Department of Informatics

Graduate perspectives

Hear about life at Sussex for postgraduate students.

Dave's perspective on MSc Computing with Digital Media

Former student - David Weekes

‘The decision to undertake postgraduate studies at Sussex was one of the best decisions of my life. The atmosphere, facilities, staff and other students made studying at Sussex a fantastic experience. The course was perfectly suited to expanding my knowledge of using, creating and maintaining multimedia applications, enabling me to pursue a career as a games programmer.

A variety of topics were covered on the course ranging from low-level programming-orientated tasks designed to give a technical knowledge and understanding of the principles of multimedia applications to higher-level more art-orientated tasks using established professional multimedia software to create 3D environments.

Learning both ends of the spectrum have proven invaluable since graduating; the more technical, in-depth skills are used on a day-to-day basis, while the artistic skills are more useful when interacting with the other disciplines in the work environment.

All things considered I couldn't have wished for a better postgraduate experience.’

Dave Weekes
Software Engineer at Relentless Software


Josh's perspective on MSc Evolutionary and Adaptive Systems

Former Student - Josh Bongard

‘My experience at Sussex opened my eyes to the opportunities and possibilities of interdisciplinary research. I learned how to seek the interfaces between disciplines, unearth the unasked questions and untried solutions that lie there, how to think laterally, ask the right questions in unfamiliar domains, and collaborate with people from different cultures and fields.

But, most importantly, I became part of a worldwide community of current and past PG members who bring not only a sense of wonder to the discovery process, but also a sense of humor and fun.’

Josh Bongard
Associate Professor at the University of Vermont


Alice Torjussen on her Animal-Human Interaction PhD

‘My PhD in Animal-Computer Interaction combines a mixture of engineering/design, computer science and animal behaviour/cognition. I’m investigating dogs’ perception of disembodied technology. That is, technology that lets you communicate with others without having to physically be there, such as Skype or FaceTime.

Humans have used technology-based communication for decades, and we’re able to understand that the person on the screen/voice from the speaker is a real human, and can create a mental representation of the person.

However, it’s unclear whether dogs are also capable of this. They rely much on their sense of smell, but are they still able to identify their owner (for example by voice or on video) even when they’re not there physically? This is important as more and more technology is being created to let humans communicate with their home-alone dogs.’

Read Alice's student story.