Celebrating postgrads’ success at winter graduation
More than 1,800 degrees and diplomas – mainly Masters and PhDs – are being awarded at the winter graduation ceremonies this week.
The four ceremonies, yesterday and today (Thursday 21 and Friday 22 January), have largely celebrated the achievements of the University’s growing postgraduate population.
The Chancellor, the actor and comedian Sanjeev Bhaskar, has been leading the ceremonies and conferring the degrees at the Brighton Dome.
Sussex has bucked a nationwide decline in the number of people studying for postgraduate degrees by introducing a range of sector-leading scholarships. These include the Sussex Graduate Scholarships for Sussex students who get a 1st or 2:1 in their undergraduate degree and are accepted onto a Masters. In its first year, this doubled the number of such students progressing directly onto a Masters degree at Sussex.
The University also created the Chancellor’s Masters Scholarship – for top students joining from other universities – and a host of international scholarships.
Around a quarter of those picking up a Masters this week received one of these scholarships – our highest-ever proportion.
Recognising the importance to the UK of a strong postgraduate sector, the government is making it easier to study at Masters level by introducing student loans of up to £10,000 from this autumn.
With graduands representing more than 100 countries and the ceremonies being streamed live to their friends and families around the world, the event this week has been a truly global affair.
Professor Michael Farthing, the Vice-Chancellor, said: “Gaining a postgraduate degree is a tremendous achievement in itself, especially as so many of those graduating have had to juggle jobs, childcare, and other responsibilities alongside their studies.
“But it’s also a passport to many other great things and, most importantly for me, sends our students back out into the world as well-rounded, global citizens. I wish them all the best for the future.”
The University’s international outlook has also been reflected in the awarding of honorary degrees to four remarkable individuals who epitomise these values of global citizenship:
- Dr David Bomford, a Sussex alumnus whose 40-year career in art conservation has involved working on some of the great masterworks of Western Art, including paintings by Van Gogh and Rembrandt
- Professor Luc Soete, a Sussex alumnus and a leading economist who is Chairman of the Research, Innovation and Science Policy Experts at the European Commission
- Professor Mary Kaldor, a founder member of European Nuclear Disarmament and a former lecturer at the University of Sussex, whose academic career has focussed on issues of humanitarian security and the new causes of war
- Dr Margaret Sinclair, whose career has focussed on education and training programmes for refugees in areas of war and conflict. She is currently technical advisor within the Qatar-based Education Above All Foundation
The University has awarded honorary degrees for more than five decades as a way to recognise extraordinary achievements beyond the world of education, and to inspire graduating students as they embark on the next stage of their lives. A selection of these - including musician Sir Paul McCartney, civil liberties champion Shami Chakrabarti, and humanitarian Terry Waite - have featured in a special exhibition at the Dome during the graduation ceremonies.