What we stand for

From the Vice-Chancellor

The University of Sheffield has a richly deserved international reputation for outstanding research and teaching and over a century of achievement across the full spectrum of academic life. It has directly enhanced the lives of people around the globe and continues to make a real difference to some of the most important challenges facing our world today.

Yet during these challenging times, it has never been more important to have a clear understanding of what motivates our work, our values and our ambitions. Economic crisis, environmental challenge, the possibilities of new technologies, questions about society, education, health and culture – all these demand new answers and a clear sense of purpose at a time of rapid change.

When I speak to colleagues and students about our vision for the University, I am impressed by a common thread of determination to seek knowledge which makes a difference, to answer difficult questions and to open up understanding.

This vision chimes completely with our University of Sheffield motto. Two millennia after Virgil first praised the benefits of a determination to 'discover and understand', we continue to ask and answer profound questions, sharing what we learn with our students and using this knowledge to make a real difference in the world beyond the University.

The University of Sheffield is, as its founders hoped, a constructive and powerful community of scholarship with real benefits for individuals and society beyond. Over a century after the first students graduated from Sheffield, our ambitions and achievements reflect our place as a leading university, one rightly held in the highest regard around the world for the quality of our research and teaching.

We are a university particularly driven to take what we learn and use it to make a difference in the world. The knowledge we generate is important to all aspects of modern life and civilisation, and our graduates go on to make a powerful, positive, contribution all over the world. These values are at the heart of the University of Sheffield.

Our Mission, Vision and Identity explains who we are, what values we have and our ideas about where we are going. It informs our plans and priorities, as we translate our ideals into reality.

The University of Sheffield is built on the solid foundation of enduring values, supported by the wonderful talents and commitment of our outstanding staff and students. It gives me great confidence in our future to know that we will approach our opportunities and face challenges together in the light of this shared vision of what our University is and can be.

Professor Sir Keith Burnett
Vice-Chancellor
The University of Sheffield