MRes in Sustainability Research

Programme Manager: Dr Klaus Hubacek

Background

The MRes is designed to meet the needs of research careers in rapidly changing academic departments, businesses, and national or international institutions. Primarily by enabling students to produce a substantial piece of independent research, this degree provides a wide-ranging and systematic training in research skills, a deeper understanding of the subject and, by acquiring very useful management skills, the ability to define, plan and complete research projects. Thus, this programme provides students with skills and competences necessary for acceptance as professionally trained researchers in a range of subjects

Learning outcomes

Students will take one of the following five specialist options:

• Business, Environment and Corporate Responsibility Focuses on the intersection of business activities and environmental systems. This includes the ability to evaluate environmental programmes within or for business organisations.

• Climate Change
This programme provides students with a solid foundation in the physical science of climate change, climate change impacts, adaptation to and mitigation of climate change, as well as in broader debates on sustainability.

• Environment and Development
Focuses on theoretical and practical issues relating to the goal of sustainable development at a range of scales from the local to the global.

• Ecological Economics
Focuses on socio-economic approaches and tools to assess the consequences of current production, lifestyle and policy choices, and of sustainable alternatives.

• Environmental Politics and Policy
Focuses on the intersection of business activities and environmental systems. This includes the ability to evaluate environmental programmes within or for business organisations.

Modules

Core Modules (all MRes students)

• Environmental research philosophy and design (Semester
  1 and 2)
• Quantitative research methods (Semester 1)
• Qualitative Research Methods (Semester 1)
• Research Project

Subject specific modules

Business, Environment and Corporate Responsibility:

• Business, Environment and Sustainability (Semester 1)
• Standards and Tools for Business, Environment and Corporate Social Responsibility (Semester 2)

Climate Change:

• Climate Change: Physical Science Basis (Semester 1)
• Climate Change: Impacts & Adaptation (Semester 2)

Environment and Development:

• Introduction to Sustainability (Semester 1)
• Environment and Development: Principles of Political Ecology (Semester 2)

Ecological Economics

• Introduction to Ecological and Environmental Economics (Semester 1)
• Environmental Project/Policy Evaluation & Governance (Semester 2)
• Tools and Techniques for Integrated Ecological Economic Modelling

Environmental Politics and Policy

• Environmental Politics and Policy (Semester 1: Note: this is worth 30 credits and is taught by the politics department).

Full details of the programme structure and the content of the modules are given in the University programme catalogue.

Entry requirements

Applications are invited from candidates from a range of backgrounds across the social and natural sciences. Candidates should have a good first degree, an upper second classification or above, or equivalent qualification. Mature applicants without a first degree or with a lower degree classification may be considered on the basis of their relevant industry experience and their potential for benefiting from the programme.