Meet Professor Pip Beard, Pro Vice-Chancellor and Executive Dean of Natural Sciences and former Head of the School of Life Sciences at Keele
Original video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uC02ZifAARU
Please note: This video was published on 2 September 2025, when Professor Pip Beard was Head of the School of Life Sciences at Keele University. Professor Beard has since moved to the role of Executive Dean.
The School of Life Sciences is currently led on an interim basis by Professor Helen Price and Dr David Watson.
For enquiries relating to the School of Life Sciences, please contact:
Professor Helen Price – h.price@keele.ac.uk
Dr David Watson – d.watson@keele.ac.uk
Hello, my name is Professor Pip Beard and I'm the head of the School of Life Sciences at Keele University.
The School of Life Sciences seeks to understand the world we live in, the earth, the people, plants, animals and microbes that inhabit it. How do we coexist? What happens when things go wrong and how can we fix them?
I'm delighted that you're thinking of studying with us because the world needs more biological and earth scientists at the moment to help us tackle the most serious challenges we face: climate change, an ageing population, resource scarcity and the increasing impact of disease.
We have a range of undergraduate and postgraduate programmes to choose between. The majority of our courses are accredited by professional standards bodies such as the Royal Society for Biology and our Biomedical science courses are accredited by the UK's Institute of Biomedical Science.
Our teaching is research-led and it's focused on acquiring knowledge and then applying that knowledge to help solve complex problems. We use laboratory classes, field courses, lectures, case-based learning sessions and tutors tutorials within our programmes.
We use our purpose-built teaching laboratories such as the David Attenborough Labs, our research facilities and of course the lakes, fields and forests of our 600-acre campus.
In the final year of your course you'll have the opportunity to undertake an individual research project which allows you to put into practise all the skills and knowledge that you've learnt.
We also have dedicated placement officers based in the school who can work with you to help you find a workplace-based learning opportunity such as an internship and integrate that into your programme and study.
I have over 100 academic colleagues within the school who work together to provide a friendly and inclusive environment for learning. Along with the rest of the staff at Keele, our mission is to provide you with lifelong skills that will support you throughout your career.
I look forward to welcoming you to Keele.
