Data and digitalisation

Our researchers are utilising deep tech such as quantum, AI, biotechnology and advanced materials to deliver real-world solutions to the biggest societal, environmental and technological challenges that we face.

• COVID-19 and the 'forced culture change' in higher education
  Our research captures the lives and views of those working in higher education during the recent mass online migration.
• Reimagining the Diary
  Helping to improve teacher wellbeing in the UK
• International student mobility and climate change
  Estimating the environmental costs associated with the internationalisation of higher education.
• Improving the quality of life of older people
  Using objects and storytelling in care homes helps residents build social connections and improves their quality of life.
• Embedding research findings into teaching and learning primary maths
  A successful Knowledge Exchange project funded by the ESRC Impact Acceleration Account has embedded Bristol research findings into new materials for Maths teachers
• A productive partnership in professional learning for maths teachers
  Bristol research informs the use of Video Clubs for teacher development by the National Centre for Excellence in Teaching Mathematics (NCETM)
• ‘Augmented biology’: Exploring new avenues in biofuel production
  Researchers in the Schools of Biochemistry and Chemistry are working to boost cellular productivity of biofuels at a fundamentally scientific level in order to create innovative, sustainable solutions to our global energy needs.
• Using LED lighting reduces the attraction of disease-carrying insects
  Research funded by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) and Integral LED and conducted by a team from the School of Biological Sciences, revealed that domestic LED lights are much less attractive to nuisance insects such as biting midges than traditional filament lamps.
• Theatre and technology combine to recreate a lost palace
  A multi-award winning heritage tour is transforming how museums help audiences interpret and enjoy heritage sites, using the perfect marriage of theatre and technology to create an immersive experience of history where it happened, without visitors once looking at a screen.
• Revolutionising synthetic peptide production
  Biochemists at the University of Bristol have developed a revolutionary method for peptide design and production that will contribute to the availability of more effective pharmaceuticals.
• Keeping infrastructure safe and operational
  Enabling accurate, cost-effective regular testing on structures such as railways and buildings that avoids major disruption.
• Making 'snow' greener
  Collaborating with industry leaders has helped to reduce both the environmental impact and cost of artificial snow.
• A clearer picture - spotting trends in noisy data
  Bristol statisticians have developed methods that enable users to spot trends and patterns in noisy data, from inflation trends in New Zealand to wear patterns on fabrics.
• Inspiring mathematicians
  Researchers are bringing maths to life by telling the human stories behind important breakthroughs, and using music to illustrate complex mathematical problems.
• Pattern recognition systems for animal identification
  Automated computer vision applications help zoologists identify individual great white sharks and African penguins, without the need for manual tagging.
• XMOS - innovations in embedded systems
  A University of Bristol spin-out company now employs more than 50 people across three continents, working to improve efficiency and lower production costs for electronics manufacturers.
• Reducing damaging vibrations in helicopter rotors
  An award-winning partnership with Helitune has delivered new technology and jobs by solving a long-standing engineering problem.
• Heathrow pods - a new form of personal rapid transit
  A new form of fast, reliable and low-cost driverless personal transport is now being used by thousands of passengers every day at Heathrow Airport.
• Open network solutions
  Complex networks have to connect huge numbers of diverse devices, operated by multiple vendors, with a mixture of protocols. A new open networking solution aims to reduce costs and dramatically improve network performance while simplifying their management and operation.
• Sugar sensing technology
  Synthetic carbohydrate- sensing molecules are at the core of an innovative new carbohydrate sensing technology being developed and commercialised by the start-up chemistry company, Ziylo.
• Using ultrasound waves to put feeling into touchless interfaces
  A novel technology that uses ultrasound waves to put feeling into touchless interfaces has applications in consumer electronics, household appliances and the car industry.
• Helping computers see in 3D
  Together, academics and industry are coming up with increasingly sophisticated 3D mobile applications.
• Using molecular biology to help solve evolutionary puzzles
  Combining fossil records with techniques in molecular biology helps reconstruct the evolution of organisms and test hypotheses about where they fit on the tree of life.
• Numerical models make for smoother helicopter rides
  Making aircraft wings and helicopter rotor blades lighter, more efficient and with fewer fatigue-inducing vibrations.
• Danceroom spectroscopy
  Using interactive high-performance computing to visualise molecular dynamics and inspire thousands of people with the beauty of the microscopic world.
• High resolution imaging and chemical analysis combined
  Combining electronic imaging technology with optical chemical analysis has created a system that can image samples with a resolution of 1nm and perform chemical analysis using Raman spectroscopy.
• Held by light
  Researchers have worked with local firm Biral to develop a device that can hold and manipulate airborne particles (aerosols), allowing them to be studied over time.
• Wireless HDTV, anywhere in the home
  Innovations in wireless video transmission yield major benefits for media companies and consumers.
• Bringing Wi-Fi to the mass market
  The University's major role in establishing standards, developing products and testing methodologies has helped turn Wi-Fi into a global phenomenon.
• The epic reach of elliptic curves
  Pioneering research carried out by one of the UK’s leading teams of cryptographers is steering radical changes in global online security.
• Polymer encapsulation and moisture management
  Discoveries about the interaction of polymers with surface structures have resulted in innovative products such as easily removable and programmable drug release chewing gums.
• Transforming industrial safety through ultrasonics
  Bristol has brought world-leading, efficient and financially viable Ultrasonic Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) to the nuclear power and aerospace industries.
• Raman thermography improves chip lifetimes
  Raman thermography measures the temperature of tiny semiconductor device structures, helping companies around the world improve the lifetimes of their products.
• World’s fastest atomic microscope revolutionises pace of innovation
  Bristol led the development of the world’s first high speed atomic force microscope (HS-AFM) capable of producing tens of frames every second at an unprecedented nano-scale, in real time.
• Improving environmental remediation
  Researchers at the University of Bristol have developed a nano-filter which may help decrease costs associated with the remediation of contaminated sites as well as reduce risks to human health and the environment.
• Tracing the evolution of genes sheds light on origins of life
  Looking at how genes function across different species is helping to answer questions about human origins as well as how we view life on Earth.
• Using reason to define a complex system
  Investigating meaningful commonalities in how the different scientific disciplines tackle complexity and whether they can provide a reliable definition of a complex system.
• Making sense of uncertainty in complex systems
  Using statistical analysis to address the uncertainty inherent in complex systems, such as climate change models, helps bring scientific evidence into policy-making.
• Aerosol properties may hold clue to better lung disease drugs
  Exploring improvements to inhaler technology could reduce overall drug dosages, leading to more cost-efficient treatment while limiting systematic exposure and side effects.
• Informing health policy on Covid-19 transmission
  In the immediate aftermath of the first Covid-19 lockdown, Bristol researchers helped authorities to better understand the risks of airborne viral transmission and formulate a response.