Our Physics MSc is highly flexible, giving you the opportunity to structure your course to meet your individual career aspirations.
The course gives you the opportunity to broaden and deepen your knowledge and skills in physics, at the forefront of research in the area. This will help to prepare you to progress to PhD study, or to work in an industrial or other business related area.
A key feature of the course is that you can choose to study a wide range of optional modules or focus on a particular area of research expertise according to your interests and future career aspirations.
Under the umbrella of an MSc in physics, you can specialise in astrophysics, bionanophysics, soft matter physics, condensed matter physics, quantum technology, optical materials or medical imaging. Or you can take a diverse range of modules to suit your interests and keep their options open.
The course offers you a very wide range of optional modules, giving you the opportunity to specialise in areas such as astrophysics, bionanophysics, soft matter physics, condensed matter physics, quantum technology, optical materials or medical imaging.
Modules studied may include: quantum field theory; superconductivity; general relativity; medical image analysis; cosmology; bionanophysics; magnetism in condensed matter; statistical mechanics; star and planet formation; elementary particle physics; quantum matter; and photonics.
Alongside your optional modules, you will undertake an advanced and extensive research project in one of the School of Physics and Astronomy’s internationally recognised research groups. This will enable you to develop advanced skills in research planning, execution and reporting, possibly leading to publication of your work in an international journal.
Compulsory modules
Optional modules
For more information on typical modules, read Physics MSc in the course catalogue
Teaching methods include a combination of lectures, seminars, supervisions, problem solving, presentation of work, independent research, and group work (depending on the modules you choose to study).
Assessment of modules are by problem solving exams and research assignments. The project is assessed on the ability to plan and conduct research and communicate the results in written and oral format.
The specialist pathways offered by this course (in astrophysics, bionanophysics, soft matter physics, condensed matter physics, quantum technology, optical materials or medical imaging) allow you to tailor your course and focus on a particular area of research expertise according to your interests and future career aspirations.
Physicists are highly employable due to their high level of numeracy and mathematical competence, their computer skills, and their high level of technical academic scientific knowledge. They are employed by: industry, financial sector, defence, education, and more.
This course is also a clear route to PhD level study.
We encourage you to prepare for your career from day one. That’s one of the reasons Leeds graduates are so sought after by employers.
The Careers Centre and staff in your faculty provide a range of help and advice to help you plan your career and make well-informed decisions along the way, even after you graduate. Find out more at the Careers website.
This programme for graduates in electronic engineering or similar subjects will prepare you to become a senior manager or entrepreneur in global companies, where understanding technology and managing innovation in business are key to success.
Jointly delivered by the School of Electronic and Electrical Engineering and Leeds University Business School, the course allows you to tailor the programme of studies to your needs, selecting optional modules from three engineering themes and four business themes. A set of core modules provides the foundation of your knowledge and skills.
You’ll be taught by leading experts in technology and in business management, with practical lab classes and project work allowing you to gain hands-on experience investigating and applying topics from your lectures and tutorials to real-life engineering and business situations.
This joint programme offers a unique opportunity to enhance both your technical and managerial skills.
The School of Electronic and Electrical Engineering is an exciting and stimulating environment where you’ll learn from leading researchers in areas pertinent to emerging and developing technologies. These technologies include future wireless and optical communications systems, renewable energy systems, ultrasound and bioelectronics systems, as well as nano, terahertz, and quantum technologies.
Leeds University Business School is also a leading international business school, globally, in the top 1%. It has world ranked programmes and internationally recognised teaching. You'll leave as a graduate of one of the top ten universities targeted by key employers such as Google, HSBC, Rolls-Royce and the Civil Services.
A set of compulsory modules form the core of the programme, developing your understanding of the electronics and technology industries as well as fundamental business management topics.
You’ll study the principles of managing innovation and gain an understanding of risk perception, as well as operations and supply chain management. A dissertation will allow you to research and gain an in-depth understanding of key issues in developing technologies. Your research project will allow you to study how a new technology in electronic, electrical or communications engineering is being applied to a commercial environment.
To complete your studies, you’ll gain additional specialist knowledge through your choice of optional modules related to a range of different themes. You don’t have to choose modules from within the same themes – you can study topics as diverse or as specialised as you want to reflect your own interests or career plans.
Themes include healthcare technologies, energy, information management and other topics that reflect the research strengths of both Leeds University Business School and the School of Electronic and Electrical Engineering. We will expect you to take one or two optional modules offered by LUBS.
Want to find out more about your modules?
Take a look at the Engineering, Technology and Business Management module descriptions for more detail on what you will study.
Compulsory modules
Optional modules
Our groundbreaking research feeds directly into teaching, and you’ll have regular contact with staff who are at the forefront of their disciplines. You’ll have regular contact with them through lectures, seminars, tutorials, small group work and project meetings.
Independent study is also important to the programme, as you develop your problem-solving and research skills as well as your subject knowledge.
You’ll be assessed using a range of techniques including case studies, technical reports, presentations, in-class tests, assignments and exams. Optional modules may also use alternative assessment methods.
The combination of technical and business knowledge you’ll gain from this programme will leave you well-placed for senior roles in the electronics industry, with sectors including energy and power, telecommunications, consumer electronics and aerospace. Many such organisations need engineers with a deep understanding of business and management issues.
More and more graduates are also finding careers in a range of companies that are applying digital technologies to improve their business.
You’ll have access to the wide range of engineering and computing careers resources held by our Employability team in our dedicated Employability Suite. You’ll have the chance to attend industry presentations book appointments with qualified careers consultants and take part in employability workshops. Our annual Engineering and Computing Careers Fairs provide further opportunities to explore your career options with some of the UK’s leading employers.
The University's Careers Centre also provide a range of help and advice to help you plan your career and make well-informed decisions along the way, even after you graduate. Find out more at the Careers website.
The programme's broad theme is the practical implementation of nanoscience and quantum engineering, nanomaterials and nanotechnology.
The programme covers the fundamentals behind nanotechnology and moves on to discuss its implementation using nanomaterials – such as graphene – and the use of advanced tools of nanotechnology which allow us to see at the nanoscale, before discussing future trends and applications for energy generation and storage.
You will gain specialised, practical skills through an individual research project within our research groups, using state-of-the-art equipment and facilities. Completion of the programme will provide you with the skills essential to furthering your career in this rapidly emerging field.
The delivery of media content relies on many layers of sophisticated signal engineering that can process images, video, speech and audio – and signal processing is at the heart of all multimedia systems.
Our Mobile Media Communications programme explains the algorithms and intricacies surrounding transmission and delivery of audio and video content. Particular emphasis is given to networking and data compression, in addition to the foundations of pattern recognition.
This programme is studied full-time over one academic year and part-time students must study at least two taught technical modules per academic year. It consists of eight taught modules and an extended project.
The following modules are indicative, reflecting the information available at the time of publication. Please note that not all modules described are compulsory and may be subject to teaching availability and/or student demand.
We are one of the leading institutions developing nanotechnology and the next generation of materials and nanoelectronic devices.
Taught by internationally-recognised experts within the University’s Advanced Technology Institute (ATI), on this programme you will discover the practical implementation of nanoscience and quantum engineering, nanomaterials and nanotechnology.
You will gain specialised skills through an individual research project within our research groups, using state-of- the-art equipment and facilities.
The ATI is a £10 million investment in advanced research and is the flagship institute of the University of Surrey in the area of nanotechnology and nanomaterials. The ATI brings together under one roof the major research activities of the University from the Department of Electronic Engineering and the Department of Physics in the area of nanotechnology and electronic devices.
The Programme in Nanotechnology and Nanoelectronic Devicesaims to provide a high-quality qualification in the most important aspects of the nanotechnologies, with a particular emphasis on nanoelectronics and nanoelectronic devices.
After an introduction to the basic aspects of quantum physics and nano-engineering relevant to modern nanoelectronics, students can tailor their specific learning experience through study of device-oriented elective modules, as suits their career aspirations.
Key to the Programme is the cross-linking of current research themes in interdisciplinary areas such as photonics and biology, through the use of nanoelectronic devices as the interface at the nanoscale level.
The Programme has strong links to current research in the University's Advanced Technology Institute; this Institute includes academic staff from both the EE and the Physics Departments.
We often give our students the opportunity to acquire international experience during their degrees by taking advantage of our exchange agreements with overseas universities.
In addition to the hugely enjoyable and satisfying experience, time spent abroad adds a distinctive element to your CV.
