Our 2024 research highlights

As the year comes to a close, we want to take a moment to reflect on and celebrate some of our research news stories from 2024.

Women in supermarket looking at packaging
Getty Images

From sustainable farming to alternative proteins, discover some of the news stories that defined our year.


Growing leafy greens set to get greener due to Sheffield research into sustainable farming 

An example of a hydroponics growing system to grow crops like lettuce, it shows rows of plants being grown on shelves.

A new way to create synthetic fertilisers from waste by-products, which could provide a cost-effective, low-carbon alternative to current synthetic fertilisers for the UK's farming industry, is being developed by the University of Sheffield.

Researchers from the University of Sheffield’s Energy Institute and the Institute for Sustainable Food are working with Future Greens, a Sheffield-based SME specialising in controlled-environment agriculture, on a research project designed to improve the sustainability of growing food.

A greener future for farming


New collaborative research centre to transform food system

four women holding co centre logo

A new collaborative research centre to transform food system launches at University College Dublin.

The Co-Centre run jointly by University of Sheffield, Queen’s University Belfast and University College Dublin in first-of-a-kind collaboration across Great Britain, Ireland and Northern Ireland.

€35million Co-Centre to drive societal and political change in food system transformation and transition to climate neutrality by 2050.

Building a brighter food future


Helping alternative proteins go mainstream for a sustainable planet

Women in supermarket looking at packaging
Getty Images

The University of Sheffield will co-lead a new £38 million centre to develop planet-friendly alternatives to animal proteins that could soon be a sustainable and nutritious part of our diets.

The centre will work with over 120 partners around the world, including companies like Quorn and organisations like the Food Standards Agency and the Good Food Institute.Nourishing the planet


Working towards a healthier and more sustainable Sheffield by keeping it local

Two workers loading fruit and vegetables in a warehouse

A new collaborative project has been launched in Sheffield, aiming to create new routes to market for local small and medium enterprises (SMEs), with the goal of promoting healthier and more sustainable diets for the city's residents.

Researchers from the University of Sheffield’s Institute for Sustainable Food are working with six of Sheffield’s anchor institutions to investigate their current food procurement arrangements and explore the potential for healthier and more sustainable alternatives using local food producers and suppliers. 

Transforming Sheffield’s food system


Lone parents and people with long-term health conditions disproportionately vulnerable to food insecurity

A person reading a receipt whilst pushing a shopping trolley

Lone parents and people with long term health conditions are more likely to be experiencing severe forms of food insecurity, according to a new study by the University of Sheffield.
Hidden hunger

Centres of excellence

The University's cross-faculty research centres harness our interdisciplinary expertise to solve the world's most pressing challenges.