Innovation & Impact. Postgraduate Prospectus 2012
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Innovation & impact. Postgraduate prospectus 2012 Welcome to Southampton Southampton is a place for ambitious people keen to stretch their intellectual abilities and advance the global 1 frontiers of knowledge. As one of the UK’s leading research universities, ranked among the top 100 universities in the world, we offer an outstanding postgraduate education. This prospectus gives an insight into what it’s like to live and learn at Southampton as a postgraduate student. Postgraduate study at Southampton is an inspiring and rewarding experience. Whether you are planning to do a taught or research programme, you will be working in a dynamic and challenging intellectual environment with internationally renowned academics. You will learn about 2 the latest developments in your field as they happen and have opportunities to work on projects that cross the boundaries of traditional disciplines. While postgraduate study gives you the freedom of independent learning, you will be supported by personal and academic tutors to help you get the very best from your university experience. You will have many opportunities to gain the transferable skills that will give you a competitive edge in today’s global careers market, whether your ambitions are in research or industry. You will have a warm welcome when you join our friendly postgraduate community. With access to our Students’ Union, Staff Social Centre and state-of-the-art sports centre, all based on an attractive green campus, you have all the ingredients for a fantastic student experience. 2 3 1. Outstanding academics Men and women of the highest intellectual calibre working at the forefront of their fields. Page 10 2. Research excellence Linking fundamental research with real-world applications. Page 12 3. Research centres and facilities World-class facilities make Southampton an excellent learning environment. Page 16 4. Enterprise Working on collaborative projects with industrial partners. Page 20 5. Study options We offer a broad range of taught 4 and research opportunities. Page 22 In this prospectus Libraries 24 Students’ Union and Staff 26 Social Centre Arts and culture 28 Sporting excellence 30 5 Southampton and region 32 International postgraduates 34 Accommodation 36 Funding your studies 38 Applying 40 Fees and living costs 41 Planning your career 42 Services 44 Our degree programmes 48 How to get here 226 Terms of use 227 General index 228 Academic index 229 3 Online access with a fingerprint. Graduate develops web innovation Computer science graduate Sara Jeza Alotaibi has developed a new system that could revolutionise web authentication systems. Sara, who has just completed her MSc Web Technology, has developed FingerID, a service that enables people to use a scan of their fingerprint as a password to maintain multiple online accounts. “At Southampton I have learned from top academics in my field while having the freedom to define the direction of my research interests. This has given me the inspiration to develop FingerID, which will enable internet users to authenticate their identity in a hassle-free manner and go about their activities in a secure environment,” says Sara. Her work on FingerID won the Best Paper Presentation award from the IEEE at the World Congress on Internet Security held in London in 2011. Sara is staying on at Southampton to develop this approach in her PhD, where she will look at using other aspects of authentication such as palm prints and facial expressions. For more information, visit www.southampton.ac.uk/fingerid Top prize for cutting-edge innovation. Stem-cell concentrator Southampton researchers have won a prestigious national prize at The Engineer Technology and Innovation Awards for developing a medical device that can isolate stem cells to mend fractures. Known as the orthopaedic stem-cell concentrator, the device could improve the success of surgery for hard-to-heal fractures. The orthopaedic stem-cell concentrator produces concentrated stem cells from bone marrow samples taken during surgery, which are then reintroduced to aid the healing process of fractures. It came out top in two categories, winning both the Medical Technology award and the Grand Prix award for technology, innovation and collaboration. It was developed by scientists at the University of Southampton and medical device manufacturer Smith & Nephew, in collaboration with clinicians at Southampton University Hospitals NHS Trust. Project leader Richard Oreffo, Professor of Musculoskeletal Science at Southampton, comments: “This invention was developed by a truly collaborative partnership between stem-cell biologists, clinicians and engineers. It could transform orthopaedic practice once successfully applied in hospital operating theatres, helping patients recover from severe fractures more effectively.” For more information, visit www.southampton.ac.uk/stemcell Winning hearts and minds. Language is key for military success Interpreters and translators work alongside the military to communicate information and show a friendly face in conflict situations. However, this role can be risky: around 360 interpreters and translators have died in Iraq since 2003. Southampton researchers have played a major role in the first study to examine the way war is ‘spoken’, by analysing the policies and practice of learning languages and using translators during the Bosnian peacekeeping operation in the 1990s. A key finding was a lack of professional structure for interpreters, who were often treated with suspicion by both the military and the local community. Project leader Professor Mike Kelly says: “The issues we have discovered have really not gone away. The military did learn from the experiences of Bosnia, but there is a lot more to learn about managing language issues.” Working with the Ministry of Defence and the Imperial War Museum, the team is now helping to improve policies for effective language provision in conflict situations. For more information, visit www.southampton.ac.uk/languages Language is key for military success Outstanding academics As a postgraduate student at Southampton, you will be learning from and working with academics at the forefront of their disciplines. Here are just a few of our outstanding academics. 1. Professor Stephen Holgate 4. Professor Mark Everist Medical Research Council Professor of Associate Dean (Research) of Humanities Immunopharmacology Mark is an authority on the music of western Europe Stephen’s research focus is respiratory medicine, in the period 1150–1330, French 19th century stage asthma in particular. He is a Fellow of the Academy music, Mozart and historiography. He is President of of Medical Sciences, Chair of one of the Medical the Royal Musical Association, and has been awarded Research Council’s four research boards and a prestigious Ruth A Solie award of the American Honorary Consultant Physician at Southampton Musicological Society for his book Music, Theater and University Hospitals NHS Trust. Stephen has won Cultural Transfer. many awards throughout his career, including a CBE this year for services to clinical science. 5. Professor Sally Brailsford Associate Dean (Research and Enterprise) 2. Dr Heiko Pälike of Business and Law Reader in Palaeoceanography Sally’s research focuses on healthcare modelling to Heiko’s main research area is the Earth’s climate support well-informed policymaking for improving care system. He was recently co-chief scientist on an delivery, and evaluating treatments and screening Integrated Ocean Drilling Program Expedition to the programmes. Her research has led to improved equatorial Pacific, reconstructing the workings of the healthcare outcomes across many disease areas, Earth’s climate during the past 53 million years. Heiko including HIV/AIDS, diabetes, cancer and emergency has been awarded the prestigious Wollaston Fund, care. She has won the UK Operational Research Society’s presented by the Geological Society, for his prestigious Goodeve Medal twice in recent years. outstanding work in this field. 6. Professor Jane Falkingham 3. Professor Nick Jennings Head of Social Sciences Head of the Agents Research Group Jane directs the Economic and Social Research Nick’s research areas are agent-based computing and Council Centre for Population Change – a major intelligent systems. A Fellow of the Royal Academy UK research centre based at the University of of Engineering, he leads the largest research group of Southampton. Her research focuses on how global its kind in the world and is a Chief Scientific Advisor demographic change affects the distribution of social to the UK government. Nick has been named by the and economic welfare. Jane has recently led projects ISI Web of Knowledge as one of the most highly cited on the future healthcare needs for the UK’s ageing researchers in both engineering and computer science. population, mapping poverty in Tajikistan and investigating child poverty in Lesotho. 10 1 7. Dr Syma Khalid Research Councils UK Fellow in Theoretical Chemical Biology Syma’s research involves studying the structure and function of large biological molecules and systems using computational techniques, to benefit both the biomedical sciences and the growing field of bionanotechnology. Syma’s research team is developing models of bacterial outer membranes that could facilitate the development of new antibiotics, and is working with industry to develop 2 3 novel DNA sequencing devices. 4 5 6 7 Further information To find out more about our outstanding academics across the University,