Bachelor of Science in International Politics

at Brunel University London United Kingdom

Intelligence and security policy issues are one of the fastest growing areas of academic and public concern. More than ever before, national governments, international agencies and international corporations need employees with a strong grasp of intelligence and security concerns who can also demonstrate first-rate skills of research and assessment.

Intelligence and Security Studies at Brunel offers you a unique opportunity for practical, policy oriented graduate study of intelligence issues across the private and public sectors around the world.

As part of the course, you’ll study a range of modules on campus over one year full-time or two years part-time, including participation in the Brunel Simulated Intelligence Analysis Exercise (BASE) on a real-world subject. The MA will allow you to demonstrate your ability to complete a substantial piece of intelligence and securities research through a dissertation project.

Highly committed and enthusiastic tutors combine broad-ranging expertise in areas such as cryptography, computer networking, imagery, intelligence analysis, economics and law, with the knowledge, skills and understanding to develop your academic and professional potential.

You will be taught by one of the UK’s most innovative scholars in intelligence and security studies: an expert on covert action and military intelligence doctrine, a specialist in structured analytic techniques and a former senior military imagery analyst.

These scholars are part of the Brunel Centre for Intelligence and Security Studies (BCISS) that produce important original research that is published worldwide and contributes to the success of government and business in the UK.

Graduates secure jobs in the private and public sector with most pursuing careers in intelligence and security studies. Those already in government employment find the course supports their promotion, commissions or provides new employment opportunities post-retirement.

Private sector opportunities are especially strong in analytical functions for the banking, resources and risk and security sectors.

Are you looking for a rewarding career that impacts the lives of individuals, families and communities? On successful completion of the Social Work MA course at Brunel, you’ll be eligible to apply for Social Work England registration which is mandatory to practise social work.

Through a combination of academic expertise and high-quality practice placements you’ll be prepared for your career in social work, where 95% of our graduates are in employment after completing their studies. Brunel is located in London, home to a diverse landscape of social work settings. Our academics have strong connections within the sector and you’ll benefit from excellent work placement experience, over 170 days in total.

This Social Work England accredited course will equip you with the skills to tackle the challenges faced in social work today including problems such as county lines, cyber bullying, discrimination and extremism. You’ll learn about law, psychology, social policy and sociology, giving you a comprehensive understanding of various approaches. You’ll develop the skills to identify, understand and critically appraise evidence and research which can inform social work practice.

Statistics is the study of the collection, analysis, interpretation, presentation and organisation of data. Statistical analysis and data analytics is listed as one of the highly desirable skills employers are looking for, and with data becoming an ever increasing part of modern life, the talent to extract information and value from complex data is scarce.

The new Statistics and Data Analytics MSc is designed to train the next generation of statisticians with a focus on the field of data analytics. Employers expect skills in both statistics and computing. This master’s programme will provide a unique and coherent blend of modern statistical methods together with the associated computational skills that are essential for handling large quantities of unstructured data. This programme offers training in modern statistical methodology, computational statistics and data analysis from a wide variety of fields, including financial and health sectors.

On this Business Computing BSc degree course, you get to specialise in eBusiness, learning about how software and IT systems can support business transactions and drive sales. Through a mixture of theory and real-world practice, you’ll learn how to determine a dynamic mix of processes, which allow information delivery systems and users to carry out business effectively and efficiently. You’ll come to intuitively understand how an organisation’s information systems need to adapt to the changes and developments natural to growth and progress.

In addition to the compulsory business computing content you will learn about the underlying models and latest approaches used by companies in building successful eBusiness platforms.

Our course is designed for flexibility, so if you’re not sure which route you want to go down, 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, you can 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). 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.

Our Structural Engineering MSc degree is a highly specialist course that has been developed to equip you with a broad range of knowledge and management skills to meet the real-world needs of safety and sustainability in the civil engineering and construction industry.

You will study the traditional elements of structural engineering and deepen your knowledge of structural analysis and design, and sustainable construction. You’ll also develop advanced and specialist knowledge on topical subjects such as fire protection, environmental hazards and energy efficient buildings.

You’ll have access to our custom-designed technical facilities for the testing of materials and structures. The latest industry standard engineering software packages are available for you to use in the purpose-built computer laboratories.

During your studies, there is a residential field trip with hands-on construction experience where you will build a scaled-down version of a bridge, building or dam. You will also benefit from guest lectures delivered by industry professionals, as well as visits to construction sites and civil engineering development projects.

Our MSc structural engineering degree is accredited by the Joint Board of Moderators (JBM). The JBM comprises the Institution of Civil Engineers, the Institution of Structural Engineers, the Chartered Institution of Highways and Transportation, and the Institute of Highway Engineers. These four professional bodies ensure that your engineering degree meets the academic requirement to qualify as a professional engineer. This accredited MSc degree in structural engineering fully meets the educational requirement for progression to Chartered Engineer (CEng) status. It is studied full-time over one year.

Storytelling is part of every culture and reveals much about a person’s lived experience, values and aspirations within a given time.

Studying the English Literature MA at Brunel gives you the opportunity to uncover the richness of the history of English Literature – through selected periods, genres and diverse storytellers – through a set of underlying themes that act as windows into deeper understanding.

Whether your purpose is to explore a long held interest, build on previous studies or to benefit your career, studying a literature degree at Brunel will keep you close the one of the key literary capitals of the world.

Your journey will commence with an introductory module on ‘Reading, Writing and Research’ to help equip you with the required skills and competencies relevant to literary studies, so you will have the confidence to pursue self-directed study on any given topic.

You will then study four additional modules including ‘Authors’, where you will study one author or a well-recognised group of authors from a list that includes: John Keats and P.B. Shelley; the Brontes; Charles Dickens, or selected modernist authors such as Virginia Woolf and Katherine Mansfield or postmodernist and experimental writers, B.S. Johnson and J.G. Ballard.

‘A British Literary Decade’ will immerse you in the literary and cultural aspects of one nominated decade from a range including the 1850s, 1890s, 1920s, 1930s, 1960s, 1970s or 1980s, crossing into neighbouring disciplines like history and politics along the way.

You will also have the opportunity to cover more contemporary works in ‘Postmillennial Literature’ including texts from a selected field, which includes:  Anglophile writing post 9/11; science fiction and fantasy; LGBT writing, or experimental fiction.

Finally, after a series of planning and skills workshops to prepare topic, under the guidance of a nominated supervisor, you will undertake critical reading towards a 15,000 word dissertation on an agreed area of English post-1789 literature.

Outside your classroom, you can look forward to a calendar of events and activities organised by the Brunel Centre for Contemporary Writing, including the annual Hillingdon Literary Festival: a free weekend of literary performances from internationally renowned authors, writing workshops and lively debates right here on the Brunel campus.

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.

Our Sustainable Electrical Power MSc degree has been designed to equip you with advanced knowledge of sustainable electrical power and energy generation systems.

You will gain the skills and knowledge to lead teams which will operate, control, design, regulate and manage the power systems and networks of the future.

You’ll develop the ability to critically evaluate methodologies, analytical procedures and research methods in renewable energy sources; the design of stand-alone, grid connected and hybrid sustainable electrical power systems; power system engineering; power electronics for power quality and grid integration; and regulatory frameworks for power systems and electricity markets.

You’ll have access to our high-performance technical laboratories for the testing of power and control systems. The latest industry standard simulation software is available for you to use in grid computing facilities to investigate and design sustainable electrical power systems.

During your studies, there are site visits to National Grid substations and control centres, and power stations. You will benefit from guest lectures delivered by experts from the electricity industry, and take part in conferences where you’ll deliver poster presentations on your research work.

Our MSc sustainable electrical power degree is accredited by the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) and the Energy Institute (EI). These two professional bodies ensure that your degree meets the academic requirement to qualify as a professional engineer. This accredited MSc degree in sustainable electrical power fully meets the educational requirement for progression to Chartered Engineer (CEng) status. It can be studied full-time over one year or part-time over two years.

Our Water Engineering MSc degree is a specialist course that has been developed to equip you with advanced knowledge of the water industry and environmental issues.

You will study a wide range of water engineering subjects including fluid mechanics and hydrology, water and wastewater treatment, water infrastructure, and water processing and distribution systems.

There are generic modules on finance and sustainable project management and you’ll also be introduced to issues relating to risk and health and safety.

You’ll have access to our custom-designed technical facilities that include hydraulic benches and flumes to work on your laboratory experiments. The latest industry standard engineering software packages are available for you to use in the purpose-built computer laboratories.

Through the Visiting Professors Scheme your learning is enhanced via a series of specialist lectures on industry practice. In addition, guest speakers from leading industrial partners provide a valuable insight into water engineering and you will also benefit from site visits to water treatment plants.

Our MSc water engineering course is accredited by the Joint Board of Moderators (JBM). The JBM comprises the Institution of Civil Engineers, the Institution of Structural Engineers, the Chartered Institution of Highways and Transportation, and the Institute of Highway Engineers. These four professional bodies ensure that your engineering degree meets the academic requirement to qualify as a professional engineer. This accredited MSc degree in water engineering fully meets the educational requirement for progression to Chartered Engineer (CEng) status. Brunel’s water engineering MSc is also accredited by the Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management (CIWEM). It is studied full-time over one year.

Our Computer Systems Engineering BEng degree is a modern course that has been developed to equip you with the knowledge and skills needed to design and build hardware and software for computer systems.

You will be introduced to computing and engineering and gain knowledge on computer hardware and software. You’ll learn about programming and computer architecture and then progress to advanced computing technologies. In your final year, you can choose specialist subjects like embedded systems, intelligent systems and the internet of things.

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.

Our BEng computer systems engineering 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 computer systems 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.