Research and training is offered in neurophysiology, ethology, genetics and development, plant biology and ecology. In addition to these main areas there is also the Sussex Centre for Neuroscience, which is funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council. There are also a number of associated centres and units (the Trafford Centre for Medical Research and the Cell Mutation Unit) whose work is related to that of biological sciences.
In neurophysiology, research ranges from molecular and physiological studies of sense organs and central nervous systems to collaborative studies on behaviour. This includes studies to understand the functional basis of behaviour, with an emphasis on field studies. A major aim has been to foster interaction and collaboration between faculty members with complementary interests, and this includes links with the laboratory of Experimental Psychology and the Sussex Centre for Neuroscience. The Centre is a major research facility, which greatly increases the opportunities for multidisciplinary training, aimed at understanding molecular, cellular and pharmacological basis of behaviour of invertebrate animals.
In genetics and development, we are concerned with understanding the integration of control processes in development, from the level of molecular recognition to that of the formation of the nervous system. This wide goal links a range of specific approaches including enzyme biochemistry, molecular genetics, cell culture, spatial patterning in animal tissues, and both genetic and neurobiological analyses of segmentation. The Biology Group is well equipped for research on mammalian, amphibian and insect species, and has facilities for vertebrate and invertebrate tissue culture as well as a wide range of instrumentation for cell and molecular biology. It can provide a broadly based research training in both fundamental and applied aspects of eukaryote genetics and developmental biology.
Research in plant science ranges from molecular to field studies, although a common theme is to determine how plants function in stressful environments. This includes a long-standing interest in salinity tolerance and more recent work on determining how plants will respond to environmental change. Facilities for studying plants are extensive, and include those for cell fractionation, mineral analysis, electrophoresis, patch-clamping, cell biophysics, water relations and gas exchange, controlled environments for plant growth and exposure to atmospheric change.
Research in ecology - an area in which there has been considerable expansion in the last two years - falls into the following main categories: population biology of plants, plant community ecology and plant conservation ecology, ecology of invertebrates, freshwater ecology, behavioural ecology, where various aspects of social, territorial and mating behaviour are studied, and evolutionary ecology. Research facilities include greenhouses, a field trials plot and a field station.
The Biology Group has 29 members of teaching faculty and a similar number of research faculty. The Group is currently responsible for the training of over 50 graduate students.
Every encouragement is given to interaction between individuals, and between members of the Biology, Biochemistry and Experimental Psychology subjects. It is a particular strength of the Graduate Research Centre in Biological Sciences at Sussex that it is organised as a single unit on a single site, encouraging collaboration between members of its faculty.
© Copyright the University of Sussex 1995.