Research
Our research tackles major challenges in plant, animal and human health, as we seek a fundamental understanding of biology across the life sciences. Our work spans all scales: from the atomic structures of protein complexes, through to cell and tissue function in whole organisms, to population and ecosystem level analyses.
We are changing the way we understand the principles and mechanisms of life through a series of interrelated research themes encompassing:
Postgraduate research opportunities
Study for a PhD, MD, MSc by research.
- Biochemistry - PhD, MD, MSc by research
- Biological Sciences - PhD, MSc by research
- Cellular and Molecular Medicine - PhD, MD, MSc by research
- Psychology - PhD, MSc by research
- Physiology, Pharmacology and Neuroscience - PhD, MD, MSc by research
- Cotutelle Scholarship with Macquarie University, Australia
Doctoral Training Centres
Collaboration and translation
We work closely with colleagues across the University of Bristol, including the Faculties of Health Sciences, Science and Engineering.
Beyond Bristol, we work with our partner universities in the GW4 Alliance: Bath, Cardiff, and Exeter.
Multidisciplinary collaborations demonstrate the Faculty's commitment to translating its expertise in fundamental biomedical research.
Research institutes and centres
- The Faculty of Life Sciences is host to BrisSynBio, a £13.6M BBSRC/EPSRC-funded synthetic biology centre.
- Members of our Faculty are also key investigators in other major Centres of Excellence at Bristol including:
- £10M MRC-funded Integrative Epidemiology Unit
- £21M NIHR-funded Biomedical Research Centre
- Specialist Research Institutes. We are major contributors to three of the University's seven SRIs:
- University Research Institutes. Staff across the Faculty are active members of one or more of the URIs:
- Cabot Institute for the Environment conducting world-leading research on the challenges arising from how we live with, depend on and affect our planet
- Elizabeth Blackwell Institute for Health Research
- Jean Golding Institute, a multi-disciplinary research institute supporting cutting-edge research in the field of applied data science, and member of the Alan Turing Institute.
- Our researchers are centrally involved in these research groupings:
Our academics are renowned for their close engagement with industry both in the UK and internationally to develop and implement the findings of our research in industrial scenarios.
We particularly pride ourselves on tackling global challenges in collaboration with academics all over the world.
Cross-cutting themes
Underpinning our research themes is a world class state-of-the-art infrastructure for:
- Imaging (Wolfson Bioimaging, flow cytometry, eye-tracking and motion-capture, and CRICBristol)
- 'Omics and informatics (genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics, and their associated bioinformatic needs)
- Responsible research and innovation
Research seminars
Research seminars are listed on our events page
Botanic Garden
We are a major stakeholder in the University’s 1.8-hectare Botanic Garden, a key educational resource for our students and local schools, and a cultural attraction for the city of Bristol.
Fellowships and awards
The Faculty's outstanding academic staff includes:
- 5 Fellows of the Royal Society
- 7 members of the Academy of Medical Sciences
- 10 Wellcome Trust Investigator Award holders
- 3 European Research Council Advanced Grant award holders