Edinburgh Fire Research Centre

The University of Edinburgh has been an important institution in the field of Fire Safety Engineering for over four decades. Many of those who are now leaders in the field came to Edinburgh to study and research under the supervision of the late Prof David Rasbash, one of the main pioneers of the discipline, and Prof Dougal Drysdale, author of the definitive text book on the subject, 'Introduction to Fire Dynamics' (Wiley, 3rd edition 2011) and Prof Jose Torero who was the BRE/RAE Chair in Fire Safety Engineering. Prof Albert Simeoni held the BRE Chair in Fire Safety Engineering from 2013-15 and Prof Grunde Jomaas held the chair from 2016 to 2021. Teaching and research in fire safety continues at Edinburgh under the leadership of Prof Luke Bisby, chair of Fire & Structures.

We are a world-class research fire centre with 40 research members from more than 18 different nationalities.The Edinburgh Fire Research Centre exists to:

  • Equip tomorrow's leaders in the field with the skills they require
  • Support today's fire safety with multidisciplinary research
  • Provide first-class education in Fire Safety Engineering and Stuctural Fire Engineering
  • Deliver fire safety consultancy services to industry and other consultancies
  • Disseminate information about advances and research in fire safety engineering through courses, symposia and publications