The Master’s Degree in Physics of Complex Systems was approved on 1st June 2012. An initial curriculum amendment was later requested and approved on 16th May 2014. More recently, a second curriculum amendment was requested and approved on 30th September 2021.

In light of this amendment, the third edition of the Master’s Degree in Physics of Complex Systems (MFS3) will come into effect in the 2022-23 academic year. In turn, the adaptation procedure for the second edition of the programme will begin (MFS2).

Curriculum Adaptation Calendar

• Initial academic year of adaptation process: 2022-23
• Second academic year of adaptation process: 2023-24
•  Final academic year when the second edition ends: 2024-25.

Student Admission

From the 2022-23 academic year onwards, new students will be admitted to the MFS3 edition of the Master’s Degree in Physics of Complex Systems.

Re-enrolment for Continuing Students

Students currently on the MFS2 programme will have two academic years (2022-23 and 2023-24) to pass the subjects required to be awarded the degree.

Students may enrol for the first time on a subject as long as they were enrolled in the previous year on any subject for the same or subsequent academic year.

In exceptional cases, students who have reached the limit of two enrolments for a subject may request a last enrolment (without taking classes) in the following year. This enrolment must be authorised by the relevant Pro-Vice-Chancellor for teaching, who will make a decision after consulting with the programme coordinator.

The enrolment deadlines for each academic year will be published on the Centre for Postgraduate Studies website.

Teaching

The following subjects from the MFS2 programme will continue to be offered with teaching, as long as the new MFS3 curriculum includes an equivalent subject:

• 11306 - Stochastic Simulation Methods
• 11292 - Cooperative and Critical Phenomena
• 11001 - Dynamical Systems and Chaos
• 11002 - Stochastic processes
• 11003 - Complex Networks
• 11008 - Non Equilibrium Collective Phenomena
• 11012 - Modelling and Dynamics of Neural Systems
• 11010 - Systems Biology
• 11011 - Statistical Physics in Biological Systems
• 11013 - Nonlinear Photonics
• 11009 - Spatiotemporal Dynamics
• 11018 - Turbulence and Nonlinear Phenomena in Fluids

The remaining MFS2 subjects will be offered without classes since there is no equivalent subject on the new curriculum. Enrolments without classes will give students the right to attend tutorials with the allocated tutor and to be assessed.

The enrolment fee for the subject will be same as the public fee that is published annually, regardless of whether the subject offers classes or not.

Adaptation

Students on the MFS2 programme who have not passed the requirements to be awarded their degree in the stated timeline, or those who simply wish to do so, may request a curriculum adaptation to the MFS3, in accordance with the following equivalences.

Adaptation applications must be submitted to the Centre for Postgraduate Studies within the deadlines published for each academic year.

The fee for the curriculum adaptation process will be set in accordance with the public fees published every year.

Subject equivalences:

• 11306 - Stochastic Simulation Methods > 11925 - Simulation Methods
• 11292 - Cooperative and Critical Phenomena > 11292 - Cooperative and Critical Phenomena
• 11001 - Dynamical Systems and Chaos > 11926 - Dynamical Systems, Chaos and Patterns
• 11002 - Stochastic Processes > 11002 - Stochastic Processes
• 11006 - Quantum Physics for Complex Systems > 11927 - Complex Quantum Systems + 11934 - Collective Quantum Phenomena
• 11003 - Complex Networks > 11003 - Complex Networks
• 11007 - Scientific Presentation and Visualisation > 11928 - Introduction to Data Analysis and Machine Learning
• 11008 - Non Equilibrium Collective Phenomena > 11008 - Non Equilibrium Collective Phenomena
• 11012 - Modelling and Dynamics of Neural Systems > 11012 - Modelling and Dynamics of Neural Systems
• 11010 - Systems Biology > 11010 - Systems Biology
• 11011 - Statistical Physics in Biological Systems > 11930 - Statistical Biophysics
• 11013 - Nonlinear Photonics > 11931 - Complex Photonics
• 11009 - Spatiotemporal Dynamics > 11009 - Spatiotemporal Dynamics
• 11014 - Quantum and Nonlinear Optics > 11932 - Open Quantum Systems
• 11016 - Quantum Transport and Quantum Noise > 11932 - Open Quantum Systems
• 11017 - Information Theory > 11929 - Information Theory
• 11018 - Turbulence and Nonlinear Phenomena in Fluids > 11936 - Nonlinear Phenomena in Fluid Flows and the Climate

Adaptation Effects

All subjects in the MFS2 record will be adapted to MFS3 subjects, regardless of whether they have been passed, recognised or failed. The MFS2 record shall be definitively closed and students will continue to take the MFS3 programme to be awarded their degree.

The equivalence subjects with different codes will be shown as ‘Adapted’ in the ‘Observations’ field in the record.

The cumulative number of exam sessions will carry over from the old curriculum to the new one, whether students have failed or were absent from any.