Our Biosciences Research
Research Excellence Framework, 2021: We are delighted to have achieved 100% world leading and internationally excellence ratings in both environment and impact due to the work of our growing department which has tripled in size in the last 7 years. An impressive 65% of our research publications have been classed as world leading.
The Department of Biosciences conducts research on diverse subjects across natural sciences, combining fundamental and applied science to provide a well-rounded research environment. Our research is focussed around four themes, but we also integrate these with our education mission via our STEMM Ed group, and beyond our research activity place emphasis on maintaining a value-rich academic community.
We take an interdisciplinary approach and build on a strong history of aquatic research at Swansea University to answer fundamental and applied research questions aimed at sustaining ecosystem services from marine and freshwater environments. We also consider the interconnected nature of different freshwater, estuarine and marine environments and humans as key components of these systems.
From molecular through to macroevolutionary scales we interrogate the basis of behavioural and morphological adaptations. We focus on understanding animal sociality, movement ecology and the evolutionary drivers and mechanisms of behaviour.
Global environmental change is modifying and affecting ecosystems and biodiversity and the functions and life-support they provide. We aim to understand the mechanisms and functions driving biodiversity patterns and ecosystem dynamics, to better inform management and policy from local to global scales. Our strengths arise from the synergies of combining experimental, field, and theoretical approaches, across individual to population and community-level scales. Our work spans ecosystems across the globe, from tropical islands to temperate reefs and coastlands, from the Atlantic forest to boreal ecosystems.
Our research aims to maximise the benefits of natural resources while minimising disturbances to the environment. We address environmental and societal challenges through applied research, and in doing so, we champion healthy and sustainable ecosystems. Our focus is broad and ranges from harnessing microbial systems for novel product and process development (bioprospecting, bioremediation), to addressing aquatic and terrestrial food security (aquaculture, biocontrol, disease ecology), and environmental stewardship (invasive species control, human-environment interactions). Working collaboratively across disciplines with academics, businesses and policymakers are central to our research.
United Nations Sustainable Development Goals
Our research contributes to the success of these specific UNSDG goals.
