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Where experiments become discoveries

We’re one of the leading modern universities in the UK for research, and many of our teaching staff are world leaders in their field. 

At UEL, we stand for academic excellence, creative thinking and inspirational teaching. Our academics being their research into the classroom, ensuring that what you learn represents the very latest thinking in your subject.

For example, Dr Joanne Tocher, who teaches in our School of Health, Sport and Bioscience, specialises in researching new ways of treating cancer, specifically in chemotherapy and new drug development.

Students on our Human Biology course get first-hand experience in these research fields with the support from Dr Tocher and her team.  For instance, one student concentrated her project on studies of new anti-cancer agents and had her findings published. Others have looked into the creation of new drugs from natural products, infection control and a new disease gene and presented their findings at conferences. And one of Joanne’s students has been assisting her studies into the role that ‘junk’ DNA plays in the human body.

Open Day

At UEL you'll learn from the best. Join us at our Open Day and meet our highly-experienced academic staff. 

Saturday 14 November, 10am-3pm 

  • 1

    ranking

    among universities in England for the impact of our psychology research

  • 62

    per cent

    of our research officially rated 'world-leading' or 'internationally excellent'
Students who bring water into exams may improve their grade by keeping hydrated.

That is the finding of a study conducted by Chris Pawson from the University of East London and his collaborators Sarah Doherty, Laura Martin, Ruth Soares and Caroline Edmonds from the University of East London and Mark Gardner from the University of Westminster. 

The researchers recorded the behaviour of 447 undergraduate students across three different cohorts in relation to whether students brought drinks, and the type of drinks they brought, into exams. Students who were in higher levels of the university degree were much more likely to bring drinks into the exam that those in their first year of undergraduate study.


The results imply that the simple act of bringing water into an exam was linked to an improvement in students’ grades. There are several physiological and psychological reasons that might explain this improvement with water consumption.”