As Principal I would like to welcome you to the University of Aberdeen's Prospectus for Postgraduate Courses and Programmes in 2013/2014. Since 1495 the University of Aberdeen has been respected the world over for the high quality of its teaching and research but never more so than today. All the available indicators of teaching, student satisfaction and research place Aberdeen in the highest echelon of UK universities and one where both teaching and research are valued equally.
In the most recent UK wide Research Assessment Exercise around 90% of the research conducted at Aberdeen was of international quality. At Aberdeen you will be joining a vibrant and stimulating scholarly community where teaching is informed by staff who are engaged in world leading research. The University is equally committed to providing you with the very best in support services and facilities. In recent years over £170 million has been spent on new facilities for students with a further £270 million of investment underway. Two examples of the kind of world-class facilities you will find are the newly opened Olympic standard Aberdeen Sports Village and our new Library which opened in September 2011.
As well as giving students a wonderful educational experience, the records show that after leaving Aberdeen our graduates are highly sought after by employers. In the past few years we were one of the first universities in Britain to redesign our curriculum in partnership with students and employers to ensure that Aberdeen graduates are equipped to face the challenges of the 21st century.
Choosing a university is a very important decision. I myself recently made the decision to join Aberdeen as Principal. I did so because I was inspired by the story of a university that for over five centuries had made an impact on the world and which had enabled people to fulfil their academic potential. There is an atmosphere here where a shared sense of pride in the University's past achievements sits at one with an ambition to make the next chapter in its history an even more successful one. That makes Aberdeen an exciting and very special university to be part of.
It's why I chose Aberdeen. I hope you will too.
Professor Ian Diamond
Principal and Vice-Chancellor