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Press release


  • 6 April 2006

New posts boost academic excellence at Sussex


The University of Sussex today announced the first phase of a £4.4m investment programme in up to 75 academic posts in identified areas of excellence and strength at the University.

With the first 20 posts advertised in the education press this week (Friday 7 April), this is part of the new strategic plan for developing Sussex. The University, which is ranked in the THES top 100 Universities in the world, is putting immediate investment into areas such as:

  • Science and Technology (computing, maths, engineering);
  • Humanities (English, history, media, music, American studies, philosophy);
  • Social Sciences and Cultural Studies (development economics);
  • Sussex Institute (education).

Professor Alasdair Smith, Vice-Chancellor of Sussex, says: "We are embarking on a programme of academic renewal, investing in areas of excellence and strength. We are looking to appoint outstanding academic staff to a first phase of key posts across the sciences, social sciences and humanities. We see this as an exciting opportunity to be part of a university which is focusing on its strengths and investing further in areas of established academic excellence."

The plans for the School of Science and Technology involve the recruitment of two professors for Engineering & Design and one for computing (Department of Informatics). This builds on the excellence in these departments, with world-leading strengths such as the newly created Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning in the area of Creativity, the Rolls-Royce University Technology Centre and the Centre for Computational Neuroscience and Robotics.

Sussex is also planning to make three new appointments in the Department of Mathematics, with its growing strengths in Applied Mathematics, supporting strong links to leading University areas such as biology and medicine.

The Dean of the School of Science and Technology, Professor Benedict du Boulay, says: "This is about confidence in Science at Sussex. We are putting investment into areas such as mathematics, which has seen applications rise by 10 per cent this year. We are bringing in strong new people to the School. This is planning the future, with further appointments in science being announced later this year."

The programme of recruitment will continue, with £1.4m released for a further 20 academic posts from May, including investment in the biosciences, where Sussex has international excellence in its Genome Centre and biology and biochemistry departments. Plans are also in place for up to 35 posts in the late summer.

This investment of a total 75 posts will bring fresh talent to make up around 15 per cent of the academic workforce. This is a significant part of developments at Sussex, as the University looks to develop further its teaching and research excellence. The campus continues to develop, with new residential accommodation bringing an additional 750 bed spaces for the campus.

Notes for editors

Advertisements for the initial 20 posts appear in the THES on Friday 7 April and Guardian on 11 April.

 

See also: http://www.sussex.ac.uk/jobs

 

Decisions on investment in Life Sciences and changes to Chemistry at Sussex will be made as part of the investment decisions in May, by the Council of the University.

 

University of Sussex press contacts Jacqui Bealing and Maggie Clune,  Tel: 01273 678888 Email: press@sussex.ac.uk

 

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