About the University

Founded in 1495 by William Elphinstone, Bishop of Aberdeen and Chancellor of Scotland, Aberdeen is Scotland's third oldest university, and the fifth most ancient in the whole United Kingdom.

Much of the original King's College still stands today, a famous historic landmark beloved of generations of students, academics, and local people who are inspired by the finest examples of medieval and Renaissance craftwork remaining anywhere in Scotland.

The department of Physics at the University of Aberdeen has a long and illustrious history, and former staff include great physicists such as James Clerk Maxwell. The department is research-orientated, and does world-class research in both experimental and theoretical areas. Research topics cover classical areas such as general relativity, solid-state physics and dynamical systems and chaos, and the department is also active in multi-disciplinary topics, especially the application of physics to biology.

Systems biology research at the University of Aberdeen is centred on a growing number of interdisciplinary interactions between biologists, physicists, computing scientists and engineers. This thriving network of collaborations is underpinned by significant Research Council funding. The research teams are focused on systems biological investigations at a variety of scales, from the molecular and cell level, to modelling of cells and tissues, whole populations and continent-wide environmental processes.

The application of mathematical and systems biology approaches, ranging from applied dynamics through stochastic to qualitative reasoning is enabling swift progress to be made in understanding complex biological, medical and environmental systems. The Systems Biology Research Programme is constantly seeking to broaden this portfolio by applying this powerful suite of approaches to new areas of investigation.