Welcome to Edinburgh
Information for new MSc students in the School of Informatics
Welcome to the School of Informatics! This page provides information on the steps you need to take before you arrive in Edinburgh and in Welcome Week. Welcome Week is traditionally the week before studies start. This year it will start on Monday 11th September 2023 and end on Friday 15th September 2023.
Before you arrive, you should have completed the online registration form which will be available via the MyEd portal in the Student Personal Details channel around 4 weeks before your programme start date. Full information is available on the Student Support website:
If you have not already received your student card, you can collect it from the University card collection event at the Main Library, George Square.
You will have a Student Adviser to provide you with direct support and guidance throughout your time at University. You will also have a Cohort Lead, an academic member of staff who will help you and other students on the same degree programme with academic development and subject-related challenges. You will be able to find the name of your Student Adviser and Cohort Lead in your student record.
Shortly after you've received the welcome email from the School of Informatics, your Student Adviser will email you to introduce themselves and to invite you to an online meeting about choosing courses.
You will receive course selection forms in advance by Monday 28 August. The forms will be linked to the Course Registration and change page when they are available.
Courses are filling up quickly, and some courses have quotas, so we encourage you to select courses by Friday 1 September. In order to register your courses in time for the start of semester you need to fill in your selection form by Wednesday 6 September. After then, please contact your Student Adviser to select course choices.
The University deadline to register your courses is 17.00 on 29th September 2023 (end of week 2). You cannot change Semester 1 courses after this date. You can view your course choices in your MyEd Portal.
You will find details of course requirements and advice on selecting optional courses, by degree programme, at the following link:
The process by which you are formally admitted as a student to the University of Edinburgh is called matriculation. As part of the matriculation process you need to "confirm attendance", i.e. confirm you have started your studies in the School of Informatics. To confirm attendance in the School of Informatics you need to attend a meeting with your Cohort Lead and Student Adviser in Welcome Week (Week 0). Your Student Adviser will send you a separate message about when and where this meeting will be. Please contact the Student Support Team if you have yet to receive this email.
At the meeting your Student Adviser and Cohort Lead will also lead activities to help you get started in your studies.
Please note: You will not be fully matriculated as a student until you have confirmed your attendance. You must have arrived and had your attendance confirmed before 17.00 on Friday 29th September 2023 (end of week 2). After this date you will be referred to the College Office and you may not be permitted to commence your studies.
In addition to confirming attendance, all new students in Informatics are invited to attend welcome events. We strongly encourage you to participate!
The School of Informatics Welcome events are detailed below; please attend the sessions as they contain important information to get you started on your postgraduate (PG) degree programme.
Thursday 14th September: School of Informatics 2023/24 Welcome Fair
Throughout the week: Meet your student adviser and cohort lead
Throughout the week: Society activities
The University also has a wider calendar of Welcome events, including campus tours and a series of events intended for International students. The ‘New Students 2023-2024’ guide is now available to download within the ‘University of Edinburgh Events’ App. The guide provides information on Welcome Week events, Campus Maps, Social Media and much more. You can download the free App by following these instructions:
The Information for MSc students 2023-24 web pages including the Information for All Students section constitute the MSc Handbook. It's important to familiarise yourself with the content of your handbook as these are the pages that you will be coming back to throughout your journey as an Informatics student.