University of Southampton Biological Sciences

02/09/2026

The British Science Festival is coming to Southampton from 16 – 20 September and we are excited to be holding 4 events across the Festival weekend:

🍽 Meals, moods and microbes – Join our street festival at Guildhall Square to find out how your gut microbes work with your brain to create changes in mood

🦠 Microbes Unmasked – Create art with microbes and find out how they support your wellbeing and protect you from diseases

🔬 Invisible illness through AI eyes – Through games and hands-on activities, explore how AI is helping transform our understanding of hidden diseases

🫘Chickpeas, culture and cuisine – Cook up a storm in celebration of the chickpea and discover how small food choices can spark big, sustainable change

Visit the British Science Festival website to find out more and book your place: https://britishsciencefestival.org/

26/08/2026

Thinking about postgraduate study? We're offering three full tuition fee scholarships for UK students from racially minoritised ethnic backgrounds studying eligible MSc or MRes courses across Environmental and Life Sciences.

Find out more and apply by 14 September 2026:

Explore the Postgraduate Taught Equitable Scholarship at our university. Empowering diversity: scholarships for black students and ethnic minorities in the UK.

18/08/2026

Our researchers have developed a powerful AI tool that reveals previously invisible patterns inside breast cancers.

CenSegNet can analyse hundreds of thousands of cells in tumour samples with unprecedented speed and precision.

It could help identify high-risk patients, predict how breast cancer progresses, and lead to more targeted treatments.

AI reveals hidden patterns inside breast cancer

13/08/2026

12/08/2026

Hop, hop, hop and away!

Our researchers have revealed how the first ever bird to inhabit the Earth could have taken flight – something that’s puzzled scientists for over a century.

Archaeopteryx – a reptile-like bird from 150 million years ago – wasn’t physically able to take off like modern birds, in one swift movement.

Our palaeobiologists and biomechanics have shown it left the ground by making two or three powerful leaps with its legs, before flapping into the air.

Read more 👇

New evidence to help solve how earliest birds took flight

21/07/2026

A team from Southampton were among the exhibitors at the Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition, sharing their work on digitally reconstructing living and extinct species with thousands of visitors.

The Immortalising Natural History in 3D stand encouraged visitors to explore their research through a range of interactive demonstrations and hands-on activities, showcasing how digital models are created from physical specimens.

Find out more: https://www.southampton.ac.uk/biosci/news/2026/07/immortalising-natural-history-in-3d-research-showcased-at-royal-society-summer-science-exhibition-.page

15/07/2026

Congratulations to all of our students who graduated today. We are so proud of all you've achieved so far and excited to see what's to come!

Keep in touch: https://www.southampton.ac.uk/alumni-supporters.page

15/07/2026

Our scientists have discovered a new way to adjust how our immune system works.

They hope it could help to design more effective medicines that turn up our body’s natural immunity in cancer therapies, or calm it down when treating autoimmune disease.

Find out more: https://www.esrf.fr/home/news/general/content-news/general/controlling-the-brake-of-the-immune-system.html

09/07/2026

We're excited to be part of ORFeus, a new European training programme focused on the dark proteome and its potential role in the development of new treatments, like immunotherapy.

PhD candidates will work in research groups across different European countries, undertaking training and internships to more quickly translate promising discoveries into clinical applications.

ORFeus is funded by the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation program under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions, grant agreement no. 101309891.

https://www.southampton.ac.uk/biosci/news/2026/07/university-of-southampton-part-of-european-training-programme-exploring-the-potential-role-of-the-dark-proteome-in-new-cancer-treatments.page

03/07/2026