Pro Vice-Chancellor and Head of the College of Science and Engineering

Biography

Professor Sarah Davies is Pro Vice-Chancellor and Head of the College of Science and Engineering. In this role she has overall strategic and operational responsibility for the College, supporting and empowering all staff and students of the College to fulfil their citizens of change ambitions. She is also a member of the Executive Board, Senior Leadership Team (SLT) and the Academic Leadership Team.

Professor Davies is an internationally recognised Professor of Sedimentology, who joined the University’s Department of Geology in 1999. 

Born and brought up in the West Midlands, Sarah received her undergraduate degree in Geological Sciences from the University of Leeds. After completing her PhD at the University of Leicester, she began her career as a Research Associate at the University of Liverpool followed by a post at the University of Edinburgh. Returning to the University of Leicester as a lecturer, she has held a series of roles in Geology including Admissions Tutor, Careers Tutor, Postgraduate Tutor and Course Director. In 2015 Sarah was recognised for her contribution to science and awarded the prestigious Coke medal by the Geological Society of London.  

Her passion for research and ability to engage and develop students and staff has set her apart as a citizen of change. In 2017, she was appointed as the first head of the University’s School of Geography, Geology and the Environment within the College of Science and Engineering and she held this post until appointment to her current role.

Sarah’s extensive research interests include the response of palaeoenvironments and ecosystems to perturbations in the Earth system and linking sedimentology with physical properties to improve understanding of complex solid-fluid chemical systems. Since 2007 she has managed a team of researchers and technicians, based at Leicester and in Montpellier, France, who are part of the European Consortium for Ocean Research Drilling (ECORD) Science Operator (ESO) delivering scientific expeditions for the International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP).