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News archive 2003

Strategic Review: Chemistry

27 Nov 2003, PR 79/03

At its meeting on 26 November, the Academic Board supported a proposal to pursue collaboration with UCL for the establishment of a research institute in Chemical Biology, and to approve the phased closure of the Department of Chemistry (including phasing out the existing undergraduate programmes run by the Department, withdrawing from Masters teaching in Chemistry at the end of the current session, and enabling completion of the current PhD students’ programmes).

The proposal was supported by 29 votes, with 14 against and two abstentions and will be formally presented to the College Council in December.

The Academic Board is 'the body responsible for the academic work of the College in teaching and examining and in research’ and is made up of members of the College community, including elected academic staff and students.

Appendix (attached): ‘The Changing Shape Of Science At King’s’, a paper distributed by the Principal at Academic Board.

The Changing Shape Of Science At King’s
In the Strategic Plan 2001-2010, King’s College London committed itself to the pursuit of excellence in all of the disciplines represented in the College, and determined to concentrate its resources to better effect. In accordance with this strategy, the College will pursue fundamental and translational scientific research at international levels of excellence in the following broad areas (groups in italics have been proposed and await formal approval):

Pure and applied mathematics
Analysis; Disordered systems and neural networks; Financial mathematics and applied probability; Number theory; Geometry; Mathematical physics.
Physics
Chaos and non-linearity; Cosmology; Exotic quantum phases; Fluorescence lifetime imaging of biological cells; Modelling nanomaterials and biomolecules by density functional theory; Quantum mechanical modelling of defects in semiconductor materials; Scanning probe microscopy; Solid state physics; Theoretical particle physics; X-ray physics.
Mechanical engineering
Mechatronics and manufacturing systems; Experimental and computational analysis of turbulence.
Electronic engineering
Digital signal processing; Telecommunications.
Computer Science
Algorithm design; Logic, language and computation; Natural language processing; Software engineering.
Chemical Biology
Chemistry and structural biology; Computational methods and bioinformatics.
Molecular Mechanisms of Cell Function (The Randall Centre)
Developmental Neurobiology (MRC Centre)
Genetics and Development
Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry (MRC Centre)
Applied Biomedical Sciences
Immunology, Infection and Inflammatory Disease
Asthma, Allergy and Lung Biology
Cardiovascular Biology
Nutritional Sciences
Pharmaceutical Sciences
Cancer Studies
Hepatology and Transplantation
Neuroscience
Imaging
Reproductive Health, Endocrinology and Development
Skin Science
Nursing and Midwifery
Antisocial Behaviour
Childhood Disorders
Drug Addictions
Neurosis
Neurodegeneration
Psychosis
Dentistry
Cell and developmental biology, including craniofacial development, cell biology and orthodontics; Infection, including oral microbial diseases;Biomaterials and biomimetics, including tissue engineering; Mucosal biology and pathology, including immunology, oncology and salivary research; Oral health, including health services research and epidemiology
Population Sciences and Health Care
Health Services Research
Geography
Environment, Politics and Development; Cities, Culture and Society; Environmental Monitoring and Modelling.

Further to the College’s stated strategy of pursuing research-led teaching, King’s will concentrate resources on maintaining and developing teaching excellence in over 150 first-degree, and nearly 100 Masters programmes, in the areas of scientific excellence listed above.

Notes to editors

King's College London
King's College London is the fourth oldest university in England with more than 13,700 undergraduates and nearly 5,600 graduate students in nine schools of study based at five London campuses. It is a member of the Russell Group: a coalition of the UK's major research-based universities. The College has had 24 of its subject-areas awarded the highest rating of 5* and 5 for research quality, demonstrating excellence at an international level, and it has recently received an excellent result in its audit by the Quality Assurance Agency.

King's has a particularly distinguished reputation in the humanities, law, international relations, medicine, nursing and the sciences, and has played major role in many of the advances that have shaped modern life, such as the discovery of the structure of DNA. It is the largest centre for the education of health care professionals in Europe and is home to five Medical Research Council Centres – more than any other university.

King's is in the top group of UK universities for research earnings, with income from grants and contracts of more than £114 million, and has anannual income of more than £369 million.

Further information
Public Relations Department
Email: pr@kcl.ac.uk
Tel: 020 7848 3202

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