Strong strategic support from the School of Applied Sciences and the University has led to dramatic growth in research in Biological Sciences over the past seven years, enabling us both to become a distinct Department and to submit for the first time to the REF at the end of 2013.

New state-of-the-art laboratories have been established, with substantial investment in infrastructure, including facilities for flow cytometry, fluorometry, luminometry, real-time PCR and histology, cell culture, forensic biology, molecular genetics analysis, archaeogenetics and ancient DNA research. Moreover, advanced instrumentation shared with colleagues in Chemistry and Physics includes NMR spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, protein crystallography and high performance computing developed in conjunction with the Science and Technology Facilities Council.‌

Our research now includes the study of infectious diseases, molecular carcinogenesis and drug design, the structural biology and biochemistry of food macromolecules, the molecular basis of circadian rhythms, forensic entomology, the origins of animals and transposable elements, the dispersals of modern humans, and the development of new methods for analysing forensic and archaeological DNA. There is a strong interdisciplinary focus, with several staff working at the boundaries between groups or contributing to more than one group; many also work at the interface with groups in Pharmacy, Chemistry and Physics.