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The University of Kent, Canterbury, Kent, CT2 7NZ, T +44 (0)1227 764000
About us
The School of Physical Sciences is situated in a newly refurbished science laboratory on the Canterbury Campus of the University of Kent.
The School is part of the Faculty of Sciences and offers a variety of undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in Forensic Science and Physics. Our students are highly satisfied with the quality of our courses - Forensic Science was 1st in the UK for student satisfaction in the 2009 National Student Survey (NSS).
There are just over 500 students and 20 full-time academic staff within the School, along with a number of clerical, administrative and support staff. Our student and staff community come from a diverse range of backgrounds and from all over the world. In the employment market, our graduates do very well. The School of Physical Sciences was joint first for graduate employment in the 2007 Guardian University Guide. The Department maintains good links with our alumni, some return to talk to current students and some for further study. Many of our alumni around the world occupy prominent positions in the public sector, in industry and academia.
SPS is a dynamic department achieving national and international excellence in both teaching and research. The research effort is led by four groups, Applied Optics, Astrophysics and Planetary Science, Forensic Imaging and Functional Materials. The Functional Materials Group was awarded a rating of 3.05 in the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) which placed the group second nationally in its discipline. We have numerous collaborative links with colleagues in other universities and research institutions, both in the UK and overseas.
SPS has also developed a very active outreach programme within schools and professional institutions at both local and national level.
In April 2008, the School was successful in becoming one of six departments in the south east to benefit from £12.5 million of HEFCE (Higher Education Funding Council for England) funding.
This is an exciting time for the School and the additional funding will create new opportunities and resources enabling us to expand our cutting-edge research portfolio.
School of Physical Sciences Signpost Document (pdf 130k)
School Structure (pdf 4k)