More than 600 students were expected to collect their degrees and diplomas at a packed awards ceremony today.

The hard-earnt certificates for students from the University of Sussex were being handed out by the university's chancellor, Lord Attenborough, at the Brighton Dome.

Among those gaining degrees were some who overcame the odds to study.

Italian student Marco Amodio encountered problems during his study for a masters in rural development that would have made many quit.

Not only did he have to learn English when he arrived here but he later had to cope with his mother undergoing an operation for cancer.

He said: "At school in Italy I only studied French so my knowledge of English was not too deep.

"My mother had had an operation a few months earlier and everything seemed fine. However, the cancer came back. Finally in June, my mother was given the all-clear."

Mother-of-two Betty Ntshangase left her family inSwaziland to study English.

Mrs Ntshangase, 42, was completing a degree at the University of Swaziland when a visiting Sussex academic gave her the idea of studying in Britain.

To pay her way, Mrs Ntshangase, who gained an MA in English literature, combined study with work in local schools.

She said: "When I wasn't reading or writing, I was working. But I knew I had to do this so I was determined I would find the money and do my best."

Mrs Ntshangase had to leave her husband, nine-year-old son and 14-year-old daughter to come to Sussex.

Her family have joined her in the UK and she is to embark on a PhD in drama and development. Her husband is also about to start a degree in Britain.

The university was also awarding honorary degrees to two well-known figures in the scientific world.

Nobel Prize winner Sir John Walker, who increased scientists' understanding of respiration and photosynthesis, will receive a doctor of science degree.

Lord May, of Oxford, chief scientific adviser to the Government from 1995 to 2000 and head of the UK Office of Science and Technology, will also receive the same degree.

Full list of graduates in The Argus, Friday February 21