The Ceramics and Glasses research degrees are part of a progressive research area within the school; we have close links with industry and research councils and we work collaboratively with them on many areas of research within the subject. Our research is concerned with the processing, characterisation and applications of structural and functional ceramic materials. Structural ceramics are used in engineering applications due to a combination of high strength, chemical / thermal resistance and extreme hardness. In contrast, functional ceramics exhibit unique electrical, magnetic and optical properties, which lead to applications in a diverse range of electronic components - filters in mobile telecommunications, exhaust gas sensors and pyroelectric thermal imaging cameras.