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The Vital Role of Research

As befits a university with Brunel's history and reputation, research is at the heart of all we do.

It underpins - indeed leads to - most of the taught courses we offer and informs the academic work of our students. It is responsible for much of our collaborative work with business, industry and the public sector. No less important, it generates a culture of intellectual endeavour that is fundamental to the well-being of all members of the University and encourages the cross-fertilisation of ideas and expertise for which Brunel has long been famous.

Pure Research - Valuable Applications
Brunel has always prided itself on the quality and the relevance of its academic work. We place great value on our pure investigative research but we have always valued too the usefulness of our research to the community at large. This is why collaboration with major companies, the public sector, charities, national institutions and with countries worldwide is an essential element of so much of our research activity.

Investing in New Researchers
With an extra £14 million spent on new research-led staff in just three years, the University is still investing in new researchers from around the world, many of them at the forefront of their subjects. We have also established a number of new research institutes and centres that are carrying out ground-breaking work in areas as diverse as

This investment is already reaping rewards, with nearly 20% growth last year in income from research grants followed by a 25% increase in the first half of this year alone.

World Class Achievements
Brunel has much-publicised international research in cancer genetics and the most cited researcher in the world in the field of environment and ecology. We  are a founder member of a research collaboration that owns one of the most advanced fMRI scanners in the country. Equipment designed in Brunel's Institute for Bioengineering has been used on several space shuttles and the MIR space station. Musical compositions at the cutting edge of performance are premiered world-wide. And we were the first university in the country to install a flight simulator with V/STOL capability.