The Postgraduate Studies Division was set up under the Dean of the Faculty of Engineering for the administration of Research Degrees in the Faculty.
It is headed by the Director of Postgraduate Studies, who is also the ex-officio Chairman of the Higher Degrees Committee (HDC) of the Faculty of Engineering.
Prof. (Mrs.) N Ratnayake served as the first Director of Postgraduate Studies Division from August 1999 to May 2004. Dr. N Munasinghe was appointed as the Director of Postgraduate Studies Division in June 2004 and served up to October 2008. Prof. RA Attalage served as the director from November 2008 to February 2012, Prof (Ms) C Jayasinghe is the present Director of Postgraduate Studies Division from February 2012 to date.
During the period of Prof. (Mrs.) N Ratnayake most of the procedures for postgraduate studies were developed. There was an influx of research students due to the ADB scholarship scheme in operation at the time. The initial PG-Handbook, colour coded application forms, referee forms, student progress reporting mechanism, result reporting form to the senate, common postgraduate courses, initial web site were some of the significant achievements during the period 1999 to 2004. Engineering faculty postgraduate unit was a pioneer in postgraduate studies at the University of Moratuwa as the first post graduate unit that was established at the University of Moratuwa.
During the time of Prof. N. Munasinghe as the director of post graduate studies a common By-Law for admission and administration of postgraduate students was established for the entire university. In addition during that period updates to the final assessment criteria, major update to the PG-Handbook, improvement of the student progress review process, and the initiation of the Faculty of Graduate studies were carried out.
With the rapid increase of post graduate students handled by post graduate unit during the tenure of Prof. RA Attalage the physical resources for the post graduate unit was enhanced significantly. Also during that time senate approved procedures for post graduate degrees that encompassed all stages from application to graduation in-line with by-laws were established. Some of the other significant achievements during that time were the establishment of post graduate prospectus for taught courses, establishment of a comprehensive check list for PG Taught Courses encompassing stages of planning to conducting in line with standard QA procedures.
Due to the large number of taught courses that were monitored by the Postgraduate Studies Division a separate Board of Studies (PG-BoS) was setup to be chaired by the Director of Post Graduate Studies in 2014. All the course coordinators of the taught courses are members of this BoS.
To enable the administration of all the post graduate degrees at University of Moratuwa under one faculty, the Faculty of Postgraduate Studies was setup in 2015. From 2015 the admission, progress monitoring, and final evaluations are initiated by the Engineering faculty HDC and processed through the FGS.