Keele
was the first higher education institution established after the Second World
War in the United Kingdom, gaining degree-giving powers in 1949 as the
University College of North Staffordshire. University status, as the University
of Keele, followed in 1962. Its founders espoused radical educational
principles and the University was founded to promote interdisciplinary and
multi-disciplinary scholarship.
Building
on its founding tradition, Keele’s distinctive mission is to provide a high
quality educational experience for students, shaped by outstanding research,
contributing positively to social, environmental and economic agendas locally,
nationally and internationally.
With
7,500 FTE students, Keele is a relatively small University, but it has growth
potential and ambitions, and continues to make a unique contribution to higher
education by emphasizing the strength of broad education and innovative
learning environments.
Keele
is a residential university, and is the UK’s largest integrated campus
occupying an attractive 617acre estate, of which a hundred acre area adjacent
to the 19th century Keele Hall has designated conservation status, confirmed by
Newcastle Borough Council. Many architectural and landscape features dating
from the 19th century are of regional significance.
Almost
three quarters of full time students live on campus, along with a number of
postgraduate students. Some 720 study bedrooms have been built since 1992 in award
winning residential centres. Uniquely, Keele also has a significant proportion
of staff living on campus, with a total of 172 houses and apartments.
Located
centrally within the UK, in North Staffordshire, Keele is a major contributor
to its local economy. With a turnover in excess of £85m, and a total staff of around
1,700, the University generates around £40m of business in the region.
Research at Keele
Keele is a
research-based university and has significantly increased its research profile
in the last five years. Research grant and contract income was £12million in
2010-11, having grown from £8million 2006-07.
To enhance its research position, Keele is focusing its research profile
further, building on areas of recognised national and international strength
across its three faculties: Health, Natural Sciences, and Humanities &
Social Sciences. The REF 2014 found that 97% of the University's research is now
classified as world leading and of international importance with the health
research institutes achieving the highest results within the university.
Within
the Faculty of Health, teaching is within the School of Medicine whilst
research is undertaken in 3 institutes:
Institute of Primary Care and Health Sciences
The Institute hosts the
Arthritis Research UK Primary Care Centre, which delivers a world-leading
research programme through:
- Highlighting the importance of musculoskeletal conditions by
demonstrating the extent, frequency and impact of pain and disability on
individuals, and their increasing health and social care burden and costs on
society.
- Researching ways of preventing musculoskeletal conditions
from starting, getting worse, or limiting people in their daily lives and
activity.
- Researching the provision of effective assessment,
self-management and treatment of these conditions, in the community and in
primary care.
- Shifting the perception that musculoskeletal conditions are
an inevitable consequence of growing old, to take a more positive approach
where the symptoms of pain and disability can be addressed more directly.
In REF 2014, over 90% of its
research was judged to be of international quality, and was rated 3rd
nationally out of primary care centres.
In 2009, the Centre was
proud to be awarded the Queen’s Anniversary Prize for Further and Higher
Education, for Pioneering early intervention and primary care in the management
of chronic pain.
The Centre is one of only
eight members of the National School of Primary Care Research.
Institute of Science and Technology in Medicine
The Institute for Science
and Technology in Medicine has evolved from Keele’s internationally respected
strength in biomedical engineering and expanded rapidly over the last ten
years. In the REF 2014 report, ISTM’s
submissions in applied biomedical research achieved a 42% score in
world-leading 4* rating, and ISTM’s biomedical engineering research doubled
its’ world leading 4* score. Both units achieved ~90% across the top two
ratings 4* and 3*. The Institute bridges the interface between new advances in
basic science and medicine, with an excellent integration of the skills and
knowledge of engineers, mathematicians, biologists, physicists and
clinicians.
Clinically there are
strong areas in orthopaedics, renal and respiratory medicine, cancer,
pathology, neonatal medicine and obstetrics and gynaecology which exist across
hospitals in North Staffordshire and Shropshire that include the University
Hospitals of North Midlands, RJAH Orthopaedic Hospital, Oswestry and the
Heywood Hospital, Burslem. The
Institute’s “bench to bedside” approach also fosters excellent working
relationships with worldwide medical and biotechnology industries.
Research in the Institute
is grouped into six major themes, totaling over 110 academic and clinical
staff:
• Bioengineering and Regenerative Medicine
• Biomagnetics and Nanomedicine
• Cell & Molecular Medicine
• Diagnostics, Engineering and Proteomics
• Applied Entomology & Parasitology
• Sustainable Pharmacy
The Institute has
laboratories at the University’s Hartshill campus where Keele and the NHS have
invested £3million in The Guy Hilton Research Centre to provide a patient
treatment facility alongside state-of-the-art equipment for translational
research, which includes cell therapy suites, genomic facilities, and advanced
laser and diagnostic laboratories.
The Institute attracts
major research grant funding of almost £4million per year from the UK Research
Councils, the European Union, National Institutes for Health USA, Department of
Health, the Royal Society, and many major UK funding charities. It currently has in training around 100
doctoral students and supports four successful Masters courses. The Institute has developed an international
profile for its recent work at the cutting edge of stem cell therapies, and is
a Centre of Excellence in Tissue Engineering at national and European
level. Institute members have active
collaborations with universities throughout the UK, and over 35 countries in
Europe, USA and the developing world.
Institute for Applied Clinical Sciences
Recently established, the
Research Institute for Applied Clinical Sciences provides the focus and
infrastructure for secondary care research at Keele. To achieve this it works
closely with its key partners, which include not only the Faculty’s Schools and
RIs but also the local NHS Hospital Trusts in the development and delivery of
their investigator led research portfolios. The Institute is underpinned by the
strong performance by Keele in the REF 2014 submission to Unit 3 (Allied Health
Professions), notable for its exemplary approach to research impact.
The
Institutes’ research encompasses a wide range of applied methodologies,
including clinical trials and observational cohort studies, analysis of big
data sets, data linkage and systematic reviews as well as epidemiology and
health services research. Although the focus is on research that translates
innovative approaches to treatment into clinical practice in secondary care
settings, research that crosses the primary/secondary care and bench to bedside
interfaces by working collaboratively with our sister Institutes is strongly
encouraged. Equally important is the emphasis on developing multidisciplinary
research teams.
Examples
of the Institute’s most developed research programmes are with our longest
standing partner, the University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust. One of
the largest acute hospital Trusts in the UK it hosts a national Trauma Centre
and leading cardiac and stroke intervention services to which the Institutes’
research strategy is closely aligned. This includes research groups in
cardiovascular epidemiology, early stroke interventions, kidney dialysis,
multimorbidity, respiratory medicine and rehabilitation. Through collaboration
and co-investment, it has been possible to develop a clinical research career
pathway along with NIHR funded lectureships and fellowships across the health
disciplines.
Our
research is directly relevant to the local health economy and the wider NHS as
well as having international impact. Key to this success is the involvement of
patients in the design, conduct and dissemination of our research and the
support we receive from the Keele hub of the West Midlands Research Design
Service and the Faculty based, NIHR accredited, Clinical Trials Unit.
Located
at the Guy Hilton Research Centre the Institute is within a few minutes walking
distance of the Royal Stoke Site of the University Hospital of North Midlands.
Co-location with the Institute for Science and Technology in Medicine affords
opportunities to develop the translational pipeline into applied clinical
studies. Our research is supported by the NIHR, including national trials in
Stroke and Dialysis Medicine, funded by the Health Technology Assessment
Programme, the American National Institute for Health and the European Union
Framework 7 programme.
School of Medicine, Keele University
The School of
Medicine was created in September 2001 as a further development of the School
of Postgraduate Medicine, which had been established in 1978. The School is part of the Faculty of Health
which includes the School of Health and Rehabilitation, the School of Pharmacy
and the School of Nursing & Midwifery. Other health-related academic units
in the University include the Centre for Health Planning & Management, the
Centre for Medical Statistics, the School of Life Sciences, Social Gerontology
located in the School of Criminology, Education Sociology and Social Work, and
the Centre for Professional Ethics.
Undergraduate medical education commenced in September
2002 (see below). Postgraduate medical education includes the organisation and
delivery of professional, postgraduate award-bearing courses and continuing
medical education. University award
bearing courses have been established as the Master of Medical Science Degree,
Diploma and Masters Degree in General Psychiatry and Masters Degrees in Geriatric
Medicine, Biomedical Engineering, Cellular Engineering, Rheumatology Nursing
and Adolescent Addiction.
The development of the undergraduate school of medicine
The
Keele undergraduate school of medicine started as a satellite of Manchester
medical schools, receiving its first 50 students who moved to Keele for their
three clinical years in September 2002.
Following
the successful first bid, it was announced on 30th March 2001 that
the second bid from Keele and Manchester Universities to establish a
free-standing School of Medicine at Keele had been successful.
The
University built a new, state of the art Medical School building on the
University Campus which was ready for September 2003 and where the students
spend their first two years. The University Hospital of North Midlands Trust
has built a new Medical School building and a Clinical Education Centre on the
City General Hospital site to enhance its £200m rebuilding programme.
The
Keele mission statement is to “graduate excellent clinicians”. The first
students receiving a Keele MBChB graduated in July 2012. The School now trains
130 students per in a five-year course on the Keele campus and in local Trusts.
The course is a spiral, highly integrated course, utilising blended learning
methods. Students develop clinical skills and meet patients from the first year
of the course. They complete over 100 weeks of clinical placements over the
five years of the course. The School is committed to fostering the development
of skilled, globally aware, socially responsible graduates. Since first
implementation of the Keele MBChB the course has scored well in the National
Student Survey (joint third in 2012) and in national league tables (currently 4th
in the Guardian League Table for Medical Schools).
Hand
in hand with the development of the Keele course has been the development of an
academic pathway for medical students, including research based student
selected components, student summer internships and a portfolio of intercalated
options, with emphasis on intercalated Masters degrees after year 4 of the
curriculum. With respect to intercalated degrees, we have moved from 1%
students intercalating from the Manchester-validated programme to >20% in
2013/14.
Keele
University Academic Foundation Programmes
These academic posts are designed to encourage the
best and most motivated medical graduates to consider clinical academic careers
from an early stage. They will provide excellent clinical experience and
supervision, together with protected time and high level support to learn about
different aspects of research and medical education. Applications for
subsequent Academic Clinical Fellow posts are strongly encouraged and
supported.
All aspects of training in
Research methodology including consent, ethics, protocol design and development
and being part of a multi disciplinary research team will be taught during this
time. Robust methodological support is also provided by the Health Services
Research Unit for project planning.
The academic trainees will
have a mentor whilst based in the academic department, and will be given the
opportunity to undertake their own project within a friendly multi-disciplinary
academic environment. Core training in research methods will be provided
and a range of project options can be offered, depending on the
individual's interests and career aspirations.
Whilst configured to
provide all the required experiences to achieve the clinical competencies,
these academic programmes will ensure protected time to participate in specific
research and/or educational programmes and personal supervision and support
associated with this component.
The Academic Foundation training programme provides an opportunity
to allow doctors to undertake further study and acquire a higher level
postgraduate qualification then previously awarded in this type of programme. All academic trainees on
Keele University rotations will obtain core skills in research methods by
attending a 5 day Masters level course that attracts 15 M level credits. This
course is highly valued by previous trainees and covers pertinent aspects of
study design, research ethics and statistical analysis.
Doctors will be able to undertake more modules from within the Master of
Medical Science course to focus on the three core elements of the foundation
programme i.e. leadership, research and education. Modules are available in all
these speciality areas to extend the learning of the doctor. This can then be
extended to a full Masters if suitable. The modules are available on the Keele
website under "Postgraduate Taught courses" in the medicine section.
This scheme is the first step to a higher level qualification leading to
greater job opportunities and career development.
Page updated: 30 August 2016