Why Sheffield?
The Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Sheffield is internationally recognised for both the quality of its research and educational provision, attracting research income of around £12m per year.
Study a research degree with us and you'll become part of a welcoming community, benefitting from the knowledge and experience of leading academics in their field of research.
In the 2022 Research Excellence Framework (REF2022) 92 per cent of research and its real-world impact at the University of Sheffield has been rated as world-leading or internationally excellent.
Many of our academics are leaders in their fields of research and are much in demand for research collaborations. Of particular note is our research into:
- Nuclear waste development and characterisation
- Biominerals
- Metallurgy
- Functional ceramics
- Tissue engineering
- Advanced characterisation
Collaborations with science departments (such as Chemistry, Physics and Astronomy) enrich the broad and interdisciplinary nature of our materials and manufacturing research, whilst the participation of the Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre with Boeing and the Nuclear Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre aids our development at higher technology readiness levels.
Further translational research is underpinned by close collaborations between the Schools of Medicine and Dentistry and the more traditional engineering disciplines, allowing our researchers to exploit their understanding of underlying physical phenomena for the public good.
Long term investment and support by our sponsors, both private (e.g. Rolls Royce, Boeing, GKN, Seagate, Tata Steel, Johnson Matthey, Bentley) and public (RCUK, Innovate UK, EU), is devoted to creating a better understanding of the fundamentals of material science and to resolve challenges in a number of domains, especially the aerospace, automotive, healthcare, information technology and energy sectors.
We are also a major partner in the £235m Henry Royce Institute for Advanced Materials (royce.ac.uk). In Sheffield, we will host a £30m materials discovery centre in newly built facilities, and an £8m materials translational centre part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund. Through collaboration with world-leading scientists, these state-of-the-art facilities will translate fundamental materials science into future materials manufacturing technologies, driven by industry needs.