Our 240th student has now graduated (February 2012), and we welcomed a bumper class of 25 students in October 2010. It may be worth reviewing briefly the progress of the MSc in Palaeobiology in Bristol.

The programme was established in 1996, and ran at first with a combination of undergraduate, and some, postgraduate units. As student numbers built up, income covered the salary for a tutor, and we moved to more than 80% M-level teaching. Successful completions of the programme are indicated below, with a total of 215 graduates up to the end of 2010.

Total publications to the end of 2010 are 93 in all, including 10 popular items and 83 in refereed international journals (and these include one in Nature and three in Science). Full listings of the publications are given here.

(Left) Plot showing numbers of students graduating each year from the MSc, and number of refereed and other publications. The programme attracts 40-50 applicants each year, and some 15-30 enroll. These include 2-8 overseas students each year, and we have welcomed students from Austria, Belgium, Canada, Finland, France, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, the United States, and Venezuela. Large numbers of the students go on to study for a PhD on both sides of the Atlantic, and others use the qualification as an entrée to work in museums or other professional posts in education, publishing, the media, and commerce.

Key characteristics of the Bristol MSc

1. The programme is taught by the five core palaeobiology staff in Bristol, with key contributions from staff in the Biology and Archaeology Departments, as well as from Bristol postdocs and PhD students, where relevant.
2. The MSc binds us to other active top-rated research groups. Various visiting lecturers have contributed to the course from London, Dublin, and Bath.
3. We have established a network of collaborators who co-supervise MSc research projects on materials in the Natural History Museum London, Bath Royal Literary & Philosophical Institution, Bristol City Museum, the Ulster Museum, Manchester Museum, Warwickshire Museum, University College Dublin, the Jurassic Heritage Coast, and others. In total, 54 different people (internal and external) have been involved with project supervision.
4. A strong emphasis is placed on publication, and MSc projects are now generating more than ten papers in top-rated international journals each year (see graph above).
5. MSc students are provided with practical advice and help in securing field funding for their MSc work, and each year, MSc students secure ten or more grants from external funding agencies, and further help from the Bob Savage Memorial Fund.
6. The MSc acts as an important draw to bring excellent young researchers into the Palaeobiology Group, where they collaborate with the existing staff and researchers. For those who are interested in going on in research, we encourage some to stay in Bristol, and assist others to secure PhD positions from Cambridge (UK) to Cambridge (USA).
7. The programme is thoroughly international, and is placed in an internationally-oriented earth sciences department. This provides a mix of ideas and a mix of practical advice for students who wish to work with colleagues around the world, or secure a PhD position.
8. In all recent surveys, the Department of Earth Sciences in Bristol rates in the top five in the UK, and it is well regarded internationally: there are currently some 50 postdocs and fellows in all earth sciences disciplines in the Department, most from overseas.

External examiners

We have been fortunate over the years in appointing some leading palaeontologists from other institutions to take the role of External examiner. For the record, these are: