Applied Sciences

The Department of Applied Sciences has an exciting and extensive portfolio of subjects including biology, biomedical sciences, chemistry, forensic science, food and nutritional sciences. The Royal Society of Chemistry and the Institute of Biomedical Science have accredited a number of our programmes. We cover biology, biomedical sciences, chemistry, pharmaceutical analysis, forensic science, food and nutritional sciences. 

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The Department of Applied Sciences has an exciting and extensive portfolio of subjects including biology, biomedical sciences, chemistry, forensic science, food and nutritional sciences. Many of our courses are professionally accredited by the Royal Society of Chemistry, Institute of Biomedical Science, the Chartered Society of Forensic Science and Association for Nutrition or approved by statutory regulatory bodies such as the Health & Care Professions Council.

 The quality of our graduates, courses and activities are well recognised. 86% of our graduates are fully employed or undertaking postgraduate studies within six months of completing their degree.

The reason why so many of our graduates choose to embark on a postgraduate degree in Applied Sciences at Northumbria is that it offers a compelling opportunity to delve into a hands-on learning environment, fostering expertise that seamlessly merges theoretical understanding with practical proficiency.

Academic staff are actively involved in the professional bodies associated with their specialism such as the Nutrition Society, Institute of Food Science and Technology, Royal Society of Chemistry, Higher Education Academy and various advisory and editorial boards. This wide range of academic expertise not only ensures quality teaching but means our graduates have good insight into the skills and attributes valued by employers. The department is actively engaged in research and enterprise; academics within the department are internationally and nationally renowned within their fields. Our research in this area is ranked 8th in the UK for research power in the 2021 Research Excellence Framework, with the highest possible rating for our research environment.

The applied nature of research has also enabled enterprise and consultancy to be established in collaboration with a wide range of industrial partners ranging from large multi-national to small companies based in the region and nationally.

 We are business focused – we seek to develop sustainable partnerships with industry and commerce. We use our expertise in consultancy or in training initiatives through our development of Continuing Professional Development (CPD) courses. Businesses access our excellent ready-for-the-lab students through placements/graduate recruitment, and help us define and deliver the graduate skill set of the future.

We have developed new materials and processes with large multinationals and SMEs alike in the chemical, pharmaceutical, diagnostics and food sectors. We have provided analytical and consultation services for businesses and the public sector around diet, environmental monitoring and forensic casework. The department has dedicated facilities – we have a large suite of multipurpose teaching and research laboratories.