Bachelor of Engineering in Electronic and Electrical Engineering (Communication Systems) with Placement (Thick - Sandwich)

at Brunel University London United Kingdom

Anthropology offers a unique and powerful means for understanding cultural and social diversity in the modern world. It considers issues which can lead to mind blowing revelations about how individuals and cultures experience life differently.

Anthropology is concerned with contemporary issues such as multiculturalism, identity politics, racism and ethnic nationalism, changing forms of the family, religious conflict, gender, and the political role of culture.

It also addresses perennial questions about human nature, such as: ‘What do we have in common with each other cross-culturally?’ and ‘What makes us different?’.

If you are intrigued by these questions and want to study a discipline that will enrich your everyday life as well as equip you for a great variety of occupations, anthropology is the right course for you.

Our rigorous program gives you the freedom to choose one of our pathway options early on:- 

• Anthropology BSc 
• Anthropology (Childhood, Youth and Education) BSc 
• Anthropology (Development, War and Humanitarian Assistance) BSc 
• Anthropology (Global Health) BSc

A special feature of the course at Brunel is the opportunity to do fieldwork placements anywhere in the world according to your anthropological interests.

Fieldwork is excellent preparation for work and a chance to make useful contacts and will help to add greater meaning to academic studies.

Around half of Brunel’s anthropology students carry out a placement or fieldwork abroad, in places as wide ranging as India, Nepal, Australia, South Africa, Papua New Guinea and Jamaica.

Recent UK placement destinations include the Royal Anthropological Institute, Campaign for Press and Broadcasting Freedom, Amnesty International and the Department of Health.

Examples of dissertation titles based on fieldwork findings have included work in a Nepalese monastery, a South African women’s refuge, the Police Complaints Authority (on the Stephen Lawrence case), as well as in schools and charities.

Outside of classes, you can look forward to a one of the most cultural diverse campuses in the UK with opportunity to meet people from all over the world.

Additionally, Brunel’s anthropological student society arrange class trips to places like the Pitt Rivers museum in Oxford, and the campus’s London location makes it ideal for exploring places like the British Museum in Central London.

Take advantage of real-life work experience to gain a competitive advantage on your anthropology degree.

• You have the option to undertake two six-month placements, or a year-long placement whilst studying one of our anthropology degrees.
• If you opt to go on two six-month work placements, then you can use the first one to help determine an area of interest to you in the future. You have the freedom of choice when looking for placements and can be based locally for one and go abroad for the second one.
• You’ll have support from day one of your anthropology course from your personal tutors and the Professional Development Centre in finding a suitable work placement according to your interests. They can range from working in a church, in a museum to supporting charities on-sites and studying a local community within a village.
• This invaluable experience will not only build your confidence but also provide you with a platform to showcase your project management, organisational and creative skills in the workplace.
• Some of our students have completed their placements in Guatemala, London, Malaysia and Morocco which really gives a global perspective.
• Fieldwork can also be conducted as volunteering to give you a real insight into cultures and communities. For example, one of our students did charity work in Cambodia and enjoyed experiencing different cultures and working with a range of people from different backgrounds.

What makes some nations rich and others poor? Are there some places on earth you just wouldn’t want to live? Is it just economics and leadership or are deeper factors at work? If you’d like to explore the answers to these questions, this course is for you.

Within the core spine of your Global Challenges degree, you will take an in-depth look at issues such as climate change, sustainable development, migration, terrorism, inequality and poverty and how they affect the world we live in. Alongside this, with the Social Cohesion pathway you will delve into the pressing need to address social wellbeing.

Looking at the multiple challenges of economic hardship, unemployment, terrorism, and mass human migration, you will address the causes and consequences of social inequalities, and the ways in which they can be tackled.

In your first year you will explore global issues like capitalism, poverty, social injustice and social infrastructures as you start you to think critically about the influence of power in social inequality.

In your second year you will focus on social cohesion and social wellness and how it relates to the challenges associated with the migration of displaced peoples and the role cyberculture and cybersecurity. In your final year, you will study social conflict as you explore war, violence and human rights violations.

Throughout your course you will build your ability to work in teams as you build skills in project management, debates, presenting and team pitches. A third year Enterprise Project will help to bring all these skills together as you work on a group project with a real organisation.

You have the option to apply for an internship at the end of your first year and can take a one-year placement between years two and three, giving you valuable work experience and a step ahead for your career when you graduate.

At the end of the course, your knowledge of social issues and your problem solving capabilities will allow you to follow a career with a focus on making change for good.

The Brunel Business Finance MSc aims to give graduates a comprehensive knowledge of the theories and practices of business financial operations within the context of modern financial markets.

You’ll study the design and processes of corporate financial systems, analyse financial and investment decision-making, and examine how firms interact with financial markets and institutions.

You’ll learn about valuation, optimal capital structure, mergers and acquisitions, derivatives, finance microstructure and taxation as well as the econometric and mathematical techniques necessary to undertake empirical investigations and data modelling.

Crucially, you’ll develop your problem-solving skills and ability to critically evaluate and deliver midterm and long-term strategic solutions. 

Throughout the course you’ll have access to a variety of professional databases used in business and finance including Datastream, Bloomberg, Bank Scope, Osiris, Reuters 3000 Xtra and Thomson One Banker.

You can choose to study one year full-time, two years full-time with a year's work placement or 16 months full-time with a 6-12 week work placement.

In a financial marketplace that is becoming more complex, sophisticated and global, the advanced skills and knowledge that you’ll gain from your Brunel MSc will make you a sought-after job candidate to employers across the sector.

This course has a professional placement option. Find out more about work placements available.

As the amount of digital information increases, major institutions in sectors such as finance and medicine rely on robust structures that can grow and adapt. By specialising in software engineering, you’ll focus on how to build high quality systems which will be easier to maintain and develop as the requirements of the system change and available technologies evolve. The techniques involved include testing, service-oriented architectures, and refactoring.

On the Computer Science (Software Engineering) BSc degree course, you’ll also learn how to build different types of software, from web-based systems to mobile solutions. In the final year you’ll take compulsory modules in advanced computer science and choose optional modules that interest you in a variety of compelling areas.

In addition, you’ll acquire in-depth knowledge of algorithms, design, programming and testing techniques. By the end of the course, you’ll have confidence in your knowledge of common system and network architectures and system development approaches, requirements capture, design methods, models, tools, and techniques.

You’ll become well-versed in implementing and testing systems and software maintenance. Key to this course is cultivating a reflective approach to project management issues arising from team-based software development.

This specialist degree course allows you to display an in-depth knowledge of the management, organisation and execution of large-scale software design and development activities including reuse and integration. All our degrees emphasise acquiring knowledge and skills to develop your new understanding creatively and professionally. Although this is an academic degree, the course balances theory with real-world practice in information and computer management.

Our course is designed for flexibility, so if you’re not sure which route you want to go, you can select modules and specialise gradually during your time with us. You can transfer between Computer Science and Business Computing up to the start of Level 2, then, should you wish, to choose a specialism up to the start of Level 3.

We know that when you graduate, you’ll be working on large projects. That’s why one third of each year of our programmes is project-based. On Levels 1 and 2, you’ll build a software solution in a team, and in your final year you’ll carry out an individual project. You’ll also have the opportunity to showcase your projects at the annual  Made in Brunel (Software Innovation) event, with awards presented by the likes of Cisco, Sky and Xerox.

As part of your degree course, you’ll have the chance to take a year-long work placement between your second year and third year. We’ll support you in finding that all-important paid professional experience, in the UK or abroad. The feedback we’ve received is that those who have taken a placement are much more likely to find a job for which their degree was a formal requirement as it gives you a competitive advantage. Recent graduates have gone on to work for well-known names such as Accenture, Toshiba, Microsoft, British Airways, O2, and Barclays.

Our programmes are accredited by the British Computer Society, the Chartered Institute for IT, for the purposes of fully meeting the academic requirement for registration as a Chartered IT Professional (CITP), and on behalf of the Engineering Council, for the purposes of fully meeting the academic requirement for Incorporated Engineer (IEng) and partially meeting the academic requirement for a Chartered Engineer (CEng). 

The accreditation also allows you to apply for professional membership of the BCS after you have successfully completed your degree.

The department has been awarded an Athena SWAN Bronze, recognising our dedication to the advancement of gender equality in STEM subjects. We now have an ongoing three-year action plan to further implement strategies and improve our practices. As part of this endeavour, Brunel’s  Women in Engineering and Computing mentoring scheme provides our female students with invaluable help and support from the industry.

The games design industry, in the UK and worldwide, is growing and there is a demand for skilled and well-educated professionals to take gaming to its next level. Brunel’s Digital Games Theory and Design MA course will give you a comprehensive understanding of digital games and the techniques and principles used in their design.   

You will engage in, and experiment with, practical games design and develop a comprehensive and critical understanding of the advanced academic study of games and their theoretical, artistic and technological perspectives. You will also engage in the practice of making games and explore the factors that shape the games industry.  

No previous experience with programming or an art background is required for this course, just a passion for games. You will learn how to create your own practical designs, how to communicate your ideas to an audience, how to create games design documents, and you’ll also explore games studies. 

You will have opportunities to make connections with other games design cohorts and industry experts. And we will encourage you to participate in extracurricular activities such as game jams and game-related networking events. These are all activities that introduce you to the broader social culture of the digital and creative world and are vital to being successful in the games industry. 

The course is run by staff who are seasoned games designers, internationally published scholars and pedagogical experts. They will share their enthusiasm and understanding of the nature of the video game industry, the importance of networks and the skills needed to create innovative games for the future.   

Our Digital Design BSc degree is a modern, hands-on course that combines digital technology and creative design. It has been developed to equip you with the knowledge and practical skills to create, design and develop interactive and engaging digital products, services and experiences, and 2D/3D graphical content.

You will be introduced to creative technologies and motion design. You’ll learn about UX design and development for the web, digital graphic design and video production. You'll also study digital photography, 3D design and 3D animation. You will then progress to skills in the design and development of more complex digital artefacts for current and future mobile, web and IoT applications involving 3D design and animation, media aesthetics, motion graphics and immersive mixed reality. In your final year, you can choose from modules in digital experiences and creative technology design with additional options in advanced animation and advanced digital graphics and motion design.

Professional and transferable skills required for working in the creative digital industries are developed throughout each year of the course.

Our modern, industry standard digital media facilities include a green screen and post-production studio, motion capture, sound and photography studios, 4K digital cinema cameras, and a dedicated render farm. You'll have independent access to exclusive PC and Mac computing workshops and benefit from the latest industry standard specialist software for graphic design and image/video editing, 3D animation, digital compositing and rich interactive content creation. There's also the opportunity for you to use our immersive virtual environment laboratory. This includes an immersive dome (planetarium) set up for Brunel by the National Space Centre in Leicester, and is one of only a few in the UK!   

There are guest lectures covering lots of different digital media topics and the visiting lecturers provide industry insight and advice on how to structure your portfolio and showreels. Speakers include creative and design directors, user experience designers, 3D graphic supervisors, as well as mobile and web developers.

Visits are arranged to design agencies, TV and photography studios, and post-production houses. There’s also the opportunity to go to conferences and this is your chance to build networks with key industry experts. In addition, you have the advantage of Brunel’s close location to London for trips to exhibitions celebrating the creative industries.

The course can be studied full-time over three years, or four years with a placement year. We encourage the placement year option. This time in industry helps you to further prepare for the world of work and you’ll have a year’s worth of invaluable professional experience when you graduate. If you decide to go on a digital media placement year, you will have the opportunity of working in the ever-growing creative industries.

The end-of-year highlight is the BrunelDigital degree show hosted on Brunel’s one London campus. Exhibiting your creative work at this event is a great way for you to connect with leading creative technologists and showcase your talent.

Brunel’s digital design course is fully accredited and industry recognised by ScreenSkills, the industry-led skills body for the UK’s screen-based industries. It carries the ScreenSkills Select quality mark which indicates that it is best suited to prepare you for a career in the screen industries. An added benefit as a student on this ScreenSkills endorsed course, is that you're eligible to apply for a Royal Television Society (RTS) bursary.   

The digital media courses at Brunel are the only ScreenSkills-accredited degree programmes in London and the South East.

Our Civil Engineering BEng degree is a highly innovative course that has been developed to equip you with a broad range of knowledge and skills to meet the real world needs of the civil engineering and construction industry.

You will study the traditional elements of civil engineering including design, structures, materials, fluid mechanics, geotechnics and maths. You’ll be introduced to a range of construction topics and then progress to specialist subjects such as structural analysis and computational mechanics.

Access is available to custom-designed technical facilities to work on your laboratory experiments. These include fluids and hydraulics laboratories, and structures, materials and geotechnics labs. The latest industry standard engineering software packages are available for you to use in dedicated computer clusters.

During your studies, there is a residential field trip with hands-on experience in surveying and geology using industry standard equipment. You will also benefit from guest lectures delivered by industry professionals, as well as visits to construction sites and civil engineering development projects.

Due to recent changes to the engineering curriculum, our accreditation is currently being reconfirmed with the Joint Board of Moderators (JBM). The JBM compromises the Institution of Civil Engineers, the Institution of Structural Engineers, the Chartered Institution of Highways and Transportation, and the Institute of Highway Engineers. We have every expectation that our accreditation will be renewed later in the academic year.

This BEng degree in civil engineering can be studied full-time over three years, or four years with a placement year. The BEng degree meets the educational requirement to become an Incorporated Engineer (IEng). You may wish to transfer to the MEng route of study at the end of your second year, subject to meeting the progression requirement. The MEng degree fully meets the educational requirement to become a Chartered Engineer (CEng) and involves a further year of academic study.

We encourage the placement year option. This time in industry helps you to further prepare for the world of work and you’ll have a year’s worth of invaluable professional experience when you graduate. If you decide to go on an engineering placement year, you will have the opportunity to work in the civil engineering sector. It could be for a contractor, consultant or government authority.

Managing teams of people while recognising the needs of individuals in the workplace is a growing area of interest for corporations who want to ensure employee wellbeing and good productivity levels. With the introduction of concepts such as flexi-hours and remote working, and rights around parental leave, human resource management is taking centre stage. This comprehensive course will give you a thorough grasp of current theory and practice, both nationally and internationally.

The course is accredited by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), which students and graduates are encouraged to join. The CIPD is the world’s largest Chartered HR and development professional body and by becoming a member, you become part of a global network of HR professionals. Find out more on our accreditations and exemptions page.

Whilst the UK is the primary focus for the study of employment relations issues, we will also consider the HR management challenges of organisations that operate across national boundaries. There is an entire module dedicated to the importance of the relationship between employers, employees, and their representatives in effective organisational working.

Key issues of employee communication and the impact of EU directives on work arrangement will be considered. A number of optional modules are also available on the programme allowing you to specialise, including Global Diversity Management, International Business Ethics and Corporate Governance.

As a prospective human resource manager, you will be able to address business and professional situations knowledgeably, making a contribution to improved organisational performance and delivering sound HR support.

Psychology in Sport, Health and Exercise is an area of growing interest, particularly in the world of professional sport. Through studying the link between the mind and the body, we can understand things like motivation and determination, and the effect that physical activity has on the brain.

This course is jointly delivered by the Divisions of Psychology and Sport, Health and Exercise Sciences. It is accredited by the British Psychological Society.

The Division of Psychology offers a firm foundation of learning including cognitive psychology, developmental psychology, and biological psychology. Quantitive and qualitative research methods are taught to support experiments you may carry out as research for your dissertation.

The Division of Sport, Health and Exercise Sciences will cover the fundamentals of sports psychology, and how to apply research knowledge to real-world situations. You will learn about experiences you may encounter as an applied psychology practitioner in both sport and exercise contexts.

As an accredited course, should you graduate with a 2:2 grade or higher, you will be eligible to apply for graduate membership of the British Psychological Society. Membership will be key if you choose to pursue postgraduate training. It’s also a pre-requisite of entry to all accredited Stage 2 and Doctoral programmes needed to become a chartered psychologist – be it in Sport and Exercise or otherwise.

What is the social and cultural impact of media communications in today’s world? How do communication and information media actually work and what are their importance to our society?

This course enjoys a very close relationship with sociology at Brunel and combines the theoretical elements of sociology with the practical elements of media studies. You’ll focus on all aspects of society: its personal, social and cultural dimensions.

Studying communications and media at Brunel is not just limited to the classroom. You’ll have the opportunity to broaden your mind by going on field trips and joining film sessions, where you’ll learn about cameras lighting and editing. You’ll be able to attend optional company visits, for example IMG studios, where you’ll receive a tour of the studios.

On this course you’ll have the chance to make your own films in groups. You’ll develop your skills in our media services suite which has industry-standard facilities. You’ll be taught about the software Final Cut Pro and how to use different types of Canon cameras. You’ll experiment with different lighting styles and practise sound editing techniques. This practical work will equip you with the skills you’ll need for a media related career or for working in the field of production.

You’ll also be able to take your learning outside the classroom – on field trips and company visits. Previous students have toured the IMG studious right here in Uxbridge.

If you choose to go on a placement, you’ll benefit form Brunel’s contacts and location. Examples of recent student placements have been in advertising, digital marketing and public relations in organisations such as Cartoon Network, IMG Media, Sweet Images and the Walt Disney Company.

This course has a work placement option. Find out more about work placements available.