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Research

Life Sciences

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A close-up photograph of a pipette

The Department of Life Sciences provides a lively and expanding research environment for postgraduate research students. There are over 120 people in the department, including 32 academic staff. Current research includes: neuroscience, cell biology, immunology, molecular genetics, ageing, Huntington’s disease, autism, animal behaviour, biopsychology, cognitive psychology, biodiversity, ecology, nature conservation and evolution.

The department is a founder member and coordinator of the Science Faculty’s Biomedical Research Network, itself part of the University’s strategic research initiative in research into health and medicine.

Key facts

  • Members of the department were recently awarded the Medical Futures Innovation Prize for their work on novel peptide therapies for Alzheimer’s disease and memory disorders.
  • The department hosts the Evolution MegaLab, an innovative project bringing evolution into the classrooms of Europe.
  • The department has been awarded £2 million by the Lottery Fund for the Biodiversity Observatory.
  • The work of the department has recently generated several patents in the area of tissue engineering and cell culture.
  • ‘Charles Darwin and the Tree of Life’, produced in collaboration with the BBC, recently won best television programme, best script, best presenter and best educational value at the International Wildlife Film Festival in the USA.
  • Members of the department regularly publish in high-impact factor journals such as Science and Nature.
  • Research in the department is funded by a diverse range of external funding bodies, including the Research Councils (e.g. MRC, BBSRC, ESRC, NERC), the European Union (FP6 and FP7), charities (e.g. Wellcome Trust, Multiple Sclerosis Society, Research into Ageing) and international foundations (e.g. Autism Speaks).

Facilities

The department has a full suite of recently modernised laboratories for biomedical, cognitive psychological and environmental research. The biomedical labs have extensive behavioural facilities, cell culture facilities, electron and confocal microscopes, image analysis, and histological facilities. The environmental facilities are housed in a separate new building and provide access to a suite of laboratories for environmental analysis such as nutrient and pollutant determination in samples of water, soil or vegetation. The biomedical laboratories are equipped for genetic manipulation, cell and molecular biology including DNA sequencing and quantitative PCR, electrophysiology, tissue culture, FACS analysis and standard biochemical techniques. The laboratories and equipment are supported by a team of 12 specialist technicians and project officers. The environmental facilities also include a fully controlled growth room, greenhouses, a field site on campus and state-of-the-art surveying equipment (GPS and Total station) for precision location of field samples. 

The department provides an excellent environment for both research and training.

Further information

If you have an enquiry specific to this research area please contact:

Name:
Astrid Peterkin
Email:
science-phd-enquiries@open.ac.uk
Phone:
+44 (0)1908 659845

For general enquiries please contact the Research Degrees Team via the link under 'Your questions' further down the page.

Publications

Research publications by Open University staff are available through Open Research Online (ORO), the university's repository of research publications and other research outputs. ORO can be searched or browsed by staff name or subject.

The following list, generated from ORO, provides a flavour of the most recently published work in Life Sciences: