ECS invests in research with 40 new PhD studentships

As part of an unprecedented investment in research and education, the University of Southampton’s School of Electronics & Computer Science (ECS) will this year award 40 new PhD studentships.

According to Professor Nick Jennings, Deputy Head of School (Research) and Professor of Computer Science, this investment is much more than any other School in the UK will have funded.

‘This is substantially more than we have ever funded in the past,’ he said. ‘Typically, we would fund maybe 10, but this year we will fund four times more and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) will fund its usual 10.’

The Mountbatten Studentships, to be awarded from October for a three-year period, are part of a substantial strategic investment in research by ECS, and are primarily geared towards groups within the School which were affected by the devastating fire which engulfed the Mountbatten Building in October 2005. ‘We want to ensure that we recover from the fire even stronger than we were before,’ said Professor Jennings.

‘We have an incredible opportunity to move forward now with new plans and exciting new endeavours. The Mountbatten Studentships are a key part of that investment. But we also hope to be able to guarantee the Studentships for years to come through endowments, which will ensure a continued flow of talented and committed students into these key research areas.’

The new Studentships will have a strong emphasis on electronics and will focus on key growth areas such as nanotechnology and systems design.

‘These awards will revitalise and re-energise our approach,’ said Professor Jennings. ‘They demonstrate that we are now up and running again and seriously investing in our future.’

Notes for editors

1. With the gracious permission of The Countess Mountbatten, the Studentships are named in honour of Earl Mountbatten of Burma, who was a former President of the Institution of Electrical Engineers and whose Broadlands Archive of private papers has formed part of the Special Collection in the University of Southampton Library for many years.

2. With around 480 researchers, and 900 undergraduate students, the School of Electronics and Computer Science at Southampton is one of the world's largest and most successful integrated research groupings, covering Computer Science, Software Engineering, Electronics, and Electrical Engineering. ECS has unrivalled depth and breadth of expertise in world-leading research, new developments and their applications.

3. The University of Southampton is a leading UK teaching and research institution with a global reputation for research and scholarship. One of the UK’s top 10 research universities, it offers first-rate opportunities and facilities for study and research across a wide range of subjects in humanities, health, science and engineering, and has a strong enterprise agenda. The University has nearly 20,000 students and 5000 staff based across its campuses in Southampton and Winchester. Its annual turnover is in the region of £287 million.

The University is one of the country’s top institutions for engineering, computer science and medicine. It is home to a range of world-leading research centres, including the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton, the Institute of Sound and Vibration Research, the Optoelectronics Research Centre, the Centre for the Developmental Origins of Health and Disease, and the Mountbatten Centre for International Studies.

For information on how to apply for a PhD in the School of Electronics and Computer Science, please go to:

http://www.ecs.soton.ac.uk/admissions/pg/ Joyce Lewis, Communications Manager, Electronics and Computer Science, University of Southampton, Tel: 023 8059 5453, email:j.k.lewis@ecs.soton.ac.uk