Master of Science in Actuarial Science

at Heriot-Watt University - Edinburgh Campus United Kingdom

This course provides graduates with advanced mathematical skills and fluency in their chosen language, offering a valuable combination of technical expertise and linguistic excellence. Mathematical and language skills will be enhanced by studying mathematics for a year at one of the foreign partner universities. Languages on offer are French (G1R1), German (G1R2) and Spanish (G1R4). Graduates in mathematics and languages are consistently near the top of graduate employment tables, and the coupling of disciplines in this degree course ensures a highly marketable qualification.

Business Management at Edinburgh Business School was ranked 3rd in Scotland and top 10 in the UK in the Guardian University League Tables 2018. It achieved the 7th highest level of student satisfaction in the UK in the National Student Survey 2018.

This degree puts specialist business theory through a real-world filter and offers the chance of a truly international university experience. It develops the knowledge and interpersonal skills you will need to thrive in the positions, organisations and industries of the future.

On this degree, you will spend Year 3 studying abroad at a partner business school or university in the USA, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, Belgium, Poland, Sweden, Italy, or France. All partner universities teach their management courses in English and students follow a course similar to that of Level 3 of the MA (Hons) International Business Management.

You will develop important transferable skills such as: critical thinking, problem solving, communication and team working, as well as creativity, confidence and research abilities – skills that will help you succeed in your career and personal life.

The Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) degree aims to develop students’ understanding of the area of Business Administration and Management and develop practical skills appropriate for careers in this area. Theory and practice are given equal emphasis to give a holistic understanding of the role of Business Administration as well as knowledge of and skills associated with business start-up, growth and innovation.

We are ranked 5th in the UK for Town and Country Planning in the Complete University Guide 2021.

Studying urban planning and property development at Heriot-Watt prepares you for a professional career in real estate investment, development, or urban planning and design. It brings together theoretical, practical and policy content from both town planning and real estate.

Our Urban Planning and Property Development course combines real estate management with urban and regional planning and design to provide a broad knowledge of the sector. You will learn key field work skills in surveying, mapping and key research skills whilst learning core modules in statistics and data analysis. Cross disciplinary working helps students acquire a mutual understanding between professions.

Sandwich year:

• A sandwich year option is available, giving students the opportunity to spend one year in a paid placement before completing the final year of study.

This exciting 2-year MSc programme is designed to kick-start your career as an actuary, preparing you to take a leading role in managing risk in financial institutions worldwide.

Entry to the actuarial profession is by a demanding series of examinations, but the rewards after qualifying are great. Students that enrol onto this programme will follow the syllabus of MSc Actuarial Science in their first year and the MSc Actuarial Management programme in their second.

Taking our MSc in Actuarial Science and Management is a great way to speed your progress to this most prestigious of careers - it's designed to take you almost all of the way to qualification.

The five year MEng Software Engineering degree is an integrated Masters course, which augments the first three years of the BSc Computer Science with the professional skills necessary for constructing robust, secure systems. Students spend the start of the fifth year on a paid industrial placement. Organisations that recent students have been placed with include Skyscanner, Leonardo, Cadence, BlackRock and Satalia. Many of our students go on to secure an offer of employment from their placement employer.

Teaching excellence and student satisfaction:
'Software Engineering' at Heriot-Watt is ranked 1st in Scotland and joint 1st in the UK for overall satisfaction in the National Student Survey 2018. 100% of students were satisfied overall with their course.

Our MSc Information Technology (Business) offers analytical, practical and theoretical courses that combine study of business management and software engineering. They cover the design and development of IT systems, the management of data and IT, business organisation and strategy, project leadership and e-commerce.

The programme does not emphasise computer programming but instead seeks to develop graduates with well developed analytical and project management skills that help them become effective communicators / managers working between software developers and business strategists.

In some cases, the MSc project can be carried out in collaboration with an outside industrial or academic organisation.

Graduates from the programme would be suitable for employment with IT companies, company R&D divisions, financial services organisations, defence contractors or government IT agencies or could register for a PhD.

The MSc International Management and Business Communication with Human Resource Management programme concentrates on developing professional communication skills in business and HRM contexts, as well as an understanding of intercultural and international business and HRM issues.

The structure of the programme is designed to provide graduates with access to a range of professions and managerial careers within businesses engaged internationally, but in particular in the area of HRM.

Alongside the practical skills and knowledge acquired, students will also engage in independent research, providing a potential route to research training in cognate disciplines at a higher level.

This is one of the few dedicated Applied Mathematics MSc programmes in the UK. For over 40 years Heriot-Watt has been exceptionally strong in Applied Mathematics and we have world-leading researchers in many related areas and very good links with industry.

Our flexible programme is designed to equip students with the modern, transferrable mathematical and statistical skills to prepare them for careers in industry and research.

Students will gain a solid, theoretical and practical foundation through a diverse range of taught courses and applications oriented projects.

Petroleum engineering is central to safe, efficient and sustainable development of oil and gas assets to meet global energy and resource demands.

Since its establishment in 1975, the Institute of GeoEnergy Engineering (IGE) at Heriot-Watt University has delivered its internationally renowned petroleum engineering MSc programme, providing thousands of graduates with the knowledge and skills to tackle the oil and gas industry’s most challenging problems across the globe. The programme offers an interdisciplinary approach to exploration and extraction of petroleum resources.

Programme content

The programme encompasses a wide range of applied petroleum engineering fundamentals, leading to development of a technically well-prepared graduate with a sound knowledge of the industry – through eight taught courses and two projects. During the field development project, students work together on real field data, considering the technical, economic and environmental aspects involved. For the individual research project, students select a specialist topic, for example related to geosciences, enhanced oil recovery, production chemistry or advanced drilling and completions, offered both by the Institute and by the industry.