Bachelor of Science in Communication and Media Studies with Placement (Thick - Sandwich)

at Brunel University London United Kingdom

Building services engineers are involved with virtually every aspect of a building’s interior environment. They design, install and maintain electrical and mechanical services - heating, cooling, lighting, water, lifts, and telecoms - and advise on issues of health and safety, security, sustainability and energy efficiency.

In short, they help buildings work, whether for residential, educational, commercial, industrial or cultural purposes.

Brunel's Building Services Engineering MSc gives graduates with engineering or technology backgrounds the technical, design and management skills they need to excel in this lucrative and multi-faceted profession.

You'll get a solid grounding in core subjects of heat transfer, energy conversion, acoustics, electrical services and lighting design as well as in the practicalities of building management, fire and smoke control, waste disposal and lifts and escalators.

Additionally, as there is a growing demand for a new generation of environmentally responsible buildings, you’ll also examine energy efficiency and sustainable design.

You can choose to study 1 year full-time at Brunel or the distance learning programme over 3 years.

This course is accredited by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE), the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE) and the Energy Institute (EI), which means your degree will put you on course to gain Chartered Engineer (CEng) status in the UK.  

Throughout your studies you’ll have use of our state-of-the-art laboratory facilities and 24-hour access to industry standard specialist software for engineering design at dedicated computer clusters on campus, so you’ll have the opportunity and equipment to explore ideas and tackle problems.

With the growing complexity of engineering services in modern buildings and the significance of energy conservation and emissions control, the role of the building services engineer is becoming increasingly important. Your Brunel engineering master’s will give you the technical, creative and managerial expertise that lead to excellent career opportunities.

Our Design and Branding Strategy MA degree focuses on using design to address key issues in branding. It examines how design thinking can develop a new brand, or improve or expand an existing brand and enhance customer engagement. It aims to produce master’s qualified creative design management graduates capable of making a major contribution to the use of design in branding practices in organisations, both large and small.

You’ll have access to modern teaching and learning facilities, including a dedicated master’s design studio. Here you can discuss and exchange ideas with other students passionate about design management and design-led branding strategy.

Our popular, annual Design Master’s: Industry Student Review Evening is a great opportunity for you to connect with experts from design, brand and business. Their professional and practical perspective will help you to build a strong and clear direction for your research projects and dissertation.

And there’s Made in Brunel - a unique, student-led initiative that showcases our design talent at its finest. Each year our students run a series of industry and community events leading up to the Made in Brunel exhibition. This annual showcase is a highlight of the London design calendar and promotes the incredible work our students produce to the creative community, and is your chance to network with key design professionals.

If you’re keen to develop the knowledge and skills to make the world a better place, this newly established degree could help you to make a real difference as it has been developed for innovators – those who are passionate about introducing change for good.

On the Global Innovations pathway, you’ll acquire knowledge about the causes and effects of real-world problems and will learn key skills to develop innovative and sustainable products and solutions that could change lives.

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, aging inequality and poverty and how they affect the world we live in, which will be backed up by the focus on generating possible solutions through the Global Innovation pathway.

Well-designed innovations are needed to improve the world we live in, but real-world issues cannot be solved by technology alone. Your degree will cover a combination of sciences, social sciences and the humanities as different disciplines are woven together to give you a comprehensive understanding of how change happens and what factors determine success.

Hands-on learning is a strong focus of this degree, allowing you to develop skills which you can take to your future career. A large part of the course will be learning how to put your ideas through a process of investigations to test their viability in relation to the challenge you want to address. You will also look at the concepts, theories and history behind innovation.

You will learn how to take a product through important development phases by learning the basics in design, solid body mechanics and electronic systems which will allow you to bring your product ideas to life and will give you a portfolio of practical work to add to your CV.

A third year Enterprise Project will help to bring skills in project management, working to a brief and presenting together as you work on a group project with an external company to help solve a specific challenge.

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.

Our planet is constantly evolving. What are the major challenges faced by our global environment and how are todays actions going to affect tomorrow’s world? Follow your passion to make a difference by studying for an Environmental Sciences MSci. From deforestation to waste disposal or natural resource depletion to global warming, Brunel’s Environmental Sciences MSci will provide you with the foundations to pursue a career that makes a difference to our world.

Studying for an MSci means that you’ll graduate with an integrated master’s. From your employers perspective you’ll stand out from the crowd because you’ll have developed your skills to a greater depth than you would on the BSc. The MSci will give you the chance to specialise in an important Environmental Science area of your choice. At Brunel you’ll develop your scientific skills in the classroom, laboratory and through field work.

Your course is based on the 15 “most wanted skills” identified from a national employer’s survey by the Natural Environment Research Council. This means that in addition to studying scientific topics, you’ll learn to use computer programs such as GIS, you’ll perform data analysis and be trained in areas such as public engagement, communication, leadership and teamwork.

You'll also have the option to carry out a placement as part of your degree, giving you the experience to create a stand-out CV. The Environmental Sciences MSci offers a unique compressed degree where you can carry out two placements within your four year degree during summer vacations, where you’ll earn a graduate level salary. You can also carry out a one year placement between years two and three, as part of a five year degree.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is the scientific study that enables machines to mimic cognitive functions of human mind, such as learning and problem solving. It has enjoyed a resurgence following the advances of computational power, the availability of large amount of data and the development of theoretical understanding.

Built on Brunel's strong international research profile in intelligent data analysis, the aim of our Artificial Intelligence MSc course is to provide you with a solid awareness of the key concepts of artificial intelligence. You will develop a critical understanding of the state-of-the-art in this area and the practical skills to create value in its applications to business, scientific and social domains.

The programme offers a wide range of study areas that cover data analysis, various intelligent techniques, machine learning, deep learning, data visualisation, and ethics and governance.

In addition, you will have the opportunity to develop a broader set of skills including study skills, research skills, employment skills and capability skills through group projects, guest lectures or workshops from industry, and dissertation projects with industrial collaborations.

If you don’t want to commit to full or part-time study of the entire MSc, you can develop your educational portfolio over a longer period of time by undertaking staged study that leads to the award of Postgraduate Certi?cate (PGCert in Data Science), Postgraduate Diploma (PGDip in Artificial Intelligence) and Artificial Intelligence MSc in separate stages.

How do human beings stay healthy? What are the factors involved in disease transmission? Studying the human health biological sciences degree looks at answering these questions.

At Brunel, we understand that your specialist knowledge should be built on a sound grounding of all the areas of biomedical sciences. This means that your first year will cover areas such as the human body, biochemistry and research skills. As you continue through your degree you'll study the specialist area of human health and learn about the role of infectious organisms in disease and how human activities can lead to disease transmission.

And if you change your mind about your specialist area, don’t worry. The flexibility of our course at Brunel means that you can switch to another specialist pathway in the second year or even take the general Biomedical Sciences BSc.

The Royal Society of Biology has awarded its accreditation to all of Brunel’s BSc Biomedical Sciences programmes. This means you can be confident that your degree will prepare you for the working world – and your prospective employers will know this too. You'll receive a one year’s membership as an Associate Member once you graduate, integrating you into the sector with access to key contacts and up-to-date knowledge.

In your final year you’ll have the opportunity to contribute to our research programmes in cellular and biochemical pathways, the regulation of gene expression, DNA repair and immunological responses to microbial infection. This will give you first-hand experience of real-world laboratory research and prepare you for your future career.

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

Graduate with the confidence and experience you need to make a great start in your career by choosing to do a biomedical sciences placement.

• A placement lets you gain valuable experience that will put you ahead of the rest when you’re looking for employment. Like some of our former students, you can potentially spend a year working at some top companies such as Mars, Parexel and Astra Zeneca.
• If you’re looking for the experience of working further afield in biomedical sciences, there are also opportunities to work abroad where you can flourish in an exciting new culture. Recent opportunities our students have benefited from have included laboratory work in Sicily, a cytogenetics company close to Milan or working for Bayer in Berlin.
• The opportunities are endless and the experience you’ll get will be enlightening as well as rewarding.

Our Visual Effects and Motion Graphics 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 required by the visual effects and motion graphics sector within the entertainment and creative industries.

At Brunel, we combine a study of visual effects with motion graphics so you can learn a wide range of creative and technical skills required to produce high-quality visual assets and artefacts for film, TV, the Web, games and other creative outlets. You’ll study VFX acquisition, motion design, CGI, digital graphic design, digital photography and video. You will then progress to producing more complex post-production assets and artefacts involving compositing, advanced CGI, 3D animation, media aesthetics, motion graphics and mixed reality. In your final year, you can choose from modules in advanced digital graphics and motion design and advanced 3D animation with additional options in digital experiences and creative technology 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 will have independent access to exclusive PC and Mac computing laboratories and benefit from the latest industry standard specialist software for graphics and image/video editing, 3D animation, digital compositing and high-quality asset 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, motion graphics professionals, 3D graphic supervisors, and VFX specialists and generalists.

Visits are arranged to 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 visual effects and motion graphics 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 Electronic and Electrical Engineering (Energy Systems) BEng degree is a modern course that has been developed to equip you with the knowledge and skills needed to work and research in electronic and electrical engineering with specialisation in sustainable electrical energy systems. 

You’ll gain a good understanding of the different engineering areas, giving you the opportunity to learn more about the fundamental engineering subjects such as design, structures, materials, fluid mechanics, electronics and maths and gain skills in technical drawing.

By specialising in energy systems you’ll learn to design energy systems and apply them to electrical energy programmes. 

Access is available to modern technical facilities including computer, electronics, and power and control laboratories where you’ll work on your experiments. The latest industry standard engineering software packages are available for you to use in dedicated computer clusters.

Brunel's BEng electronic and electrical engineering (energy systems) course is accredited by the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET). This professional engineering institution ensures that your engineering degree meets the academic requirement to qualify as a professional engineer. This accredited BEng degree in electronic and electrical 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).

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 an engineering or technology company.

If studies of the mind and mental health interest you, this socially and culturally focused course may provide a rich alternative to more scientific studies in psychology and psychiatry.

Study this course and you will investigate psychological and psychiatric issues from an anthropological perspective, addressing issues at the forefront of debates in social policy, morality, personal identity, and mental health.

By considering cases from around the world you’ll explore how person, consciousness, and experience are shaped through cultural practices and political realities.

Examining world ethnography (including the UK), you’ll learn about selfhood, emotion, personality, and understandings of ‘madness’ and mental illness in cultural context.

Brunel students come from varied professional and academic backgrounds, many taking time out for professional development. If you haven’t studied anthropology before, you’ll be offered introductory modules in anthropological theory to help prepare you for the rest of the course.

Anthropology at Brunel is well-known for its focus on ethnographic fieldwork and you will be expected to get out of the library and undertake your own, original research – whether in the UK or overseas – and to present your findings in a dissertation.

Your fieldwork can be taken anywhere in the world, locally, previous students have explored psychic training, Pentecostal churches, and mental health charities, and internationally, students have explored subjects like funerals in Iran, Amazon neoshamanism, and autism programmes in Belgium.

From social networks, ecommerce and government through to sensors, smart meters and mobile networks, data is being collected at an unprecedented speed and scale. But big data is of little use without 'big insight'. The skills required to develop such insight are in short supply and the shortage of skilled workers in the data analytics market is cited as a key barrier to unlocking everything that data has to offer.

The Data Science and Analytics MSc programme provides these skills, combining a strong academic degree course with hands-on experience of leading commercial technology, and the chance to gain industry certification. You will develop both your critical awareness of the very latest developments in data science and the practical skills that help you apply data science more effectively in a wide variety of sectors including finance, retail and government.

You’ll gain knowledge of key concepts and the nuances of effective data analysis. You’ll gain confidence in your own critical understanding of the challenges and issues arising from taking heterogeneous data at volume and scale, understanding what it represents, and turning that understanding into insight for business, scientific or social innovation. You’ll develop a practical understanding of the skills, tools and techniques necessary for the effective application of data science.

The course is designed to offer you the opportunity to gain hands-on experience in several data analytics tools (e.g. Hadoop, Spark, Tableau), programming languages (R, Python) and machine learning libraries.

A series of sessions in Python is offered to support students who are less familiar with programming.

You will also have the opportunity to obtain an SAS certificate such as SAS Base Programming, which is a recognised industry qualification, following a two-week SAS certification ‘boot camp’.

If you don’t want to commit to full or part-time study of the entire MSc, you can develop your educational portfolio over a longer period of time by undertaking staged study that leads to the award of Postgraduate Certi?cate (PGCert in Data Science), Postgraduate Diploma (PGDip in Data Science and Analytics) and Data Science and Analytics MSc in separate stages.

The roles that our graduates are typically recruited to within these organisations include analytics consultant, big data engineer/scientist, business analyst, clinical data scientist, data design specialist, data scientists, developer/development engineer, enterprise/technical architect, forecast analyst, marketing/customer and/or insight analyst, quantitative analyst and web analyst.

Brunel’s Women in Engineering and Computing mentoring scheme provides our female students with invaluable help and support from their industry mentors.