Academic Research

The University of Dundee has a reputation for excellence in research and continues to successfully attract leading researchers (link to educational stats page re postdocs etc) from across the world to Dundee.

The discovery of the p53 cancer gene by Professor Sir David Lane, FRS, and pioneering research into keyhole surgery by Sir Alfred Cuschieri are two major advances that have had an enormous impact on research around the globe.

The University continues to engage in groundbreaking research in the area of diabetes, drug discovery, genetic breakthrough, accessible computers and cystic fibrosis.

Research Institutions

Dundee is home to world class institutions with ground breaking specialised research centres

• Centre for Cell Signalling (SCILLS) - the world's first centre dedicated to the study of protein ubiquitination, a process that regulates all aspects of cell life.
• Division of Signal Transduction Therapy - a £23m partnership with six of the world's leading pharmaceutical companies and the Medical Research Council to develop novel industry ready target for the pharmaceutical sector.
• Dundee is home to the Tayside Academic Health Sciences Centre (TAHSC) which was formally established on 1st January 2010. The Centre combines the research strengths of the University of Dundee with NHS Tayside and is a node of the national Scottish Academic Health Sciences Collaboration.

The Abertay research agenda includes world leading environmental research in soil science, innovative visualisation of complex datasets, policing research ranging from witness analysis through to face identity and aspects of money laundering, aspects of regional and national economic analysis and accountancy as related to the oil and gas industry.

The core research program of the SIMBIOS Centre is focused on trying to understand how the spatial heterogeneity of soils at the microscopic scale affects their behaviour at larger scales.

The Centre's stated mission is to provide a service to the water industry (in the UK and overseas) in three main areas: research, academic and consultancy. In the many projects carried out to date the Centre has been highly successful in combining academic skills with commercial expertise.

ACE Eco-partnerships can offer free comprehensive assistance to eligible small medium sized enterprises (SMEs) with less than 250 employees in the Tayside area to investigate opportunities for industrial symbios, where the waste or outputs from one SME can be used by a neighbouring SME.

It is a 3 year project which will run until June 2011, jointly funded by the University of Abertay Dundee and the European Union to the value of £1.1M.

Food innovation @ Abertay (FIA) is a practical innovation support service for the Scottish food and drink industry. Based at the University of Abertay Dundee, FIA provides food and drink companies with expert practical support and advice for innovation, as well as access to other useful services and facilities.

SCRI’s research focuses on processes that regulate the growth of plants and their responses to pests, pathogens and the environment. It includes genetics to breed crops with improved quality and nutritional value.

A broad multi-disciplinary approach to fundamental and strategic research, and technology transfer, are special strengths of SCRI. Our programmes span the disciplines of genetics and breeding, molecular and cellular biology, biotechnology, plant pathology (bacteriology, entomology, mycology, nematology and virology), plant physiology and cell biology, environmental science, plant chemistry and biochemistry, agronomy, molecular ecology, vegetation dynamics, bioremediation, serology, physics, mathematics, bioinformatics and statistics. Genetics and enhanced breeding of selected crops, and biotechnology, lie at the core of our research, development and training programmes and plant scientists from the University of Dundee are also based at SCRI.