Directory of research activity

Research is at the heart of everything the University does. We are a research-led university with a growing reputation for research excellence. Our research activities have played a central role in securing this success.

Browse our research activities

Most of our research is undertaken by groups and individuals within academic colleges. Research centres are also established which bring added benefits through collaborative and cross-disciplinary expertise. Here you can browse a list of all our research activities that includes our areas of specialism, research groups, centres, institutes, subject disciplines and academic colleges, and our beacon areas of interdisciplinary research.

Browse research activity by College:

• The Business School
• College of Engineering, Mathematics and Physical Sciences
• College of Humanities
• College of Life and Environmental Sciences
• College of Social Sciences and International Studies
• Peninsula College of Medicine and Dentistry

Browse research activity by area:

• Arts and humanities
• Health and medicine
• Science, engineering and environment
• Social science and education

You can also see a full A to Z listing of research topics.

Key research themes

Alternatively, you may wish to explore our key interdisciplinary research themes more fully. These bring staff from Colleges across the University together to tackle some of the big issues of our time, breaking down traditional barriers between academic disciplines to consider some of the big problems of the 21st century from human as well as physical perspectives and seek innovative solutions. The University has strength of depth in these areas which are closely aligned with international research priorities:

• Climate change and sustainable futures
• Extrasolar planets
• Functional materials
• Systems biology
• Translational medicine, personalised healthcare and public health.