Konstantinos Mertzanis MSc Artificial Intelligence, 2019
I chose to study for a postgraduate degree at the University of Southampton because of its high international rankings, the presence of its renowned Agents Interaction and Complexity Group and the wide choice of interesting and often unique optional modules.
For me the highlight of my degree was teamwork. The University of Southampton has advanced facilities, the intensity of its courses, and its focus on group projects, has created a very positive and collaborative environment for students.
As I didn’t have a background in computer science, I was concerned I might find the subject matter too complex but, right from the start, I combined course material with my own research and sought feedback from lecturers and classmates to make sure I understood everything.
The atmosphere is very positive and genuinely encourages studying. The professors are distinguished in their field of expertise and inspire students to do their best.
In general, the facilities were well above my expectations. The new software lab, in particular, is the best I have visited in my student life and the campus is green and well-designed.
The coursework is very diverse. Every assignment is completely different, challenging the students in unexpected ways, not just involving the repetition of specialist knowledge.
I was impressed by the wide selection of optional courses. For me, as an Artificial Intelligence student, two very interesting ones were Evolution of Complexity, an introduction to evolutionary computation as an alternative to machine learning, and Computational Finance, a combination of machine learning for finance and blockchain technologies.