Southampton's expertise in Earth-related Engineering rated 40th in the world
The University of Southampton's wide-ranging, inter-disciplinary expertise in Earth-related Engineering - encompassing staff and students from Engineering and Ocean & Earth Science - has ranked 40th in this year's QS World University Rankings by Subject.
Professor Susan Gourvenec, Royal Academy of Engineering Chair in Emerging Technologies in Intelligent and Resilient Ocean Engineering, enthused about the world ranking as “a fitting reflection of the University of Southampton’s ongoing high quality research and teaching in fundamental geosciences through to geotechnical and ocean engineering applications.
“We gained further momentum from the recent opening of our National Infrastructure Laboratory, based at our Boldrewood Innovation Campus, that hosts a new geotechnical centrifuge, alongside world-class ocean engineering laboratories,” Professor Gourvenec continued.
“Our research addresses real world needs with our state-of-the-art facilities, world class staff and research students, and collaborations with partners across academia, government, NGOs and industry, locally, regionally, nationally and globally,” she added. “Through our multi-disciplinary institutes, such as the Southampton Marine and Maritime Institute, we can address holistically the grand challenges facing humanity and change the world for the better.”
Professor William Powrie, Professor of Geotechnical Engineering and Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, added: “We are pioneers in Environmental Geotechnics and Transportation Geotechnics research, which have grown in importance over the past decade and will continue to be key areas in the prevention of global environmental disasters.
“Our membership of the UK Collaboratorium for Research on Infrastructure and Cities (UKCRIC) and the UK Rail Research and Innovation Network (UKRRIN) will substantially enhance our capacity and capability for geotechnical engineering research in support of sustainable and inclusive towns, cities and transportation networks,” he concluded.
Professor Steve Roberts, Head of the School of Ocean and Earth Science expressed his pride and delight that the international profile in research and the graduates we produce in Geochemistry, Geology and Geophysics is recognised once again by this top 50 subject ranking. Our graduates are sought after globally and make contributions in a wide range of industries and other sectors.
“Geologists and geophysicists work to sustainably harness Earth resources for our future and at the same time find technical solutions to minimise our impact on the Planet,” Professor Roberts concluded.
Professor Rachel Mills, Dean of Environmental and Life Sciences and an ocean geochemist added: “This year we have generated new funding for our outstanding geochemistry facilities based at the National Oceanography Centre Southampton so that we can continue to use cutting edge isotopic and geochemical techniques to understand the Earth system. Geochemistry provides the techniques we use in many other disciplines across the University: from the dating of artefacts such as cave art through to measuring the toxic metal content of particles that we breathe.”
