Achieving Excellence
Excellence indicates the very highest quality, significantly exceeding the norm, as reflected by the 'Made in Sheffield' stamp. It reflects a refusal to accept the ordinary. We aim to create an environment that supports and promotes success, encouraging staff and students to achieve and excel.
Breakthrough in photosynthesis research
We know that photosynthesis is essential for life on Earth. The food we eat, the air we breathe and the fuels we burn all depend on this process. But until recently, we didn’t understand how it worked.
Working as part of an international team, scientists from the University of Sheffield have helped to pinpoint how the component parts of photosynthesis fit together as a system. Understanding how nature harnesses the power of sun could help us tackle the problem of how to meet people’s food and energy needs at a time of global environmental change.
This breakthrough also has implications for the future of molecular science, paving the way for scientists to learn more about a large number of biological systems and processes.
Our work on photosynthesis is part of Project Sunshine.
Positive action for public health
Changing Families, Changing Food was a three-year inter-disciplinary research programme, led by the University and funded with £1.2m from the Leverhulme Trust.
It examined recent changes in the form of family life and how those changes have affected patterns of food consumption. Its findings challenge the assumption that healthy eating is primarily a matter of individual choice.
Researchers from Human Nutrition, East Asian Studies, Geography, Nursing and Midwifery, the School of Health and Related Research and Sociological Studies worked on the project
in collaboration with colleagues in Health and Social Care at Royal Holloway, University of London.
This research is particularly relevant to policy makers. The findings indicate that tackling the problem of obesity will require action at all levels: from individuals, families, communities and government.
Research and teaching: the ideal balance
The Department of Politics at Sheffield has an international reputation for research excellence. In the 2008 RAE (Research Assessment Exercise) it was ranked first equal among all politics departments in the UK.
Research is part of the department’s curriculum at undergraduate and postgraduate level. Students are taught by leading researchers who are experts in their field. This means they learn to think effectively, to ask the right kinds of questions and to get results.
It’s an active learning experience, one that produces confident, independent graduates with the skills to tackle big projects, on their own or as part of a team.
All students are expected to undertake their own research. But this doesn’t mean they spend all their time in the library. For example, a third year student might write a dissertation based on a work placement or a project with an external partner such as a local authority, charity, NGO or political party.