Catalogue of Courses & Student Handbook - SUPA

Welcome from the Director of the SUPA Graduate School
Welcome to the SUPA Graduate School 2013/14. With 540 PhD students in total and 130 first
year students joining each year, we are arguably the largest Physics Graduate School in the
United Kingdom - indeed the world - and definitely the best!
As always we extend a particular welcome to each of our SUPA Prize Students who fought off
competition from 335 applicants to be one of the successful researchers to join SUPA through
this world-renowned scheme.
SUPA is an alliance of the Physics departments of eight major Scottish universities, four of which were
ranked 20 or above in the last Research Assessment Exercise (RAE). The SUPA Graduate School offers
world-leading education and training in post-graduate physics studies and core skills. The physics
studies are grouped by theme (Astronomy & Space, Condensed Matter & Material Physics, Energy,
Nuclear & Plasma, Particle Physics, Photonics, and Physics & Life Sciences), and courses are given by
videoconferenced lectures, through the My.SUPA e-learning portal, by tutorials/hands-on-sessions/labs
and by residential sessions.
We ask that all PhD students undertake a minimum of 40 hours of physics studies and 20 hours of core
skills training during the first two years of their studies. Please note that this is a minimum requirement
and some themes and universities will require their students to do more. More information about these
requirements can be found in this handbook or from your local Graduate School.
The enrolment dates for 2013/14 are:
Semester I – 9 th September 2013 – 11 th October 2013
Semester II – 4 th November 2013 – 10 th January 2014
As new post-graduate students, you will be establishing yourselves in an exciting, vibrant research
environment – meeting lots of new people, learning about a new culture (perhaps in a foreign language)
and being bombarded with information on just about everything. In all of this, if I or any member of the
Graduate School Management Committee (GSMC) can assist you with integrating into SUPA, your
research or your university, please don’t hesitate to contact us. (Contact details are provided in this
handbook.)
An important date for your diaries is 7 th October 2013, when you are invited to join all first year
physics PhD students at the Glasgow Science Centre to take part in an induction and networking event.
I look forward to welcoming you all in person at this event.
All the very best in your studies,
Avril Manners
Director of the SUPA Graduate School
Disclaimer
Every effort has been made to ensure that the information contained within this brochure is correct at
the time of publication. SUPA Graduate School courses are subject to on-going development which
could necessitate cancellation of, or alteration to, the advertised courses. The SUPA Graduate School
reserves the right to make changes at any time without prior notice.
Please note that the term ‘credits’ is only used in this handbook to refer to ‘SUPA Hours
Equivalent Credits’ (the number of face to face hours per course that students are credited
with towards their minimum coursework requirements). This term does not refer to ECTS
or any other crediting system.
This Handbook is also available on the SUPA website at www.supa.ac.uk and My.SUPA. Please check
the online version for current information. Should you notice any errors or inaccuracies, please let us
know by emailing admin@supa.ac.uk.
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