Chemical and Physical Sciences

Research themes

Chemical and Physical Sciences

Our research benefits from collaborations with colleagues at Keele (e.g. on food security) as well as collaborations with academic and industrial partners worldwide. Our research is supported by various research councils: STFC, EPSRC, NERC, BBSRC, DEFRA, DTI, the European Union, the Leverhulme Trust, the Nuffield Foundation, and the Environment Agency. We exploit leading national and international experimental facilities (e.g. Diamond), computing facilities (e.g. DiRAC, PRACE) and observing facilities (e.g. ESO telescopes) to conduct our research. This enables us to produce high-quality research 80% of our research is deemed world-leading or internationally excellent (REF, 2021).

Astrophysics and Data Science

Our research in astrophysics is wide-ranging and covers observational and computational work on stars, planets, interstellar matter and galaxies. We exploit leading international facilities to obtain forefront observational data, and combine this with computer-based theoretical simulations.

Education research and scholarship

This broad theme encompasses research and scholarship in several key areas of Chemical Sciences education. Our Team Based Learning (TBL) Group implements and evaluates the methodology across a range of topics from organic chemistry to spectroscopy, and assists colleagues at Keele and beyond in using the technique.

Forensic and Analytical Science

Research carried out within this group is very diverse, yet all with a very similar theme: Investigative. This is either set in an area of analytical chemistry (identifying biomarkers or creating sensors), or a range of topics directly applicable to Forensic Science (detecting buried items of forensic interest, bone research or estimating postmortem intervals).

Materials science and renewable energy

The materials science and renewable energy research provides an academic environment where fundamental and applied sciences across a breadth of fields both prosper and inform one another. Keele offers a dynamic research environment and well-equipped chemical and analytical laboratories with a wide range of facilities available.

Synthetic chemistry

This research theme encompasses organic and inorganic chemistry, and spans a broad range of applications with a focus on the preparation and characterization of new molecules and materials using synthetic chemistry techniques. Research activities in this theme are spread across three fully equipped research laboratories in the Lennard-Jones Laboratories building at Keele, and make use of our state of the art analytical facilities.

Research

facilities and equipment