About the School of Biosciences
When I came to study Medical Biochemistry at Birmingham, I had no idea that almost half a century later I would still be researching and teaching here. Relatively little of what we now teach students was then known, so I have had a wonderful time trying to fill some of those gaps – but there is plenty still to learn!
A brief history
The current School of Biosciences was formed in 2000 from the fusion of the School of Biological Sciences and the School of Biochemistry. Each of these Schools had previously emerged from predecessor departments, with long histories, whose most eminent scientists included Nobel laureate immunologist Peter Medawar, geneticist John Jinks, microbiologist Harry Smith and biochemists Adrian Brown, Sam Perry and Bob Michell. Thus, Biological Sciences was formed in 1988 by the merger of the Departments of Genetics, Microbiology, Botany, and Zoology & Comparative Physiology, whilst Biochemistry was established earlier, in 1968, by joining up the Biochemistry, Physiological Biochemistry, and Brewing departments.
The School today
At present, the School includes around 60 academic staff, representing research expertise from Cell and Molecular Biology to Zoology and Ecology, 900 undergraduate students enrolled into 3 distinct programmes, 250 postgraduate students at both Masters and PhD level and around 120 early career researchers at postdoctoral level. In the 2021 Research Excellence Framework 93% of our outputs were judged as world-leading or internationally excellent.
We are Biosciences
Our research
Our research focuses on fundamental questions in biology and on global challenges such as food security, climate change and antimicrobial resistance. Our teaching at undergraduate and postgraduate level enables graduates to embark on successful careers in the life sciences and beyond. As an integral part of the life sciences community at the University of Birmingham, we are working with colleagues in the Colleges of Medicine and Health (CMH), and Engineering and Physical Sciences (EPS), and we collaborate with industrial partners in the pharmaceutical, agri-food and biotechnology sectors.