Master of Science in Finance

at Birmingham City University - City Centre Campus United Kingdom

Our pioneering MA Arts and Education Practices course focuses on the exploration of educational models at the intersection of practice, teaching and pedagogic theory.

The only Arts Education MA in the UK based in a School of Art, we provide a unique platform for the art educator. This setting helps to facilitate an innovative community of experienced and aspiring art educators, welcoming those willing to critique current practices to ask not only how we should teach art, but also how art can teach us.

What's covered in this course?

Our students come from diverse phases and sectors in the field of art and design education and the expanded fields of gallery, community and self-organised educational practices. Through the course individual perspectives and experiences meet with those of your peers providing you with the stimulation and challenges that different perceptions can bring. We seek to evolve a dialogue through direct experience and engagement with the arts and their value as taught subjects, both within the institution and outside of it.

Our taught modules strengthen your subject knowledge and connect you with contemporary creative and educational practice.

MA Arts and Education students follow a core modular structure that explores the past, current and future practice of arts education. You can personalize your learning through your choice of an optional module and pursue your interests within the expanded field of arts education through research and practice.

The structure of the course enables you to focus your research within the context of your own creative field and workplace. Through this study you build independent research leading to your major project that can be focused through educational models, workshops, creative practice and encounters that inform and are responsive to art educational contexts.

The course offers opportunities to connect with and expand your knowledge of your creative field through collaboration, live projects and visits that explore educational situations and projects.

Join us at Birmingham City University and study Digital Forensics in the UK. Our BSc (Hons) Digital Forensics course gives you access to study in our specialist Digital Forensics labs, all equipped to industry standards and run the latest software, meaning you can experience the most current technology and prepare yourself for the working world.

With digital forensics playing a critical role in the world of modern criminal investigations, studying Digital Forensics with us will help you develop the practical and professional skills needed by employers in the digital forensics, cyber security and law enforcement sectors.

The course covers the acquisition, analysis and interpretation of data recovered from computers and digital devices to establish factual evidence. Our dedicated specialist Digital Forensics Laboratory hosts professional digital forensics tools, including EnCase, FTK, XRY, Cellebrite and other industry-standard tools. You will also develop the necessary legal, expert witness and professional skills required by employers..

The MSc User Experience Design course will provide you with in-depth theoretical knowledge and hands-on practical experience in designing, developing, and evaluating digital products across a range of platforms and state-of-the-art technologies. The course places a strong emphasis on the development of professional technical skills that are in high industry demand and will position you well for careers around the field of user experience (UX).

What's covered in this course?

The course has been designed to support graduates from a wide range of disciplines (including those with technical and non-technical backgrounds) who wish to specialise in the area of user experience (UX) and Human-Computer Interaction (HCI). The key topics taught on the course include interaction design (techniques for user-centered design), front-end development (using industry-standard development environments), visual design (creating interfaces with strong aesthetics), accessibility (methods for supporting inclusive design), and usability testing (collecting and analyzing data via user evaluations). You will also have the opportunity to consider and create user experiences for technologies such as virtual and augmented reality, eye gaze tracking, speech interfaces, mid-air gesturing, haptic systems, and brain-computer interfaces.

The course philosophy is focused around industry and research-led activities, supported with assignments that are closely aligned to the development of essential knowledge and technical skills used in practice. You will therefore have the opportunity to work closely with academics, researchers, and industry partners on real-world project briefs thus supporting you in developing a strong portfolio of work (which is essential for gaining employment in this field). The course will also provide opportunities to collaborate with academics based in the School of Computing and Digital Technology’s Mixed Reality and Human-Computer Interaction research group to work on cutting-edge research projects.

Graduates from the User Experience Design course will be well placed for industry roles that are in high demand including front-end developers, user experience designers/developers, information architects, usability consultants and UX researchers, web designers/developers, and interaction designers.

In this course you will learn how to analyse risk and make credit decisions, how to deal with small and large business firms, and how to manage a bank treasury operations.

In addition to traditional banking skills, the course will provide skills in areas, which have become very popular in recent years such as digital banking, cryptocurrencies, initial coin offerings, etc. The main part of all modules including the assessment will be based on real-life case studies and exercises. Staff involved in designing this course have significant practical experience of working in these areas.

The proposed content of the course will be related to those offered by Chartered Banker Institute (CBI) helping students to gain Advanced Diploma in Banking and Leadership in Digital Age or Professional Banker Certificate. This course prepares you for such positions as credit and loan officer, financial advisor, risk manager, treasury specialist, underwriter etc.

You will be taught by highly qualified academics with industrial and professional experience and actively involved in research. MSc Banking and Finance is the second most popular Master’s program in finance in the UK according to ABS data. The banking sector is one of the most successful and one of the most stable sectors in the UK and England.  The banking sector has also been strongly growing in Birmingham in recent years with some banks moving their headquarters from London including HSBC.

Professional Placement option

For our MSc Banking and Finance degree, you will have the opportunity to take the Professional Placement version of the course, which is offered as an alternative to the standard version of the course.

This will allow you to complete a credit-bearing, 20 week Professional Placement as an integral part of your Master’s Degree. The purpose of the Professional Placement is to improve your employability and transferable skills. The placement experience will allow you to evidence your professional skills, attitudes and behaviors at the point of entry to the postgraduate job market.

The global luxury sector continues to grow, with increasing profits for both well-established and new brands.

The MA Luxury Jewellery Management course addresses the specific challenges and opportunities of the luxury jewellery industry and is the perfect choice for you if you see your future career with premium, high-end and luxury jewellery brands.

What's covered in this course?

You will learn global business strategy and leadership supported by ethical, responsible and sustainable practices. In developing skills to adopt appropriate codes of conduct to improve global operations, you will learn how to promote intercultural communication to enhance business culture and preserve cultural heritage in the luxury jewellery industry. These emerging and significantly important skills are key for managers of luxury jewellery business all over the world.

You will investigate the DNA of brands; designing and creating marketing plans and effective campaigns, with regard to the multicultural aspects of the audience. You will integrate innovations of new technologies, such as additive manufacturing, to embrace the change, meanwhile preserving and enhancing the artisanship’s heritage of the luxury jewellery industry.

The course is global in its outlook and reflects business systems, standards and practices from around the world, drawing upon international case studies and fostering intercultural fluency amongst students. These aims will develop your confidence and ambitions to explore a breadth of careers within a global luxury jewellery industry. Where possible, your learning will be supported by an international field trip, factory visits, exhibitions visits, guest speakers, live projects and simulated practice requiring actual problem-solving.

MA Luxury Jewellery Management is based on the philosophy that management education should provide a thorough grounding in the disciplines related to the functional aspects of management, and the interaction with contextual forces that impact on organisations. This knowledge and understanding is then further contextualised to provide integrative strategic themes. The impact of globalization on business in all disciplines is a coherent theme throughout the course.

Do you want to study a Master's in human resource management? Our International Human Resource Management course is ideal for people who want to qualify professionally with our fully accredited CIPD Masters course.

This full-time Master's course is ideal for those pursuing a career in HR, as, upon successful completion of this course you will be eligible to upgrade to a Chartered Member of the CIPD.

What's covered in this course?

We have an experienced teaching team who combine real work experience of human resource management with academic qualifications, bringing a strategic and conceptual view to the topics covered. Sessions are interactive and we encourage you to work together on case studies, and incorporate role-playing activities to develop practical HR skills. We invite guest speakers to deliver on relevant modules. Where appropriate to the individual topics covered during the course, implications for sustainability will be identified that relate to the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

On completion of this course you will be able to make a valuable contribution within the HR field of management in your current or future workplace, having acquired both the core knowledge and the necessary skills to deliver excellence professionally and with the ability to act in the role of strategic partner.

In keeping with these aims, you will possess the professional knowledge and behaviors required to achieve Chartered Membership status with the CIPD, which is the most widely-recognised professional body in the field of HR.

Upon successful completion of the course, you will have developed critical understanding of the international context of organisations and the implications for HRM. You will explore the contexts in which HR operates and the impact which internationalization both strategically and at the level of specific HR practices. In particular, managing and leading expatriates.

Throughout the course you will be asked to reflect on your personal and professional development as an aid to demonstrating the core knowledge and behaviours required to gain organisational commitment and support from stakeholders.

Do you want to develop your digital skills and become an Industry 4.0 specialist? This MSc Smart Manufacturing course will prepare you to apply digital skills into a dynamic and highly in demand sector, putting you ahead in the graduate job market.

Smart Manufacturing is the convergence of Operational Technologies and Information Technologies, to support the operations of the factory of the future. Also known as Industry 4.0 the convergence of manufacturing’s physical aspects and processes with data, sensors, artificial intelligence, cyber security and computer networks enables an increase in efficiency across the value chain of the manufacturing sector.

On this course, you will focus solely on the computing aspects of Industry 4.0, to enable your professional development by filling the skill gap required to understand how data and digital technology transforms and augments the physical aspects of manufacturing and its related areas.

The program acknowledges and contributes towards Birmingham’s vast industrial heritage and geographical position, maximising professional links, trade fairs and its transportation network.

What's covered in this course?

• MA Product and Furniture Design challenges perceptions around 'alternative living', exploring what else might be possible in a world already full of things.
• You’ll be prepared for a successful career in a wide range of product design-related roles.
• You will also benefit from studying in a large, diverse and dynamic postgraduate community brought together through a well-equipped workspace at our City Centre Campus.

Professional Placement option

The Professional Placement version of the course is optional and is offered as an alternative to the standard version of the course.

This will allow you to complete a credit-bearing, 20-week Professional Placement as an integral part of your Master’s Degree. The purpose of the Professional Placement is to improve your employability skills which will, through the placement experience, allow you to evidence your professional skills, attitudes and behaviours at the point of entry to the postgraduate job market. Furthermore, by completing the Professional Placement, you will be able to develop and enhance your understanding of the professional work environment, relevant to your chosen field of study, and reflect critically on your own professional skills development within the workplace.

The launch of our Eastside Jazz Club has helped consolidate the integral role that Royal Birmingham Conservatoire has to play in a major UK city that enjoys a thriving jazz scene. While Birmingham’s jazz scene has been established over many years, our bespoke venue promises an exciting future for Jazz in the city.

Our Jazz Department is based around the Club, where student musicians share a platform and get invaluable side-by-side performance experience with the best on the scene, whom we welcome to our stage on a regular basis.

This course meets with the needs of the modern jazz performer – it places emphasis on practical work, with the majority of time dedicated to one-to-one lessons, small group coaching and private practice. You'll study modules that have been specifically and skilfully designed for jazz musicians, and as part of your learning we encourage you to explore in depth the relationship between improvisation and composition, which is central to developing your individual voice. You will graduate as a versatile, professional musician who is knowledgeable about the entrepreneurial opportunities available to you, and aware of the commercial realities for musicians joining today’s UK jazz scene as a portfolio musician.

Delivered by performers, band leaders and composers who enhance their teaching with professional experience, insights and connections, the course hones both your performance and professional awareness.

With individual specialist tuition throughout all four years of the course you will get the individual attention you need to prepare for a successful career in the music profession.

As well as having our own club that has taken its place on Birmingham’s vibrant jazz scene, our students enjoy professional experience opportunities with external gigs that familiarise them with the industry – for example through our partnership with Cheltenham Jazz Festival – one of many ways we prepare you for the future.

What's covered in this course?

The BMus (Hons) Jazz course is a specialist course for performers in jazz. Its main aim is to prepare students for a career in the music profession in the field of jazz. At the heart of our course's philosophy is the ideal of the informed musician; someone who is able to combine both advanced skills and musical knowledge in the advancement of their musical career. The BMus (Hons) Jazz course therefore aims to develop the specialist skills, the theoretical, historical and practice-based knowledge and to encourage the individual creativity required for you to become an independent learner, a critical thinker and a reflective practitioner.

You will be taught by performers, band leaders and composers, who are ideally placed to share their professional experience, insights and connections. With their guidance, you will hone both your performance skills and your professional awareness.

Accredited by the Chartered Institute of Marketing, our BA (Hons) Marketing with Consumer Psychology degree gives you the practice-based skills needed to succeed in the ever-changing discipline of marketing.

This approach not only gives you the marketing knowledge needed but also the personal skills employers demand, allowing you to make an immediate impact upon graduation. This experience is further enhanced by the opportunity to undertake a yearlong placement.

Businesses value marketing more than ever due to its ability to identify opportunities, shape experiences and drive profits. It is an ever-evolving discipline, constantly responding to changes in technology and consumer behaviour.

To be successful in this exciting area not only requires a depth understanding of the core principles, but also relies on having the acumen and practical abilities to apply and adapt this knowledge in a wide variety of scenarios. This in-demand course has been designed to give you the practical and professional skills that employers seek through our practice-based learning approach.