Master of Science in Theoretical Physics

at University of Bristol - Clifton Campus United Kingdom

This course provides an exciting intellectual challenge from the outset. In year one you will study physics and mathematics and philosophical topics such as metaphysics, the theory of knowledge, and ethics.

Subsequent years allow you to study the overlap between the subjects in depth and might include units in the philosophy of science and the foundations and philosophy of physics.

The course gives you the opportunity to develop a physicist's broad range of skills, including problem solving, numeracy and communication, and to supplement these with a philosopher's ability to rigorously analyse complex texts and form coherent arguments on complex subjects.

You will join a friendly department with a very active, award-winning student society. The course is accredited by the Institute of Physics.

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.

Our BSc Finance will equip you with the skills necessary for a successful career in the financial services industry as well as in economic consultancy, in government departments or in regulatory agencies. You will also be well placed to pursue specialist postgraduate studies.

The course offers rigorous training in all areas of finance with a focus on the quantitative skills that are required in every aspect of financial decision making today. Through a choice of core and optional units, you will gain exposure to the related fields of economics, accounting, management and business law.

The course is designed by researchers who have industry or regulatory experience. It is among the first courses in the UK to contain coverage of new and disruptive forms of finance at the undergraduate level, including cryptocurrencies, FinTech, digital finance (Big Data), smart beta investing, peer-to-peer lending, and high-frequency trading.

You will learn to relate concepts and theories to financial practice through the use of specialist industry newspapers, including the Dow Jones Financial News and data vendors, such as Bloomberg and Thomson Reuters Eikon as well as Refinitiv.

Our intensive, one-year, MSc Management with a specialism in Digitalisation and Big Data is for graduates from a wide range of subject backgrounds. It is not necessary to have any prior academic or practical experience in business or management. This program is for students who aspire to management-level digital roles within their chosen industry.

Our MSc Management pathways provide an introduction to management followed by a detailed exploration of a specific area of management theory and practice, in this case Digitalisation and Big Data. The program attracts students from around the globe and you will work with students with different backgrounds and interests.

Within this MSc pathway, you will develop an in-depth understanding of the digital environments of today’s organisations. You will critically evaluate areas including digital business models, big data, data analysis, online services, the implementation of digital applications, and ethics.

We aim to guide, teach and develop analytical and confident critical thinkers. You will gain insight into the nature of management and digital business and will be armed with the knowledge to apply management theory to practice. Group work and presentations, often based on industry case studies, allow practical application of theory and develop the teamwork and communication skills expected in today's workplace.

Bristol is an entrepreneurial city and home to SETSquared, the world’s top university business incubator (UBI Global). You will be taught by leading academics whose research tackles the global societal issues facing modern management. 78 per cent of the School of Management’s research is rated as world leading or internationally excellent (REF 2014), reflecting its impact in shaping policy and practice.

Preserving the security of computers, connected devices and their data becomes more important every year. Mathematics plays a key role in both preventing and modelling security breaches, with many cybersecurity tools and algorithms being based on mathematical ideas.

This postgraduate program gives you a rigorous introduction to the underpinning theories in mathematics and will equip you with modern data science, analytical and computational tools to implement them.

Developed in collaboration with industry and government, our curriculum includes a broad variety of units, from strands of pure mathematics and data science to computer science and statistics. You will work at scale on large datasets to implement real-world cybersecurity solutions, gaining a qualification and experience in a field that has a recognised skills shortage.

The School of Mathematics has more than doubled in size over the last decade; in the most recent Research Excellence Framework, 87 per cent of our mathematical sciences research was recognised as world-leading or internationally excellent. Learn alongside expert academics, challenging you to consider some of the big security questions facing us today.

If you're driven by intellectual curiosity and enjoy the satisfaction of cracking difficult puzzles, this course is for you.

BSc Mathematics offers a rigorous foundation in mathematics that will help you stand out to top employers. Vocational units, currently including Financial Risk Management and Maths in Schools, prepare you for a successful career in industry. Opportunities to undertake a research project could inspire you to pursue postgraduate study.

Our lecturers are passionate about their subject, with modules informed by cutting-edge research in fundamental mathematical abstractions, statistics and practical applications to global problems. You may be able to try units in quantum mechanics or mathematical biology, or take the opportunity to mentor and learn from students studying the same subject overseas.

Year one consists of compulsory topics, covered in lectures, small-group tutorials and working through exercises independently and with peers, as well as freedom to explore a range of topics in collaboration with your personal tutor and fellow students.

In your second and third year you can start to shape your degree to fit your interests, continue with a varied degree or choose to specialise. You'll also have the chance to study units outside mathematics.

After your first year, support for your studies continues in the form of drop-in sessions with lecturers, exercise and feedback classes, and student-led Maths Cafés.

As you move through the course you will gain academic independence, with flexible opportunities for project work.

From crowdfunding to cryptocurrencies, and from automated trading to Alipay, recent innovations in financial technologies have revolutionised the way we spend, save, borrow, and invest. Companies in the financial services sector are now able to intelligently harness data to provide tailored products and services; big technology corporations offer financial services to customers through their social media accounts; and disruptive technology start-ups have quickly scaled to challenge the dominance of traditional banks by developing new forms of finance from the ground up.

This new MSc offers an opportunity to join the financial technology revolution. Students will learn the key design features of a number of financial technology applications and will develop skills to implement, assess, and engineer these technologies. Students will also develop an understanding of the computational, statistical, and machine learning principles necessary for insightful large-scale data analysis used in data-driven finance.

Hosted by a world-leading engineering faculty, this is a technology-focused MSc and not a finance or accounting programme that is traditionally provided by a business school. Therefore, we expect applicants to have a strong background in computer science, engineering, or a numerate science; a background in economics or finance is not expected or required.

This MSc is likely to appeal to applicants looking to start or advance their careers in data-driven finance and technology. The UK is a world leader in financial technology and the Bristol region has the largest fintech ecosystem outside of London. The programme has been co-designed with industrial partners and will offer opportunities to engage with industry on real-world commercial projects.