Master of Science in Business Strategy, Leadership and Change

at Heriot-Watt University - Edinburgh Campus United Kingdom

Knowledge in operations management is an important requirement of managers across all business functions and there is an increasing demand for operations management specialists in every type of organisation.

This is a specialist MSc
MSc Operations Management is a specialist MSc programme led by academics at the Edinburgh Business School. As a specialist masters, this degree gives those who have worked in industry or studied a similar subject previously, the chance to expand, refine and enhance their knowledge.

This 1-year masters programme focuses almost entirely on the area of operations management. It blends cutting-edge academic thinking with best practice from industry to give graduates and professionals the opportunity to advance with a highly employable skillset.

Our BSc Computer Science degree focuses on constructing robust and usable systems. As well as looking at cutting edge tools and techniques, it’s designed to help you build the next generation of software tools that other system constructors will use. The course aims to give a well integrated balance of theoretical underpinnings and practical experience, strongly informed by the research expertise of our academic staff.

All Year 3 students take part in a year-long group project, where they co-operate in tackling a large, realistic problem. Year 4 students conduct a major, year-long, individual dissertation project.

You can take advantage of our international campuses by taking part in an Inter-Campus Transfer. This gives you the opportunity to study Computer Science at our Dubai campus for a semester or a year.

The MSc in Reservoir Evaluation and Management (REM) teaches students how to be successful subsurface geoscientists and engineers, able to build models that can provide good predictions of hydrocarbon reservoir behaviour. The success of these models requires a good understanding of both the geology and engineering of the reservoir. The REM programme, with its combination of geoscience and engineering, provides students with the ability to identify those aspects of the reservoir which have the greatest impact on hydrocarbon recovery. Our graduates typically go on to careers in petroleum geology, geomodelling or reservoir engineering.

Most development decisions in oil companies are based on the predictions of computer models of the subsurface. We teach our students the most effective ways to combine the geology, geophysics and reservoir engineering disciplines in order to develop and run computer models which provide the most robust predictions. The programme has been designed so that graduates are technically well prepared for, and have a sound knowledge of, the reservoir geoscience and engineering aspects of the upstream petroleum industry. The unique combination of geoscience and engineering in the REM programme means that our team projects contain the complete workflow of a field development, from geology to engineering and economics.

Graduates of the REM MSc will be in a unique position of having a thorough understanding of the both the geosciences and engineering issues relevant to hydrocarbon reservoir behaviour. The programme is deliberately intensive, typically consisting of working a full 5 days per week of lectures and practical work, including labs or tutorial exercises designed to teach practical skills in addition to learning theory. The programme includes two field trips to observe geology in the field, both for those with and without prior geological experience.

The most challenging and fulfilling aspect of our programme is the project work, particularly the team project, where students are tasked to propose a development plan for real field. The project integrates all the learning in reservoir geosciences and engineering disciplines and reinforces learning through team work.

The programme shares 6 taught courses with MSc Petroleum Engineering and MSc Applied Petroleum Geoscience as illustrated in this diagram.

Energy – based on fossil fuels and, increasingly, renewables – is an essential component of our existence. The cost, availability and efficient utilisation of energy are increasingly strong focal points in the strategies of governments world-wide, as they realise that the 'raw material' for most of the energy used today has a finite life.

Large industries and small households alike depend on a reliable provision of energy. Energy includes not only electricity, but also heat and transportation. The course will make you aware of the relationship between demand and supply of energy, a relationship that consists of much more than its technical component. It includes political, economic and social issues and has to be viewed on a global as well as a local scale with respect to energy provision, consumption and the costs it might incur – both in the monetary as well as environmental terms.

We have seen countries go to war over energy supplies and we can see the effect of our energy consumption on the global climate. The concept of sustainable energy moves into focus as the finite nature of our main element in our current energy chain of supply – fossil fuel – becomes more obvious. The Paris Treaty is just one example of international and national policy actions which have subsequent implications for legislation affecting industries and communities.

We try to reflect the broad range of disciplines covering energy in this multi-disciplinary degree, which offers courses relevant to energy resources, power generation, process engineering, environmental legislation and environmental impact assessment, energy in buildings, as well as business courses in collaboration with the Edinburgh Business School.

It is the aim of the Energy MSc/Diploma to provide a balanced, integrated course which will equip the participant with the tools needed to positively influence his/her organisation in to developing new business strategies relevant to 'energy', or in reacting to the growing portfolio of environmental legislation. The course is also supported by industrial suppliers and users of energy, who are committed to an ethical environmental policy.

An optional project and dissertation in an engineering subject, which might be a company-specified topic or one selected by the participant, is also available.

This degree covers the main Civil Engineering disciplines of structures, geotechnics, water engineering and transportation engineering, and provides students with the key skills and knowledge required to become chartered civil engineers. The core curriculum includes instruction in all main subject areas, concentrating on analysis and materials behaviour, with a focus on design and management in the specialisation years. Throughout, there is an emphasis on the personal development of students within a professional environment.

Our degrees are supported by the Civil Engineering Industry Advisory Committee, which includes representatives from major multi-national employers offering advice, guidance and work placement opportunities.

Data science today is becoming increasingly important within the actuarial field, and Heriot-Watt has developed this unique new programme to meet this growing actuarial demand.

Taking our MSc in Actuarial Management with Data Science 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. Our MSc in Actuarial Management is an established and successful programme covering the more advanced actuarial subjects.The MSc in Actuarial Management with Data Science introduces exciting new opportunities for actuaries of the future.

Entry to the actuarial profession is by a demanding series of examinations, but the rewards after qualifying are great. The Institute and Faculty of Actuaries in the UK has four levels of examinations to qualify. The first level, the Core Principles (CS, CM and CB) subjects, are taught in our BSc or MSc in Actuarial Science and lead to exemptions from subjects CS1, CS2, CM1, CM2, CB1 and CB2. Students will typically study CP1, CP2, CP3, two SP subjects (two SP subjects are needed to satisfy the profession's requirements) and two courses on data science applied to insurance.

Actuarial data science combines advanced statistical modelling and analysis with modern computational techniques in order to analyse potentially large datasets arising in insurance and finance. These analyses have the ability to improve forecasts and enhance decision making in an uncertain environment where rapid advancements in technology and data availability are transforming fields of actuarial work. Additionally, they are building synergies with new sectors such as medical and healthcare. This is an area of science and technology that is attracting significant interest and that will continue to grow for the foreseeable future, as more and more industries adopt data-driven and data-centric approaches.

Students graduating from the MSc will have excellent employment prospects that are not restricted to any one narrow sector of financial services. By their choice of IFoA subjects, they may target the life, pensions, asset management, investment and risk management sectors. They will be in demand in quantitative risk management roles in both banks and insurance companies, as well as fund management companies, hedge funds, consultancies, software vendors and regulatory authorities. The market for graduates with actuarial qualifications complemented with data science skills is growing fast and we expect that it will continue to grow for the foreseeable future.

Heriot-Watt University ranked first in the UK for Physics in the National Student Survey 2020 (Overall Student Satisfaction). BSc Physics is accredited by the Institute of Physics and aims to bring this fascinating subject to life.

This physics degree covers subjects including dynamics, electromagnetism, photonics and optics and astrophysics. These areas lead onto the quantum world of subatomic particles, the fascinating nature of light and the challenging but wonderful fields of quantum physics and relativity. Mathematics and practical work play an important part throughout the course, and specialist courses provided a background in physical maths and lab skills for physics applications. In later years, the course offers more specialist topics, including laser physics, solid state physics, optoelectronic devices, nuclear physics and biophysics.

In Year 4, individual research projects in world leading research groups allow you to develop skills in advanced experimental design, modelling and computation. Throughout, the programme will also help with your practical abilities, initiative and teamwork. The Physics degree provides broad and comprehensive training in all aspects of physics and modern science, and is well suited to both non-academic careers and careers in research.

The MSc in Business Analytics and Consultancy is designed to equip you with the decision skills you need to develop and excel as an effective leader and manager of transformational change in an era of Big Data and rapid innovation.

The MSc Business Analytics and Consultancy program created by Heriot-Watt University will give you the skills most highly valued by today’s employers who increasingly seek graduates with the decision skills to inform and manage transformational change, including the use of data-driven, evidence-based approaches to management decision-making in complex business environments.

There are several core elements of this MSc program that will set you apart in the corporate world, these include the core skills you will gain on our Business Analytics course followed by our research-led Big Data Analytics course, the Network Analysis course and a new course in Management Consultancy.

Heriot-Watt Mechanical Engineering degrees are ranked 1st in Scotland and top 10 in the UK by the Guardian University Guide 2020. An industrial panel are involved to ensure the course content reflects the changing needs of industry and that our graduates have the knowledge and practical skills required to successfully gain employment.

Student teaching benefits from our strong industrial links, in particular the involvement of the industrial panel in the assessment of 4th year design projects, providing a realistic client scenario.

Edinburgh Business School's MSc Strategic Project Management is designed and taught by experts in strategy, management and organisational performance. It will equip you with the skills to become a successful leader in a global project-based environment.

MSc in Strategic Project Management is designed with industry in mind. Our course aims to offer practitioners in project management with an advanced level set of courses culminated by a final research-based dissertation that combines strategy with project management.

Our unique combination should equip you with the necessary concepts, tools and techniques to enhance your project management skills based on up-to-date theory, best practice standards and methodologies.

The strategic management component of our the degree will help you to develop an additional skill which is essential for senior managers; the ability to to formulate strategy and then implement it through a strategic project management vehicle that comprises portfolios, programmes and projects.

Throughout our degree programme, the industry-relevant courses aim to stimulate your understanding, critical thinking and develop experience of enterprise-wide applications of strategic project management.