Regius Professor Nick Jennings to head up Electronics and Computer Science

Regius Professor Nick Jennings has been selected to advance the world-leading teaching and research of Electronics and Computer Science (ECS) at the University of Southampton.

Professor Jennings, a Chief Scientific Adviser to the UK Government, will assume the high-profile post as head of the ECS in August.

He replaces Professor Neil White, who completes an accomplished term of four and a half years which maintained the academic unit’s reputation as one of the best places in the world to study electronics, electrical engineering, computer science, web science and IT.

“I’m delighted and honoured to be the next head of ECS,” Professor Jennings said. “It’s a fantastic department with great staff and students.

“I look forward to seeing us continue to lead nationally and internationally in our research, education and enterprise endeavours and to making the most of the fact that we combine computer science and electronics in the same department.”

Professor Jennings’ expertise in the areas of artificial intelligence, autonomous systems and agent-based computing led to an appointment last year as the UK’s inaugural Regius Professor of Computer Science.

Across a distinguished career, he has generated more than £23 million in research grants, published more than 550 articles and graduated more than 40 PhD students.

Professor Bashir M Al-Hashimi, Dean of the Faculty of Physical Sciences and Engineering, said: “Nick has been doing some excellent work and I’m looking forward to working with him as Head of ECS and as a member of our Faculty Executive Group.

“This outstanding academic unit has a rich history in innovative research and enterprise combined with world-leading education, and I am confident that Nick is the best person to take it forward to even greater success.”

The University of Southampton is rated first in the UK for the volume and quality of research in Electrical and Electronic Engineering and 100 per cent of Computer Science research impact was recognised as world-leading or internationally excellent in the 2014 Research Excellence Framework.

The institution is in the UK top 3 for Electronics and Electrical Engineering and the UK top 10 for Computer Science and IT, according to the Guardian University Guide and Times/Sunday Times Good University Guide 2015.