Research Centres
With a reputation for linking fundamental research with real-world applications, Southampton is home to cutting-edge research centres that consistently break new ground.
Centre for Complex Autonomous Systems Engineering (CCASE)
CCASE specialises in complex autonomous systems with a high level of adaptivity and awareness of the environment, bringing together experts from various areas in response to multi-disciplinary industry needs. The Centre has state-of-the-art design tools and manufacturing facilities to produce industry grade prototypes.
CCASE experts pool their knowledge across three faculties: Engineering and the Environment, Physical and Applied Sciences, and Natural and Environmental Sciences.
Institute of Sound and Vibration Research (ISVR)
ISVR is the world’s leading centre for research and teaching in the area of sound and vibration that offers its own undergraduate and postgraduate programmes. The Institute is funded by industry, research councils, government departments, the European Community and health authorities across the world. Working with these external bodies ensures that ISVR’s research and teaching are relevant to the everyday needs of society.
These industrial links also provide career opportunities for our graduates. ISVR is home to cutting-edge facilities including reverberation chambers, motion simulators, a large anechoic chamber and a loudspeaker listening room.
Optoelectronics Research Centre (ORC)
The ORC is one of the world’s leading institutes for photonics research. Over the past 40 years the Centre and its predecessors have played a major role in the remarkable growth of the photonics industry, including the optical telecommunication technology that underpins the internet. With world-leading expertise and state-of-the-art optical laboratories and clean room facilities, the ORC remains at the forefront of photonics advances today.
National Oceanography Centre Southampton (NOCS)
NOCS is one of the world’s leading centres for research and education in marine and earth science and for the development of marine technology, and provides large-scale infrastructure and support for the entire UK marine research community. NOCS represents a partnership between the University and the Natural Environment Research Council's National Oceanography Centre. As well as conducting world-leading research, NOCS has strong links with a variety of businesses, including offshore industries (oil, gas and communications), environmental technology companies and government agencies, in the UK and overseas.
Find out more about NOCS
Centre for Maritime Archaeology
Our Centre for Maritime Archaeology is embedded in one of the largest and most successful archaeology departments in Europe. Integrating cutting-edge science with archaeological and historical investigation, it provides a detailed window into past societies. Researchers at the Centre also work in partnership with industry and government, including the Royal Navy, to develop innovative underwater technologies.
Find out more about the Centre for Maritime Archaeology
Microsoft Institute for High Performance Computing
Simulation and modelling are vital for creating virtual designs of aircraft, cars, ships, biomedical devices and almost any engineering product. The Institute, the only one of its kind in the UK, works closely with Microsoft and industry partners such as Airbus, BAE Systems, Rolls-Royce and Formula One teams to help them make IT work for them in smarter ways.
Find out more about the Microsoft Institute for High Performance Computing
Southampton Nanofabrication Centre
The Southampton Nanofabrication Centre is part of the Mountbatten Building, one of Europe’s leading multidisciplinary clean room complexes. Managed by the Nano Research Group in the School of Electronics and Computer Science, the Centre provides the environment and unique facilities to advance our world-leading research in nanotechnology. The Centre is used for research, development and industrial collaboration.
Find out more about the Southampton Nanofabrication Centre
Developmental Origins of Health and Disease (DOHaD)
DOHaD is one of the University’s internationally acknowledged areas of expertise. Its research focuses on how environmental factors such as diet and nutrition during early life predispose individuals to increased risk of chronic non-communicable disease in later life, an issue of great importance in both developing and developed countries. DOHaD’s research extends from population studies to molecular mechanisms and explores new biomarkers and interventions for chronic diseases.
Institute for Life Sciences (IfLS)
We look to the life sciences for the answers to truly global issues such as climate change, improving human health and how best to make use of our planet’s finite resources. The Institute for Life Sciences pioneers an innovative multidisciplinary approach to research, bringing together teams of world-class scientists and engineers with a common interest in the life sciences to address these challenges. Based in our new Life Sciences Building, the Institute will play a key role in developing young researchers through new multidisciplinary undergraduate and postgraduate degree programmes.
Centre for Operational Research, Management Science and Information Systems (CORMSIS)
Our world-leading CORMSIS is one of the largest operational research, management science and information systems groups in the UK. Spanning the Schools of Mathematics and Management, the Centre is internationally renowned for expertise in risk, optimisation, finance and health.
Parkes Institute
The Parkes Institute provides a unique world-class centre for the study of Jewish–non-Jewish relations throughout the ages. Members of the Parkes Institute, including researchers, students and archivists, base their work around the rich resources of the Parkes Library and Archive, one of the largest collections in Europe for the study of Jewish history and the only one in the world devoted to the study of relationships between the Jewish and non-Jewish worlds.
Find out more about the Parkes Institute
Winchester Centre for Global Futures in Art Design and Media
The Winchester Centre for Global Futures in Art Design and Media highlights historical, contemporary and future roles for art, design and media within globalisation. Its members build sustained collaborations with international partners in public service, the creative industries and civil society.
Find out more about the Winchester Centre for Global Futures in Art Design and Media
Health Ethics and Law Network (HEAL)
HEAL is an inter-disciplinary network exploring the nature of law, its processes of production and impact on society by examining specific examples in Health Care Law and Ethics. The network, which has over 70 members, draws together a range of scholars from different disciplines to build upon the broad range of expertise in the field of health care within the University and across local health care services.
Find out more about the Health Ethics and Law Network
ESRC Research Centre for Population Change
The ESRC Centre for Population Change was established in January 2009. Funded by the Economic and Social Research Council, it is the UKs first research centre on population change. Based jointly at the University and the National Records of Scotland, the Centre brings together expertise from the Universities of Southampton, St. Andrews, Edinburgh, Strathclyde and Stirling as well as the National Records of Scotland and The Office for National Statistics.
Find out more about the ESRC Research Centre for Population Change
National Centre for Research Methods (NCRM)
NCRM forms part of the Economic and Social Research Council’s (ESRC) strategy to improve the standards of research methods across the UK social science community. NCRM is a network of research groups, each conducting research and training in social science research methods. It has a distributed structure, with the coordinating hub at the University and nodes across UK universities.
The Third Sector Research Centre (TSRC)
TSRC aims to enhance knowledge of the sector through independent and critical research. We aim to better understand the value of the sector and how this can be maximised. We work closely with practitioners and policy makers to gain input into our research and explore its findings. The Centre is a collaborative venture by the Universities of Birmingham and Southampton, with contributions from Middlesex and Kent. It is funded by the Economic and Social Research Council, Office of the Third Sector and Barrow Cadbury Trust.