Research environment

Joseph Priestly building
Joseph Priestly building

The School of Biological and Chemical Sciences (SBCS) is one of the largest departments at Queen Mary, University of London's Mile End campus, with over 70 members of academic staff and 1300 undergraduate and postgraduate students. The School is committed to excellence in research and teaching, and offers a vibrant, stimulating and interactive environment for staff and students.

The 2008 RAE confirms the School’s position among the UK’s leading centres for Biological Sciences, with 85 per cent of its outputs assessed as being of international quality. A key feature of the School’s strategy has been the recruitment of young and enthusiastic research-oriented staff. This will ensure the continued development of our exciting research environment.

Interdisciplinary research is encouraged both within the School and with other departments at Queen Mary (for example, the School of Medicine and Dentistry, the Department of Geography, and the Centre for Materials Research). Strong collaborative research links exist with external institutions such as the Natural History Museum and the Institute of Zoology, other colleges/universities and a variety of commercial organisations, including major international pharmaceutical companies such as Amersham plc and GSK-GlaxoSmithKline.

Student in a research laboratory
Student in a research laboratory

The School has a number of the country's leading researchers in areas such as biochemistry, synthetic chemistry, evolutionary and organismal biology and freshwater ecology, and has recently invested £3 million in state-of-the-art equipment, making it one of the best equipped departments in London for research in the field of natural sciences.

Research interests within the School cover the whole spectrum of biological and chemical sciences from sub-atomic to global levels of analysis, and includes research on materials and interfacial chemistry, protein structure and function, photosynthesis, cell biology, evolutionary and functional genomics, neurobiology, cognitive biology and psychology, behavioural ecology, aquatic and terrestrial ecology. 

Exploring physical cognition and reasoning in rooks: studies by Dr Nathan Emery
Exploring physical cognition and reasoning in rooks: studies by Dr Nathan Emery

Research in the School is divided into a number of research groups, each of which focuses on a specific area. Click on a group name below to see more information about its research focus and a list of its members:

Within each research group, follow the links to the members' home pages for publications and individual research interests.