MSc Courses

• Pollution and Monitoring
  This course, is designed to allow those students whose career choices, lie in the field of environmental science, to acquire a broad-based knowledge of the concepts involved. The courses are vocational and provide effective entry into all professions related to environmental pollution, assessment and control.More
• Legislation & Management
  This course is designed to allow those students whose career choices, lie in the field of environmental science, regulation, policy and management to acquire a broad-based knowledge of the concepts involved. The courses are vocational and provide effective entry into related professions.More
• Climate Change Impacts & Sustainability
  Our Climate Change Impacts and Sustainability is an inter-disciplinary, multi-school programme dedicated to improving graduates understanding of climate change and how it is likely to impact society in the developed and developing world. Get the climate knowledge employers are looking for – enhance your understanding of sustainability – gain skills to solve problems in a changing world. More

All our MSc postgraduate programmes are accredited by the Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management (CIWEM).

All our MSc programmes are delivered in Full-time mode (two days per week for one year) and Part-time mode (one day per week for two years).

Interested in Post-graduate research?

Our research areas

• Chemicals in the Environment
  Understanding the fate and behaviour of chemicals in the environment.
  Dr Scrimshaw is developing a research theme related to chemicals in the environment through collaboration within and beyond the Institute, where links between chemical measures and bio-analytical techniques for the determination of effects can be utilised for generating a better understanding of the impact of contaminants. More
• Ecotoxicology
  Investigating the impacts of chemical pollutants on wildlife organisms.
  Brunel University has a long history of pioneering research in this field starting in 1978 when Professor John P. Sumpter established a research group to examine environmental toxicology with particular emphasis on the causes and effects of endocrine disruption in aquatic wildlife. The group has expanded in recent years to consider such effects in amphibians and molluscs as well as fish. More
• Environmental Hazards and Catastrophes
  Climatic change is seen as an important threat to our society and is at the core of our research here in the Institute for the Environment. Our staff have a record of involvement in international projects concerned with hazards posed to human society through rapid climatic and sea-level change and seismic events. More
• Environmental Change
  Reconstructing past environmental change from a variety of proxy information sources. The research of this group aims at analysing the causes of environmental changes: both natural and anthropogenic at various time scales (from the season to the million of years). More
• Climatic Change
  A group of researchers at the Institute for the Environment focuses its work on climatic change issues: the science and the impacts. We have expertise in past (palaeo-climatology of the recent past - Quaternary Period, and ancient past - Palaeozoic Era), present (water quality, biomonitoring, pollution), and future (climatic modelling) climatic research. Our projects cover the range of field-based, laboratory-based and computer-based research. The impacts we work on cover a wide range of disciplines: from physics of the atmosphere, plant and animal distributions, sedimentary materials, microbes, air quality to pollution and energy. More

PhD/MPhil

Postgraduate Research Degrees

The Institute for the Environment offers two research degrees, the MPhil and the PhD, in a vibrant and diverse research community with a strong international profile.

• How would you fit in?
  When you start an MPhil or a PhD in our Institute, you will be studying in a group that prides itself on treating its students as an integral part of its research team. You will have two research supervisors who will be members of the academic staff. The Institute has several research group and each group has a list of potential research topics. However, we also receive applications where you may detail your own research proposal. We have desk-based research topics as well as laboratory- and field-based ones.
  A research student will belong to a research group along with academics, post-docs and other researchers. Each group meets regularly to discuss the latest research in their area and to support each other in their own research. The students themselves organise a successful seminar series. Many of our postgraduate students are from overseas and, like all our research students, they play a significant role in our work.
• Qualifications and admission requirements
  Admissions requirement for postgraduate research students in IfE are a good first degree (1st or 2nd class BA/BSc or higher degree), or equivalent qualification from overseas university. Experience-based qualifications may also be accepted subject to interview.
  English language requirements for non-UK students for whom English is not their first language are IELTS 6.5 or equivalent.
  Applications must include a 2000 word research proposal, including a 6-7 sentence abstract.
• Training Support
  We consider our graduate training to be excellent. We provide:
  

  • Broad and specific training in physical and social sciences under the umbrella of the environment reflecting the diverse and top-rated research of our supervisors.
  • Good access to facilities and equipment
  • Close supervision and monitoring of progress
  • Completion within acceptable deadlines
  • A friendly environment with good contacts between the students and between students and staff (open door policy)
  • A computer and a desk
  • A feedback system allowing the students to voice their concerns to the staff as a group. A student representative sits on the research student committee meeting.
  • Funding to attend conferences if presenting results

  
  Additional training can be accessed through the Brunel Graduate School. Some limited teaching assistantships may become available depending on the teaching needs.
• Funding
  Some students apply to the Institute with funding in place for their studies, whilst others are still looking for funding. The sources of funding you may be eligible for will often vary according to your nationality and the area of research you wish to undertake.
  Brunel provides some general information on funding on its finance and fees website while IfE posts relevant funding opportunities as we become aware of them on our funding pages.
  Research Student Funding Opportunities; Brunel Isambard Research Scholarships are now available, click here for more details.

See current research student profiles

How to apply