The University of Glasgow-University of Electronic Science and Technology of China joint education programme enrolled its first cohort of students in Fall 2013. Continual assessment of the programme was initiated shortly thereafter to monitor student achievement in the programme, to evaluate how well the aims of the programme are being met, and to determine areas where improvements can be made. Several issueswere identified during the review as well as in informal conversations with course instructors, administrative support staff, and students. To quantify the impact of these issues, a study to examine the cultural attitudes, English language communication aptitude, problem-solving skills, learning style, and teacher-student relationship of the first cohort during their first year in its undergraduate programme in electronics and electrical engineering has been proposed The study will adopt an interpretive approach, using a longitudinal multivariate study design, to generate quantified descriptions of how each issue influences student behavior and success in the programme. A follow-on study on the course instructors' cultural attitudes, pedagogical approaches, and willingness to adapt is planned. The initial findings from the programme assessment and the proposed studies will be presented at the 2014 Frontiers in Education Conference in Madrid, Spain in October 2014.

We present a hierarchical approach to the "atomistic" simulation of aggressively scaled sub-0.1-/spl mu/m MOSFETs. These devices are so small that their characteristics depend on the precise location of dopant atoms within them, not just on their average density. A full-scale three-dimensional drift-diffusion atomistic simulation approach is first described and used to verify more economical, but restricted, options. To reduce processor time and memory requirements at high drain voltage, we have developed a self-consistent option based on a solution of the current continuity equation restricted to a thin slab of the channel. This is coupled to the solution of the Poisson equation in the whole simulation domain in the Gummel iteration cycles. The accuracy of this approach is investigated in comparison to the full self-consistent solution. At low drain voltage, a single solution of the nonlinear Poisson equation is sufficient to extract the current with satisfactory accuracy. In this case, the current is calculated by solving the current continuity equation in a drift approximation only, also in a thin slab containing the MOSFET channel. The regions of applicability for the different components of this hierarchical approach are illustrated in example simulations covering the random dopant-induced threshold voltage fluctuations, threshold voltage lowering, threshold voltage asymmetry, and drain current fluctuations.