STUDENTS will be celebrating their achievements at their graduation ceremonies starting tomorrow.

Around 5,000 university of Southampton graduates will take to the stage to collect their hard-won certificates in full view of proud mums, dads, and family.

And receiving honorary degrees will be a plumber and paleontologist, the head of Southampton General Hospital and a Nobel prize winner.

The university will also celebrate the academic achievements of sporting graduates Annabel Vose (first class honours in Naval Architecture) who sailed to victory in the Red Bull Youth America’s Cup in Bermuda as strategist for the Land Rover BAR Academy team.

And Ini-abasi Umotong (first class honours in Economics and Actuarial Science) represented Nigeria in the English FA Women’s Super League 2, earning the League’s Player’s Player of the year award.

Vice-Chancellor Professor Sir Christopher Snowden said: “Graduation is a highlight of the academic year, not just for our graduates but for the whole University,” “It is a time for us all to celebrate and reflect on the experiences and achievements of this year’s graduating class, with family, friends and fellow graduates.”

Southampton will also present honorary degrees to leading figures in the fields of neuroscience, hospital administration, palaeontology, law, physics and oceanography:

Neuroscientist Dr Sarah Caddick -Honorary Doctor of Science is Neuroscience Adviser to Lord Sainsbury of Turville and the Gatsby Charitable Foundation.

Chief Executive of University Hospital Southampton Fiona Dalton will be handed an Honorary Doctor of Science.

Steve Etches MBE will get an Honorary Doctor of Science.

A plumber by profession, he is a also palaeontologist who has amassed an unrivalled collection of over 2,000 Late Jurassic specimens from the Kimmeridge clay of Britain.

His finds include the world’s first ammonite eggs and the largest collection of pterosaur remains.

Professor Brian Schmidt will get an Honorary Doctor of Science. He was the winner of the 2011 Nobel Prize in Physics, and an astrophysicist.

Among those receiving their awards are the first group of electrical and electronic engineering students to complete their degrees via the University of Southampton Malaysia Campus.

They’ll be joined by the second group of Mechanical Engineering graduates to start their degrees at the Malaysia Campus, who spent the first two years of their MEng programme in Johor, Malaysia, before transferring to Southampton to finish their degrees.

The ceremonies at Turner Sims and the Nuffield run from July 19-27.