Professor Nick Jennings
Professor Nick Jennings was awarded the title in 2014
Regius Professor
Prestigious Regius Professorship recognises Southampton as world-leader in Computer Science.
Southampton’s excellence as a world-leader in Computer Science is recognised by the award of a rare Regius Professorship that is bestowed by HM The Queen.
We are one of only a handful of universities to receive the prestigious Regius Professor title and the only recipient in the UK to receive a Regius Professorship in Computer Science.
How are Regius Professorships awarded?
Regius Professorships fall under the Royal Prerogative and each appointment has to be approved by the Monarch on ministerial advice.
Southampton was one of 12 institutions to be given the accolade in 2013 to mark the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. In 2009, two others were awarded to mark the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin’s, but before that, the most recent Regius Professorships were created by Queen Victoria.
The University awards the Regius Professor title to an existing professor, or can appoint a new professor to the role.
Why Southampton?
Southampton was granted the award in recognition of its pioneering work in Computer Science that has grown in scale and global eminence.
Our international reputation attracts students and researchers from around the world, provides academic leadership and continues to define and develop new leading-edge technologies and approaches.
Our computer scientists are renowned for their world-leading achievements include the development of pioneering hypermedia systems, laying the foundations of agent-based computing and intelligent systems, and for founding and fostering Web Science as an academic discipline.
We continue to set the standard at the forefront of computer science research and education, with our academics and researchers driving forward the future exploration of Computer Science.
Our Regius Professors
Southampton has had two Regius Professors since 2013 – Professor Nick Jennings and Professor Dame Wendy Hall.
Professor Nick Jennings
Nick, who at the time was Professor of Computer Science and a Chief Scientific Advisor to the UK Government, was awarded the title due to his internationally recognised authority in agent-based computing and intelligent systems.
He pioneered the application of multi-agent technology, developing some of the first real-world systems in business procure management, energy systems, sensor networks, disaster response, telecommunications and eDefence, and led the ORCHID programme that investigated how people could work in partnership with computational agents to develop world-leading science and real-world applications in areas such as disaster response, citizen science and smart energy systems.
Since leaving Southampton, Nick has been the Vice-Provost (Research) at Imperial College and is currently the President and Vice-Chancellor of Loughborough University.
Professor Dame Wendy Hall
Dame Wendy became the second Regius Professor in Computer Science in recognition of her world-leading contribution to Computer Science and to the scientific community more widely as well as her leadership at the forefront of Web Science.
She is known internationally as a leading light in the development of Web Science and recognised the world over for her pioneering role as one of the first computer scientists to embark on serious research into multi- and hyper-media technologies before the existence of the World Wide Web.
A Professor of Computer Science, Dame Wendy was also instrumental in the establishment of the Web Science Institute at Southampton and is one of its Executive Directors.
During her distinguished career, Dame Wendy has held many national and international roles including President of the British Computer Society, Commissioner for the Global Commission on Internet Governance, member of the Prime Minister’s Council for Science and Technology, and was the first person outside of North America to become President of the Association of Computing Machinery (ACM). She is also a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE), is the UK government’s first Skills Champion for Artificial Intelligence and was appointed Chair of the Ada Lovelace Institute in 2020.
Professor Dame Wendy Hall
Professor Dame Wendy Hall was the second post-holder in 2017
The School of Electronics and Computer Science (ECS) hosted its first annual Student Showcase at The Steel Yard in London, coinciding with London Tech Week and Future Worlds’ Demo Day. The event showcased a selection of exceptional work done by students this academic year.
Over 60 attendees, including students, faculty, industry partners, alumni, potential employers, and investors, took part, reflecting the diverse ECS community.
Dr Adriana Wilde, ECS Careers Fair and Student Showcase Coordinator, explained, ‘This event was a celebration of our students' talent, creativity, and problem-solving skills. They consistently rise to the challenges posed to them, thanks to the support of our faculty and their access to state-of-the-art facilities. I'm incredibly proud of their achievements.’
The showcased projects tackled real-world issues, addressing challenges presented by both industry partners (typically in Group Design Projects) and leading academics (specially in Individual Projects). In addition to these types of projects, coursework samples from both Electronics (ELEC) and Computer Science (COMP) modules, as well as a project from Biomedical Engineering (BIOM) were displayed. Extracurricular activities were also showcased by a student society, highlighting the breadth and depth of student work at ECS. Holding the event in London facilitated the attendance of our industrial contacts based in the area and made it an exciting field trip for our worthy presenters. Informal feedback received from students attending was very positive. In the words of Toshna Rane (MSc Computer Science student), ‘Thank you for selecting my project for the ECS Showcase event. It was an incredible honour to present my work along with such talented peers. The opportunity to interact with industry professionals and receive valuable feedback has been immensely beneficial’. A survey is to be conducted to collate feedback from other attendees, to inform preparations for next year.
Special recognition goes to students in the following categories:
Individual projects:
- Theo Rangarajan, “Evaluation system design for neuromorphic photonic integrated circuits”
- Harry Lockwood, “CCTV skeleton-based fight detection”
- Joe Pater, “Balancing Robot”
- Toby Godfrey, “LLMs for Multi-Robot Coordination”
Group Design Projects:
- Alp Ortakci and David Mate, “NANA : A low-cost approach for autonomous forest navigation using mobile robotics” with Professor Jadu Dash from the School of Geography as client,
- Ishaipiriyan Karunakularatnam, Owain Jones, Alfie Kupper, Michael Penston, “Rusticated Silverfish: Deployment System for Swarm Robotics” with Roke as clients,
- Edward Clewer and Rhys Jenkins, “Convert-a-Car” with Embedism as clients.
Coursework:
- Rithin Menezes and Toshna Rane, HealthHub, for the COMP module Web and Cloud Development Applications
- Britannio Jarred, Niall Morrison, Josh Pattman, and Alfie Kupper,“Q-Octo: an off-road endurance rover with climbing wheels” for the ELEC module Bio-inspired Robotics)
First-year PhD in BIOM:
- Lucy Hodgins, “Hand and wrist rehabilitation using functional electrical stimulation”.
Student Society:
- Alex Colville, George Peppard, and Tommy Poll from Southampton Robotics Outreach (SRO).
For more details and information on how to get involved next year, please contact Dr Adriana Wilde.