Bahrain ceremony salutes first MSc Security Science graduates

THE MSc in Security Science is one of the first multi-disciplinary programmes of its kind bringing together unique independent areas of study: Investigative Psychology, Forensic Psychology, Computer Science (Cyber Security), Forensic Science and Criminology.  Its novelty extends to its delivery, which is off campus, at the Royal Police Academy, Ministry of Interior, in the Kingdom of Bahrain.

The programme, managed by Director Dr Maria Ioannou and supported by Deputy Director Dr John Synnott, is unique not just in design and delivery but also because it involves cross-faculty collaboration between the University’s School of Human and Health Science, the School of Applied Sciences and the School of Computing and Engineering.

The programme was came together as a result of the initial work of the Research and Enterprise Office, in particular Dr Mostaffa Alghadhi and Raymond Dance, under the direction of Professor Andrew Ball, the University’s Pro Vice-Chancellor of Research and Enterprise.

The first cohort of students to enrol on the programme in 2018 consisted of 26 officers of the Ministry of Interior.  Last month, the graduation ceremony was held for this first cohort of students.

In attendance at the graduation was HRH Rashid bin Abdullah Al Khalifa, Bahrain’s Minister of Interior, Tariq Al Hasan, Chief of Public Security, Brigadier Hamad Al-Khalifa, Assistant Chief of Public Security, Simon Martin CMG Her Majesty’s Ambassador to the Kingdom of Bahrain as well as a delegation from the University.

The graduates of the MSc in Security Science completed dissertations across a wide subject matter of security-related topics and are currently working on drafting up these dissertations to submit to a variety of academic journals for consideration.

Course Director Dr Ioannou said: “This has been an incredibly rewarding process to have contributed.  We have overseen a number of unique research projects with our students that will contribute in a small way towards our understanding of security-related research in the Gulf region.  We look forward to growing this programme and disseminating the research outputs that are generated in collaboration with our Bahraini partners.”