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The Department of Materials Science & Metallurgy has a large and vigorous research school, with about 100 research fellows, postdoctoral scientists and visiting scientists, and more than 140 research students studying for the postgraduate degrees. The growth in our research activities over the past twenty years has been almost exponential, with a current research income of more than £10 million per year. Although our research has always been closely linked with industrial needs and supported in large part by industry as well as government, recent trends have seen the development of larger-scale working relationships with major research sponsors. Similarly, our wide range of international contacts which bring visiting researchers to Cambridge has been extended through formal collaboration agreements with institutions from around the world.

The Department of Materials Science & Metallurgy plays a central and major role in research and teaching in materials science. With an academic staff of around 30, including Research Fellows, the Department’s research covers all major areas of the subject, and this breadth is reflected in the scope of our increasingly popular four-year undergraduate course. The emphasis in undergraduate teaching is always on the underlying principles which are applicable to the whole range of engineering materials; ceramics, metals, polymers, composites, solid state device materials. The lecture courses are integrated with laboratory work, projects, example classes and supervisions in small groups. Contact with industry plays an important part in the course through visits to industrial facilities, speakers from industry and vacation placements.

In 2013, the Department moved to its new purpose-built home on the University West Cambridge Site. The Department is continuing to grow and remains one of the leading centres for the study of materials in the world.