Our Infrastructure and Environment research division seeks to respond to current societal challenges through the ideas and creativity of engineering design. The UK's first Chair of Civil Engineering was established at the University in 1840 and early occupants such as William J. M. Rankine set a research ethos that has endured. Rankine worked at the boundaries of engineering, translating and refining new ideas so that they might ultimately be used in engineering design. We comprise a number of groups undertaking research in a broad range of subjects in the field of Civil and Environmental Engineering. Our research seeks to advance our knowledge, understanding and engineering of the built and natural environment. The overall aim of our Graduate School is to provide a world-leading environment for students which is intellectually stimulating, encourages them to contribute to culture, society and the economy and enables them to become leaders in a global environment. We have a diverse community of over 750 students from more than 50 countries who work in innovative and transformative disciplinary and interdisciplinary fields. An important part of our work is to bring our students together and to ensure they consider themselves an important part of the University’s academic community.