UPDATED: 25th July 2006
![[The University of Leicester]](images/unilogo.gif)
Leicester is a research led University ranked in the top 20 institutions in the UK on research and funding. The Faculty of Science is a major contributor to this high position in the research league tables. In every one of our constituent Departments you will find research teams of absolutely the highest calibre - teams whose reputation is truly international.
Leicester also has one of the largest groups of postgraduate students of any UK institution, and the Faculty makes a very significant contribution to the University Graduate School. Here are a few highlights from the research programmes of each Department. Click on the appropriate link to find out more about the overall research activity of the Department, or to view the opportunities for Postgraduate Study.
The Department has major strengths across a diverse portfolio of research, representing activity at the cutting edge in both 'traditional' and 'modern' interdisciplinary aspects of chemistry. These research activities are focussed into a number of strategically important themes, all containing staff of national and international standing; biological chemistry, electrochemistry and interface science, fluorine chemistry, green chemistry, reaction intermediates, and synthesis and catalysis.
Visit Department of Chemistry's web site >
The Department has an international reputation for its research, which is directed to the foundations of computational models, processes and structures, and the way they support the engineering of software intensive systems. It is involved in a number of European Networks and Projects in IT, involving both industrial and academic partners. This gives postgraduates a chance to participate in the shaping of the Information Society and interact with fellow postgraduates across Europe. Members of the department also play an active part in the the University's Centre for Mathematical Modelling. The department runs a number of postgraduate programmes, including the MSc in Advanced Computational Methods, the MSc in Advanced Computer Science, the MSc in Advanced Distributed Systems, and the MSc in Advanced Software Engineering. It also participates in the MSc in Bioinformatics (with the School of Biological Sciences), the MSc in Financial Mathematics and Computation (with Mathematics) and the MSc in Mathematical Modelling and Scientific Computation (also with Mathematics).
There is also a thriving PhD programme: Leicester is a founding member of the Midlands Graduate School in the Foundations of Computer Science, which organises along with Birmingham and Nottingham an annual school of advanced postgraduate courses for PhD students. Supported by the EPSRC and APPSEM-II EU funding, it attracts international students as well as those from local Universities including Oxford and Cambridge.
Visit Computer Science's web site >
The Department of Physics & Astronomy is internationally regarded as an excellent place to do research, having been awarded 5 in the previous 2 HEFCE research assesments (1992 and 1996). There are five research groups within the department. The Condensed Matter Physics Group model the behaviour of both high tech and biological materials. The Radio and Space Plasma Physics Group is at the forefront of research into the interaction of planetary environments with the solar wind. The Space Projects and Instrumentation Group carries out a multi-disciplinary space research program, spanning fields as diverse as earth observation science and bioimaging. The Theoretical Astrophysics Group have interests ranging from stellar evolution, to computational fluid dynamics to astrophysical accretion. The X-Ray and Observational Astronomy Group has a distinguished record in high-energy astrophysics, and is playing a leading role in X-ray observatories such as Chandra and XMM-Newton.
Visit Department of Physics and Astronomy's web site >
Research in physical geography at Leicester focuses on the low latitudes. These comprise host desert environments (we are currently active in western Asia, the Sahara and SW USA), winter and summer wet season environments (savannas and Mediterranean areas), the humid tropics and tropical montane environments. Research in human geography is organised under the general topic of 'Restructuring Economies and Societies'. Within the group there are two distinct, but interrelated, research themes: Rural Economy and Society and Global and Local Socio-economic Restructuring. A third theme, Environment and Society, is being developed in cooperation with colleagues in Environmental Processes and Change in Low Latitudes and GIS and Remote Sensing research groups. Research within the Geophysical Information Science and Earth Observation Research group is structured around three principal interrelated themes: Uncertainty in Spatial Information, Environmental Monitoring and Modelling, and Visualization of Spatial Information.
Visit Department of Geography's web site >
The Department of Engineering is internationally known for its research that covers major areas of electromechanical engineering. It obtained a rating of 5A in each of the last two HEFCE Research Assessment Exercises, which places it among the top Unified Engineering Departments in the UK. The Department has distinguished research groups in the areas of Control and Instrumentation, Electrical and Electronic Power Engineering, Mechanics of Materials, Radio Systems, and Thermofluids and Environmental Engineering.
Visit Department of Engineering's web site >
Research groups in the Department of Geology work in the following areas: Major research themes in Palaeobiology consider the taphonomy and palaeobiology of Palaeozoic Lagerstätten (UK, South Africa, China, Canada); the evolution and biology of conodonts and other early vertebrates, ostracodes, graptolites and acritarchs; high resolution biostratigraphy; coupling of evolutionary and oceanographic changes in the Early Palaeozoic. The Magmatic and Volcanic Processes group is at the centre of studies of mantle plumes and their contribution to large igneous provinces, with key projects in Iceland, the Caribbean and Siberia. We are also investigating the development of Proterozoic crust in Scandinavia and the processes, sedimentation and environmental effects of ignimbrite flows from explosive volcanic eruptions. The Orogenic Processes group addresses fundamental processes involved in the origin of orogenic belts, especially in Mongolia (to understand patterns of terrane accretion and how continental interiors deform), the Himalaya (to understand P-T-t patterns), the East African orogenic belt, the Baltic Shield and the Scottish Highlands. We are also interested in isotopic and chemical exchange mechanisms and in the relationship between tectonic setting and sedimentary basin architecture. In Geophysics a major theme is the understanding of continental rifting through seismic studies in the East African rift system and on the Atlantic margins. We are also leaders in the application of geophysical techniques to environmental studies and to the investigation of tufa deposits. We are also developing mathematical methods for the integration of disparate geophysical data types. Primary borehole research investigates geological formations and processes using measurements made in boreholes and on recovered core. Projects address the structure of the oceanic volcanic layer, the accurate location and re-orientation of core samples, and the use of high-resolution 3-D electrical resistivity measurements to investigate fractures in subsurface rocks. In Economic Geology our research particularly addresses the use of geochemistry and GIS in mineral exploration, and the geology and technology of industrial minerals.
Visit Department of Geology's web site >
Mathematics as a Department is coordinated through two research groups. The research interests of the Pure Mathematics group cover a range of topics with particular emphasis on representational theory, algebraic groups and Lie algebras, quantum groups, derived categories, generalized cohomology theories and dynamical systems. The Applicable Mathematics group focuses mainly on approximation theory, numerical analysis, applied computational dynamics, spectral theory and statistics. Members of the group also play an active part in the University's Centre for Mathematical Modelling.