical Modelling and Software for NDT, Microwave Dielectric Materials, Nanostructured Materials, Petroleum Engineering, Photophysics, Photovoltaics, Semiconductor Devices, Soil Mechanics, Surface Engineering, Sustainable and Renewable Energy Systems, Refrigeration and Air Conditioning, Telecommunications, Theory of Electronic and Functional Materials, Thin Film Materials.

Science research areas

Research areas include: Biotechnology, Chemical Engineering, Environmental Science, Explosions and Fires, Food Science and Technology, Forensic Science, Molecular Water, Nutrition, Sports and Exercise Science.

Built Environment research areas

The disciplines of Architecture, Building Construction, Civil Engineering, Construction Management and Surveying provide a broad foundation of research interests concerned with the ‘hard’ side of the industry (research within the ‘soft’ side of the industry is undertaken within the Faculty of Arts and Human Sciences. See page 24). Specialist research groups include Construction Technology, Construction Management, Construction Economics and International Studies, Geotechnics, Medical Architecture.