The MSc in Environmental Technology has been running for over 40 years and provides the highest standard of knowledge and skills development for environmental and sustainability specialists. Through the course students acquire a diverse range of discipline-specific problem-solving skills for tackling contemporary sustainability issues. A major emphasis of the course is on the way that environments function and on the compatible tools, alternative technologies and policies for sustainable environmental management.
Our course combines the natural and social sciences, engineering and business in a truly interdisciplinary manner, providing a foundation for graduates to demonstrate their ability to identify and resolve environmental and sustainability issues in a holistic way. This broad training is followed by an in-depth education in many specialised areas, maintaining the course's interdisciplinary nature. The specialist options in the second term are designed to cater for a variety of individual interests and career requirements.
The course provides students with different options to build on their undergraduate degree, by allowing them to specialise in an area of particular interest, convert undergraduate knowledge to a different setting, differentiate for the job market and learn specific techniques and tools for research and management.
MSc candidates learn to appreciate that successful projects depend, at least in part, on belonging to a network of experts aiming to advance personal and collective environmental goals. We emphasise a friendly and supportive learning environment.
Building on Imperial’s environmental world-class research portfolio, dedicated teaching staff coordinate the interdisciplinary nature of our course and very strong links with industry, business and regulators. We pride ourselves on the quality of the service we provide to students, science and the society, and our excellence in delivering the valuable interaction between scientific/technological training and industrial experience.
First term – Core Course
The Core Course emphasises contemporary policy debates through a number of cross-cutting themes: climate change and energy, international development, sustainability and health, and biodiversity. This is delivered through the following modules:
Second term – specialist Options
Student elect to specialise in one of nine Options in the second term. A strong case study approach is employed with emphasis on working in teams, decision-making, strong analytical skills and report writing and delivery. The nine specialist options currently offered on the course include:
Third Term – Individual Research Project
The research project term, running from April to September, aims to provide graduates with valuable research and practical experience and give them the ability to address individual sustainability and environmental problems with confidence. It provides the opportunity to undertake rigorous independent research; to apply knowledge and understanding of sustainability and environmental disciplines to practical problems; and to develop and demonstrate interdisciplinary, transferable skills with specific emphasis on project management and oral and written presentation skills.
The research project normally follows from the specialist Option and may involve any combination of desk-, laboratory- or fieldwork. It may be set up and carried out in conjunction with an outside organisation thereby providing practical experience which greatly enhances employment prospects, and may be carried out in the UK or abroad.
The programme aims to:
• Provide the highest standard of training for environmental scientists and managers, who will become leaders in their fields, whether in academia, consultancy, research, government bodies, non-governmental organisations or industry and commerce, both nationally and internationally
• Deliver an holistic understanding of the interdisciplinary complexities underlying environmental issues integrating science, technology, law, economics, policy and management, with in-depth education in the more specific areas addressed by the eight specialist options
• Attract highly motivated students, both from within the UK and from overseas
The expected learning outcomes are:
Links with Industry
The MSc in Environmental Technology has developed very strong links with employers and research organisations, and maintains strong links with our large alumni body. All Options benefit from industry and alumni teaching into the course, actively complementing the academic teaching delivered by staff members. Collaborative frameworks are in place aim to deliver outputs beneficial to both organisations and the students in our course.
Understanding the development and functioning of environmental law across different levels of environmental governance is an important issue of our time. This requires moving beyond the traditional approach to teaching international, regional, EU and national environmental law in isolation from one other.
There's also a growing need to understand the relevance for environmental governance of the legal practices of indigenous peoples and local communities, business entities, local administrations, and transnational environmental practitioners.
The programme aims to help students critically appraise and creatively contribute to environmental regulation and governance at the international, transnational, national and local levels.
Studying this course, you'll be equipped with a wide range of expertise in environmental law, in areas like:
You'll focus on the global dynamics of environmental law. In particular, you'll look at the mutual influences and interactions among different regulatory levels.
The programme draws both on cutting-edge academic research on global environmental law, and on first-hand professional experience in environmental law and governance at different levels.
Your ability to gain international employment is at the heart of this course. It'll equip you with the skills and expertise you need to pursue a career in:
The Strathclyde Centre for Environmental Law & Governance has concluded a Memorandum of Understanding with the UN Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) to establish a collaboration on innovative teaching of international environmental law, as well as to arrange for internships at UNITAR for students on the LLM in Global Environmental Law & Governance.
We have a successful track record of helping LLM students obtain competitive international internships with United Nations organisations. These are optional, and their duration and conditions vary depending on the host organisation. They usually start towards the end of the course.
Our programme directors are currently concluding formal agreements with selected international organisations to secure a number of internships for LLM students each year.
Our course directors will provide advice on international careers. They can give you some insider tips on how to apply for jobs with, for example, the United Nations and will be available to review job applications.
LLM students will become part of a closed alumni group on LinkedIn. This will give you the opportunity to network with other professionals in environmental law and governance. It'll also ensure you're updated on selected job opportunities.
This course is taught by one of the most wide-ranging groups of environmental law experts in the UK. Our staff have expertise in:
They'll not only draw from their own cutting-edge academic research, but also their involvement in multilateral environmental negotiations, consultancies for the United Nations and regional organisations, legal advice to developing countries on reforms of natural resource laws, and collaborations with non-government organisations and indigenous and local communities’ organisations.
Some of your classes will also include input from many of our external experts and practitioners. This includes those from
The Strathclyde Centre for Environmental Law & Governance (SCELG) aims to identify and shape emerging areas of legal research in environmental governance.
Our students are an integral part of the centre, together with academic staff, PhD students and visiting scholars. You'll have the chance to take part in the research and consultancy work carried out by the centre. You can put your new skills and knowledge into practice, strengthening your CV.
The BeneLex project aims to investigate the conceptual and practical dimensions of benefit-sharing.
You'll be involved in ongoing research on fair and equitable benefit-sharing, in the areas of:
You'll take part in SCELG events, and will be responsible for organising the annual Festival of Environmental Law and Governance. There, you'll present your LLM dissertation project, and network with other students and a wide range of experts already working in the area.
Climate Change Law & Policy (LLM) is taught via distance learning with the exception of two residential weeks. Students on the course come to Scotland and stay for one week per semester to attend masterclasses and workshops with their peers. You'll be given the opportunity to take part in these residential sessions for learning and networking purposes.
Our library has a wide range of law reports, legislation, serials and monographs. It also has duplicate sets of key law report series and houses extensive collections in government publications and other related areas.
You'll have access to a wide range of electronic information which you can access from home. This includes all major legal databases.
The MSc in environmental health sciences has been designed to allow graduates from a range of science and engineering disciplines to develop and extend knowledge in risk-based assessment and management of environmental influences on human health.
Environmental health is the assessment and management of environmental influences on human health. This includes the study of:
Environmental health work is important and highly worthwhile and many of our students are motivated by a desire to directly improve living and working conditions for a wide range of people.
You'll develop expertise in current methods for examining factors that affect human health, assessing and managing the risks involved, and meeting the challenges resulting from changes in the interaction between people and the environment.
The wide scope of environmental health sciences and the corresponding breadth of the degree reflect rapid technological progress. Environmental impact assessment, sustainable development, air, water and noise pollution are increasingly important and there is a pressing need for graduates with skills in these disciplines.
This course also provides an emphasis on teaching subjects that are relevant to contemporary problems faced by communities, government, industry and commercial organisations.
For example, professionals from outside Strathclyde work together with academic staff and students in the teaching of case studies of outbreaks of water-borne and food-borne diseases and also in urban and industrial air quality management.
The Department has strong links with Malawi. Professor Bob Kalin takes students to Malawi every year for their dissertation/project. This is mainly offered to the students in the MSc in Hydrogeology but there is the potential for students from this MSc to also take part.
Teaching is based on a core of conventional lectures and tutorials, complemented by group projects, laboratory classes, student-led seminars and fieldwork. The programme can be studied over one year full-time, two years part-time or up to five years through Open Access.
On the full-time programme, you’ll follow a core curriculum of eight classes and four optional class. Each class is taught for two to three hours per week over eight to 12 weeks.
Following successful completion of the taught component, you’ll undertake a dissertation from June to August.
As part of the class Independent Study in Collaboration with Industry, you can apply to work with industry projects.
Our £6 million state-of-the-art laboratory facilities are well-equipped with high-technological instrumentation and available space to investigate:
Discover more about our laboratory facilities.
You'll benefit from this innovative initiative which encourages students and researchers to carry out projects that aim to work towards the enhancement of the university’s sustainability. Check out some of our students’ projects and dissertations.
If you can't attend this course full-time on campus, there are various Flexible Learning options available to you.
This is initially a non-graduating route. You'll register for one 10 credit class at a time, and have the option to build up credits. This will eventually lead to a Postgraduate Certificate, Postgraduate Diploma or MSc. You can take up to five years to achieve the qualification.
This option is popular with students in employment, who might want to take classes for Continuing Professional Development purposes.
A range of qualifications will be considered for entry.
You can also study this course by Distance Learning, which is based on three years part-time study of 60 credits per year.
This allows you to complete the course by studying online at home at a time that suits you, without attending at our Glasgow campus. This means you can study while balancing your existing work and family commitments. This option is suitable for students located anywhere in the world.
Teaching is based around lectures and tutorials. You’ll also take part in group projects, laboratory classes, student-led seminars and fieldwork.
Throughout the course there is a strong emphasis on teaching that is relevant to contemporary problems faced by communities, government, industry and commercial organisations. For example, external professionals worked together with academic staff and students in the teaching of case studies of outbreaks of water-borne and food-borne diseases.
You’ll present work in written, verbal and graphical forms including field and laboratory reports, portfolios, posters and oral presentations.
Graduates in environmental health sciences are well prepared for a wide range of professions that require intellectual flexibility and analytical skill.
Many of our graduates have highly successful careers in environmental regulation, government departments, environmental consultancy, health and safety management, food industry, public water utilities, and waste management.
There is increasing recognition by employers in the private sector that graduates in environmental health have skills and backgrounds that are well suited to management roles in a range of related business activities, including the specialist field of corporate social responsibility.
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Sustainability, Earth and Atmospheric Science Masters Degrees - School of Earth and Environment
