University of Southampton

Overall: Not a bad university
I started at Southampton as graduate student, starting a Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry. The Chemistry department’s wet laboratories has recently had a face-​lift and everything looks brand-​spankingly new. However, we weren’t based in that section of the department…
Space is a problem in the Chemistry Department. As a graduate student at the time I was there and the group I was in, the office situation was very dire. We were in an office of 40, with poor air circulation. It was often that some people in the office would be freezing and others would be roasting. If anyone got a cold/​had flu, we’d all get it.
Because of the limited seating, any new member to our research group had to share the office space of my professor! At one point in time, he had two post-​doctorates in the same office as him. I now hear that my old research group has their own office.
Other than that, the facilities at this university seem to be pretty good. Not a lot is really located on campus, except a gymnasium, swimming pool, a couple of eateries and student union store.