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The College of Physical Sciences is one of three colleges in the University of Aberdeen. The college was established in 2003 following a re-organisation of the academic structure with the university. It is based in the heart of the King's College campus in Old Aberdeen, which is one of the most historical parts of the City of Aberdeen. The college provides programmes of study for undergraduate and postgraduate students and also research activities.
Contents
The college comprises three schools and the Graduate School, covering teaching and research areas across a number of subject areas:
Schools
Head of College
The current Head of College is Professor Bryan MacGregor.
Professor MacGregor has been MacRobert Professor of Land Economy at the University of Aberdeen since 1990 and is currently Vice Principal and Head of College (Physical Sciences). He was previously Head of the College of Arts and Social Sciences and the dean of the former Faculty of Social Science and Law. A land economist by discipline, Professor MacGregor’s academic career has included posts at the Universities of Reading and Glasgow. Prior to joining the University of Aberdeen, he was Property Research Manager with Prudential Portfolio Managers.
Research
Research within the College of Physical Sciences is founded on strong academic disciplines, and ranges from fundamental research to applied projects, working closely with industry. There are strong links between disciplines, and a number of research themes span disciplines across the College and the University.
The College has a truly international perspective on its research activities, with a number of internationally renowned and internationally active staff, and an increasing number of formal international research collaborations. A number of senior academics from across the world hold Sixth Century Chair appointments at the University of Aberdeen in addition to their posts at their own institutions.
The College is a partner in five Scottish research pooling initiatives, which pull together research strengths in various disciplines across Scotland, and encourage and enable collaboration with partners in other Scottish research universities. It is also involved in ongoing discussions involving the leading research groups in pure mathematics across Scotland, to establish a Mathematics pooling initiative.
Interdisciplinary research at Aberdeen is encouraged through a number of research centres and institutes. In 2009, the University was awarded £12.4m from the RCUK Digital Economy Programme to investigate how advances in digital technologies can transform rural communities, society and business. Research in dot.rural is based around four themes; access and mobilities, healthcare, enterprise and culture and natural resource conservation. It brings together researchers from a range of disciplines including computing science, communication engineering, human geography, sociology, environmental science, medicine and transport.
The College offers a supportive and dynamic environment for aspiring researchers - building on the recommendations of the Roberts Review and the UK Research Councils Joint Skills Statement and implementing the Concordat to support career development for research staff. Discipline specific support and academic guidance is provided through supervisors and research groups, of which postgraduate students and contract researchers are an integral part.