ECS welcomes record numbers of MSc students

A record number of 300 students have enrolled on the School’s MSc courses. Professor Darren Bagnall, Director of the MSc Programme, welcomed the new students warmly, saying that increased demand both from overseas and the UK meant that the School had raised its admissions criteria. ‘We are very pleased to welcome such a high-achieving cohort of MSc students,’ he said, ‘and look forward to what will undoubtedly be a strong contribution to the life of the School.’

Professor Bagnall also paid tribute to the work of the School’s Postgraduate Admissions Office in processing and converting the large number of applications.

The largest programme is Wireless Communications, which has 69 students this year, but Software Engineering and Web Technologies have also attracted significant numbers of students. Twenty-one students are taking the new 4-year PhDs in Complex Systems Simulation introduced by the EPSRC this year. The degree programme includes an initial year of MSc study, followed by three years of PhD research.

Queueing up to register for their courses last week was Ruizhe Wang from China, taking the MSc in Microelectronics Systems Design. ‘It’s very exciting to come here. I chose ECS because it’s very famous, has very prestigious teachers and microelectronics here is very good.’

The students had their induction programme last week, including a boat trip around the Port of Southampton. However, courses began in earnest today with the first day of term.

For further information contact Joyce Lewis; tel. +44(0)23 8059 5453.