The Department’s core mission is: ‘to conduct world-leading research’ with our activities organised under two umbrellas: Communications (through the Centre for Communications Research (CCR)) and Electrical Energy Management (through the Energy Management Group and BLADE), as well as extensive interdisciplinary links with Applied Mathematics, Physics, Psychology and Medicine.
Our research has been assessed as internationally excellent through the RAE 2008 Research Assessment Exercise under Unit of Assessment 24 (UoA24). A detailed breakdown of the results can be found at the University of Bristol RAE2008 results. Our 2008 RAE submission embraced the research output of 32 staff through a programme of strategic appointments (seven new posts, two industrial endowments and three RCUK Fellowships), alongside £6.4M of investment in our research infrastructure. Over the last seven years we have also seen a 36% uplift in research income and a balanced funding portfolio with 50% of our research income from industry. Almost two thirds of our staff have been rated as producing world or internationally leading research in the UK's 2008 Research Assessment Exercise.
Given the dynamic nature of our field, there has been a marked shift in emphasis to embrace low-carbon technologies, adopting a holistic approach to communication systems research, and exploiting new advances in optical devices. The Department is associated with four closely coupled research groups:
- Electrical Energy Management - efficient management of both electrical energy and systems;
- Communication Systems & Networks, exploiting the prominence of ‘end-to-end connectivity’,
- Visual Information Laboratory, with a focus on emerging multimedia applications, end-to-end transport and analytics;
- Photonics, reflecting a broader remit including Quantum Information and enabling technologies.
Further details can be found within our research group pages.
Professor Andy Nix
Head of Department
For more general information on the Department's research activities, please contact Dr Geraint Jones, Research Manager for the Merchant Venturers School of Engineering on +44 (0) 117 331 5071 or via email at Geraint.Jones@bristol.ac.uk.