Bachelor of Arts in Visual Effects and Motion Graphics with Placement (Thick - Sandwich)

at Brunel University London United Kingdom

The Business Computing BSc degree is a challenging course that provides highly relevant, hands-on experience. Through a mixture of theory and real-world practice, you’ll learn how to determine a dynamic mix of processes, which allow information delivery systems and users to carry out business effectively and efficiently. You’ll come to intuitively understand how an organisation’s information systems need to adapt to the changes and developments natural to growth and progress.

The modules on this degree course cover a range of topics, including the basic properties of software artefacts like information, algorithms, programs, common commercial system, and network architectures. System development approaches are also covered, including requirements capture, design methods, models, tools and techniques, implementing and testing systems, and software maintenance. Appreciation of project management issues arising from team-based software development is a key feature of the degree.

We’ll ensure that you have a strong approach to problem-solving both individually and in groups involving model-building and analysis, applying both theoretical and empirical knowledge to make choices and find solutions. You will also master commonly used notations and methods to reason and communicate clearly about requirements, specifications, designs and solutions. All factors which contribute to whether a business sinks or swims.

Our course is designed for flexibility, so if you’re not sure which route you want to go down, you can select modules and specialise gradually during your time with us. You can transfer between Computer Science and Business Computing up to the start of Level 2, then should you wish, you can choose a specialism up to the start of Level 3.

We know that when you graduate, you’ll be working on large projects. That’s why one third of each year of our programmes is project-based. On Levels 1 and 2, you’ll build a software solution in a team, and in your final year you’ll carry out an individual project. You’ll also have the opportunity to showcase your projects at the annual Made in Brunel (Software Innovation) event, with awards presented by the likes of Cisco, Sky and Xerox.

As part of your degree course, you’ll have the chance to take a year-long work placement between your second year and third year. We’ll support you in finding that all-important paid professional experience, in the UK or abroad. The feedback we’ve received is that those who have taken a placement are much more likely to find a job for which their degree was a formal requirement as it gives you a competitive advantage. Recent graduates have gone on to work for well-known names such as Accenture, Toshiba, Microsoft, British Airways, O2, and Barclays.

Our programmes are accredited by the British Computer Society, the Chartered Institute for IT, for the purposes of fully meeting the academic requirement for registration as a Chartered IT Professional (CITP)  The accreditation also allows you to apply for professional membership of the BCS after you have successfully completed your degree.

Brunel’s Computer Science department has been awarded an Athena SWAN Bronze, recognising our dedication to the advancement of gender equality in STEM subjects. We now have an ongoing three-year action plan to further implement strategies and improve our practices. As part of this endeavour, Brunel’s Women in Engineering and Computing mentoring scheme provides our female students with invaluable help and support from the industry.

Are you curious about how to deal with ecological and environmental challenges that affect nations across the world? Our new Global Challenges undergraduate degrees have been designed with disrupters in mind – people who aren’t afraid to ask questions and to pull in knowledge from across disciplines to get to the root of the planetary problems we face.

Within the core spine of your Global Challenges degree, you will take an in-depth look at issues such as climate change, sustainable development, migration, terrorism, inequality and poverty and how they affect the world we live in, the Planetary Health pathway will also introduce you to the impact human activity has on the earth systems and in turn affects our health.

You will explore questions about the environmental challenges current and future populations face as you learn to analyse and manage issues alongside the Brunel experts teaching this course.

Planetary health is a global concern. The impact of human activity must be addressed and managed so that we do not continue to damage our ecology and ultimately ourselves. As part of the Planetary Health Alliance, Brunel University London works alongside 70 dedicated universities, NGOs, government entities and research institutes who are committed to making advances in this area. This means that the knowledge you gain during your studies will come directly from the most up-to-date sources.

As part of your course you will look at the connections between changes in the environment and health outcomes. For example, how the environment has caused certain wildlife species to become extinct, or how the use of pesticides in the cultivation of fruits and vegetables may have physical or mental health risks.

You will also explore some of the technologies and political and economic strategies employed in healing the planet, such as the reduction of greenhouse gasses by avoiding the use of damaging household products, to saving energy around the home.

Throughout your course you will build your ability to work in teams as you pick up skills in project management, presenting and team pitches. A third year Enterprise Project will help to bring all these skills together as you work on a group project with a real organisation.

You have the option to apply for an internship at the end of your first year and can take a one-year placement between years two and three, giving you valuable work experience and a step ahead for your career when you graduate.

As a graduate of the new Global Challenges course you will be inquisitive and analytical with a large amount of knowledge that could change the world, as you’ll have learnt how to assess contrasting sets of data and different arguments to form your own ideas and opinions.

Who has political power? Why do they have it? To whom are they accountable? Is violent protest ever justified? If these questions evoke a response in you and raise more questions in turn, politics is the degree for you.

Politics is an exciting and dynamic subject, simulating debate and offering insight into how the ever-changing world around us works. It’s also a degree that can demonstrate your intellectual acumen and understanding of world affairs, which will be an asset in many fields of work.

The broad-based nature of the course at Brunel means you will be studying a wide breadth of modules from British politics to US foreign policy and political change. But you’ll not only be learning about politics – you’ll be analysing politics using the tools of political science to help deepen your understanding and critical thinking.

Opt for a placement year and you'll gain work experience that is highly valued by employers. Brunel students have secured placements in the Environmental Audit Committee, the House of Commons, Directorate of Gender Affairs, HM Treasury and the Competition Commission, to name only a few.

You can also opt to take part of your degree abroad in one of our partner universities in Europe, or participate in an exchange programme to China or the USA to study politics in a different part of the world whilst experiencing a new culture.

Brunel is a dynamic university choice for your politics course. You’ll be taught by politics experts who are often called on to comment on radio and television. The Brunel campus has hosted the filming of BBC’s Question Time and is a political hub during local and national elections.

Brunel politics graduates enter diverse careers. Many of our former students go into politics and the civil service and some are currently at GCHQ and military intelligence. Others work in the public and private sector like the NHS, international banks, business consultancy, law, NGOs and the media. Whichever route you chose, a politics degree with Brunel will set you up for a successful future.

The Brunel Automotive Engineering BEng gives students with a passion for motor vehicles the specialised expertise they need to become professional engineers in the fast-moving automotive industry.

Along with a solid grounding in the fundamentals of mechanical engineering, including maths, engineering science and design, you’ll gain an in-depth knowledge of the technical workings of current and future automotive systems.  

You’ll study all aspects of automotive development and manufacture from vehicle design and performance to engine and transmission systems to materials, structures and safety.

You’ll also get hands-on practice troubleshooting engineering problems that inevitably arise during the construction and testing processes.

Your education will profit, too, by your access to the work done at our Centre for Advanced Powertrain and Fuels (CAPF). One of the largest and most active engine research groups in the UK, CAPF focuses on minimising pollutant emissions and improving fuel efficiency while maintaining performance levels.

In your final year, along with studying specialist topics taught at master’s degree level, you’ll take part in a major group project to design, manufacture and test an automotive product, typically aimed at low-carbon use. This will give you valuable experience working in a team-based environment and on-the-job opportunities to develop your leadership and management skills, competencies sought by employers.

A current project concerns the use of mechanical kinetic energy recovery to help eliminate the feel of turbocharger lag in future fuel-efficient road vehicles.

Throughout your studies you’ll have use of our modern, state-of-the-art laboratory facilities, which comprise our motorsport workshop, and 24-hour access to industry standard specialist software for engineering design at dedicated computer clusters on campus, so you’ll have the opportunity and equipment to explore ideas and tackle problems.

Our automotive engineering BEng course is accredited by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE). We offer two study options. You can choose three years full-time or four years full-time with a one-year professional placement that will allow to put what you’ve learned to use in real-world situations.

If you start on the full-time course, you can transfer to the professional development option, which includes the placement, at any time before the end of Level 2.

In the rapidly evolving automotive industry, demand for engineers with the technical and managerial skills to excel is on the rise. Your Brunel BEng will give you these and equip you to play leading roles in industry and public service.

Brunel’s MSc in Advanced Electronic and Electrical Engineering is a broad degree of advanced studies in electronic and electrical engineering.

You will study in depth and breadth the key areas of electronic and electrical engineering. These include, sensors and instrumentation; control; photonics; power electronics; telecommunications; intelligent systems; medical systems; digital and analogue electronics; and embedded systems.

Access is available to modern technical facilities including computer, electronics, and power and control laboratories where you’ll work on your lab exercises. The latest industry standard engineering software packages are available for you to use in purpose-built computer laboratories.

During your studies, you will benefit from guest lectures delivered by industry professionals. You’ll participate in conferences and deliver poster presentations on your research work. This allows you to network and exchange ideas with key engineering and technology experts.

Our MSc advanced electronic and electrical engineering degree is accredited by the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET). This professional engineering institution ensures that your engineering degree meets the academic requirement to qualify as a professional engineer. This accredited MSc degree in advanced electronic and electrical engineering fully meets the educational requirement for progression to Chartered Engineer (CEng) status. It is studied full-time over one year.

The Brunel Accountancy BSc provides students interested in entering the profession with the knowledge, skills and insights that inform current accountancy practice and financial management.

You’ll get a comprehensive grounding in the conceptual, professional and practical aspects of accountancy at national and global levels, and develop your ability to identify and solve complex accounting problems across a range of business scenarios.

You also gain a firm understanding of the financial drivers underpinning business leadership, strategy, planning, governance and ethics.

You will be trained in Sage Accounting software as well as in analytical packages widely used by business and financial institutions such as SAS, EViews, Bloomberg, Reuters and STATA.

We offer two study options. You can choose three years full-time or four years full-time with a one-year professional placement between years two and three that will give you hands-on experience in a real-life working environment. You can tailor the final year of your course to specialise in an area of particular interest.

ACCA and CIMA accreditation is available on selected modules within this degree, which means you’ll gain exemptions from certain professional qualifying exams.

The theoretical and practical expertise you’ll gain from your Brunel Accountancy BSc will make you a ‘business ready’ graduate preferred by employers in the public and private sectors.

The Disease Mechanisms and Therapeutics MSc is a dynamic master’s programme, allowing you to gain hands-on experience as you delve into present-day medical understanding and try to create real advances in disease treatment and prevention.

You’ll choose a specialist biomedical area and will learn about the molecular mechanisms leading to major human diseases and their current treatments. You will also work towards identifying medical advancements and possible innovative therapeutic approaches using technological developments.

The specialist areas to choose from include cancer biology and therapy; genomic technologies; vaccine and immunisation; or radiation, toxicology and pollution.

You’ll identify areas where there are knowledge gaps in current medical understanding. Throughout the course you will be encouraged to address these gaps by looking at existing research and literature and conducting your own research.

At Brunel we recognise that strong practical skills in all fields of biomedical sciences are important to employers. For this reason we have a large practical element to the course. You’ll gain experience of different modern laboratory techniques and consider the legislative and ethical aspects linked to the discipline. You’ll learn computational skills and be trained on critical analyses of the molecular problems leading to human disease and to identify intervention opportunities. In addition, you’ll receive training in statistics and bioinformatics which are fundamental to the biomedicine sector.

In our 'Scientific Communication' module you’ll learn how to disseminate medical information to a range of audiences. Your writing skills will be developed to target a diverse range of audiences, from medical practitioners through to the general public. You will learn to write your research findings in an academic style and a journalistic style - skills which will be invaluable in a range of biomedical careers. 

If you can get lost in a book for hours on end, and enjoy writing or even drama, English is a natural choice. Storytelling is part of every culture and reveals much about a person’s lived experience, values and aspirations within a given time.

Taking the English BA at Brunel is an opportunity to uncover the richness of English literature history – its periods, genres and diverse storytellers – through a set of underlying themes.

Your journey will commence with a module on ‘Reading Resilience’ to help equip you with the required skills and competencies relevant to literary studies, so you can approach any topic with confidence.

After a first year of modules that pass through modern literature and formative texts to help develop your critical reading, your exploration in English is very much down to your own interests and choices.

In years two and three a wealth of optional modules await you, covering every period and genre from Shakespeare to Jane Austen, postcolonial writing to the women’s movement, with plenty of choice in contemporary and genre fiction like comedy, science fiction and horror.

Throughout your literature degree you will be encouraged to express your own thoughts and creativity in your coursework and seminars, which will help you to grow as a critic and writer.

An English degree will equip you with personal skills employers’ prize in graduates – not just exceptional written and verbal communication, but also the ability to communicate collaboratively in a team towards an agreed goal.

As part of your English BA you will learn to participate and present confidently in seminars, communicate your ideas effectively in writing, and to critically evaluate relevant themes within texts that frequently cross into other disciplines such as history and politics.

Opt for a placement year and you will gain hands-on work experience while you study which will further increase your attractiveness to employers when you graduate.

Outside your classroom, you can look forward to events and activities organised by the Brunel Centre for Contemporary Writing, including the annual Hillingdon Literary Festival: a free weekend of literary performances from internationally renowned authors, writing workshops and lively debates right here on campus.

Perhaps history has always been an interest for you or it’s something you’ve developed an interest in by studying it at school or college. Either way, everyone on the Modern History BA at Brunel starts off on the same level playing field, without the need for a history qualification.

History is about understanding what it means to be human. Studying and analysing it will take you back into the societies of the past to help you understand contemporary issues all the more. It’s also a subject that will help to demonstrate your intellectual acumen and understanding of world affairs, which will be an asset in so many fields of work.

Your studies at Brunel will focus on the history of Britain, Europe and the wider world in the modern period, looking closely at life as it was lived then, observing differences, similarities, patterns and connections with the present day.

Along the way, you will build a toolkit of transferable skills gained through evidence gathering, analysis, problem-solving, drafting and communications, which can be applied to a wide range of industries within the public and private sector.

Opt for a placement year and you’ll be adding a year’s experience in a job role and industry sector that will help to show future employers where you might be a good fit for their organisation. Your placement doesn’t have to be related to history and you’ll get plenty of support from staff and resources in the University’s Professional Development Centre to help steer you in the right direction.

The course has established links to world-renowned archives and libraries based in and close to London,including the Caird Library (National Maritime Museum),The National Archives and the Imperial War Museum,among others. Additionally, the original WWII operations bunker used by Sir Winston Churchill on the former RAF Uxbridge site is a walk away from campus where Brunel students regularly volunteer.

Films can evoke a multitude of emotions as we watch them on the big screens, but do you often wonder what goes into creating the masterpieces that can stick with you for a long time? Turn your creative curiosity into a career you’re passionate about by studying Brunel’s Film Production BA.

Your degree will give you a thorough understanding of film by combining the production with the theory of visual digital media. Delve into practical film and video-making, scriptwriting, filming and editing, whilst honing your critical analysis and research skills to develop a comprehensive understanding of how the film and TV industries work.

The course will allow you to bring your ideas, thoughts and inspirations to the screen. By using the fantastic editing suites with up-to-date production software including Avid with accredited training facilities for Final Cut Pro 10, you will be able to bring your creations to life.

As well as enhancing your learning by attending screenings at the British Film Institute, the Institute of Contemporary Arts and other cinemas across the capital, you will also be eligible to enter our annual Brunel University Film Festival (BUFF) with categories including Best Fiction, Best Non-Fiction and Best Overall Film. This will allow you to put what you have learnt into practice and will give you the opportunity to showcase your talent.

Learn with confidence knowing that you are taught by some of the best film academics in the UK. Not only are they experts in the industry, but they have published work in the field so some of the books on your reading list may be written by those teaching you.

Gain an insight into life after your studies by putting your learning into practice by opting for a one-year work placement. You will graduate with valuable work experience to enhance your employment prospects and will be able to develop an understanding the working world within the film industry. We have excellent links with a wide range of notable external organisations, so you will have the opportunity to apply for high quality placements across London.

Previous students have undertaken placement at many prestigious venues including The Pinewood Group, Fremantle Media, Objective Productions, WaterAid and BalletBoyz.

You will graduate with the confidence to be a creative and imaginative cultural producer with solid knowledge of film culture and practical experience which will put you in good stead for your future career.