Life Sciences

Science for life

Our Faculty of Life Sciences contains 230 academic staff who conduct research across the whole of Biology, and educate 2000 students in a wide range of Biology and Preclinical Medicine degree programmes. The Faculty is organised as a single-department structure that promotes collaboration and communication, enables rapid strategic investment, and sustains one of the best, if not the best, core facility networks in Europe. The Faculty also has a professional support team of 200 people who are embedded with academic colleagues.

The research outputs of the Faculty of Life Sciences are of the highest quality and are impacting globally in areas such as mechanisms of life, human health and environmental sustainability. The Faculty was rated in the top three Biology groupings in the UK Government's 2008 Research Assessment Exercise (2008 RAE; specifically 3rd out of 52 submissions in Biological Sciences and 2nd out of 13 in Pre-clinical and Human Biological Sciences). A combination of individual researchers and intra- and inter-Faculty teams are addressing major biological problems. The Faculty also has a strong profile in the history of science and medicine, science communication and public engagement.

Our students benefit from modern facilities, innovative teaching techniques and the chance to be taught by leaders across the breadth of the life sciences. The brand of a Manchester Life Sciences education is focused on improving technical ability through practical classes, the use of an intercalated placement year for skills acquisition, and directing the curriculum to emphasise employability. Manchester Life Sciences courses achieved excellent results (92% overall satisfaction) in the UK National Student Survey 2011 with several degree programmes achieving 100% satisfaction, including Pharmacology, Biomedical Sciences and Zoology.

Space to think

Appointees will be based in a series of interlinked buildings, all built this decade, which together contain over 28,000m² of research space. You will enjoy working alongside exceptional colleagues, and have access to facilities that include:

• The AV Hill building, a £39m research facility for neuroscience and immunology
• The Michael Smith Building, a £62m facility for general biological research, incorporating mass spectrometry, light and electron microscopy, biophysical analysis, next generation DNA sequencing, and robotics for drug screening.
• The Manchester Interdisciplinary Biocentre, a £39m centre focusing on research at the interface between biology and the physical sciences, incorporating NMR, X-ray crystallography, computation, nanofabrication and chemical synthesis.
• The Core Technology Facility, a £27m facility for young businesses to work alongside University research groups
• The Carys Bannister Building, a £4m refurbished facility for Optometry and professional support staff

Useful links

Find out more about our impact and success here: www.ls.manchester.ac.uk

• Discover more about our success in developing women in science or find out more about Women in Life Sciences at Manchester.
• Explore our case studies on Women in Science.