Introduction

Contents

Location
Facilities
Research
Teaching
Third Mission
Related Departments and Organisations
Getting to Bangor

Brambell Building The School of Biological Sciences currently has 26 academic staff, 36 postdoctoral fellows, research assistants and research technicians, a teaching support team of 7 and a central administrative team of 6. The undergraduate and postgraduate student population is around 550. We pride ourselves on our supportive and friendly atmosphere, the excellent standard of our teaching and the diversity and quality of our research. We teach degree courses and undertake research across the whole spectrum of modern biology, from biomedicine and molecular genetics through to organismal biology, ecology and conservation.

1. Location

There must be few universities that can rival Bangor’s spectacular location - set in a region of outstanding natural beauty between the mountains, lakes and forests of the Snowdonia National Park and Gwynedd’s dramatic coastline. The city of Bangor is an important, rapidly expanding commercial centre of around 17000 inhabitants, which enjoys a diverse range of shops, restaurants, pubs and other amenities. Its compact size and rural setting leave it free from many of the problems of larger industrial cities. The University campus is only a few minutes walk from the city centre and railway station. The School is located centrally on the University campus, conveniently across the road from Information Services and the Science Library. Our teaching is primarily housed within the Brambell Building and our research activity spreads into the adjacent Memorial Building. The Brambell Building is home to the North West Cancer Research Fund Institute, a newly established centre of excellence for cancer research in Wales. Work has just commenced on the building of a new Environment Centre, which will serve as a multidisciplinary hub for integration of environmental sciences across the University and within Wales.

2. Facilities

Our laboratories are equipped to a very high standard for biological research and teaching. In addition to our extensive complement of physiological and molecular science equipment, we have an Advanced Mass Spectrometry Facility (an ultrahigh resolution Fourier transform ion cyclotron MS and MALDI-TOF MS), a Transcriptomics Analysis Suite (incorporating a scanner and robotic arrayer), an Imaging Facility (multiphoton laser confocal microscope plus scanning and transmission electron microscopy) and a bioinformatics Beowulf cluster. Housing for research animals includes a purpose-built aquarium and an animal house with accommodation for small mammals and birds. There are additional constant environment rooms and cabinets, plant growth rooms and electronic and mechanical workshops. Memorial Building The School is unusual in boasting its own Natural History Museum and there is also Treborth Botanic Garden above the shore of the Menai Strait. We have access to the University’s Henfaes Field Station which has greenhouse and laboratory provisions and also hosts the Solardome Facility (climate change research) run by the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Bangor (NERC). Taking together the mountains, the coast and the farm land of the coastal plain and the island of Anglesey, we have a magnificent range of habitats for terrestrial, freshwater and marine biological field research (as well as superb opportunities for outdoor recreation!).

3. Research

The School supports a vigorous research base in a number of areas, including molecular ecology, fisheries genetics, molecular cancer studies, biodegradation and bioremediation, plant systems and technology, wetland biogeochemistry, neurophysiology of crustacea and animal responses to stress. We receive substantial financial support from the Research Councils, charities, government departments and British and overseas industry. Our diverse interests facilitate a wide exchange of interdisciplinary ideas and techniques and promote collaborations both within the School and with colleagues in other institutions and industry.

4. Teaching

The School provides teaching of the highest quality at all levels, as consistently recognised by our External Examiners and by the Quality Assurance Agency, which awarded us the highest grade of ‘Excellent’. Our teaching portfolio is closely integrated with our research activities and we currently offer seven Single Honours and one Joint Honours programme across the spectrum of the biological sciences. Our portfolio includes Welsh medium teaching and we actively support the aspirations of staff and students with respect to learning and using the Welsh language.

5. Third Mission

The School has strong links with the local community and the commercial sector. In collaboration with the Welsh Development Agency, we have developed five Bioscience Incubator laboratories within the Brambell Building, facilitating commercialisation of basic research in the University and externally.

6. Related Departments and Organisations

The range of biological expertise available to staff and students in the School has recently been increased by the formation of a College of Natural Resources comprising the School plus the Schools of Ocean Sciences and Environment & Natural Resources. The Welsh Institute of Natural Resources (which include the Centre for Arid Zone Studies) is also integrated into the College. In a separate development, some of the the School's staff have recently moved into a new Environment Centre which also houses staff from the NERC (Natural Environmental Research Council) Centre for Ecology and Hydrology. We also work closely with the UK Environment Agency, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the Countryside Council for Wales (which has its headquarters in Bangor). The activities of the NWCRF Institute are supported by close links with the Wales Gene Park, Cancer Research UK and TENOVUS.

7. Getting to Bangor

Bangor is easily accessible by road, rail, air and sea. Along the A55 it is only one hour by road, via Chester, to the M56 motorway, leading to the M6 and Manchester. From Chester, the fast A483 via Wrexham and Shrewsbury links with the M54 and M6 to the south, while the A5 provides a scenic alternative route through North Wales to Shrewsbury and Birmingham. Regular expression trains run to Bangor from London Euston (about 3.5 hours), Birmingham New Street (about 3 hours) and Manchester Victoria (about 2.5 hours). The ferry port to Dublin is just 30 minutes away in Holyhead. Manchester International Airport is about 90 minutes by car, and easily accessible by train, from Bangor.