Sawyer is a Professor in the Institute of Structural & Molecular Biology at the School of Biological Sciences.
Professor Sawyer obtained degrees from the departments of Chemistry and Physics at the University of Edinburgh.
He then spent a postdoctoral year in Molecular Biology at the University.
After a further postdoctoral tenure in Bristol he returned to a physical chemistry lectureship at Napier.
During this time he spent a year’s sabbatical at the University of Alberta.
He was appointed to a lectureship in Biochemistry in 1984 and transferred to Biological Sciences in 1998.
He currently holds a Personal Chair in Biomolecular Structure.
Professor Sawyer’s research interests centre on protein structure determination and the insights afforded thereby into biological function.
He has worked with milk proteins and various biosynthetic enzymes.
In every case his work has involved excellent collaborations with scientists around the world.
As a member of the Centre for Science at Extreme Conditions, his interests have recently moved on to the pressure adaptation of deep-sea bacteria.
He is looking forward to a much more active involvement with this in the years to come.
Professor Sawyer is married to Moura, a retired nurse, and they have three grown-up children - a nurse, a teacher and a sculptor.