University of Southampton

The University of Southampton is a public research university in Southampton, on England's south coast. It began in 1862 as the Hartley Institution, became a university college, and received its royal charter in 1952. The main Highfield Campus sits north of the city center, with additional sites including the waterfront campus shared with the National Oceanography Centre and the Winchester School of Art.

Faculties cover engineering and physical sciences, environmental and life sciences, arts and humanities, social sciences, and medicine. The university is known for electronics and computer science, maritime engineering, acoustics, and oceanography. Graduate students use the Institute of Sound and Vibration Research, optoelectronics and web-science groups, and the National Oceanography Centre partnership. A university hospital campus supports medical and biomedical research degrees.

About 25,000 students enroll, with a large postgraduate taught population and a sizable research-student body. International students are around a third of enrollment and come from more than 130 countries. Alumni include naturalist and broadcaster Chris Packham and a cohort of engineers and civil servants who trained in the city's maritime and electronics industries.

Graduate study is built around taught M.Sc. and M.A. degrees, the M.Phil., and the Ph.D. under a supervisor in a research group. The academic year follows the UK pattern of two main teaching semesters plus a summer research period. Doctoral studentships and research-council awards are the usual science funding. Southampton is a working port city; graduate housing sits around Highfield, with London about an hour and a quarter by rail.

In the Grad School Navigator directory, University of Southampton lists 148 graduate programs across 40 subjects: 138 master's programs and 7 doctoral programs, with the widest choice in business & management, earth & environmental sciences and languages & linguistics. University of Southampton holds rank 129 in the GSN Overall University Ranking.