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About the Department
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The Department of Information Systems at LSE is one of the largest departments of its kind in the world. It is well known for its research and teaching in the social, political and economic dimensions of information and communications technology. It covers most areas of information systems and represents a range of academic approaches and specialisms, from systems design and management to theory and philosophy. It is explicitly international and informed by all the social sciences found at the LSE. The department has always been able to take advantage of its prominent position within the LSE—the only UK institution specialising solely in the social sciences; a large number of its graduate offerings involve close and fruitful collaboration with other departments and institutes in the School, notably with the European Institute, the Department of Industrial Relations, the Department of Operational Research, the Department of Law, the Department of Accounting and Finance and media@LSE.
There are 16 full-time academics (3 professors, 2 readers, 7 senior lecturers and 4 lecturers) in the Department of Information Systems. We also benefit from the contributions of our Visiting Professors all of whom are scholars of international repute and leaders in the field, Visiting Fellows who are experts in their respective field and project researchers. The Department Convenor is Professor Ian Angell, a leading and controversial adviser to senior managements.
The two University of London degrees offered in the department are the MSc in Analysis, Design and Management of Information Systems (ADMIS) and the PhD in Information Systems. In the academic year 2004/05 there are about 160 MSc students from 40 countries and 50 research students from 20 countries. Entry into the programmes is highly competitive and students are expected to be strongly motivated as well as exceptionally capable academically. Although some students enter directly from their first degree, work experience is viewed positively. Students go on to careers in a wide range of endeavours, from small businesses to the largest corporations in the world. Many graduates of the masters programme enter business consultancies, banks and financial institutions, software and specialist computing companies, or government service. Graduates and former research students can be found teaching in other departments of information systems or related disciplines in leading institutions in the UK and across the world.
The department also contributes to the undergraduate teaching programmes of the LSE and offers two popular courses which are of especial interest to students in Management Studies, in Accounting and Finance, and other programmes where knowledge of information systems is critical. Some members of the department are also involved in providing the BSc degree in Information Systems and Management through the BSc [Econ] of the University of London external programme. For further information on that programme contact the External Department, Senate House, University of London, Malet Street, London WC1E 7HU.
The Department is international in its reputation, its activity, its staff and its students. We are active in the International Federation of Information Processing [IFIP], the Association of Information Systems, the UK Association of Information Systems,, and other national and international bodies including the United Nations and European Union. The academic staff come from nine different countries. In the most recent Research Assessment Exercise by the Higher Education Funding Council for England, the Department gained a grade 5, representing research of international excellence. The Department's teaching has also been rated as excellent by the UK's Quality Assurance Agency.
The Department has an active research programme on the social study of information and communication technologies, which it sees as the centre and five petals of a flower. It has projects funded by the UK Government's research councils: the department's distinctive role in studying the social effects of technology means that it is unusual in attracting funds from both the Economic and Social Research Council and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council. It also has research projects wholly or partly funded by industry.
In addition the department carries out short term research for many private and public sector organisations. Recent clients have included: British Telecom; Novell; GlaxoSmithKline; Rolls Royce; Citibank; Deutsche Bank.
The Department also hosts a series of international seminars on the Social Study of ICTs.
The department is the home of one of the leading international information systems journals:
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Information Technology and People. Edgar Whitley is co-editor of ITP. Information Technology & People provides international, interdisciplinary perspectives to further your knowledge and understanding of the development and use of IT in organizations. This unique information resource sets out to study uses and theories of information technology that affect organizational communications, change processes and work practices, and which reflect the varying societal and infrastructural conditions in which IT is deployed. It examines ways in which people collectively conceptualize, invent, adapt, define and use technology, as well as how they are constrained by features of it in the organizational setting. |
A Guide to MSc and MPhil/PhD Studies in the Department of Information Systems 2005/06 (in Adobe Acrobat format 286kb)
This
page was last updated on
10 December, 2005
