Research
The Department of Department of Materials Science and Engineering is one of the leading UK Departments of Materials Science and Engineering. Our research has strong links to industry and is sponsored by around 120 different industrial companies and government agencies from across the world (receiving an annual income of around £11M in research funding for each of the previous two years).
We hold a prestigious place as the only UK University Materials Department to have been selected to be a member of the World Materials Research Institute Forum (WMRIF). Details below:-
World Materials Research Institute Forum
Materials research in Sheffield extends back to 1884 when work started in the area of metallurgy. Our metals section is now one of the largest and best equipped in the country with close links to the metallurgical and process engineering industries. Recently our world-leading centre in the Science and Technology of Thermomechanical Processing (IMMPETUS) received its third five-year period of EPSRC funding.
We have a long tradition of ceramics research going back to 1921. Our strengths in traditional ceramics have broadened and there is now a strong focus on functional ceramics within the Department. Much of this work has been supported by an EPSRC Portfolio Partnership (The Ceramics and Composites Laboratory).
For many years we were the only university in the world to possess a department entirely devoted to the study of glass. Much of the glass research in the Department today, together with that in cements, is associated with a £2M British Nuclear Fuels Ltd Partnership to create a centre of expertise in the science and technology of immobilisation of nuclear (and toxic) waste.
A more recent development for the department is at the life sciences interface with the creation of a research and teaching centre in tissue engineering.
These centres have been complemented by new initiatives such as the creation of a Research Centre in Surface Engineering and the re-launch of the Sheffield Centre for Advanced Magnetic Materials and Devices. The department has also broadened to encompass Modelling through the establishment of a Materials Modelling team who work closely with staff in several of the research themes.
In addition to our vigorous research activities, the department offers a range of attractive undergraduate and postgraduate taught courses. Details of which can be found from the links on the left hand side.
Full details regarding the department´s research activities can be found on our research themes and research centres webpages.
Research themes
Our research is organised into eight main themes. These cover the processing, properties and application of materials.
Find out more on our research themes webpage
World class research centres and facilities
Our internationally renowned research centres provide world class facilities to our students and researchers, enabling our research to remain at the leading edge.