In the Dark

Although I’m in the middle of a very busy day (with no time for a lunch break) I thought I’d take a few minutes to advertise a very special one-off opportunity. As many of you will be aware, the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced in the Autumn Statement last year that loans of up to £10,000 would be made available to students on postgraduate (Masters) courses from 2016/17 onwards.  Welcome though this scheme may be it does not apply to students wanting to start a Masters programme this September (i.e. for Academic Year 2015/16).

But fear not. The University of Sussex has come to the rescue! Last week the University unveiled a generous new funding scheme to bridge the gap. In particular, a huge  boost to the University’s flagship Chancellor’s Masters Scholarships means that 100 students graduating this summer with a first-class degree from any UK university will be eligible to receive a £10,000 package (non-repayable)  to study for a Masters degree at Sussex. There are also specific schemes to support students who are already at Sussex; see here.

I’m drawing this to the attention of readers of this blog primarily to point out that the Department of Physics & Astronomy at the University of Sussex is one of relatively few UK universities to have a significant and well-established programme of Masters (MSc) courses, including courses in Physics, Particle Physics, Cosmology, and Astronomy. In particular we are the only Department in the United Kingdom to have an MSc in Quantum Technology, an area which has just benefitted from a substantial cash investment from the UK government.

This is a huge opportunity for high-flying physics graduates to get a funded place on any of our MSc programmes to start later this year. Indeed, the deal that is being offered is so good that I would recommend students who are currently in the third year of 4-year MPhys or MSci integrated Masters programmes, perhaps at a dreary University in the Midlands, to consider switching to a BSc bailing out of your current course, and graduating in June in order to take up this opportunity. The last year of an integrated Masters consists of 120 credits of material for which you will have to be a further £9K of fees; a standalone Masters at Sussex would involve 180 credits and be essentially free if you get a scholarship.

Think about it, especially if you are interested in specializing in Quantum Technology. Sussex is the only university in the UK where you can take an MSc in this subject!

Note for Sussex students: if you’re on the 3rd year of an MPhys here at Sussex the situation is a bit more complicated and the incentive to move to MSc is much weaker because we have additional Scholarships to offset the £9K fee for the 4th year. Please feel free to discuss this with me if you want some more information.