Director of Studies
Prof R W Anderson
Sheffield 222 6212
R.Anderson@sheffield.ac.uk
Career History
• 2012: Professor, Department of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, University of Sheffield
• 2002-present: Director of Studies and Deputy Head, Department of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, University of Sheffield
• 2000-2002: Senior Lecturer, Department of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, University of Sheffield
• 1989-2002: Lecturer, Department of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, University of Sheffield
• 1980-1989: Lecturer, Department of Genetics, University of Sheffield
• 1978-1980: E.P. Abraham Junior Research Fellow, Department of Biochemistry, University of Oxford
• 1976-1978: SRC/NATO Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Biology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• 1973-1976: PhD Student, Department of Genetics, University of Leicester
Earlier in my career, I published more than twenty papers on the developmental genetics of the slime mould Physarum polycephalum. This organism shows a remarkable alternation in its life cycle between microscopic, uninucleate amoebae and giant, multinucleate cells called plasmodia. We showed that its mating type system is extraordinarily complex, involving three multiallelic, genetically unlinked incompatibility loci that independently regulate different aspects of mating between amoebae. We also identified and studied a number of other genes involved in the development of amoebae into plasmodia.
In more recent years I have taken overall responsibility for teaching in MBB, and I also play a wider role in the University through membership of various Faculty and University committees. As Director of Studies, my aim is to help staff to maintain the Department's reputation for excellent, research-led teaching and support for students. We have consistently scored well in the National Student Survey in recent years, and received a highly positive external review in 2008. In 2012, our MBiolSci Biochemistry degree was one of the first degrees to receive accreditation from the Society of Biology.
In my own teaching, I try to challenge students to understand genetics as a set of intellectual and experimental tools as well as a body of knowledge. I am coordinator of the following modules: MBB162 Genetics; MBB231 Genetics of Eukaryotic Microorganisms; MBB339 Evolutionary Genetics; MBB363 Genetics Data Handling; and MBB404 Project in Industry. I also contribute to MBB164 Molecular Genetics.
In 2011 MBB students awarded me the MBB Teaching Prize, in 2012 I received a Senate Award Fellowship for Sustained Excellence in Learning and Teaching, and in January 2013 I was elected as a Fellow of the Society of Biology.