Our programme will give you a thorough grounding in the radiation and environmental protection aspects of nuclear physics.
This includes in-depth knowledge of radiation protection and showing you how the technical and organisational procedures of the discipline may be applied to the broader concept of environmental protection.
The substantial practical element of this programme enables you to relate taught material to real-world applications. Formal lectures are complemented with work in specialist radiation laboratories that were recently refurbished as part of a £1m upgrade to our facilities.
Here you will work with a wide range of radioactive sources and radiation detectors. There is also an extended project in the spring and an eleven-week MSc dissertation project in the summer.
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 a dissertation.
Example module listing
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.
The programme material is taught by a combination of academics from the Department of Physics at Surrey and specialists provided by industrial partners. The Surrey academics are part of the Centre for Nuclear and Radiation Physics which houses the largest academic nuclear physics research group in the UK.
In addition to the formal lectures for taught modules, the programme provides a wide range of experimental hands-on training. This includes a nine-week radiation physics laboratory which takes place in the specialist radiation laboratories within the Department of Physics at the University of Surrey.
These were recently refurbished as part of a £1 million upgrade to the departmental teaching infrastructure. Within the Department, we also have a common room and a departmental library, which contains copies of earlier MSc dissertations.
As well as the laboratory training, you will also undertake a research project at the beginning of the Spring semester as a precursor to the eleven-week research dissertation project which makes up the final part of the MSc.
There are many opportunities for both the spring research project and summer dissertation project to be taken in an external industrial environment.
The programme has produced over 500 UK and overseas graduates, many of whom have gone on to well-paid positions in companies in the nuclear and radiation sectors. In the UK we need to decommission old reactors and build new ones to provide a low-carbon source of energy.
This, together with, for example, the importance of radioisotopes in fields such as medicine, means that the career prospects of our graduates are excellent.
The programme integrates the acquisition of core scientific knowledge with the development of key practical skills with a focus on professional career development within medical physics and radiation detection, and related industries.
The principle educational aims and outcomes of learning are to provide participants with advanced knowledge, practical skills and understanding applied to medical physics, radiation detection instrumentation, radiation and environmental practice in an industrial or medical context.
This is achieved by the development of the participants’ understanding of the underlying science and technology and by the participants gaining an understanding of the legal basis, practical implementation and organisational basis of medical physics and radiation measurement.
Knowledge and understanding
Intellectual / cognitive skills
Professional practical skills
Key / transferable skills
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.
At the University of Surrey, our MSc in Nuclear Science and Applications is a new and innovative programme, taught by a combination of world-leading nuclear physics academics and leading experts from the UK’s nuclear industries.
Drawing upon our existing expertise and supported by our MSc in Radiation and Environmental Protection, one of UK’s longest running programmes in its field, our programme will give you a thorough grounding in nuclear science and its applications. This new programmes differs from our existing MSc in Radiation and Environmental Protection as both the group project and the summer dissertation project will be on nuclear science and application topics.
The substantial practical element of this programme enables you to relate taught material to real-world applications. Formal lectures are complemented with work in specialist radiation laboratories that were recently refurbished as part of a £1m upgrade to our facilities.
Here you will work with a wide range of radioactive sources and radiation detectors. There is also an extended project in the spring and an eleven-week MSc dissertation project in the summer and students will have the opportunity to complete their dissertation on a topic specialising in nuclear research.
This programme is studied full-time over one academic year. Part-time students study over two academic years, within which the workload is evenly distributed.
The course consists of eight taught modules and a dissertation.
Example module listing
The following modules are indicative, reflecting the information available at the time of publication. Please note that modules may be subject to teaching availability and/or student demand.
The programme material is taught by a combination of academics from the Department of Physics at Surrey and specialists provided by industrial partners. The Surrey academics are part of the Centre for Nuclear and Radiation Physics which houses the largest academic nuclear physics research group in the UK.
In addition to the formal lectures for taught modules, the programme provides a wide range of experimental hands-on training. This includes an eight-week radiation physics laboratory which takes place in the specialist radiation laboratories within the Department of Physics at the University of Surrey.
These were recently refurbished as part of a £1 million upgrade to the departmental teaching infrastructure. Within the Department, we also have a common room and a departmental library, which contains copies of earlier MSc dissertations.
As well as the laboratory training, you will also undertake a research group project at the beginning of the Spring semester as a precursor to the eleven-week research dissertation project which makes up the final part of the MSc.
There are many opportunities for the summer dissertation project to be taken in an external industrial environment.
Completion of this programme will result in strong job opportunities in the nuclear industry, a growing international industry.
The programme will also naturally lead into further study, such as completion of a PhD.
The programme integrates the acquisition of core scientific knowledge with the development of key practical skills with a focus on professional career development within medical physics and radiation detection, and related industries.
The principle educational aims and outcomes of learning are to provide participants with advanced knowledge, practical skills and understanding applied to medical physics, radiation detection instrumentation, radiation and environmental practice in an industrial or medical context.
This is achieved by the development of the participants’ understanding of the underlying science and technology and by the participants gaining an understanding of the legal basis, practical implementation and organisational basis of medical physics and radiation measurement.
Knowledge and understanding
Intellectual / cognitive skills
Professional practical skills
Key / transferable skills
Our Medical Physics MSc programme is well-established and internationally renowned. We are accredited by IPEM (Institute of Physics and Engineering in Medicine) and we have trained some 1,000 medical physicists, so you can look forward to high-quality teaching during your time at Surrey.
The syllabus for the MSc in Medical Physics is designed to provide the knowledge, skills and experience required for a modern graduate medical physicist, placing more emphasis than many other courses on topics beyond ionising radiation (X-rays and radiotherapy).
Examples of other topics include magnetic resonance imaging and the use of lasers in medicine.
You will learn the theoretical foundations underpinning modern imaging and treatment modalities, and will gain a set of experimental skills essential in a modern medical physicist’s job.
These skills are gained through experimental sessions in the physics department and practical experiences at collaborating hospitals using state-of-the-art clinical facilities.
Why not discover more about our programme in our video?
This programme is studied full-time over one academic year. It consists of eight taught modules and a dissertation project. Part-time studemts study the same content over 2 academic years.
Example module listing
The following modules are indicative, reflecting the information available at the time of publication. Please note that all modules are compulsory, there are no optional modules, and may be subject to change.
Common room
A student common room is available for the use of all Physics students.
Computers
The University has an extensive range of PC and UNIX machines, full internet access and email. The University has invested in resources to allow students to develop their IT skills. It also has an online learning environment, SurreyLearn. Computers are located in dedicated computer rooms. Access to these rooms is available 24 hours per day.
Hounsfield Prize
A prize of £200 is awarded annually for the best dissertation on the Medical Physics programme. Sir Hounsfield was jointly awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1979 for his work on Computed Tomography.
Mayneord Prize
A prize of £200 in memory of Professor Valentine Mayneord will be awarded to the student with the best overall performance on the Medical Physics course. Professor Mayneord was one of the pioneers of medical physics, who had a long association with the Department and encouraged the growth of teaching and research in the field.
Knoll Prize
A prize of £300 in memory of Professor Glenn Knoll is awarded annually to the student with outstanding performance in Radiation Physics and Radiation Measurement on any of the department's MSc programmes. Professor Knoll was a world-leading authority in radiation detection, with a long association with the department
IPEM Student Prize (MSc Medical Physics)
A prize of £250 is awarded annually to a student with outstanding performance in their dissertation.
The programme integrates the acquisition of core scientific knowledge with the development of key practical skills with a focus on professional career development within medical physics and related industries. The principle educational aims and outcomes of learning are to provide participants with advanced knowledge, practical skills and understanding applied to medical physics, radiation detection instrumentation, radiation and environmental practice in an industrial or medical context. This is achieved by the development of the participants’ understanding of the underlying science and technology and by the participants gaining an understanding of the legal basis, practical implementation and organisational basis of medical physics and radiation measurement.
We give our students the opportunity to acquire international experience during their degrees by taking advantage of our exchange agreements with overseas universities and through our international research collaboration. Hence, it may be possible to carry out the dissertation project abroad.
In addition to the hugely enjoyable and satisfying experience, time spent abroad adds a distinctive element to your CV.
Medical imaging is a rapidly-growing discipline within the healthcare sector, involving clinicians, physicists, computer scientists and those in IT industries.
This programme delivers the expertise you'll need to forge a career in medical imaging, including radiation physics, image processing, biology, computer vision, pattern recognition, artificial intelligence and machine learning.
This programme is studied full-time over 12 months and part-time over 48 months. It consists of eight taught modules and an extended project.
Example module listing
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.
To support your learning, we hold regular MSc group meetings where any aspect of the programme, technical or non-technical, can be discussed in an informal atmosphere. This allows you to raise any problems that you would like to have addressed and encourages peer-based learning and general group discussion.
We provide computing support with any specialised software required during the programme, for example, Matlab.
The Department’s student common room is also covered by the university’s open-access wireless network, which makes it a very popular location for individual and group work using laptops and mobile devices. There is also a Faculty quiet room for individual study.
We pride ourselves on the many opportunities that we provide to visit collaborating hospitals. These enable you to see first-hand demonstrations of medical imaging facilities and to benefit from lectures by professional practitioners.
To support material presented during the programme, you will also undertake a selection of ultrasound and radiation detection experiments, hosted by our sister MSc programme in Medical Physics.
The taught postgraduate Degree Programmes of the Department are intended both to assist with professional career development within the relevant industry and, for a small number of students, to serve as a precursor to academic research.
Our philosophy is to integrate the acquisition of core engineering and scientific knowledge with the development of key practical skills (where relevant).
To fulfil these objectives, the programme aims to:
Medical Imaging is a rapidly growing discipline within the healthcare sector, incorporating engineers, physicists, computer scientists and clinicians. It is driven by the recent rapid development of 3-D Medical Imaging Systems, fuelled by an exponential rise in computing power.
New methods have been developed for the acquisition, reconstruction, processing and display of digital medical-image data with unprecedented speed, resolution and contrast.
This programme in Medical Imaging is aimed at training graduates for careers in this exciting multi-disciplinary area, and our graduates can expect to find employment in the medical imaging industry or the public health care sector.
It represents a blend of fundamental medical physics topics concerned with image acquisition and reconstruction coupled with imaging science and image engineering topics such that graduates understand how images are formed and how advanced machine-based methods can be bought to bare to provide new diagnostic information.
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.
The MSc Physics offers you the flexibility to tailor your studies according to your interests, building on the research strengths of our friendly Department, and the supportive environment that we provide for our students.
We collaborate with a variety of partners across the academic, public and industry communities, including the National Physical Laboratory.
You will select modules from a wide range of fundamental and applied physics topics. The application-focused modules are co-taught by practitioners in public service and industry to ensure that students gain real-world insight.
A module in research skills will prepare you to apply your new knowledge and skills in an eleven-week research project undertaken during the summer.
Your chosen research projects can open the door to many careers, not just further research. They will give you tangible experience of working independently and communicating your work effectively and efficiently in written form: key requirements in many professions.
Why not discover more about the subject in our video?
This programme is studied full-time over one academic year. It consists of eight taught modules and a dissertation. Part-time students take the same content over 2 academic years.
Example module listing
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.
The primary aim of the programme is to provide a flexible high quality postgraduate level qualification in physics. It integrates the acquisition of core scientific knowledge with the development of key practical skills in the student’s chosen area of specialisation.
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.
Department of Life Sciences – a leading international centre for research and training in ecology, evolution, conservation and the environment
