Master of Science in Social Policy with Quantitative Research Methods

at University of Bristol - Clifton Campus United Kingdom

Our education master's degrees give you the opportunity to design a tailored programme of study that suits your cultural and learning needs. You will be able to specialise and receive an award in a particular disciplinary area.

This pathway is designed for UK and international mathematics teachers and other professionals working in mathematics education, from primary schools to post-16 education. You will be supported in integrating the theory and practice of teaching and learning mathematics by:

• Being an active researcher of your own and others' practice, including reworking your own practice;
• Carrying out small-scale research projects, one of which can act as a pilot project for the major work of your dissertation;
• Engaging with research literature, especially the current journals and activity of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education;
• Engaging with new developments in teaching and learning mathematics;
• Updating your mathematics knowledge;
• Writing assignments that show the emergence of a theoretical frame, presenting a literature search and developing ideas from a seminar;
• Becoming confident with presentation, argumentation, research and ICT skills.

This course combines philosophy with the study of German, which provides a valuable skill set that is ideally tailored to the increasingly globalised workplace.

For philosophy you will study units covering introduction to philosophy, logic, and realism and normativity.

For German, you will follow a curriculum designed to introduce you to many aspects of German studies. As well as following a structured language course, you will study literature, history, thought, politics, linguistics and culture.

You will spend your third year abroad studying or working in a German-speaking environment. This will enable you to refine your language skills and cultural knowledge and gain valuable work experience. For further details of year abroad opportunities visit Global Opportunities.

Both departments have an impressive reputation for teaching and research. This degree combination provides a wide range of options that allow you to pursue your own interests.

Examine the interactions between the geology, biology, chemistry and physics of Earth’s surface, oceans and atmosphere and gain a deep understanding of Earth’s environment and how it can be influenced by human activities.

Learn with experts whose research feeds directly into your studies at the cutting edge of scientific developments. Recent options have included Soils and the Critical Zone, Environmental Impact Assessments, Oceans and Climates, and Environmental Radioactivity.

By your final year you’ll be conducting your own independent research and exploring the questions that matter most to you.

We have a friendly community and a program of student-run projects, informal seminars and social events. Field trips are a huge part of why our school community is so tight knit, giving you the chance to get to know your course mates and key staff, while honing your practical skills. You will gain plenty of hands-on experience, with over 40 days of fieldwork both in the UK and overseas, the cost of which is included in your tuition fee.

The skills developed throughout your studies are highly valued by employers – from scientific and technical skills including coding, modelling, lab skills, and data analysis – to transferable skills such as communication, creativity and resilience.

The innovators of the 21st century will bring together arts, science, engineering, humanities and enterprise to deliver innovative products, services and ways of living. They will be team players with a breadth of skills and qualities that enable them to work across specialisms and cultures.

This course combines in-depth subject specialism in physics with interdisciplinary breadth, creative teamwork and entrepreneurial skills. Alongside your physics studies, you will apply your subject knowledge by translating ideas into plans for digital and creative enterprises, both social and commercial.

This course combines all that you would expect of a research-informed physics degree with expert tuition, insight and practice in innovation and entrepreneurship. The course will equip you with all the critical, theoretical and practical skills central to physics. You will learn about the fundamental building blocks and forces of nature and how physics enables us to understand the world around us, from subatomic particles to cosmological length scales.

You will come together with students from other innovation disciplines, such as computer science and psychology, each contributing a unique perspective on a challenge as you identify needs and develop ideas. Ultimately, you'll create innovative solutions together.

By the time you graduate you will have a portfolio of work ranging from live client projects to planning your own entrepreneurial venture. You will have learned how to evaluate the potential of your product or service and how to finance it, and you will have a network of peers and advisers who have worked with you along the way.

The innovators of the 21st century will bring together arts, science, engineering, humanities and enterprise to deliver innovative products, services and ways of living. They will be team players with a breadth of skills and qualities that enable them to work across specialisms and cultures.

This course combines in-depth study of geography with interdisciplinary breadth, creative teamwork and entrepreneurial skills. Alongside your geography studies you will apply your subject knowledge by translating ideas into plans for digital and creative enterprises, both social and commercial.

The course will equip you to use the critical, theoretical and practical skills central to geography, developing your knowledge and skills across a range of areas.

You will come together with students from other innovation disciplines, such as computer science and anthropology, each contributing a unique perspective on a challenge as you identify needs and develop ideas. Ultimately, you'll create innovative solutions together.

By the time you graduate you will have a portfolio of work ranging from live client projects to planning your own entrepreneurial venture. You will have learned how to evaluate the potential of your product or service and how to finance it, and you will have a network of peers and advisers who have worked with you along the way.

If you want to improve the world through the responsible use of data, the MSc in Data Science will give you the skills to do so. You will learn how to understand, in depth, the computational and statistical principles of modern data science and be skilled at the rigorous and ethical application of these techniques to real-world challenges.

Whether you have a background in numerate sciences, engineering, or computer science, the program will provide you with the skills to succeed in this exciting and fast-moving discipline and will equip you with excellent employment prospects to pursue roles in industry as either a data scientist or data engineer as well as for research and development roles.

This MSc aims to:

• Equip you with the ability to work across disciplinary boundaries in the effective application and deployment of data-intensive solutions in a variety of contexts.
• Give graduates a breadth and depth of knowledge and skills in computational, machine learning, and statistical principles and the capability for insightful large-scale data analysis, so you will be able to specify and implement analytical pipelines for real-world data at scale.
• Provide you with a good understanding of the ethical issues in the application of contemporary data science techniques to real-world challenges so you can be conversant with arguments concerning the risks and potential benefits and disadvantages arising from the deployment of these technologies.
• Enable you to independently initiate data science projects specified at a high-level perspective, leading them from scoping onward to completion, while exercising appropriate project management methods and maintaining stakeholder engagement.

The MSc in Data Science has been co-designed with industrial partners and is highly relevant to rewarding employment opportunities. There is a strong emphasis on responsible innovation and ethics to encourage you to use your knowledge and skills for societal good in the workplace or through further research. The course is closely associated with excellent research in the University, ensuring leading edge teaching. 

The MA in Philosophy will give you a thorough grounding in the core knowledge and skills required for philosophical research, while also allowing you to pursue your own philosophical interests in depth.

The MA is an exciting programme that provides an opportunity to design a path to match your philosophical interests. You will take three core taught units plus three additional units that you will select from a range of options. Your dissertation is an opportunity to work on an extended and original piece of research on a topic of your choosing, with guidance from a research supervisor. You will develop a deep knowledge and understanding of key areas of philosophy and a sophisticated ability to critically evaluate and assess philosophical theories.

The MSc in Medical Statistics and Data Science will enable you to engage with the complex statistical and data science healthcare challenges facing the global community, providing high-quality training in statistical and computational methods that are applicable to low-, middle- and high-income settings.

As a medical statistician you will play a vital role in improving the health of populations by conducting statistical research (such as designing clinical trials and epidemiological studies, analysing data and interpreting results) to advance medical knowledge, track or prevent diseases and improve medications and treatments.  

Challenges have arisen over the last decade in the increasing availability of enormous electronic datasets related to human health and healthcare. Data science combines mathematics, statistics and programming tools to enable analysis of these very large and diverse datasets.  

You will be trained in the theory and practice of cutting-edge methods in medical statistics and data science (including causal inference, machine learning and data mining). Teaching will focus on building strong quantitative and computational skills, and effective interpretation and communication of research findings. All concepts, skills and tools are illustrated using real-life case studies and health-related data. You will gain professional skills - such as teamwork, presentation skills and writing for publication - essential for a successful medical statistician and data scientist.

Engineering mathematics is the art of applying mathematical and engineering principles to complex, real-world problems across areas as wide-ranging as artificial intelligence, ecology, medicine, physics, social media and sustainability.

For this MSc, you will be fully embedded within an engineering faculty, benefitting from unrivalled access to a broad range of industrial collaborations and pioneering research.

Spanning engineering, mathematics and computer science, this program would suit graduates from any related discipline who would like to become versatile at solving multidisciplinary challenges.

Graduates will be well placed to meet the increasing demand from the industrial, government and service sectors for maths-savvy graduates who can work across traditional boundaries and drive high-tech innovation. From designing Formula One cars, to biomedicine and developing renewable energy technologies, our engineering graduates go on to a wide range of exciting careers.