UCL Faculty of Life Sciences
UCL is ranked number two in London for Life Sciences and number nine globally (QS World University Rankings 2023). UCL has also been ranked number two in the UK for research power in the latest REF. The faculty is home to a vibrant community of outstanding students, researchers and academics, supported by a committed professional services team who together research, teach and study the science and biology of life.
About
We are a community of UCL academics, researchers, students and staff who search for answers to some of the most urgent problems that face humans and other animals. We are home to one of Europe’s leading Schools of Pharmacy and a hub for drug discovery at UCL; and host two of the world’s leading neuroscience institutes, the Gatsby Computational Neuroscience Unit and the Sainsbury Wellcome Centre for Neural Circuits and Behaviour.
Biosciences
The Division of Biosciences is home to a huge breadth of biological research within its four research Departments; Cell and Developmental Biology (CDB), Genetics, Evolution and Environment (GEE),
Structural and Molecular Biology (SMB) and Neuroscience Physiology and Pharmacology (NPP).
School of Pharmacy
Research strengths in the School of Pharmacy include drug discovery, technologies for drug delivery and therapeutic target identification with investment in translational research a current priority. There are four research Departments within the School, Pharmaceutical & Biological Chemistry, Pharmaceutics, Pharmacology and Practice & Policy.
Laboratory for Molecular Cell Biology at UCL
Research strengths in the Laboratory for Molecular Cell Biology (LMCB) at UCL include multi-disciplinary approaches to understanding cell shape, function and morphogenesis and quantitative and theory based approaches to cell biology.
Gatsby Computational Neuroscience Unit
Among several strengths, the GCNU brings powerful computational approaches, including advanced machine learning methods for neuronal and behavioural data analysis, to systems neuroscience. An ongoing priority is to further strengthen links with experimental neuroscientists at the SWC and across UCL to seamlessly integrate computational and modeling approaches into experimental neuroscience research.
Sainsbury Wellcome Centre
Research in the Sainsbury Wellcome Centre for Neural Circuits and Behaviour (SWC) aims to understand how information encoded by neuronal activity in brain circuits guides behaviour. Central to much SWC research is the development and use of novel technologies that enable researchers to record and/or manipulate neuronal activity and quantify behavioural responses.