School of Engineering and our community

Postgraduate students are an important part of our School community

  • We are consistently ranked in the UK’s top 10 universities for Engineering (THE Rankings by subject 2024 and QS World University Rankings by Subject 2023).  
  • The University of Edinburgh is proud to be ranked one of the world’s Top 50 universities. In the QS World University ranking 2024 we were ranked as  22nd in the world. 
  • You will learn from our academics who are researching solutions to the world’s grand challenges. In the latest Research Excellence Framework (REF 2021) The Edinburgh Research Partnership in Engineering, our joint submission with Heriot-Watt University, was ranked 1st in Scotland and 3rd in the UK, based on the quality and breadth of our combined research by Times Higher Education. Furthermore 96% of our research activity was ranked as world-leading and internationally excellent. 
  • 94.40% of our Engineering taught postgraduates went on to highly skilled employment or further study (Graduate Outcome survey 2020/21, based on 19.16 % response rate).
  • You will have opportunities to gain practical experience through our specialist MSc research projects.
  • The University has strong connections with local industry. We have a particularly active community and network of companies in fields related to engineering. 
  • If that wasn’t enough the city of Edinburgh is regularly voted amongst the UK’s top student cities (QS Best Student Cities 2023). 

About our School

Our School is a thriving, international community of staff and students addressing the world’s critical challenges across all disciplines of engineering. We’re a leading centre for innovation and our research is carried out under a wide variety of engineering themes in seven institutes: 

  • Bioengineering  

  • Digital Communications  

  • Energy Systems  

  • Infrastructure and Environment  

  • Integrated Micro and Nano Systems  

  • Materials and Processes  

  • Multiscale Thermofluids 

As an MSc student, you will have the opportunity to engage in world-leading research through our active academic groups. 

In the most recent Research Excellence Framework (REF 2021) review, the School was ranked 3rd in the UK for the quality and breadth of combined engineering research, according to Times Higher Education, in our joint submission with Heriot-Watt University.

About our School

Facilities

Depending on your area of study, we have several facilities and resources which offer some of the most advanced technology in the world to help our staff and students with their research. We also have a student Makerspace and a wide range of teaching labs located on campus for engineering students.

Depending on your degree these include:

  • electrical power labs
  • mechanical labs
  • two chemical engineering labs
  • fire lab and structural testing lab.

All our labs are well-appointed with state-of-the-art equipment to allow you to design, prototype and test your own projects, whilst also being fully supported by our enthusiastic and skilled technical staff team. Depending on your programme of study, some students also enjoy access to a Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) server to train deep learning algorithms for their MSc projects. 

Facilities

Take a virtual tour of some of some of our key teaching and research spaces. Some key points of interest include:

  • FloWave - our ocean energy research facility
  • Scottish Microelectronics Center (SMC) - our state-of-the art facility for micro-electro-mechanical systems, semiconductor, and nano fabrication
  • Sanderson - our teaching labs

Student Societies

You will have plenty of opportunities to immerse yourself in the thriving engineering student community here in Edinburgh, with a diverse range of student groups offering something for everyone. You could join a range of trailblazing engineering student-led projects, on everything from Hyperloop technology, to driverless race cars, sustainable engineering, rockets and satellites. 

Chat to our students 

Have you got a question you would like to ask a current student? 

Join our Discord group for Engineering Postgraduate Students  

To make your transition to university life easier, we have created a Discord server exclusively for our Engineering Offer Holder community. Join to meet your future peers online, before you start your studies with us. 

Once you have been made an offer by the University, we will send you the invite link by email.  

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