MBB Quality indicators
International quality
Life Sciences at the University of Sheffield has been ranked 37th in the world. Read more on the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2011/12
Biology at Sheffield in Top 5 in UK
The Sunday Times Good University Guide was published on 30 Sept 2012, and puts Biology at Sheffield at position 5 in the UK, out of 88 Universities surveyed.
Teaching quality
In the most recent national Quality Assurance Agency study of teaching quality, which involved 3-day visits to every department in the country and a very detailed analysis of teaching, MBB scored the maximum possible of 24/24.
The National Student Survey (NSS) is an annual independent survey of final year undergraduates at all UK Universities, and ranks universities against a range of questions. See their website
In 2011, the courses taught by MBB scored 100% in overall student satisfaction.
In 2010 the courses taught by MBB at Sheffield (Biochemistry, Genetics, Microbiology, Molecular Biology and variants) were ranked overall second in the UK (after Oxford Brookes) and also first or second in 2009 depending on the course. Sheffield University as a whole was ranked fifth.
In 2009, Genetics at Sheffield was rated as the best Genetics course in the UK by NSS, while Biochemistry and Molecular Biology came second (behind Sussex) and Microbiology also came second (behind Leeds). Within individual categories, the Sheffield courses were voted the best for Teaching, Assessment & Feedback, Organisation & management, Academic support and Learning resources. 89% of students from MBB agreed that they 'feel part of an academic community': this is a very high figure, and reflects our high degree of personal attention and high staff/student ratio in the Department.
Research Quality
In the 2008 RAE we were ranked in 3rd place in the UK (Source: Times Higher Education). We have a large research school, with over 110 research students (divided almost equally between UK and overseas) and 30 postdoctoral researchers, and we publish about 100 research papers per annum.
In the 2001 Research Assessment Exercise we were awarded the top grade of 5*.
The Department has three recent Fellows of the Royal Society (FRS).
Students rate Sheffield among top 5 in the UK
In the 2011 survey, Sheffield came out first for the Students' Union, library, and social life, and second overall.
News item on the 2011 Student Satisfaction Survey.
In the 2012 Student Barometer survey, Sheffield ranked first both in having the highest percentage of students willing to recommend their institution to others (92%), and in living, support and computing services. See here for more details.
Sheffield University named University of the Year in the 2011 Times Higher Education awards
The award was announced on 24 November 2011, and is a recognition of outstanding achievements in teaching, research, access and innovation, as well as the close links that the University has with its local community. For more details see here.