The post-omics era has seen the birth of personalized medicine using targeted therapies directed against specific signalling pathways. Our aim is to elucidate the molecular mechanisms that underpin the pathogenesis of a wide range of important human diseases, including cancer, infectious diseases and a variety of inflammatory/autoimmune disorders. With this knowledge we are developing novel approaches to treat patients with these conditions. 
  

 

 Learn more on our Cell Signalling Towards Drug Design summary page. 

 This is a highly active area within the Life and Environmental Sciences.

It involves quantifying the dynamics and understanding the causes and environmental stressors, and sensitive molecular biological approaches to sense stressors and their impact on organisms including humans and ecosystems.

More information can be found on the Sensing environmental stress summary page.

                                                                           This area focuses on research into the healthy and injured brain at molecular, biochemical, genetic, cellular, structural or behavioural/cognitive levels. It includes experimental approaches around human cognitive or sensory-motor function in health, in disease, and after neurotrauma, and experimental approaches using in vivo and in vitro models to study  cellular responses to neurotrauma. Our translational work examines candidate drugs and treatments following neurotrauma. We also engage in functional and structural imaging of brain injury and develop tools and techniques for clinicians for both diagnosis and recovery.

More information can be found on the Experimental psychology and neurotrauma summary page.

                                                                                     Birmingham ranks among the top half-dozen academic institutes in the UK in microbiology research, with expertise in both virology and bacteriology. We have a legacy in this field which stretches back to our founding, and the University has continued to perform at a very high level. Our research spans a spectrum that runs from the fundamental biology of model organisms to translational research on pathogens of medical importance. In 2012 the University has established the Institute of Microbiology and Infection (IMI) to take microbiology to a new level.

More detailed information is available on the Virology and Bacteriology summary page.  

Ageing research at Birmingham is truly multidisciplinary, ranging from understanding the basic mechanisms of ageing within key organ systems: notably the musculoskeletal, endocrine and immune systems and how these lead to frailty. This knowledge is then translated into lifestyle and pharmacological interventions to improve human healthspan. We are seeking world class early stage researchers to join our MRC-ARUK Centre of excellence in Musculoskeletal Ageing Research to build capacity in ageing research and especially in the area of nutrition in ageing.

For more information visit our Nutrition and ageing summary page.

Defining the genetic and epigenetic factors that drive cell differentiation, explaining how they interact and how they are implicated in human disease, is a major research interest across the University of Birmingham. Such research underpins the emerging specialty of stratified (personalised) medicine, in which therapy is based on a patient’s individual characteristics. This approach has been made possible by recent dramatic advances in high-throughput technologies. Birmingham Fellows are expected to contribute to this programme by generating novel and ground-breaking fundamental research that can be translated into patient benefit. 

For more information visit our Genetics, Epigenetics and Stratified (Personalised) Medicine summary page.

This area involves translationally-oriented research engaging over 40 independent clinical and basic research groups from the School of Cancer Sciences, the School of Immunity and Infection, the Birmingham University Stem Cell Centre and the Centre for Clinical Haematology.

 

 

For more information visit the Tumour Immunology and Cell Therapy Summary Page.  

The Uro-Oncology Group has an excellent track record in basic science research, epidemiological studies, and clinical trials. We have specific interests in bladder cancer, prostrate cancer, and kidney cancer. We are looking for a researcher with a particular interest in cancer cell signalling and the identification of novel potential therapeutic targets.  

 

 

Please note: whereas our other priority areas should be considered a guide, Uro-Oncology has received specific funding for one Birmingham Fellowship in this field.

For more information, visit the Uro-Oncology summary page

Central to the strategic response to global urban challenges is the concept of resilience. Cities, societies and economies increasingly have to respond to various contemporary risks with a long-term view, rethinking risk assessment and mitigation strategies, focusing on developing adaptive human behaviours and facilitating individual and institutional coping strategies.

For more information visit our Urban Resilience Summary Page.  

Vascular biology seeks to understand the critical responses of haemostasis and thrombosis, inflammation, angiogenesis and lymphangiogenesis which are associated with the causes, prevention or repair of tissue damage arising from impairment of blood flow from ‘bench to bedside’. Key pathways are studied in platelets, leukocytes, endothelial cells (vascular and lymphatic), using in vitro and animal models linked to vascular pathology.  

For more information visit the Vascular Biology Summary Page.

Engineering, Physics, Chemistry, Computer Science and Mathematics research at the life sciences interface is an area of strength at Birmingham. The Physical Sciences of Imaging in the Biomedical Sciences (PSIBS) Doctoral Training Centre focuses on the development of the physical sciences of imaging and the computational analysis of image data to address key problems in the biological and biomedical sciences. Systems Science for Health brings together computer scientists, mathematicians, engineers, biomedical scientists, and clinical sciences to interpret complex data about biological systems and transfer this knowledge into a clinical setting. Work in these and related fields benefits from state-of-the-art imaging and processing technology and links with Birmingham’s world-leading hospitals.

For more information visit the Biomedical Applications of Engineering and Physical Science summary page.  

The application of nanoparticles and nanostructures within biological systems has huge potential in clinical medicine. This Birmingham Fellowship, established by a philanthropic donation, requires an outstanding research scientist who will establish a research programme that cuts across disciplines and enhances and complements our existing research programmes in nanoparticles and nanostructures in Biomedicine.

Please note: whereas our other priority areas should be considered a guide, Biomedical application of nanotechnology has received specific funding for one Birmingham Fellowship in this field.

For more information, visit the Biomedical Application of Nanotechnology.

This priority area spans activities ranging from fundamental research across Pure Mathematics to more applied Mathematical and Computational Modelling, Bioinformatics and Biostatistics. The theme is a response to the many exciting interactions emerging between the mathematical and computational sciences with medical, life and environmental research, both at Birmingham and internationally.

For more information visit our Mathematics, Biostatistics and Modelling in the Life and Environmental Sciences summary page.

With increasing use of electricity generated from alternative distributed sources (including renewable), improved forms of energy storage are required to overcome intermittent generation capability operating on different capacity and time-scales in order to match supply and demand.  Energy demand is complex, and within the urban context, demand is not simply for electricity, but also heat, and energy for various modes of transport. Consequently, integrated resilient energy systems are required, incorporating energy storage technologies. Future development of new and existing technologies, both centralised and on a local meso- and microscale will be vital for energy security.

 For more information, visit the Energy Storage summary page. 

 

This area encompasses atomic quantum gases, metamaterials and quantum optics with a view on applications in quantum information. Theory and experimental applicants are welcome, ideally at the interface of the above areas. We are also open to applicants working in the area of quantum condensed matter (correlated matter and nanoscale materials).

For more information visit our Quantum Matter summary page.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Birmingham has the largest railway research group in Europe. In Transport Engineering, the University is keen to develop research that complements existing work in public transport (traffic management for railways and metros) and urban planning (focusing on walking and cycling).

For more information visit our Transport Engineering summary page.

The key disciplines encompassed in this priority area are Law, Philosophy, Political Science, International Relations/Security Studies. The fundamental interest that guides researchers within this area is a commitment to addressing the impact of conflict on society and understanding the possibilities for promoting human well-being both within and between communities at local, state, national, regional, and global levels.

For more information visit the Justice, Conflict and Society summary page.

‘Communities in transition’ is concerned with the understanding of the changing nature, impact, emergence and representation of groups in society, from the local to the global. Focusing upon the movement and consolidation of peoples and ideas, and the evolving roles of communities (whether of place, interest or value) over time, this priority area encompasses the social, historical, cultural, policy and political processes of community formation and development.

For more information visit our Communities in Transition summary page.

Language, text and performance spans a dynamic and extremely varied range of research at the University of Birmingham, including research into literature in English and in other European languages, the study of theatrical, artistic and musical performance, including practice-based research, and research into the linguistics of modern English.

For more information visit the Language, Text and Performance summary page.  

This theme deals with how markets operate and economic agents behave in the context of increased globalisation of economic activity. Research approaches include experimental economics, econometrics and qualitative analysis within the economics and management disciplines. Main areas of research include labour markets, global business, behavioural economics and the international economy.

For more information visit the Markets and Behaviour in a Global Economy summary page.  

Health, well-being and value is a key area of expertise across the University, with a series of different disciplines contributing to a broader understanding of what helps individuals, communities and societies to be ‘happier’ and ‘healthier.’ It is a key research theme within the College of Arts and Law, with active investigators in Philosophy and Law; in the College of Social Sciences, with active investigators in the Health Services Management Centre and the Institute of Applied Social Studies; and in the School of Health and Population Sciences. 

For more information visit the Health, Well-Being and Value summary page. 

Europe enjoys a significant political, economic and cultural influence on global affairs via the agency of the European Union and the external activities of certain European states. That influence, however, has become subject to transformational change in the global arena (through the rise of new centres of power) and within Europe itself (not least through the constraints of austerity consequent upon the Eurozone crisis). 

For more information visit our Europe's Role in the World summary page.   

The relationship between humanity and environment promises to be a - perhaps the - central challenge of the 21^st century. More than most, this is a field of enquiry that crosses many disciplinary boundaries, stretching from the natural and social sciences to the arts, taking in law and philosophy on the way. What ultimately binds it together is an interest in the multifaceted relationship between nature, society and culture. Our aim is to build on Birmingham’s existing research in this area by attracting scholars working on any aspect of humanity’s relationship with the physical world around it.

 

For more information visit our Humanity and the Environment summary page.