- The Damage and Stability Centre opens in March 2002
- The Freeman Centre, a research unit in conjunction with Brighton University, bringing together science and technology policy issues, is nearing completion. This represents one of the biggest national developments in the social sciences
- The Arts curriculum is in the process of being restructured and applications are already increasing
- A Government White Paper is published, introducing upfront payment of tuition fees
- After the terrorist attacks in the United States on 11 September, the World Health Organization (WHO) releases a report on Health Aspects of Chemical and Biological Weapons, edited by Professor Julian Perry Robinson, who leads a team of researchers based in SPRU – Science and Technology Policy Research
- Sussex becomes the second UK university to switch to 100 per cent 'green' electricity
- Professor John Maynard Smith, Emeritus Professor in BIOLS, is awarded Japan's equivalent of the Nobel Prize at a lavish ceremony in Kyoto. The Inamori Foundation's Kyoto Prize is Japan's highest private award for lifetime achievement and is presented to Professor Smith for his contribution to our understanding of evolutionary biology
- Margaret Boden, Professor of Philosophy and Psychology in the School of Cognitive and Computing Sciences (COGS), is awarded an OBE for services to cognitive science in the New Years Honours List
- The underpass between Falmer station and the University campus is to be rebuilt this summer. Plans have been drawn up for a new £1 million subway that will be three times the width of the existing one
- Lord Shawcross, one of the University's founding fathers and the longest-serving Chancellor in its 40-year history, celebrates his 100th birthday
- The sale of the Isle of Thorns training and conference centre is completed
50 years
