Bachelor of Law (Accelerated)

at University of Buckingham United Kingdom

Our new flagship MBA programme takes advantage of Buckingham’s unique student-centred pedagogical approach, to give you an unparalleled opportunity to work closely with expert-faculty to develop considerable specialised and general business knowledge. It will help you achieve a more rewarding career and lucrative lifestyle.

On the programme you will:

• Develop knowledge and understanding of organisations, their management and the changing internal and external contexts in which they operate.
• Build knowledge and understanding of the complexity of business management in order to improve the effectiveness of decision-making in organisations.
• Develop as managers who can contribute a balanced outlook which incorporates an understanding of the economic, environmental, social and ethical concerns in the context of managing organisations.
• Develop enduring skills and an appreciation that these skills can be enhanced and developed through life-long learning.
• Develop the necessary knowledge and skills to improve your employability in an increasingly competitive environment.

Modules are designed to enhance your employability by developing your capacity to make high-quality decisions, undertake organizational analysis, lead others and communicate effectively. In particular, the MBA project provides you with the opportunity to develop, but also demonstrate your business acumen through a significant piece of original organizational research or consultancy-style project work.

Our fast-track 2-year Economics programme will explore these topics and many others. The course is designed to equip students with the quantitative and analytical skills to progress into economics-related jobs in finance, business and consulting, as well as preparing them for master’s level study.

As a student, you will blend theory in econometrics, macroeconomics, financial markets and microeconomic behaviour, together with practical real-world analysis and policy applications. We regularly host events and seminars where you can see the latest research from our own academics.

Our academics offer a supportive, diverse and creative environment for you to explore your interests and ensure a successful educational experience. You will join an international community of students, staff and alumni.

A dedicated professional development course runs through the degree covering academic and job market skills. You will also benefit from internships and research opportunities in the Vinson Centre for Economics and Entrepreneurship.

There are also many optional choices built into the programme that allows you to tailor your degree to suit your career or academic preferences.

Many graduates continue their studies with us at master’s level or careers in banking and financial markets, corporate finance, economic consultancy and think tanks.

We are the beneficiaries of a substantial endowment from Nobel prize winning economist Ronald Coase and offer several generous scholarships for students with a passion for Economics. We especially encourage women and ethnic minorities to apply.

The academic staff in the Applied Computing Department (ACD) are all engaged in research and publications. Considering its modest size, ACD has successfully attracted research funding from various sources in the UK and the EU, including industry, research councils, HEA and EU framework projects such as FP6. Furthermore, ACD has been working and collaborating with many European research institutions.

For the academic year, 2012-2013, two PhD and six MSc students (one in Mathematics) have graduated, four of whom graduated with Distinction. The two PhD students have made it for the March graduation and we expect to have three or four more completing their PhD research programmes for the next graduation. One of our new PhD students in Computing joined the Department last October, and three other PhD students have joined us since. Over the last few years, the number of research students in ACD has grown steadily to (currently) 29 PhD and two Master’s research students.

We have had over 20 refereed conference and journal papers published during the last 12 months, and two of the papers have been awarded best paper awards.

ACD supports diverse research topics addressing varied applied computing technologies such as:

• Image processing and pattern recognition with applications in biometric-based person identification, image super-resolution, digital watermarking and steganography, content-based image/video indexing and retrieval, biomedical image analysis.
• Multi-factor authentication and security algorithms.
• Wireless networks technologies (Multi-frequency Software-Defined / Cognitive Radios, convergence and integration of different wireless technologies and standards such as WiFi and WiMax, IPv4 and IPv6, wireless mesh technologies, intrusion detection and prevention, efficiency and stability of ad hoc networks).
• Hybrid navigation and localisation integrations for mobile handsets, including using Cellular and WiFi in conjunction with GPS and Glonass for seamless positioning indoors, Multiplexed receive chain of GPS/Glonass with on-board handset Bluetooth/WiFi, GNSS signals multiplexing for real-time simulation.
• Cloud computing, including the readiness of mobile operating systems for cloud services and focusing on techniques for fast computing handovers, efficient virtualisation and optimised security algorithms.
• Data mining techniques, including database systems, the application of data mining techniques in image and biological data, human-computer interaction and visual languages.
• Research and development of Apps for mobile devices and smart TVs, particularly for application in the areas of education and healthcare.
• Differential geometry – Einstein metrics, quasi-Einstein metrics, Ricci solitons, numerical methods in differential geometry.

As well as researching the chosen subject, our students engage in delivering seminars weekly, attending conferences and workshops, attending online webinars and discussion forums, attending training and focused group studies, supervising tutorial and laboratory sessions for undergraduate students, peer reviews and final year project supervision, among a host of technical and networking activities to enhance their skills and techniques.

BSc Psychology with English Literature looks at the discoveries and hypotheses of psychologists who over the last 100 years have been enriching the study of English literature, either as a way of understanding the mind of the artist or of the characters they create. Studying BSc Psychology with English Literature at Buckingham as with English Literature as your minor subject, gives you the chance to ‘apply’ the insights which the scientific study of individual and group psychology provides to a range of powerful and enigmatic works of literature, from the plays of Shakespeare, through the Gothic and Romantic projections of the late 18th-century, to the short stories and novels of British and American women writers writing in a post-Freudian universe.

Both subjects require the close analysis of texts (spoken, written, uttered) and the discipline of clear report and essay-writing. Their combination in this programme gives you the imaginative scope of an arts programme with the vocation and professionalism of a Bachelor of Science degree.

BSc Psychology with Business Management looks many important aspects of business, such as human resource management, ergonomics and aptitude testing. Indeed all psychology students take a course called Business Psychology, which all business students also study. This combination is an excellent choice for anyone wanting to go into business or industry.

The BSc in Computing with Business Management (including Integrated Foundation year) programme will benefit those individuals who wish to study an undergraduate degree but have non-standard academic qualifications.

Year one will follow the same structure as the BSc Computing (with Integrated Foundation) programme first year. In years two and three students will build on these skills and enhance their knowledge, understanding and practice in core subjects following the BSc Computing with Business Management programme structure. Throughout the three years, a student will be equipped with the skills to reach their potential in academic studies.

Computing and communications technologies lie at the heart of modern society. They include hardware, software, networks, tools, telecommunications equipment and required standards that provide the technological framework on which the delivery of information services is based. The IT industry is reporting a widening gap in software skills while hard technology is developing and diversifying fast.

The overall aim of the programme is to enable all students to develop their potential so that they can apply what they have learnt to deal with computational problems and develop solutions in a real-world environment in relation to business studies. Through studying this programme, students learn how to specify, design, develop and operate efficient and innovative computer-based systems and gain up-to-date knowledge and awareness of the relevant computing technologies within a shorter space of time. Graduates of the degree programme will be able to undertake a variety of careers in the IT sector of related industries.

This programme of study aims to train first-degree holders in computing-related areas into specialists in selected areas of IT and computing. Based on the current expertise in the Department, the programme offers students opportunities for in-depth study in:

• Secure mobile and wireless communications
• Biometrics and authentication
• Data mining and knowledge discovery
• Imaging techniques and applications

The programme is carefully designed to suit the varied needs of different students from different backgrounds and with different career objectives.

Communications using mobile and wireless devices such as mobile phones, PDA s and laptops have become increasingly important in modern life and electronic commerce. Reliable, speedy and secure transmission of information over such devices is vital for the successful exploitation of the technologies.

Authentication, using biometric data as a sophisticated means to combat fraud, is increasingly accepted by both businesses and governments. Biometric authentication solutions require good use of imaging and data mining techniques in constructing and verifying customer profiles. Online organisations have accumulated large collections of online data that need speedy processing and analysis. If you are interested in finding out more about any of these technologies, then this programme is for you.

On graduating from this programme, you will be able to:

• Understand a range of modern computing technologies
• Apply these technologies in practice
• Describe the roles that modern computing technologies have in many areas of application
• Demonstrate the value of state-of-the-art development in one specific technology and its applications

The 3 year LLB Law degree is designed for students who can benefit from an introduction to enable them to study at undergraduate level. The first year of the programme provides a foundation to the more specialist ‘core’ subjects delivered in years two and three.

The unique structure of Buckingham’s LLB degree allows our students to become confident, competent lawyers, able to practise almost anywhere in the world after just three years (eight or nine terms) of study.

With an English ‘qualifying law degree’ from Buckingham you will be recognised by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (formerly the Law Society) and the Bar Standards Board as qualified to be exempt from the academic stage of training for entry into the legal profession. Every LLB programme at Buckingham (whether single honours or combined honours) provides our graduates with this qualification.

We can usually accommodate the additional requirements needed for those who wish to practise in other jurisdictions and if you are an overseas student we are happy to discuss exactly which subjects you need to study in order to qualify for your jurisdiction.

During your study for the Buckingham LLB Law Degree  you will become proficient in written and oral presentation, develop and perfect your research techniques and learn to solve problems in a logical and structured way and also acquire the practical skills of oral advocacy

This MA programme is a continuation of the project established by the late Sir Roger Scruton at the University of Buckingham. It is a one-year, London-based programme of ten evening seminars and individual research.

Sir Roger Scruton was very critical of the current academic approach to philosophy, where direct engagement with fundamental philosophical questions and the training of the philosophical mind have been displaced by a focus on engaging with the  thoughts of philosophers through the lens of linguistic analysis and examination of minutiae. Central to Scruton’s vision in designing the programme was his conviction that the best way to learn philosophy is by doing philosophy, i.e.: engaging in philosophical dialogue. This lies at the heart of the seminars.

Dr. Alicja Gescinska, was chosen by Sir Roger to assist him in this task, and continues the programme in the same spirit, where the exchange of ideas and a vivid dialogue are central to the course. She does this, together with Professor Raymond Tallis.

Together they have crafted a programme of ten guest lectures which will not only introduce the students to key topics of philosophy, but which will also allow them to take part in real philosophical discussions. The guest lectures will be provided by internationally renowned philosophers. The students will thus have  the chance to exchange ideas,  and enter into dialogue, with leading figures in the field. During the course of the year these seminars are supplemented by additional online lectures by the course organisers.

The range of topics covered in the programme reflect the wide range of research areas that were central to the work of Sir Roger Scruton.

Each seminar takes place at the Reform Club, Pall Mall, central London and is followed by a dinner during which participants can engage in discussion with the course directors and guest lecturer.

Examination will be by a research dissertation on an approved philosophical topic chosen by the student, of around 25,000 words. Guidance and personal supervision will be provided.

The BSc Psychology with Spanish first-year covers two Psychology modules per term and the third module from another department (for breadth). In the second year, it concentrates on Psychology alone, studying the same modules as the Psychology major students, together with several new more specialised modules.

This popular and exciting degree programme offers an excellent basis for anyone wishing to go into a psychology-related career.

A foreign language is always an excellent skill to have, and the BSc Psychology with Spanish is great study option for anyone interested in psychology who wants the opportunity of learning another language to a high level.