The University of Surrey is a global university, renowned for the outstanding quality and impact of its graduates and research, as well as its collective contribution to society.
Since the University’s founding in the 1960s out of origins that can be traced back to 1894, its community has thrived on strong connections and collaborations on campus and with the wider world.
Today, we remain true to those goals and have an ambitious strategic agenda to be in the top 100 universities in the world, generating knowledge, educating change-makers, and influencing practice beyond our boundaries for a better society and planet.
Surrey is always looking for ways for its academics to engage with the public and show the relevance of research to the wider world. The Conversation will provide opportunities to do this.
Research with impact
Ground-breaking research at Surrey is bringing direct benefits to many spheres of life – helping industry to maintain its competitive edge and creating improvements in the areas of artificial intelligence, sustainability, health and life sciences, medicine, and space science.
The 2021 Research Excellence Framework reported that 89 per cent of our submitted research outputs are rated as world-leading or internationally excellent, while 94 per cent of our research is taking place in an environment conducive to producing world-leading or internationally excellent research in the future.
An international outlook
The University of Surrey is committed to being a world-leading, international university. Our goal is to work with international partners to tackle the global challenges we face. We actively explore opportunities for high-quality joint research with government, industry and charitable organisations.
As part of the University Global Partnership Network (UGPN), whose members include North Carolina State University and The University of São Paulo, we are engaged in a new approach to partnerships, focusing on deep engagement with a small number of institutions across the world.
Figures just out from communications regulator Ofcom suggest that tablets are becoming increasingly popular among the over-55s. It seems 28% of this group own one and for many, it has become a go-to main…
Exciting news from the world of horseracing: the Queen’s racehorse Estimate has tested positive for morphine. With the Lance Armstrong and Tyson Gay doping scandals fresh in their minds, reporters are…
Three works by the late Gabriel Garcia Marquez are suggested for Spanish A Level.
Leonardo Munoz/EPA
As part of its revamp of the A Level curriculum, the government has launched a consultation on the way modern languages are taught at sixth form. If introduced, the changes herald a real boost to the teaching…
David Cameron: taking a hard line on trade union action.
Andrew Winning/PA Wire
The Tory manifesto pledge to change the law on strike ballots are more radical than any of those introduced by Margaret Thatcher. If the government is re-elected and the proposals become law, industrial…
A train carrying the remains of crash victims is guarded by pro-Russian separatists.
EPA/Robert Ghement
US Secretary of State John Kerry has left the rest of the world in no doubt as to who America blames for the downing of MH17, appearing on several Sunday talkshows to point the finger at pro-Russian separatists…
The Americans claim that North Sea tax system is inhibiting investment.
Nick Bramhall
The UK North Sea is attracting attention once again after being overshadowed by the shale debate for quite some time. Most recently this has been thanks to the UK government’s announcement this week of…
After much controvery and some bitterness over his appointment, the confirmation of Jean-Claude Juncker’s appointment to the presidency of the European Commission makes him one of the most influential…
As the trade unions embark on another co-ordinated day of action they could soon be embroiled in another battle. The government is adopting a harder line through plans to bolster the law on industrial…
The more that Labour insists the support for Ed Miliband is rock solid, the less the public are inclined to believe the party. It’s not just the open criticism from John Cruddas, there’s all the reading…
“Brand Miliband” has had a rough few weeks and is looking pretty sad, at a time when the opposition leader should be riding high in the polls against a relatively unpopular prime minister who has just…
Is that an volatile organic compound I can smell, or your aftershave?
Lei Han
While city planners have been encouraged to plant trees and gardens to green the city for the health of its inhabitants, recent research has found that the same trees can damage certain buildings. Our…
As Ukip mount a challenge to the Tories in the Newark by-election, their apparent inability to stop local candidates going embarrassingly off-script has caught up with them again. And once again, the party…
Donna Tartt is the bookies’ favourite for the 2014 Baileys Women’s Prize.
EPA/Bas Czerwinski
Speculation is rife as to who will win the Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction. The prize, which launched as the Orange Prize in 1996, has a distinguished list of former winners, including Kate Grenville…
The government’s legislative plan for its final year has been set out in the Queen’s speech. It most notably contains a recall bill that will allow voters to sack MPs who are jailed or who have committed…
The knives are out for Ed Miliband and he only has himself to blame. In the wake of the elections, despite doing well in London in the council elections and gaining seven seats in the European parliamentary…
It is clear from the European and local election results that there are some interesting and fairly nuanced things happening. Labour has not done as well as it expected to do – and there are a lot of people…
How many bacon sarnies in £1.600, Ed?
Andrew Matthews/PA Wire
The key battleground for Labour in tomorrow’s local elections, and indeed in the run-up to next year’s general election is the “cost of living crisis”. With the Conservatives able to claim the credit for…
City-dwellers consider cycling or walking to work to be part of a healthy routine. But latest studies on air pollution show that nanoparticles – unseen pollutants – are a major concern. In the UK, the…
Every time you hear the words “seriously considering” from UKIP, you know the party has found itself in a bit of a tricky position. On one hand, something’s happened that’s generating news coverage, and…
Sleeping on the plane is no jet lag cure.
Edward Simpson
Jet lag is a discomfort many of us will have experienced in the days following a long-haul flight across time zones. Mathematicians in the US may have a jet-lag cure in the form a new app called Entrain…