Electronics and Computer Science, generally abbreviated "ECS", at the
University of Southampton
, mottoeng = The Heights Yield to Endeavour
, type = Public research university
, established = 1862 – Hartley Institution1902 – Hartley University College1913 – Southampton University Coll ...
was founded in 1946 by Professor
Erich Zepler. It offers 23 undergraduate courses (in
computer science
Computer science is the study of computation, automation, and information. Computer science spans theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, information theory, and automation) to practical disciplines (includi ...
,
Web Science, electronic engineering, electrical and electromechanical engineering and IT in organisations), 11 MSc intensive one-year taught programmes and PhD research opportunities.
ECS was the first academic institution in the world to adopt a self-archiving mandate (2001) and since then much of its published research has been freely available on the Web. It created the first and most widely used archiving software (
EPrints
EPrints is a free and open-source software package for building open access repositories that are compliant with the Open Archives Initiative Protocol for Metadata Harvesting (OAI-PMH). It shares many of the features commonly seen in document ...
) which is used worldwide by 269 known archives and continues to be evolved and supported by ECS.
Reputation
ECS is regarded by the IET as having the "biggest and strongest department in the country in Electrical and Electronic Engineering."
Electronics and Electrical Engineering in ECS was ranked 2nd in the UK in both Good University Guide
published by the Times and the Complete University Guide
published by the Independent. Computer Science was ranked 4th
and 5th
in the UK respectively in these two publications.
Research
The research conducted by ECS has achieved the top 5* rating in the last two Research Assessment Exercises, and in 2003 it was awarded the prestigious ‘best 5*’ rating by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE). ECS currently contains six research groups:
Agents, Interaction and ComplexityCommunications, Signal Processing and ControlElectronic and Software SystemsElectronics and Electrical Engineering Nano Research GroupWeb and Internet Science
Fire and reconstruction
![University of Southampton, Mountbatten Building Fire Damage](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a7/University_of_Southampton%2C_Mountbatten_Building_Fire_Damage.JPG)
In 2005, a large fire destroyed part of the Mountbatten Building, holding
optical fibre research laboratories (the world-renowned Optoelectronics Research Centre, ORC) and the
microchip
An integrated circuit or monolithic integrated circuit (also referred to as an IC, a chip, or a microchip) is a set of electronic circuits on one small flat piece (or "chip") of semiconductor material, usually silicon. Large numbers of tiny ...
fabrication laboratories. It is estimated that the costs for rebuilding the centre and replacing the equipment will be around £50 million, making this what is believed to be the world's most destructive university fire. The fire that consumed the Mountbatten Building on 30 October 2005 had devastating consequences not just for research in the School of Electronics and Computer Science but for many other partners and collaborators in the UK and around the world whose work was destroyed along with the Building.
![Soton ECS construction](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0f/Soton_ECS_construction.jpg)
The replacement facility was constructed on the site of the previous Mountbatten, and was completed in October 2008. The modern design by
Jestico + Whiles includes glass curtain walls, decorated by a mathematical fractal pattern, which allows those outside to view the research taking place in the clean rooms. The
chiral fractal design was chosen as it had been used by Southampton researchers working with optics and
nanotechnology.
Notable Staff
''Main:
Notable Staff of the School of Electronics and Computer Science, University of Southampton''
The School is home to a number of notable staff including Sir
Timothy Berners-Lee
Sir Timothy John Berners-Lee (born 8 June 1955), also known as TimBL, is an English computer scientist best known as the inventor of the World Wide Web. He is a Professorial Fellow of Computer Science at the University of Oxford and a profes ...
, inventor of the World Wide Web and Dame
Wendy Hall
Dame Wendy Hall (born 25 October 1952) is a British computer scientist. She is Regius Professor of Computer Science at the University of Southampton.
Early life and education
Wendy Hall was born in west London and educated at Ealing Grammar ...
, president of the
Association for Computing Machinery, ex-president of the
British Computer Society, and Co-Founding Director of the
Web Science Research Initiative
Web most often refers to:
* Spider web, a silken structure created by the animal
* World Wide Web or the Web, an Internet-based hypertext system
Web, WEB, or the Web may also refer to:
Computing
* WEB, a literate programming system created by ...
References
* OpenPSI the
OpenPSI projectis a community effort to create UK government linked data service that supports research. It is a collaboration between the University of Southampton and the UK government, led by
Office of Public Sector Information at the National Archive and is supported by JISC funding.
{{DEFAULTSORT:School Of Electronics And Computer Science, University Of Southampton
University of Southampton