Bachelor of Science (Hons) in Geology (Optional Placement)

at University of Plymouth United Kingdom

This one year MA Architectural Design program explores architecture, design and urbanism, with an emphasis on the critical investigation of space through practical, theoretical research interests and creative activities. Design is the crucial agency for exploring spatial creativity, coupled with an experimental design practice that operates from a core architectural discipline, yet celebrates the blurring of disciplinary boundaries to forge innovation and new disciplines in spatial enquiry.

You will undertake architectural design studio projects that immerse you within spatial debates and cross-disciplinary activities, including working on live projects, community engagement and public events. Supporting your work in the design studio, you will engage with emerging research in architecture, connecting sustainable practices and integrated technology. You will generate a dissertation through detailed design development of a selected aspect of your design studio work. Support is provided in the design studio through weekly tutorials, workshops and seminars. All students will be encouraged to develop a personal and critical path of design discovery. The studio culture fosters a unique design-led research practice, converging theory, design and technology.

Key features

• Encouraging discovery and critical development in a studio-based culture that fosters a unique research-led practice, converging theory, practice and technology.
• Co-taught with the RIBA-validated Part II programme, sharing coursework, projects and studio space.
• Advances the understanding of the role architectural design plays in today’s most pressing societal, environmental and cultural challenges.
• Encompasses a wide range of skills, theory and practice from urban situation to building performance.
• Develops the capacity to conceptualise spatial thought in relation to architectural design and production at all levels of design, fabrication and use.
• Framed by issues of place, people, tectonics and environmental concerns

Key Features

• Develop a range of knowledge, skills and practical experience in biosciences, that will equip you for a wide variety of careers. Biosciences students go on to careers including biomedical and human health sciences, biotechnology or environmental biology.
• Benefit from a dedicated research project module catering for the needs of incoming foundation degree students.
• Expand your learning through practical classes in the laboratory and in the field.  
• Draw on a strong system of student support and tracking through personal tutors.
• Take part in an optional work placement year before starting the course and gain invaluable insights into the practical aspects of working in biosciences.
• Study up to four topic areas in depth including plant biotechnology, global change biology, ecotoxicology, environmental microbiology and biotechnology, medical genetics, animals and human health and science centres communication.

Study the literature of the sea in the Ocean City and explore the Devon settings that have inspired authors like Agatha Christie and Arthur Conan Doyle. From the graphic novel to transatlantic literature, English at Plymouth will take your love of reading in new directions. Explore texts that have shaped our world as you navigate the challenges of the future. We’ve decolonised our curriculum, giving you free rein to study an eclectic range of literature across cultures and geographies.

Key Features

• Personalise your degree by choosing from a wide variety of optional modules in literary studies and creative writing, or widen your horizons by taking specialist modules in other subjects in the school.
• Learn from internationally recognised research-active staff.
• Receive free set texts for all core modules throughout the three years.
• Benefit from assessment through coursework, with no written exams.
• Make the most of a rich cultural life with The Arts Institute programme and the University’s links with local cultural organisations, like The Box and Theatre Royal.
• We’re very proud of our National Student Survey (NSS) 2020 return – 94% of students agreed staff are good at explaining things, and 94% said that the course is intellectually stimulating.*

What can the arts, humanities and social sciences do to cultivate a deeper understanding of relationships between society, culture and the environment.

This programme brings multiple disciplinary perspectives into dialogue with the ecological sciences, conservation and environmental thought. Drawing on wide-ranging and world-leading staff expertise, this interdisciplinary MA will enable you to build key skills in communication, research and critical and creative thinking invaluable for building more environmentally responsible societies of the future.

Key Features

Our industry-recognised BSc (Hons) Quantity Surveying course will help you develop knowledge and skills in the commercial and financial management of construction projects. Through lectures, tutorials with industry partners, real assessments and projects briefs, and an optional year-long paid industry placement, you will learn the requirements for managing risk and proving value for a variety of clients, taking into account sustainable and ethical dimensions.

Key Features

• Our course is fully accredited by the leading professional bodies: the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) and the Chartered Association of Building Engineers (CABE).
• This course is designed around a common first year with BSc (Hons) Building Surveying and BSc (Hons) Construction Project Management, allowing you to transfer to these courses after successful completion of Year 1.
• You will gain valuable experience with an optional, paid year-long placement in a leading surveying company in the UK or abroad. Our industry links will help you find a placement, boosting your studies with practical experience and providing the contacts that can lead to future employment.
• You will be part of a vibrant multidisciplinary learning environment, working with students from other built environment disciplines, including construction project managers, architectural engineers and building surveyors.
• You will have access to a wide range of industry standard facilities, resources and equipment, including, a designated design studio space, specialist laboratories and workshops, Mac and PC suites, a 360 degree immersive vision theatre.
• Each year the quantity surveying knowledge and skills you develop come together in a real-world design and build project with an actual client and project brief. Guided by our panel of industrial advisers, you will develop the professional skills to stand out in the sector.
• Learn from leaders in their fields. Our staff come from both industry and research backgrounds. Industry professionals also play an active role in the course participating in guest lectures, workshops and tutorials.
• Our built environment courses have been running for over 25 years.

Are you ready to make the difference? Discover the formula to teaching mathematics with our expert staff and world leading researchers. You’ll gain a solid foundation in mathematical and statistical modules, while the final year combines educational theory and school experience. Time spent in the classroom will give you the skills, knowledge and confidence to progress to a teacher training course such as a PGCE, or move into one of many careers where high-level mathematical skills are essential.

Key Features

• Gain classroom experience in a placement module, supporting mathematics teaching in a secondary or primary school for one morning a week throughout your final year. This will help you become an effective communicator.
• Dr Jenny Sharp who leads the Education modules has worked with schools in many different capacities, and is regularly invited to run workshops and masterclasses all around the country, including at the Royal Institution, other universities and in schools.
• An in-depth individual project gives you an introduction to mathematical educational theory, an ideal preparation for teacher training courses.
• Help others and gain hands on expertise by taking part in our Mathematics Enrichment Programme activities. You can gradually develop a workshop for a Mathematics masterclass.
• Gain high level understanding of modern pure and applied mathematics, and statistics; this knowledge base opens up many mathematical careers to you.

This one-year conversion MSc is designed for graduates from a wide range of disciplines and experience. It gives you skills in data analytics, computing and business. Using sophisticated analytics techniques, including social network visualisation and sentiment analysis, and professional software, including R tidyverse, Python, C# and SQL/NoSQL, you gain the skills and knowledge to transform data into commercial value and boost your employability

During your MSc year, you take four core modules, two optional modules depending upon your interests, and complete a masters-level project over
the summer. Student projects can be on data analytics, computing or business and can be a multidisciplinary mix of these areas. Throughout the programme you learn how to master sophisticated analytics techniques and professional software, including R tidyverse, Python, C# and QL/NoSQL databases, to handle and exploit big data, and to work as part of a project team. You also develop practical and professional competence in data science and business analytics, and learn to make strategic decisions in a broad range of business related practical situations. 

Key features

Will gene therapy become an established treatment for cancer? What are the potential benefits of stem cell research? How has the revolution in genome sequencing provided insights into human biology? On this flexible course, you’ll develop skills and knowledge across the spectrum of subject disciplines – enabling an understanding of these and other key questions relating to human biology, health and disease.

This course is delivered by the School of Biomedical Sciences in the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry and enhanced by links with healthcare professionals. You’ll benefit from a rich and varied learning environment. You will also have the opportunity to enhance your employability with an optional placement year. We’re very proud of our National Student Survey (NSS) 2018 return showing that the course had an overall student satisfaction of 95 per cent.

Have you considered

• BSc (Hons) Biomedical Science
• BSc (Hons) Nutrition, Exercise and Health
• BSc (Hons) Psychology with Human Biology
• BSc (Hons) Medical Physiology

Key Features

• Delivered by the School of Biomedical Sciences in the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry and enhanced by links with healthcare professionals.
• A strong foundation in a broad range of bioscience disciplines underpinned by a biomolecular knowledge-base relevant to contemporary human biosciences today.
• Opportunities to include optional elements of psychology at each stage of the programme.
• Enables students to explore themes of personal interest within the biosciences at all stages.
• Staff with expertise in a wide range of biomedical research topics directly inform learning and teaching.
• Strong international reputation in translational research with significant financial investment in laboratory infrastructure.
• Emphasis on practical laboratory skills relevant to research and other scientific careers.
• Benefit from a rich and varied interdisciplinary learning environment, which includes collaboration with a wider health care education community at the University.
• Optional placement opportunities provide students with relevant work experience.
• Personal tutoring in modules throughout the programme of study.
• Equips graduates with the confidence, knowledge, skills and other attributes suitable for a wide variety of careers within this rapidly expanding field.
• This course has competitive entry for up to ten ring-fenced places at the end of stage one for progression onto medicine and dentistry. Applicants must meet minimum academic requirements for consideration. e.g A levels - Minimum of AAB to include A grades in Biology, one other science from Chemistry, Maths, Physics, Psychology, Geology or Geography. General Studies will not be accepted.

The BSc (Hons) Clinical Physiology degree is a four-year course with integrated practice placement learning intended to be the main route for the training of Clinical Physiologists and Healthcare Science Practitioners. Our awards are focused on the training of Healthcare Science Practitioners for the physiological science disciplines (Cardiovascular Physiology and Respiratory and Sleep Physiology).
Graduates in these disciplines will work in a range of healthcare settings to deliver quality assured tests, diagnostic investigations and interventions for patients/clients.

Key Features

• Multi-disciplinary programmes integrating traditional and clinically-focused subject areas in cardiac, respiratory and sleep physiology, delivered by specialist academic and clinical healthcare associates and informed by patients, carers and lay associates.
• Flexibility for students to study specialist areas of clinical physiology, cardiac or respiratory and sleep physiology, as well as maintaining academic breadth in these disciplines.
• A coherent, progressive curriculum underpinned by experiential and workplace learning, ensuring competence in core knowledge, personal and practical skills designed to enhance the students’ academic performance and professional development.
• Enthusiastic, accessible and committed academic staff that offer student support via personal tutoring throughout their programme of study.
• Teaching and Learning informed by nationally and internationally recognised research, scholarship and professional expertise in biomedicine, clinical physiology and pedagogy.
• A learning environment enriched by the presence of a “critical mass” of healthcare education in the form of the Faculty of Health: Medicine, Dentistry and Human Sciences, well-equipped modern laboratories and facilities, plus the legacy of the Centres of Excellence in Teaching and Learning.
• A route to apply for registration as a Clinical Physiologist / Healthcare Science Practitioner.

Physical geography and geology examines how the Earth’s surface is shaped by natural and human processes. This knowledge is key to addressing many of the complex sustainability challenges facing the planet. Our new modules explore geohazards and risk, clean energy transitions, and long term environmental change. Students gain specialist academic, international fieldwork and laboratory skills providing a springboard to an exciting and diverse range of careers.

Have you Considered

• BSc (Hons) Geography
• BSc (Hons) Geography with Ocean Science
• BSc (Hons) Geology
• BSc (Hons) Geology with Ocean Science

Key Features

• Our new modules address critical sustainability challenges: reducing risk from natural hazards, harnessing cleaner energy sources and how to combat climate and environmental change.
• Our approachable staff share their cutting-edge research and expertise through varied teaching practices in lectures, tutorials, practical classes and field courses.
• Learn to apply the latest techniques in the field and laboratory. Our substantial fieldwork programme provides opportunities in a variety of UK and overseas locations including Death Valley USA, Spain, Sicily and Cyprus.
• Study modules dedicated to addressing the connection between physical geography and geology, such as ‘long-term landscape development’.
• Progress your skills in our open access laboratory, LABplus.
• Develop your confidence with a personal tutor, providing you with weekly guidance throughout your first year.
• Our PALS mentoring scheme provides you with support from students in the year ahead.
• Plymouth's coastal location, close to Dartmoor and two UNESCO World Heritage sites provides the perfect setting for studying geology, with opportunities for fieldwork right on our doorstep.
• Receive essential field safety equipment free as part of your welcome package.
• Work towards becoming a Chartered Geologist, our accreditation by the Geological Society, the world’s oldest and most prestigious national learned society for geology, helps you to gain the required experience.
• Take the opportunity to spend your second year studying abroad in Canada, Australia, USA or elsewhere through our direct exchange, Erasmus or ISEP programmes. Plymouth is currently the only UK institution to offer exchanges through ISEP, giving our students the greatest range of Earth science exchange opportunities available.