Masters Degrees (Concept)

Do you have a strong drawing ability and want to study concept art and develop a range of specialist skills?

Course details

This course focuses on games and animation but is also suitable for students interested in related areas such as film, comics and illustration. You will undertake project based course work supported by dedicated staff with a wealth of practical experience of both the commercial and academic worlds.Your teaching is supported by close links to industry. In previous years we have had a range of visiting lecturers – a senior concept artist from Double Negative, an art director from Ubisoft, the director of Atomhawk and representatives from Dreamworks and Microsoft. We have also had visits from a range of freelancers specialising in areas such as character design, storyboarding and matte painting. Industry experts are actively involved in setting you tasks and providing feedback

There are two routes you can choose from to gain an MA Concept Art for Games and Animation:

• full-time - 2 years with advanced practice (September start)
• full-time - 1 year (September start) or 16 months (January start)

What you study

The postgraduate course covers specialist areas – character design, environment design and storytelling. You also focus on core drawing skills including regular life drawing classes. The course concludes with a final project – we support you to create a brief that enables you to specialise in your chosen area of interest.

You develop the cognitive and technical skills to equip you for enterprise, employment and further academic research. As a graduate, practising artist and designer or mid-career professional, you can engage in reflective creative practice at an advanced level.

Course structure

Core modules

• Character and Environment Design
• Concept Art Practice
• Drawing for Concept Artists
• Master's Project: Concept Art for Games and Animation
• Visual Storytelling

Modules offered may vary.

Teaching

How you learn

You experience a number of different approaches to learning and teaching including:

• lecture sessions
• tutorial and practical sessions
• workshops and studio sessions
• freelance sessions and workshops
• online and blended delivery
• self-directed study.

Critical reflection is key to successful problem solving and essential to the creative process. To develop your own reflective practice at an advanced level, you test and assess your solutions against criteria that you develop in the light of your research.

How you are assessed

You are assessed through the production of a portfolio of creative work and a written report. Feedback is given during lectures and tutorials, and using online methods.

Employability

From the beginning of your programme, we prepare you for a career in industry. In addition to your taught classes, we create opportunities for you to meet and network with our industry partners through events such as our ExpoSeries, which showcases student work to industry. ExpoTees is the pinnacle of the ExpoSeries with over 100 businesses from across the UK coming to the campus to meet our exceptional students, with a view to recruitment.

Advanced practice

There are a number of internship options, including:

• Vocational internship – spend one semester working full-time in industry or on placement in the University. We have close links with a range of national and international companies who will offer you the chance to develop your knowledge and professional skills in the workplace through an internship. Although we cannot guarantee internships, we will provide you with practical support and advice on how to find and secure your own internship position. A vocational internship is a great way to gain work experience and give your CV a competitive edge.
• Research internship – develop your research and academic skills by undertaking a research internship within the University. Experience working as part of a research team in an academic setting. Ideal for those who are interested in a career in research or academia.

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Project Objectives

• Address the gap in empirical knowledge and understanding of the concept of Employee Engagement (EE) in relation to SMEs in Ireland.
• Gather empirical data which would allow for development of recommendations and guidelines that ensure SMEs benefit from integrating Employee Engagement, for the long-term benefit, in their business plans.

Methodology proposed

The proposed methodology is deductive approach to research. The research design will primarily use qualitative data collection methods to achieve research objectives and gain a deeper understanding of the concept in SMEs in Ireland.

Expected outcomes: (e.g. deliverables & strategic impacts)

Deliverables and dissemination:

• A written report (Master’s thesis)
• Opportunity to present research findings at conferences focused on SMEs and their long-term development
• Potential for publication in International peer-reviewed journal
• Recommendations to SMEs on how to integrate Employee engagement to their business Plans

Strategic Impact:

• There is currently a gap in empirical knowledge and understanding of the concept of EE in relation to SMEs generally. This research would provide research evidence from Ireland and address this research gap.
• Network of research and industry collaborative partnership through this project will increase the existing collaborative capabilities of ITC Business department and profile.
• Application of research findings in industry will provide further research opportunities allowing for increased research activity.

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This taught degree programme has a unique focus, offering training in all aspects of filmmaking, from concept and creative development through the filmmaking process and on to distribution and marketing. By the end of the degree, students will have developed a competition and festival-ready calling-card short film, together with transferrable skills in developing and marketing their product and an understanding of the nature of the film industry.

Teaching on this degree conforms to current industry practice, and includes training and mentoring in standard development documents, such as screenplay, treatment and storyboards, and in areas such as risk assessment and budget management. Visiting guest speakers from various areas of the film industry provide an essential context on changing practices, as well as offering useful information of their own experiences in film. The programme does not include training in basic production techniques, and successful applicants will have a first degree in Media Studies or a related discipline, and/or equivalent industry experience.

All students on this programme receive a production budget.

Modules:

The Film Industry: The aim of this module is to foster an understanding of the workings of the international film industry; film production, distribution, exhibition, marketing and consumption will all be examined. There will be an initial focus on the historical development of the film industry on an international scale, with a particular emphasis on Hollywood and its relationship with the rest of the world. Various aspects and traditions within the modern day film industry will be examined, including ‘independent’ and ‘world’ cinema, and the situation in the UK, as well as Hollywood today.

Concept Development: This module introduces students to the practical and theoretical aspects of developing concepts for film, as well as the craft of screenwriting including script formatting, style, structure, genre, plotting, characterisation and dialogue. Students will be encouraged to develop professional writing habits and to give and receive critically constructive comment and advice, as well an understanding of storytelling in visual media at postgraduate level.

Film Production: The micro short: This module aims to develop students’ knowledge of the technical aspects of filmmaking, including direction, camera-work, lighting, music and editing, with the aim of producing a high-quality two-minute short film. Students will also gain understanding of the economic forces that frame the film industry and an understanding of the role of technology in production, content manipulation, distribution, access and use.

Writing the Short Film: This module expands students’ practical experience of screenwriting, and advances core theories on the synthesis of creative and industry practice, as well as focusing specifically on the history, format, aesthetics and demands of the short film. Students will also learn how to present and communicate their concepts in industry standard documents such as beat sheets, treatments and storyboards, in order to facilitate the filming of short film screenplays in the latter part of the MA course.

Pre-Production: The short film: This module aims to develop knowledge on the practical and budgetary aspects of pre-producing a festival quality short film, including commissioning strategies, casting, rehearsals, risk assessment, location scouting, and the managing and co-ordination of a production crew. Students will also manage a production budget in order to understand the economic practicalities of filmmaking and the importance of the commissioning and funding structures of the creative industries.

Film Production - Dissertation: This module utilises the skills and knowledge developed during the previous modules on this MA; providing students with funding and the opportunity to recruit a crew from undergraduate students to produce a short film. Students will generate work that displays exceptional capability in operational aspects of media production technologies, systems, techniques and professional practices to produce a competition and festival-ready calling-card short film.

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ALARP (As Low As Reasonably Practicable) is a commonly used but often misunderstood concept. The purpose of this module is to enable students to understand the hierarchy of risk reduction measures and the options for risk reduction in the project lifecycle. Students will be introduced to the concept of ALARP and how to demonstrate that risk has been reduced to ALARP levels.

Assessment is in the form of an essay combined with activities (e.g. exercises, discussions, etc.).

After completing the course you will be able to:

1. Identify different options available for risk reduction
2. Decide when risk reduction measures can best be used
3. Describe the concepts of “tolerability of risk” and “As Low As Reasonably Practicable (ALARP)”
4. Apply the ALARP concept and conduct an ALARP assessment to an appropriate level of detail.

Outline Syllabus:

• Risk management summary
• Hierarchy of risk reduction measures
• Risk reduction through the project lifecycle
• The ALARP concept
• Demonstrating ALARP
• Qualitative and semi-quantitative approaches
• Cost Benefit Analysis (CBA)
• Societal risk

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Fast-paced, exciting and innovative, the MSc International Fashion Marketing will provide you with the international business knowledge along with the creative and practical marketing expertise to succeed in today's increasingly competitive and global fashion industry.

Our programme's unique design incorporates a broad curriculum focusing on the core concepts and principles of fashion marketing and then provides a specialist focus on the contemporary international issues within fashion marketing, logistics, buying and merchandising, fashion business analysis, integrated fashion communications, consumer insights, marketing planning, brand management.

Designed to challenge and inspire, our programme is intensive and academically challenging. You'll analyse relevant academic theories and apply models, tools and techniques to real fashion marketing situations. Well encourage you to critically develop independent, inquiring and creative approaches to strategic fashion marketing issues and problems.

What you will study

Contemporary Issues for Business and Society

This core module reflects the fact that organisations do not operate in a vacuum: they are both shaped by and themselves also shape the geo-political, economic, social and technological environments in which they operate. Understanding the interaction between organisations and their wider contexts is essential to effective management and responsible leadership. This module is designed to equip students with the information and analytical skills required to critically reflect upon some of the most significant issues which pose challenges to business managers and organisational leaders in the modern world.

Consumer-Led Fashion Marketing

This module is designed to provide an in-depth and critical understanding of consumer-led marketing practices. Students are introduced to the concept of customer insight and its role in marketing decision making. A range of models of consumer behaviour, including consumer value, are examined in the context of strategic decision making and relationship building.

Strategic Decisions in the International Fashion Marketplace

Core to organisational success is strategic planning, implementation and evaluation. This module considers the challenges facing organisations in the contemporary marketplace and explores the creation and consideration of solutions that arise from such. Adopting a marketing planning perspective this module will equip students with the necessary tools, skills and insights to generate a comprehensive, cohesive and congruent marketing plan.

Digital Fashion Branding and Delivery

The module explores the role of technology and the creative process in the development of brands. Focusing on the emergence and growth of virtual realities and e-communications, students will examine how the creation and delivery of a new brand concept through creative technologies represents a transformational shift in the entrepreneurship, commerce and professional practice of the contemporary marketer.

Fashion Buying, Merchandising and Distribution

This module provides students with a critical understanding of the buying, merchandising and distribution functions with a fashion organisaton. The associated management processes are explored in detail, including analysis of market trends, product concept, sourcing, buying, merchandising, logistics and distribution channel decisions. The aim being to furnish students with the ability to critically examine the inter-relatonships that exist between these different processes.

Personal and Professional Development

Enables you to identify, understand, develop and articulate your personal abilities in the context of your future career aspirations.

Research Methods

Develops your advanced skills related to a range of research methods needed for academic and practical research at a Masters Level.

Dissertation

The research project can assume one of 3 forms: An Applied Research Project, an Inquiry Project or a Business Consultancy Project. The Applied Research project involves collection of secondary and primary data. The Management Inquiry Project is secondary data based and can assume the form of an exploration of an aspect of the development of global trends in the relevant business literature and an assessment of its implications for local practice. The Management Consultancy project is normally primary data based and requires the student to adopt the role of a consultant.

Why choose this programme?

• This programme has been designed in consultation with industry to offer the knowledge and skills needed to make a difference in the international fashion marketing arena.
• The university prides itself on creating a friendly and highly supportive learning environment for all its students.
• We incorporate the latest academic marketing thinking and theories to ensure the programme is leading edge in all respects.
• All teaching and learning on the programme is supported by cutting edge e-learning technologies.
• Teaching is delivered in small groups allowing students to develop their own environment of shared learning and for individual learning needs to be addressed by tutors.
• Modules are designed to relate directly to real-world business and to give students opportunities to learn about potential career areas.
• The programme provides students the opportunity to attend Masterclasses from marketing practitioners and leaders of industry.

Professional accreditation

EPAS

MSc International Fashion Marketing is accredited by the European Foundation for Management Development Programme Accreditation Scheme (EPAS) and is the only fashion programme worldwide to receive this distinction of high quality education.

Benchmarked against international standards. GCU is one of just 69 international institutions to have EPAS accreditation, and was commended by EPAS for its exceptional commitment to the ethics, responsibility and sustainability (ERS) agenda. 

EPAS accreditation is a key achievement of Glasgow School for Business and Society (GSBS) and gives MSc IFM graduates the assurance that they will be equipped with the skills and knowledge needed to succeed in the fashion marketing industry as well as being recognised internationally for their excellent Master’s education and experience.

Find out more

CIM

The Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) is the leading professional body for marketers worldwide and exists to develop the marketing profession, maintain professional standards and improve the skills of marketing practitioners. 

GCU has joined forces with CIM to give students the opportunity to gain professional qualifications through CIM Graduate Gateway. CIM qualifications are highly sought after by employers, and map alongside our own degrees which ensures we are equipping students with the best opportunities for a successful marketing career.

Find out more about CIM Membership.

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MA Moving Image is designed to develop creative conceptual thinkers, who can deliver ideas across media using a variety of methods. The project work undertaken is underpinned with research, analysis and evidence of strategic thinking as well as self reflection.

On this course you will be able to devise new means of attracting audiences, whether in the areas of promotion and advertising or within the exhibition and corporate sector, moving image for mobile devices, the web, and in every area of motion design and the world of moving image.

The course has been designed for those looking for innovative, creative and critical learning, as you will engage with video, environmental, digital editing, sound and animation to develop your creative ideas and build a strong conceptual and technical basis for your development.

As well as providing opportunities to engage with more traditional areas of moving image such as short narrative film, promotions and branding, animation, motion graphics and broadcast design, the pathway also covers areas such as 3D projection and video mapping and CGI.

You will be expected to respond to new ideas, where the screen is not confined to the movie theatre or the living room. You will be encouraged to extend your knowledge of creative, interpretative and critical approaches to moving image practices. MA Moving Image provides an intensive arena for the discussion, development and production of high quality original audio-visual work. You will also be encouraged to engage with the wider context of moving image practice, for instance through submitting work to festivals and competitions.

There may be opportunities to work on 'live' industry briefs, as well as engage with tutors who are practitioners themselves or with ‘start-ups’ from the incubation area. You will be invited to attend guest lectures from industry professionals and participate in industry-focused projects, collaborations and study/industry visits. Taught sessions will include workshops covering areas of research methods, theoretical approaches and business and professional skills.

There may be opportunities to work on 'live' industry briefs, as well as engage with tutors who are practitioners themselves or with ‘start-ups’ from the incubation area. You will be invited to attend guest lectures from industry professionals and participate in industry-focused projects, collaborations and study/industry visits. Taught sessions will include workshops covering areas of research methods, theoretical approaches and business and professional skills.

Study units

- Technology Issues
- Business and Innovation
- Research Process
- Concept and Prototyping
- Major project

In the Technology Issues unit, and Concept and Prototyping unit, you will have the opportunity to engage with industry standard software (for example: After Effects, Cinema 4D, Final Cut Pro, Flash, Illustrator, Photoshop).

Supported in particular by the Research Process and Technology Issues units, the pathway will enable you to deepen your conceptual thinking and technical application through the development of your individual practice.

New technologies have transformed the relationships between traditional film, video and digital formats, offering new opportunities for experimentation and the business context of this is explored through the Business and Innovation unit.

In the Concept and Prototyping unit you will develop your main concepts with reference to theoretical and business contexts; and this work will culminate in the Major Project.

Programme Aims

All postgraduate courses at Ravensbourne provide students with the opportunity to develop advanced skills in the conceptualisation and practical realisation of innovative creative projects in their discipline area and provide them with the entrepreneurial skills to realise their commercial potential. These courses share the following common aims:

- to develop advanced creative practitioners with the potential to originate, innovate or influence practice in their discipline area;

- to equip students with a comprehensive understanding of the core principles and technology underpinning their creative project and the theoretical frameworks within which to locate it;

- to underpin students’ creative practice with the entrepreneurial skills and business awareness necessary to turn concepts into commercially viable realities;

- to develop students’ skills in independent learning, self-reflection and research skills necessary to sustain advanced creative practice and scholarship;

- to offer a stimulating environment for postgraduate students which is both supportive and flexible in relation to their learning needs and a creative space in which to incubate their ideas.

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This is a creative, project-based course focusing on the practical and theoretical study of product design and its relationship to interaction. As an advanced product designer, this course supports your continued development and will refine your practice in interaction and user-centred product design.

The course explores academic theories as well as industry practice within interactive media, digital arts, entertainment and product design; and is a combination of two separate fields: product design and interactive media.

In Interactive Product Futures you will focus on user-centred design processes and research and analyse “user interaction” as your primary focus. The emphasis is on technology-mediated communication between humans and objects or spaces, allowing you to apply design and apply technological solutions to people’s infinite needs. You will also examine how technology gives personality to objects, and thereby how to ensure technology and design are more empathetic to people and their behaviours.

In the early units of the course you will be given short project briefs in which to design, implement, test and evaluate solutions in the form of an interactive product. Each project brief may take the form of an online or offline product; for example: an online quiz, an e-commerce type application, a toy. This is also an opportunity to produce a series of creative works within the specialisation of rapid prototyping (3D printing), animation, game design, web design, installation art, projection mapping, creative coding, computation design and entertainment media. The aim is to provide you with the opportunity to develop a software solution to a given problem, or aspect of a larger problem.

You will be encouraged to experiment with new ways of working with objects/scenarios and their integration with technology both creatively and collaboratively, and to apply emerging and existing technological solutions through personal fabrication, research and the experimental application of technology.

The course promotes cross disciplinary thinking as an approach to product design, so that the relationship between interactivity, artefacts, environments and the systems and organisations in which they operate can be re-examined.

By studying the course you will develop your creative design skills to innovate and influence product and interaction design practice and realise the commercial potential of your design proposals.

- Collaborative project
'The Digital Gym' project, which allowed students to research how emerging technologies are applied and user behaviour enhanced to provide a distinct, immersive gym experience on the Greenwich Peninsula.

Study units

- Technology Issues
- Business and Innovation
- Research Process
- Concept and Prototyping
- Major project

Through the Business and Innovation unit you will have the opportunity to explore the generation of innovative new business models that will help to shape your emerging project concept.

The Technology Issues unit encourages you to engage and explore emerging new technologies as well as skills in scripting and coding, first within a group, then as a cross-disciplinary, and finally in an individual project.

Through the Research Process unit, you will explore academic theoretical frameworks and research methodologies and their application within industry practice.

In both the Technology Issues and Concept and Prototyping units, youwill explore the dialogue between product and user, the function, usability and forms, flow and creativity and user experiences.

The course will culminate in your final Major Project.

Programme Aims

All postgraduate courses at Ravensbourne provide students with the opportunity to develop advanced skills in the conceptualisation and practical realisation of innovative creative projects in their discipline area and provide them with the entrepreneurial skills to realise their commercial potential. These courses share the following common aims:

- to develop advanced creative practitioners with the potential to originate, innovate or influence practice in their discipline area;

- to equip students with a comprehensive understanding of the core principles and technology underpinning their creative project and the theoretical frameworks within which to locate it;

- to underpin students’ creative practice with the entrepreneurial skills and business awareness necessary to turn concepts into commercially viable realities;

- to develop students’ skills in independent learning, self-reflection and research skills necessary to sustain advanced creative practice and scholarship;

- to offer a stimulating environment for postgraduate students which is both supportive and flexible in relation to their learning needs and a creative space in which to incubate their ideas.

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MA/MSc Interactive Digital Media is a vibrant, interdisciplinary, collaborative and challenging postgraduate pathway focusing on the practical and theoretical study of interactivity in digital media production; and strives to create designers with the potential to innovate and influence interaction design practice who can realise relevant and elegant design proposals with commercial potential.

This MA/MSc Interactive Digital Media is of particular relevance to you as a practitioner or designer who wishes to develop and refine your practice in interaction design, installation, projection mapping, digital games and user-centred product design.

You will be encouraged to work with technology experimentally, creatively and collaboratively, and to apply emerging and existing technology in new and novel ways through personal fabrication, research and the experimental application. You will also have hands-on experience creating for Android, BlackBerry, iPad, iPhone, iPod, Playstation 3, Xbox, and websites. The course will provide skills in the relevant multimedia software, 3D graphics software, game engines/modelling packages such as Unity, UdK, 3D Studio Max and Maya. You will understand code, create electronic and physical interfaces and the course encourages the use of low level C# and C++, JavaScript, HTML or Python.

We have a dedicated facility for analysing and evaluating console games, containing PS3, XBox 360, and Wii consoles, new games titles and 3D LCD screens.

The course focuses on interaction design and its application to objects, spaces and communication. The emphasis is on technology-mediated communication between humans and objects or spaces, both real and virtual. You will be able to experiment and innovate along side exploring how theory underpins multimedia practice allowing you to ultimately challenge and test theories of interactivity. Interaction can take many forms and you will be encouraged to use a range of tools and approaches, and because of the developing nature of the discipline, you will be experimenting with the latest forms of technology.

Study units

- Technology Issues
- Business and Innovation
- Research Process
- Concept and Prototyping
- Major project

In the Business and Innovation unit you will gain an overview of the industry and new approaches to innovation.

Through the Technology Issues unit, you will explore the potential of digital technology and its application in new services or products or to enhance the functions, usability and aesthetics of existing ones through both group and cross-disciplinary work.

In the Research Process unit you will explore and challenge contemporary themes through theory and practice. There is a strong engagement with game theories (how games are made and what makes a good game), play, multimodality, artificial intelligence, and transmedia storytelling, user experience and computational design.

The Concept and Prototyping unit allows you to conduct a more involved 15-week project to develop and build a prototype, test an emerging technology or generate a concept.

Hypotheses, concepts or project ideas emerging from previous units will provide starting points for the Major Project, which is the final culmination of your investigations and is a substantial piece of self-managed work that embodies the integration of theory and practice, is underpinned by advanced practice-based methodologies and processes.

Programme Aims

All postgraduate courses at Ravensbourne provide students with the opportunity to develop advanced skills in the conceptualisation and practical realisation of innovative creative projects in their discipline area and provide them with the entrepreneurial skills to realise their commercial potential. These courses share the following common aims:

- to develop advanced creative practitioners with the potential to originate, innovate or influence practice in their discipline area;

- to equip students with a comprehensive understanding of the core principles and technology underpinning their creative project and the theoretical frameworks within which to locate it;

- to underpin students’ creative practice with the entrepreneurial skills and business awareness necessary to turn concepts into commercially viable realities;

- to develop students’ skills in independent learning, self-reflection and research skills necessary to sustain advanced creative practice and scholarship;

- to offer a stimulating environment for postgraduate students which is both supportive and flexible in relation to their learning needs and a creative space in which to incubate their ideas.

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What is the 'Master of Architecture' all about?

This Master's programme focusing on "Architecture: Resilient and Sustainable Strategies" explores architecture from a research-by-designand design-by-research perspective. Students are educated and trained in a multicultural and international context. The programme combines an academic approach with creative- experimental approach. It is characterised by a fully-integrated design methodology, providing students with solid skills in the contemporary discipline of architectural design and research.

The Master of Architecture programme is organised at both of the faculty's campuses in Brussels and Ghent, though each campus offers a different orientation:

• Campus Brussels - Architecture: Urban Projects, Urban Cultures
• Campus Ghent - Architecture: Resilient and Sustainable Strategies

This is an initial Master's programme and can be followed on a full-time or part-time basis. The programme consists out of a minimum of four semesters.

International

The Faculty of Architecture takes its international dimension as the basis for its own quality assessment. It positions itself squarely within the international field of qualitative academic education. The faculty's international activities are extensive and diversified: student mobility and staff exchange on a European and intercontinental level, internationally oriented programmes for incoming students, international workshops and competitions, international research projects, international internships, development cooperation, etc.

The faculty continues to build on its tradition of academic integration of teaching and research to maintain and enhance its standard of quality and international standing.

The faculty works hard to consolidate and enrich its network of cooperative associations with professionals and universities all over the world and strives to leverage this international network for students' benefit. Its international dimension is a strong catalyst for creativity and an added value to students' future professional career.

Objectives 

"The intended academic quality, is the core of the program (architecture, urban planning), i.e. academically based 'professionalism'.

The broadening of the profile focuses on basic disciplines (architecture and urban planning), however without compromising the appropriate focus on the professional profile of the architect (in multiple forms).

In the profile of master, one should obtain extreme concentration and specificity (however, no specialisation).

On the one hand, the master focuses on the content and area-specific level of the bachelor phase, and on the other hand on the acquirement of access to the professional or doctoral field (advanced masters, PhD,...).

The core competences of the master are:

• the intellectual development and broadening of the competences acquired in the bachelor;
• a research attitude (for solutions)
• the specific, disciplinary knowledge (architecture, urban planning)
• the interdisciplinary skills (also as to recognize the limits of the own scientific discipline).

The master program should guarantee the acquirement of scientific depth. The offered frontier disciplines focus on the current state of research and development within the competence field. The technical qualification to be acquired, focuses on the high quality problem solving of complex tasks.

Curriculum framework campus Ghent: Architecture: Resilient and Sustainable Strategies

At our campus in Ghent, the International Master of Science in Architecture is concerned with the current theory and practice of architecture and sustainability.

The Brundtland report (United Nations, 1987) defines sustainable development as 'development which meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs'. The United Nations in 2005 referred to the 'interdependent and mutually reinforcing pillars' of sustainable development as economic development, social development and environmental protection.

Translating these three pillars for sustainable architecture, they would entail: providing access to high quality and healthy living and working environments for all, finding ways to create socially sustainable environments at different scales and a wise use of natural resources. Technical considerations, together with more conceptual or strategic issues, are dealt with in this two-year program about architecture and sustainability.

Central in the program of the International Master of Science in Architecture is a critical reflection about architecture and its social, cultural or environmental role for society.

Based on a highly interdisciplinary learning process of integrated research and 'research by design', students are expected to determine a theoretical stance on current issues with particular emphasis on how aspects of sustainability, universal design, urban ecology and energy-efficient technologies may contribute to the development of more sustainable human settlements.

Apart from the theoretical courses, the program includes 3 design studios (during one semester) and 1 final master dissertation studio (during one year). Each semester, there is a focus on a specific attitude, related to the main theme of the programme. All studios are organised through a pool of studio groups (Academic Design Offices and Design Studios) where the teaching staff provides a series of specific themes, methods and intervention areas for the students to develop an architectural project:

Themes sem 1

• social sustainability and architecture
• modest heritage and suitability
• urban emergent processes
• architectural concept, materiality and detail

Themes sem 2 (specific focus on the city of Ghent)

• architectural concept, materiality and detail
• limited resources, re-use and integration
• urban emergent processes

Themes sem 3

• architectural materiality and detail

Themes sem 4

• social sustainability and architecture
• modest heritage and suitability
• urban emergent processes
• architectural concept, materiality and detail
• limited resources, re-use and integration

Career perspectives

Graduates are trained to lead multidisciplinary teams of engineers, interior architects, landscape architects and artists. In addition to working as independent (self-employed) architects, our graduates also work as professionals in government agencies and international design firms. Some graduates go on to roles as researchers serving local or international governance bodies, NGO's or other institutes.

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The Ravensbourne MA Environment Design investigates spatial design in its real-virtual, and macro-micro scales. Encompassing interior, architecture, cities and natural environments the programme analyzes a series of different perspectives of theory and practice from art, science, and technology towards an understanding of a cultural sustainability.

Systems - Every year the course aims to produce new research that takes forward questions inherent in Modernity. Currently focused on natural ecological systems (earthquakes, tectonic plates, deltas and shorelines), (re)contruction and war, cosmographies and cultures of outerspace, and bio-tech materials ; the course encourages you to explore your own field of research and practice.

Technologies - The Environment Design operates with a multidisciplinary team where knowledge exchange is one of the core points to focus. From: applied technologies, visual effects, interactive digital media, moving image, communication design and fashion, the programme aims to deploy students with methods and techniques from different perspectives embracing new possibilities offered by new technology and the creative processes involved in designing.

Modeling and simulation - with a hands on training in the use of the scientific instruments and computational tools, Ravensbourne offers you with full access to digital facilities for digital imaging and prototyping; where you will be able to experiment and innovate through technical, user and interaction workshops based upon strategies deployed by leading practitioners within the field.

You will be encouraged to engage with advanced practice within a global context and explore the similarities and key differences and emphases of different centres across the world and to put your learning and design solutions into context.

Here you will expand your own research and practice, by developing and managing an individual programme of enquiry and creative development in environment design culminating in the realisation of a final major project fully informed by professional and industrial contexts and multi disciplinary perspectives.

Study units

- Technology Issues
- Business and Innovation
- Research Process
- Concept and Prototyping
- Major project

The Research Process unit supports you in gaining the research skills needed for the development of your individual projects.

Three five-week workshops in the Technology Issues unit will enable you to explore interdisciplinary, cross-disciplinary and individually negotiated projects.

In the Business Innovation unit, you are helped to develop an understanding of business and innovative practices in the creative industries.

The Concept and Prototyping unit allows you to further develop the skills you have learnt; for example: using hybrid bottom-up strategies and to take a single line of inquiry, idea or theory embedded in environment design and research and develop the concept.

The Major Project represents the culmination of the your investigation and the final stage of the research strategy.

Learning

You will receive regular support from tutors, peers and subject-specific group tutorials as part of a constant critical dialogue to help create a professional and critical understanding of your individual creative process.

You will benefit from working alongside students on other MA pathways in a multi-disciplinary environment, creating opportunities to widen and expand approaches to your own research and practice giving the opportunity to adapt and adopt new and innovative methods and solutions.

The course benefits from its positioning and relationship to allied creative disciplines, such as the Applied Technologies, Fashion, and Interactive Digital Media pathways, affording opportunities for collaboration, cross-fertilisations and synergies. You are also expected to engage with the architectural design profession and to make full use of the resources and opportunities available in London.

Programme Aims

All postgraduate courses at Ravensbourne provide students with the opportunity to develop advanced skills in the conceptualisation and practical realisation of innovative creative projects in their discipline area and provide them with the entrepreneurial skills to realise their commercial potential. These courses share the following common aims:

- to develop advanced creative practitioners with the potential to originate, innovate or influence practice in their discipline area;

- to equip students with a comprehensive understanding of the core principles and technology underpinning their creative project and the theoretical frameworks within which to locate it;

- to underpin students’ creative practice with the entrepreneurial skills and business awareness necessary to turn concepts into commercially viable realities;

- to develop students’ skills in independent learning, self-reflection and research skills necessary to sustain advanced creative practice and scholarship;

- to offer a stimulating environment for postgraduate students which is both supportive and flexible in relation to their learning needs and a creative space in which to incubate their ideas.

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INSTALLATIONS, SET DESIGN, PLAY PLACES

Our society is becoming more and more mobile; the meaning of terms such as “space” and “distance” is currently experiencing a complete overhaul due to digital media. That’s why an entire industry segment is now dedicated to the topic of the communication and staging of information, brands, and experiences in private and public, real and virtual spaces – in media spaces.

The English-language master’s degree program in Media Spaces consists of interdisciplinary project teams that research innovative communication solutions within the realm of where real and virtual spaces come together. Graduates of Media Spaces apply innovative design methods to transform communication within virtual and real spaces into inspiring and long-lasting experiences. The aim here is to satisfy the human need for aesthetics, social interaction, play, information, or knowledge – and to offer brands, corporations, or organizations a way to expand their communication strategy.

THE BTK PROGRAM

The state-accredited master’s degree program in Media Spaces at BTK is a project-based program for people who have already completed a bachelor’s degree in an artistic, design, or media-relevant study program*. The concept of our program is particularly based on interdisciplinary work, and deliberately targets applicants with various design competencies and backgrounds: communication designers, media designers, architects, computer scientists, set designers, design managers, or media theorists.

The first two semesters consist of interdisciplinary project-based studies, the theory of various media and process-based events, as well as a catalog of compulsory courses. You will work in a team throughout an entire semester on a joint challenge and go through the typical phases of a project, just as you would in your future career: from research, planning, and concept creation to realization, documentation, and presentation.

The entire 3rd semester is dedicated to your master’s thesis. This module includes the completion of your thesis, which consists of a design-in-practice part and an academic part.

The program at BTK offers an in-depth, hands-on approach, which creates unlimited opportunities for you to explore new, hybrid ideas and discover new career areas – above all within in the digital media realm.

*Students who are currently completing their bachelor’s degree can also apply. Please refer to our admission requirements for more information.

CAREERS

Graduates of the master’s degree program in Media Spaces are able to analyze and locate spatial, moving, and nonlinear forms of expression and then apply the results to create their own space concept. Thanks to solid competence in media, they are able to develop design-based and technically sophisticated solutions for complex, multidisciplinary challenges. Furthermore, they have excellent knowledge in methods for planning, organizing, and production technologies, and the means to successfully realize projects. These can range from installations, set design, play places, and moving 3D images to guidance systems, brand presentations, architecture, and interior design to exhibition and event design, the visualization of “data spaces”, and the generation of scientific visuals.

In addition, the master’s degree program in Media Spaces qualifies graduates to work in interdisciplinary, intercultural, and international project teams and to lead these, as well as to be an entrepreneur or freelancer in the artistic, design field. It also forms the ideal foundation for a high-caliber, leadership career in the media department at a company or for taking the path of an academic career.

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The MSc Advanced Home Futures course is designed to revolutionise the building and construction of houses and homes. It was developed adhering closely to TV architect George Clarke’s MOBIE modular building concept and advanced home construction principles.

Course Details

This course places an emphasis on the innovative design and construction of new homes, conceptualising prototypes of how we will live in the future and the exciting new materials and building techniques that are becoming available. 

You develop knowledge of housing design and are introduced to the role of CAD, BIM and model making. These are all developed alongside a multidisciplinary approach to understanding the housing provision for health, wellbeing and universal needs creating a learning experience that disrupts and challenges the concept of ‘home’ as we traditionally know it. 

Hosted by the School of Science, Engineering & Design this course has academic input drawn from across the University to consider housing design, materials and technology, the role of the home in health and wellbeing and in society, and methods of effectively managing projects and leading change. You learn about concepts of sustainability, design thinking, design processes and technological innovations and you are challenged to develop new ideas and approaches to the housing and homes for the future. 

This course emphasises group work and collaborative learning, and mixes practical and theoretical experiences. 

George Clarke’s social enterprise, the Ministry of Building, Innovation, Education (MOBIE), is kickstarting a fundamental change to the building industry and our courses have been designed to adhere closely to the modular building concept and advanced home construction principles of MOBIE.

What you study

Course structure

Core modules

• Future Home Design Project
• Future Houses
• Future Thinking Technologies
• House and Home
• Managing Innovation

Modules offered may vary.

Teaching

How you learn

You study four 30-credit modules and then work on a 60-credit project. 

How you are assessed

You are assessed within each module through a variety of methods including writing reports, creating artefacts and presentations. Each module is led by a different academic School within the University to embed the culture of multidisciplinarity into the course.

Employability

You are challenged to develop new ideas and approaches to housing and homes for the future. Graduate career opportunities exist primarily in the home design and construction industry, but also in town and social housing planning and management.

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In conjunction with the department of Health & Science, we aim to apply the concept of exergaming as an approach to encouraging patient participation in their prescribed exercise/rehabilitation process. This would include a mechanism to monitor specific exercise/rehabilitation routines in real time, while incorporating a patient feedback mechanism to assist with progression management.

Methodology proposed

• Adopting a ‘design thinking’ approach in conjunction with our collaborators in the RSRC, we will design and prototype a hardware/software solution which measures specific patient exercise/activity in an engaging way.
• The concept of exergaming will be applied, where exergaming is defined as technology-driven physical activities, such as video game play, that requires participants to be physically active or exercise in order to play the game.
• This recorded data may also be transferred to the cloud where it will be processed and made available for review by the rehabilitation experts.

Expected outcomes: (e.g. deliverables & strategic impacts)

Outputs:

• Software application(s) designed to suit specific physical activities.
• Prototype hardware device(s) for remote monitoring, Wi-Fi enabled with embedded software for real time data gathering and communication
• Cloud based backend system for data storage with data analysis algorithms
• Web based data presentation portal
• Desktop/mobile app for participant engagement through data presentation

Strategic:

1. The concept of exergaming is an emerging field being adopted in a number of domains. The Computing department is currently working with European Erasmus+ partners to develop an online, multi-disciplinary module titled “Serious Games & Welfare Technology” where the focus is on technology for patient’s health and wellbeing. This project would serve as an excellent show case for the module, and a potential source of postgraduate students in this field.
2. This project will feed into a collaboration project within the dept. of Health & Science (RSRC)
3. The objective measurement of remote patients can be compared to the subjective ‘gold standard’ measurements
4. A successful prototype has tremendous potential to be extended to other measurements/environments within Health Science and other fields.

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On this unique illustration course - the only one of its kind with a specific academic focus on authorial practice - you'll develop your own voice. You'll learn to see your work as an evolving practice rather than as a response to an already defined concept or brief, as you challenge and re-evaluate your work with the help of teaching staff who are experienced practitioners.

As your authorial voice develops and you learn to identify your audience, you'll also be encouraged to take an entrepreneurial approach, thinking creatively about the outlets and options for your work. This professionalism is aided by the course's close relationship with independent publisher Atlantic Press, offering you opportunities to gain direct experience in the many aspects of producing and publishing graphic literature.

At the heart of this studio-based course is a belief that there is a need to reassert the characteristics of personal origination, ownership, storytelling and literary ideas within the medium of illustration. We'll help you gain the confidence to take ownership of your work, you'll develop new ideas and concepts driven by your desire to create a distinct, original, authorial voice.

You'll explore narrative and storytelling as defined by your developing voice, working on longer-term projects across a variety of mediums that suit your interests – including children's books, graphic novels, digital work and screen-based production. The course will also engage you with current ideas and thinking related to notions of authorship, encouraging you to draw inspiration from a diverse range of influences, providing further personal insight and direction for your practice.

Visit the website https://www.falmouth.ac.uk/illustrationma

Building professional experience

A unique feature of our MA is our relationship with Atlantic Press (http://www.atlanticpressbooks.com/). The specialist publishing house, based in Penryn, was founded 15 years ago by course leader Steve Braund. The partnership enables you to learn about the whole publishing process, from concept to realisation – as well as the practical aspects of printing, distribution and marketing. The close proximity of a publishing press also means that internships to students on the course are offered on a regular basis.

The course will give you a grounding in all aspects of professional practice related to the work of an authorial illustrator. You'll also be encouraged to consider entrepreneurial approaches to your practice. At the end of the course, you'll mount a professional presentation of work from your negotiated MA project.

How the course is taught

Teaching takes place in the form of lectures, seminars, group critiques and workshops, supported by high-profile guest speakers. The Illustration Discourses lecture series considers authorial positions, related theories and their contexts. Both lectures and seminars will help inform your negotiated practical projects, whilst recording your studio practice in a research journal will aid self-reflection.

- Typical workshops

Research Journals
Creative Writing
Screen Printing
Life Drawing
Listening to Images
Book Art
Printmaking & Collography
Etching
Composition
Professional Practice
Table Top Book Binding
Visual Thinking
InDesign I
What are Archives?
Professional Practice, Networking & Entrepreneurship
Visual Narrative
Perspective
Book Design, Layout & InDesign
Bookbinding
Graphic Design

Course outline

This is a one-year course delivered over 45 weeks and divided into three 15-week study blocks. Alternatively, you can study part-time over two years, totalling 90 weeks.

Over the course of the year you'll be required to produce a sequence of three negotiated practical projects based on personal authorial illustration work.

The lecture and seminar series Illustration Discourses supports the practical work, running concurrently with a research journal, which builds connections and the opportunity to reflect on practice. You'll be expected to demonstrate progression; indicating the research, analysis, reflection and investigation necessary for the development of a successful and distinctive authorial illustration practice.

You'll also produce two analytical essays and deliver a presentation exploring areas of personal interest within the authorial context relating to your practice. These will show a consideration of audience awareness and the processes and development of your practice. In order to develop self-reliance the course allows you a good deal of freedom to develop your projects.

Facilities

- Individual studio space
- Full IT facilities
- Print room
- Comprehensive library facilities
- Access to specialist equipment

Assessment

- Assessment takes place at the end of each module
- Combination of visual, verbal and written assignments
- Final assessment takes place in September

Careers

Potential careers include:

- Commissioned or self-published illustrator
- Art director or creative director
- Illustration residencies
- Curatorial roles
- Teaching
- Further study

Interview and selection process

When you apply to join the course, we'll ask you to send us a study proposal and either samples of work or a link to your website or blog, if you have one. At interview we'll look for authorial illustration potential or capabilities, illustration ability, graphic skills, drawing skills, creative writing/storytelling potential, ideas and concepts. We really value meeting you in person but we can hold a telephone or Skype interview if this is not possible.

Falmouth Illustration Forum

Our respected annual Falmouth Illustration Forum recently celebrated its tenth anniversary with the publication of the world's first book devoted to the subject, The Authorial Illustrator (available from atlanticpressbooks.com (http://www.atlanticpressbooks.com/)). Each annual forum explores different aspects of authorial illustration and includes internationally renowned guest speakers.

View information about our forums here - https://www.falmouth.ac.uk/content/ma-illustration-open-forum-2014-witness-reportage-documentary

Find out how to apply here - https://www.falmouth.ac.uk/apply

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The course is aimed at practising drilling engineers. It focuses on the concept of effective well construction, and aims to develop high levels of professional skill in the key areas of well design, drilling and operations management. Typical students include those working in oil and gas companies, energy companies, national oil companies, engineering firms and project service companies. Graduates of MSc Drilling and Well Engineering are now employed in every oil producing area of the world and work for many of the oil majors and drilling contractors. 

The course focuses on the concept of effective well construction, and aims to develop high levels of professional skill in the key areas of well design, drilling and operations management.

You can study for this course full-time at our campus in Aberdeen or online via the university's virtual learning environment CampusMoodle.

Please visit the website to find out how to apply.

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