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Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences

The Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences includes the schools of Chemistry, Engineering, Electronics and Computer Science and Physics and Astronomy. The faculty is also home to the Zepler Institute for Photonics and Nanoelectronics, incorporating the Optoelectronics Research Centre, The Web Science Institute, and the Southampton Marine and Maritime Institute.

The Faculty counts 10 Fellows of the Royal Society, 20 Fellows of the Royal Academy of Engineering, 3 Queen Anniversary Prize for Higher and Further Education, and a number of faculty members had received Queen honours (Damehood, Knighthood and CBE). Alumni include business and industry leaders, eminent scientist and engineers, and government advisors. The Faculty has a diverse community of nearly 6000 undergraduate and post-graduate students from world-wide, representing over 30 different nationalities.

The faculty's cleanrooms have the UK’s best photonics fabrication capabilities and nanoelectronics, and are just one example of our unique facilities. We are also home to the UK’s National X-ray Crystallography Service and the R.J. Mitchell Wind Tunnel, which is used extensively by industries such as motorsport, automotive, aerospace, marine, maritime and performance sport. Our High Voltage Laboratory is a world-class centre for research into dielectric materials, insulation systems and high voltage phenomena, and we are using the world’s fastest parallel supercomputers to predict high energy physics with unprecedented precision.

We have excellent rankings in the league tables across all our subjects:

Guardian University Guide 2019

Electronics and Electrical Engineering is ranked 2nd in the UK.
Civil Engineering is ranked 4th in the UK.
Physics and Astronomy is ranked 6th in the UK.
Mechanical Engineering (including Aeronautics and Astronautics, Acoustical Engineering and Ship Science) is ranked 6th in the UK.
Computer Science programmes have been in the top 10 for more than 10 years.

Research Excellence Framework 2014

General Engineering is 1st in the UK for research power
Electrical and Electronic Engineering is 1st in the UK for research power
Chemistry is 8th in the UK for research power
100% of our Computer Science research impact is world-leading or internationally excellent

Visit our school sites below to find out more about our subject specialisms and facilities, or find out more about our faculty.

Professor with test tubes chemistry equipment

Key people

Dean of Faculty, Engineering and Physical Sciences: Professor Bashir Al-Hashimi

Executive Assistant to the Dean: Sarah Richardson

Faculty Director of Graduate School: Professor Nick Evans

Associate Director of Faculty Operations: Jennie Calder-Smith

Head of Faculty Finance: Simon Mason

Faculty Academic Registrar: Lesley Anne Adams

HR Business Partner: Karen Proctor

Associate Deans

Associate Dean of Education: Professor Martyn Hill

Associate Dean of Research: Professor Robert Wood

Associate Dean of Enterprise: Professor Ian Williams

Associate Dean of International: Professor Mark Zwolinski

Associate Dean of Academic Infrastructure: Professor Michael Butler

Heads of School

Head of School, Chemistry: Professor Gill Reid

Head of School, Electronics and Computer Science: Professor Paul Lewin

Head of School, Engineering: Professor David Richards

Head of School, Physics and Astronomy: Professor Jonathan Flynn

Head of Zepler Institute for Phototonics and Nanoelectronics, incorporating the Optoelectronics Research Centre: Professor Sir David Payne

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