Changing the World Through Research

CHANGING

THE WORLD...

Research at Queen’s is making a huge impact on the world and our researchers are some of best on the planet. They do work solving some of the world’s biggest challenges, making a huge difference to people’s lives. Our research feeds directly into our courses, so what you learn is relevant, inspiring and the next step to changing the world.

As global citizens we only have to look out the window, check Twitter or the news, to see momentous change is all around us. Today, as a future-focussed university, our five research pillars are tied to the EUs sustainable development goals, so every research step we take, we move closer to changing the world. These challenges are everywhere, from things we all take for granted such as safe food, to life-saving devices and technologies.

OUR FIVE RESEARCH PILLARS

• Inclusive and Cohesive

Communities

• Human-Environment Relations

• Healthy Living for All • A Transformative and

Sustainable Economy • Secure, Connected Intelligence – AI and the Data Revolution

ROCKSTARS OF RESEARCH

We’ve a proud history of conducting innovative, impactful, and worldleading research and our researchers are not just researchers – we like to think of them as our ‘Rockstars of Research’. In 1964, John Stewart Bell, published Bell’s Theorem in 1964; one of the most significant developments in quantum theory, it ultimately demonstrated Einstein’s views on quantum mechanics were incorrect.

TOUCHING LIVES

Our research is felt in every walk of life.

One-time British Female Inventor of the Year, Professor Maire O’Neill’s high-speed silicon security chip is used in more than 100 million TV set-top boxes. You might not see it, but this is quantum-safe cryptography. The era of Edge computing, Tactile Internet, and wireless technologies is here, now. For advances in signal processing, Dr Trung Duong was awarded a Newton Prize for designing a wireless communications system that can withstand natural disasters – a proper earthquake, tsunami, and hurricane-resistant device.

In the lab, we’re creating solutions to life-threatening illnesses, developing new therapies with a dramatic effect on survival rates and the quality of people’s lives. Professor Stuart Elborn, developed the world’s first effective treatment for Cystic fibrosis, described by the US FDA as ‘a revolution in how we treat patients in the future’. Researchers at the Centre for Cancer Research and Cell Biology are leading a major international initiative on modern cancer care medicine.

Out of the lab, the effect of our research is felt, globally. A simple and cost-effective new technology removing arsenic from rice, will save millions of people from lifethreatening illnesses, while advances in green chemistry, hydrogen and urban design is bringing a sustainability agenda inspired by zero carbon emissions, even closer.

RANKED JOINT 1ST IN THE UK FOR RESEARCH INTENSITY

(Complete University Guide 2022)

“Our vision is to make a positive impact, both locally and globally, through our research and enterprise, driving changes for our disciplines, society, the environment, and our economy.”

Professor Emma Flynn Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research and Enterprise

OUR STRATEGIC RESEARCH THEMES

INCLUSIVE AND COHESIVE COMMUNITIES

HUMANENVIRONMENT RELATIONS

HEALTHY LIVING FOR ALL

...THROUGH

RESEARCH

ON A HUMAN LEVEL

We touch the lives of adults and children struggling with everyday life; Queen’s has been honoured by UNESCO by becoming an international example of how shared education can promote reconciliation in divided societies. Professor Joanne Hughes, Director of the Centre for Shared Education, has been appointed the first ‘UNESCO Chair on Globalising a Shared Education Model for Improving Relations in Divided Societies’.

Around the world, our researchers are finding ways to improve sanitation, provide clean drinking water and find ways to improve mental health. We’re transforming understanding of gender, and as we move towards an ageing population, how older people can not just survive, but thrive.

REF 2014

• Our world-class research feeds directly into your course so your lectures will be up to the minute • As a Russell Group university, our research reputation attracts the best academics

• You’ll have the opportunity to conduct your own research through our Research

Experience Scheme for

Undergraduate Students

WHAT OUR RESEARCH MEANS FOR YOU

• Ranked joint 1st in the UK for research intensity (Complete

University Guide 2022) • In the most recent assessment of our research, 76 per cent of our research is classified in the top two categories of world-leading and internationally excellent qub.ac.uk/Research/research-explore

“It was inspiring to be in an environment where medical breakthroughs are made literally every week. I now feel confident that I would like to have a research aspect to my daily clinical life. I want to be a part of the upcoming generation of medical researchers making a difference in the world.”

Tejas Harita, Bachelor of Medicine undergraduate

QUEEN’S GLOBAL RESEARCH INSTITUTES

Queen’s Global Research Institutes (GRls) are flagships for interdisciplinary research in areas of major societal challenge. They bring together a critical mass of excellent researchers from a wide range of disciplines in world-class facilities to tackle some of the greatest global issues of our age.

Global Food Security: Focusing on areas such as modern fanning, global food integrity and food health and nutrition. This institute plays a major role in the future of delivering safe, sustainable, and authentic food to the world’s population, and has become global if recognised for its excellence in research.

Peace, Security and Justice:

The Senator George J. Mitchell Institute for Global Peace. Security and Justice examines how societies emerging from violence can establish lasting peace. It brings together academics from fields as diverse as Politics and Computer Engineering. Technology Futures: Investigating how to secure, process and safely transmit information created by citizens, enterprise, and government. The Institute of Electronics, Communications and Information Technology hosts the award-winning UK Innovation and Knowledge Centre for cyber security. Global Health: Addressing diseases that affect populations worldwide like Cancer, Respiratory Conditions, Eye Disease and Diabetic Vascular Complications by focusing on common areas such as immunology and aspects of infection, and working with the health sector, pharmaceutical and biotech industries.

OUR STRATEGIC RESEARCH THEMES

A TRANSFORMATIVE AND SUSTAINABLE ECONOMY

SECURE CONNECTED INTELLIGENCE – AI AND THE DATA REVOLUTION

10 QUEEN’S SUBJECTS IN THE TOP 200 IN THE WORLD

(Academic Ranking of World Universities, 2021)