Bachelor of Science in Physics with Scientific Computing

at University of Bristol - Clifton Campus United Kingdom

A-level standard offer

AAA including an essay based subject

This degree offers an enriching experience with exciting intellectual challenges. You will study the politics of individual countries and governments and the relationships between countries, communities and individuals.

This course follows the same structure as BSc Politics and International Relations but with an additional year spent abroad.

The year abroad is an exciting opportunity to experience and study a different society and culture. For further details on year abroad opportunities, please see Global Opportunities.

BSc Economics and Mathematics combines high-level mathematics with a technically rigorous economics programme that emphasises the use of mathematical tools, including econometrics.

Mandatory economics units develop your understanding of micro- and macro-economics, while the mathematics part of the degree builds your mathematical ability and allows you to explore applied topics that are particularly relevant to economics.

Having built a solid grounding in the fundamentals of both disciplines in your first year, the second and third years allow you to choose optional units to tailor your degree to your specific interests, including the option to complete an applied economics dissertation.

Previously, economics options have included Industrial Economics, International Economics and Macroeconomic Theory and Policy. Mathematics options have included Complex Networks, Financial Mathematics and Time Series Analysis.

Our MSc in Mathematical Sciences is a flexible and challenging program, taught by leading experts in the field. It will help you to develop a wide range of mathematical techniques and gives you a solid foundation for further research or employment at the highest levels.

Under the guidance of an academic mentor, you will be offered a choice of units spanning the breadth of mathematics. There is a wide variety of combinations of units and themes, allowing you to add units from other schools to create an MSc that closely matches your interests. The taught element is followed by your chosen research project, which is supervised by an experienced research academic.

The program gives you the opportunity to increase your understanding of mathematical theory and equips you with fundamental skills in the modelling and analysis of problems. Our graduates are highly sought after by employers for their strong analytical, communication and organisational skills.

This course combines philosophy with the study of French, providing a valuable skill set ideally tailored to the increasingly globalised workplace.

In philosophy you will study units covering introduction to philosophy, logic, and realism and normativity. In your first year you will gain a grounding in the fundamentals of philosophy through two mandatory introductory units: one exploring issues in epistemology and metaphysics and the other concerning moral and political philosophy. You will also take a unit exploring critical thinking and logic.

In year two you complete your foundation in philosophy with a mandatory unit on realism and normativity and conduct more detailed study in topics ranging from ethics to the philosophy of language.

In the final year you may undertake an independent study unit on almost any topic in philosophy, writing an extended essay in consultation with a supervisor. Final-year taught units relate to the research interests of staff in areas ranging from global justice to philosophy of physics.

This four-year course has the same basic structure as BSc Geography but you will spend your third year studying geography and other subjects at an English-speaking university abroad.

In year one you receive an overview of human and physical geography, and develop a range of geographical and scientific skills. The remaining years are organised around specialist units from human and/or physical geography.

Physical geography units cover three broad areas: glaciology, hydrology and environmental change. Human geography units provide in-depth study of cultural, economic and social geography, emphasising the importance of theory and methods for analysing contemporary geographical problems and policies. Topics range from economic development and global politics to inequalities of health and contemporary social theory.

You will also develop skills in the use of specialised computer software, statistics and data collection in the field. Field trips and practical work are key components of the course. There are UK residential trips in year one and in year two there is an overseas field trip.

Your third-year studies abroad will be arranged on an individual basis. We currently have exchange agreements with universities in the US, Canada, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand and Hong Kong. Visit Global Opportunities to find out more about where you can study abroad.

The skills that you acquire throughout your studies will be applied in a self-directed dissertation project in your final year.

Digital technologies drive economic growth, yet create new cyber risks demanding ever more sophisticated solutions. There is worldwide demand for new and innovative approaches to tackle global cyber-threats specific to large-scale infrastructures, from energy production to finance through to healthcare and smart transportation. The cyber security of such infrastructures is paramount – their disruption can have large-scale impacts on society as well as massive business losses. There is a major shortage of cyber security professionals globally, and the specialist nature of critical infrastructures makes the problem even more acute.

A strong ethos of rigorous experimental and empirical cyber security research underpins the MSc, facilitated by a state-of-the-art testbed for studying critical National Infrastructure (CNI) and Internet of Things (IoT) security, and bespoke teaching equipment. You’ll learn to apply foundational cyber security techniques to infrastructure and will develop the skills for engineering scalable solutions. You'll be exposed to real-world problems that are practical and challenge-oriented, but underpinned by rigorous research.

This MSc aims to:

• Enable a deep understanding of fundamental concepts, design principles, building blocks and methods to understand and mitigate against cyber security threats;
• Give you hands-on experience of working with devices, systems and networks utilised in realistic infrastructure environments;
• Equip you with the ability to apply security principles and technical knowledge to analyse complex real-world infrastructures systems (including software systems, networks, control systems and IoT) to identify potential security issues and solutions;
• Provide you with the skills to reason critically about complex problems that require evaluation and analysis from a multi-dimensional perspective including technical, human and organisational aspects.

Studying neuroscience will enable you to explore the workings of the brain, from molecules to neural systems, answering questions such as: how do neurones communicate with each other to lay down memories? What goes wrong in neuropsychiatric disorders such as Parkinson's and schizophrenia? How do we feel pain?

Your knowledge will build from studying core units in years one and two to studying selected, in-depth courses in your final year. Second-year units explore many aspects of neuroscience, including the neurophysiology of the central nervous system; the pharmacology of drugs that affect the nervous system; and the techniques that have enabled advances in understanding the nervous system.

Final-year units are run at the forefront of current research and include subjects such as synaptic plasticity and brain and behaviour, as well as studying specialised topics, such as neuropsychiatric diseases. You will also spend 30 days on a research project.

The future of Health is Digital. We urgently need new technologies for understanding, preventing, diagnosing, and managing illnesses that affect millions of people, such as diabetes, depression and dementia.  The Digital Health industry is expected to grow six times in size over the next 5 years, at a rate of nearly 30% a year. Driven by the risk of future pandemics and the health needs of ageing populations in countries worldwide, this growth is expected to continue for decades to come.

The demand for graduates in this area is therefore unprecedented. If you have a first degree in a Health Science, Computer Science, Life Science, Maths or Engineering subject, we want to help you develop as a leader in this area.  

Our MSc in Digital Health provides you with the necessary technological expertise and understanding of the health landscape to forge a career in this innovative and vital field. You will evaluate the safety and efficacy of new products, assessing the ethical principles that guide the development of new health technologies alongside graduates from different disciplines. You will be equipped with the necessary skills to work in these multidisciplinary health sectors.

The MSc Human Resource Management and the Future of Work is an intensive master’s-level specialist program for graduates who have a prior qualification in social sciences and wish to develop their knowledge and skills in the practice, theory and policy of the world of work.

The future of work has become one of the defining debates of our generation. Whilst the greening of our economies will create millions of jobs, many traditional forms of work will also disappear. The digital economy fosters greater connectivity and access to technologies but also has the potential to disrupt labour markets. The future of work creates many challenges, but countless opportunities exist to improve the quality of working lives and reverse the damages inflicted by global inequality and the climate crisis.

This 12-month full-time program will appeal to students who want to engage, respond to and be part of the global challenges related to Human Resource Management and the Future of Work. We aim to develop analytical and confident critical thinkers through research-led teaching. You will gain insight into the nature of Human Resource Management and the complexity of organisations from a variety of disciplines and will be armed with the relevant knowledge to apply theory to practice.

You will be part of a dynamic and diverse body of staff and students in Bristol and will be taught by experienced academics. Staff in the School of Management are engaged in conducting pioneering research that is shaping policy and practice in the UK, Europe and globally.

This course combination offers an enriching experience, with exciting intellectual challenges, in two schools with strong reputations for teaching and research. By studying these two social sciences you will develop a deep understanding of global markets and political systems.

Economics study is based on a series of core units in the first and second years covering micro- and macro-economics, mathematics, statistics and econometrics. This lays the foundation for you to specialise in your third year in the areas of economics that most interest you. Popular unit topics include Development Economics, Behavioural Economics, History of Economic Thought and International Economics.

You will also study the politics of individual countries and governments and the relationships between countries, communities and individuals. Politics is organised around three themes: political theory, comparative and national politics, and international relations. In addition to compulsory units, which will give you a solid grounding in politics, you will have access to a range of units that are closely linked to staff research interests and thus unique to Bristol.

Politics units may include subjects such as, international relations, political economy, UK politics, US politics, gender, security and conflict. There is a strong emphasis on research skills, with the possibility to complete a dissertation in the final year.

We offer you the opportunity to extend your degree to four years, spending your third year studying economics in English at a university in Europe or farther afield before returning to Bristol for your final year. This course allows you to combine the challenging, broad academic content of our economics degree with an overseas dimension that reflects the international nature of the economy.