Bachelor of Science in Sociology

at Brunel University London United Kingdom

Brunel University London provides this world-leading MSc degree for the next generation of oil and gas engineers.

This unique, industry-focused MSc in Oil and Gas Engineering is delivered at the National Structural Integrity Research Centre (NSIRC), a state-of-the-art postgraduate engineering facility based at Granta Park, near Cambridge.

The aim of this postgraduate engineering degree is to develop you into a highly sought after oil and gas engineering specialist with the skills to rapidly design and commission oilfield installations to meet energy demands.

Our Oil and Gas Engineering MSc focuses on the design of oil and gas structures. You will gain a sound understanding and in-depth knowledge of oilfield structural design, fabrication and installation.

NSIRC is a unique academia-industry collaboration located within the headquarters of TWI. Here you'll find dedicated teaching and research laboratories including 15 million pounds worth of state-of-the-art equipment. You will benefit from access to a range of leading and industry relevant software packages, as well as an on-site high performance computing facility to run high-fidelity and complex numerical simulation to support your experimental work. As a Cambridge-based student, you’ll also have access to all the course-related facilities at Brunel and will enjoy regular organised visits to the Brunel University London campus.

Based within an industrial environment, there are excellent opportunities for networking, together with undertaking applied research on real engineering projects. Combined with the benefits of living in the Cambridge area, which includes historical, cultural and social attractions, NSIRC attracts international students and practising engineers, thus greatly enhancing your learning experience.

Brunel’s Oil and Gas Engineering MSc degree is accredited by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE) and the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (IOM3). The College of Engineering, Design and Physical Sciences & TWI are offering the NSIRC scholarship for Home, EU and Overseas fee paying students starting the full-time MSc in Oil and Gas Engineering in September 2021. 

From social networks, ecommerce and government through to sensors, smart meters and mobile networks, data is being collected at an unprecedented speed and scale. But big data is of little use without 'big insight'. The skills required to develop such insight are in short supply and the shortage of skilled workers in the data analytics market is cited as a key barrier to unlocking everything that data has to offer.

The Data Science and Analytics MSc programme provides these skills, combining a strong academic degree course with hands-on experience of leading commercial technology, and the chance to gain industry certification. You will develop both your critical awareness of the very latest developments in data science and the practical skills that help you apply data science more effectively in a wide variety of sectors including finance, retail and government.

You’ll gain knowledge of key concepts and the nuances of effective data analysis. You’ll gain confidence in your own critical understanding of the challenges and issues arising from taking heterogeneous data at volume and scale, understanding what it represents, and turning that understanding into insight for business, scientific or social innovation. You’ll develop a practical understanding of the skills, tools and techniques necessary for the effective application of data science.

The course is designed to offer you the opportunity to gain hands-on experience in several data analytics tools (e.g. Hadoop, Spark, Tableau), programming languages (R, Python) and machine learning libraries.

A series of sessions in Python is offered to support students who are less familiar with programming.

You will also have the opportunity to obtain an SAS certificate such as SAS Base Programming, which is a recognised industry qualification, following a two-week SAS certification ‘boot camp’.

If you don’t want to commit to full or part-time study of the entire MSc, you can develop your educational portfolio over a longer period of time by undertaking staged study that leads to the award of Postgraduate Certi?cate (PGCert in Data Science), Postgraduate Diploma (PGDip in Data Science and Analytics) and Data Science and Analytics MSc in separate stages.

The roles that our graduates are typically recruited to within these organisations include analytics consultant, big data engineer/scientist, business analyst, clinical data scientist, data design specialist, data scientists, developer/development engineer, enterprise/technical architect, forecast analyst, marketing/customer and/or insight analyst, quantitative analyst and web analyst.

Brunel’s Women in Engineering and Computing mentoring scheme provides our female students with invaluable help and support from their industry mentors.

Delve into a degree that will teach you the intricacies of how societies work and learn to understand how people cope with inevitable societal changes on our exciting Sociology BSc. You’ll develop the skills to put yourself in other peoples’ shoes as you study their behaviour and understand why they think in a certain way.

Your degree will give you a thorough understanding of how social issues such as poverty, unemployment, social conflict, and the social and economic consequences of rapid and profound industrial and economic change are redefined by contemporary processes of individualisation, globalisation and the growth of new forms of communication.

The first year is designed to offer you a solid base in theoretical and methodological innovations in sociology. As you progress through the course, you will be able to choose modules you are interested in to actively shape and apply your learning to the issues you wish to interrogate. In your third year, you’ll work on a dissertation focusing on an area of interest of your choice. Your dissertation can be a theoretical or practical dissertation, so you can work to your own strengths.

Depending on the modules you choose, you may have the option go on fieldtrips where you will be able to apply your learning to current issues and broaden your theoretical imagination. Previous fieldtrips have included: Barbican; British Board of Film Classification; London Migration Museum; Museum of Comedy; Museum of London; regeneration areas (e.g. Spitalfields, Smithfield); and the Victoria and Albert Museum.

As you’ll be taught and supported by academics who are not only experts in their field but are actively engaged in research, you’ll develop skills that can be applied from the classroom to the workplace. They know the industry inside out, so you know you are learning from experienced professionals who will bring their unique insights into the classroom and will ensure your learning is up-to-date.

Gain an insight into life after your studies by putting your learning into practice by opting for a one-year work placement or two short placements for six months at a time. You will graduate with valuable work experience to enhance your employment prospects and will be able to develop an understanding the working world. 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.

Some of our sociology students have done their placements abroad working as teachers in Ghana. Others have undertaken placements at a variety of companies including Deluxe Entertainment, the Disney Channel, the Home Office, British Youth Council, Citizens Advice Bureau and the Department of Work and Pensions.

This is a broad-based degree which will enable and encourage you to specialise in areas which particularly fascinate you. As a graduate of this dynamic degree, you will leave us with various transferable skills that are key to the contemporary employment market. 

Our Electronic and Electrical Engineering (Computer Systems) BEng degree is a modern course that has been developed to equip you with the knowledge and skills needed to work and research in electronic and electrical engineering with specialisation in embedded systems.  This programme will help to develop an understanding of the various engineering, scientific and economic trade-offs necessary in the design and implementation of embedded systems, provide familiarity and experience with a range of architectural techniques, design methodologies and their applications and suitability for some embedded systems such as FPGAs and help to understand the utilisation and principles of reconfigurable computing.

You’ll gain a good understanding of the different engineering areas, giving you the opportunity to learn more about the fundamental engineering subjects such as design, structures, materials, fluid mechanics, electronics and maths and gain skills in technical drawing.

By specialising in computer systems you’ll learn to design and implement computer systems based on scientific and economic trade-offs. 

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

Brunel's BEng electronic and electrical engineering (computer systems) course 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 BEng degree in electronic and electrical engineering can be studied full-time over three years, or four years with a placement year. The BEng degree meets the educational requirement to become an Incorporated Engineer (IEng).

We encourage the placement year option. This time in industry helps you to further prepare for the world of work and you’ll have a year’s worth of invaluable professional experience when you graduate. If you decide to go on an engineering placement year, you will have the opportunity to work in an engineering or technology company.

Meeting the increasing energy demands of growing populations and developing societies while reducing the use of fossil fuels are crucial challenges facing the global energy industry. 

Brunel's Renewable Energy Engineering MSc gives graduates and engineering professionals interested in finding sustainable solutions to climate change and energy security the theoretical and practical skills needed to pursue careers in the growing field of renewable energy technology.

Along with a solid grounding in the core principles of energy production, you’ll get detailed knowledge of renewable energy technologies and systems, including solar, wind, tidal, wave, hydro, geothermal, biomass and hydrogen.

You’ll also look at the economic and environmental impact of renewable systems and at the legislative, planning and technical considerations of integrating them into the power grid.

We offer two study options. You can choose 1 year full-time or 3 years via our distance learning programme. 

This course is accredited by the Institution of Mechanical Engineering (IMechE) and the Energy Institute (EI), which means your postgraduate engineering degree will put you on course to gain Chartered Engineer (CEng) status in the UK. 

Throughout your studies you’ll have use of our state-of-the-art laboratory facilities 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.

As the renewable energy sector grows, so does the need for individuals capable of planning, implementing and managing new renewable energy projects. Your Brunel MSc will give you those skills and put you on course for a rewarding career in the field or further research.

Mathematics is a fundamental subject that is critical to our understanding of the world. Through the study of mathematics you’ll advance your problem solving skills, develop your reasoning and increase your analytical thinking. This is why mathematics forms a basis to so many careers. Yes – it is a discipline in its own right, but it is also the thinking behind countless commercial, industrial and technological activities. Mathematical models underpin engineering, the applied sciences, computing and many aspects of management today.

Follow the four-year ‘Professional Placement’ degree programme and you‘ll benefit from our extensive experience in helping students to find well-paid work placements with blue-chip companies. Our sandwich students find that their mathematical and transferable skills are in demand in many sectors, both in the UK and abroad.

Areas recently offering placements include: accountancy, aviation, banking, defence, finance, insurance, IT (software development, network management and design), management (public and private sector), marketing and telecommunications.

The Financial Mathematics BSc covers the application of mathematical methods to financial problems so if you’re looking to work in the fast-moving world of finance or commerce then this is the course for you. Two thirds of the course content focuses on developing your mathematical knowledge and skills. The rest of the course covers financial markets, corporate investment and finance.

This programme will meet the educational requirements of the Chartered Mathematician designation, awarded by the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications, when it is followed by subsequent training and experience in employment to obtain equivalent competences to those specified by the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) for taught master's degrees.

Do you want to work in an industry which creates moments of temporary escapism on stage or on screen for captivated audiences? If so, the Film Production and Theatre BA at Brunel is the course for you. You will be able to combine your love for the theatre with your passion for films and turn your creativity into a fantastic fulfilling career.

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.

As well as learning film production skills you will also have the opportunity study a wide variety of theatre-related specialisms ranging from acting, applied drama, digital performance, directing, musical theatre, physical theatre and playwriting. This course will prepare you to pursue a wide range of careers in the theatre and entertainment industries and beyond.

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.

During your degree, you will be able to immerse yourself in one of the cultural capitals of the world. Being so close to London will give you easy access to the city’s rich and diverse culture and theatre events. You will have the opportunity to go on theatre visits and take part in workshops with cutting edge theatre companies as part of your course. Past theatre trips have included productions in the West End, The Barbican, The National Theatre, Royal Court, Sadler’s Wells and many others.

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 put what you have learnt into practice.

Learn with confidence knowing that you are taught by cutting edge academics and industry specialists who are some of the best in the UK. You’ll benefit from their in-depth knowledge and passion for what they teach as well as their first-hand experience of what it takes to break into the film and theatre industries. Many 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 or theatre 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, Mousetrap Theatre Company, Finsborough Theatre, Grieg City Academy and the Unicorn Theatre.

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

As the amount of digital information increases, major institutions in sectors such as finance and medicine rely on robust structures that can grow and adapt. By specialising in software engineering, you’ll focus on how to build high quality systems which will be easier to maintain and develop as the requirements of the system change and available technologies evolve. The techniques involved include testing, service-oriented architectures, and refactoring.

On the Computer Science (Software Engineering) BSc degree course, you’ll also learn how to build different types of software, from web-based systems to mobile solutions. In the final year you’ll take compulsory modules in advanced computer science and choose optional modules that interest you in a variety of compelling areas.

In addition, you’ll acquire in-depth knowledge of algorithms, design, programming and testing techniques. By the end of the course, you’ll have confidence in your knowledge of common system and network architectures and system development approaches, requirements capture, design methods, models, tools, and techniques.

You’ll become well-versed in implementing and testing systems and software maintenance. Key to this course is cultivating a reflective approach to project management issues arising from team-based software development.

This specialist degree course allows you to display an in-depth knowledge of the management, organisation and execution of large-scale software design and development activities including reuse and integration. All our degrees emphasise acquiring knowledge and skills to develop your new understanding creatively and professionally. Although this is an academic degree, the course balances theory with real-world practice in information and computer management.

Our course is designed for flexibility, so if you’re not sure which route you want to go, 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, to 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), and on behalf of the Engineering Council, for the purposes of fully meeting the academic requirement for Incorporated Engineer (IEng) and partially meeting the academic requirement for a Chartered Engineer (CEng). 

The accreditation also allows you to apply for professional membership of the BCS after you have successfully completed your degree.

The 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.

The Brunel MA in Law, Policy and Practice is a unique interdisciplinary programme that focuses on key legal and regulatory developments from an international perspective.

This programme offers a detailed analysis of the theory, law, policy and practice in two contemporary and fast-growing areas: migration and ethics, governance and compliance. Both pathways have an emphasis on policy and practice, as applied in the specific areas to form two options of a coherent MA.

You can choose to study full-time (one year) or part-time (two years) and to begin your course either in September or January. 

The two pathways are:

Ethics, Governance and Compliance

The Ethics, Governance and Compliance pathway is focused on international regulation and compliance from an interdisciplinary perspective. This is an innovative programme offering an overview of how modern markets operate – from the perspective of law and also finance, business, economics and management.  It provides an in-depth understanding of the challenges that modern businesses face, especially in the financial services sector. This pathway is designed to offer a combination of practical and theoretical knowledge, complemented by a unique set of skills that are essential for succeeding in an environment where compliance, ethics and good governance are becoming increasingly important.

Migration Law, Policy and Practice:

The Migration Law, Policy and Practice pathway is the first programme in the UK that offers multi-disciplinary, theoretical and practical insights into arguably the biggest challenge of our society today, namely migration. 

The programme will go beyond examining the relevant legal frameworks.  It will provide critical insights on policy and current practice related to migration and refugee rights. This pathway offers a unique opportunity for acquiring specialist cross-disciplinary knowledge from world-known experts and current leaders in the European migration response. You will learn about law and policy as well as acquiring invaluable practical experience and the opportunity to experience fieldwork. 

In 2020 Brunel was awarded a three-year EU grant with partners for its ITFLOWS research project to predict and manage migrant flows.  The MA in Law, Policy and Practice is at the cutting edge of migration law.  This research project consolidates Brunel's worldwide reputation as an important hub for migration and refugee studies within our Brunel Law School.

Brunel's Business and Management degree course will equip you with a broad knowledge and appreciation of issues faced in the world of business. You’ll gain the analytical, technical and interpersonal skills required to understand, analyse and address the challenges faced by today’s companies.

The components of this degree offer you the widest range of core skills in business and management out of all the pathways. This includes market economies; theoretical and practical characteristics of organisations; various business models and frameworks; coping with future uncertainty, and managing change.

Emphasis on this pathway is on globalisation issues generated by multinational enterprises (MNEs). As they account for over fifty percent of global output, a deeper understanding of the commercial power of MNEs will help you position yourself strategically in a competitive job market.

This pathway will broaden your knowledge of business concepts as you work on real life business issues and live case studies, to develop managerial skills and enhance your career prospects.

You will also learn valuable technical skills along the way including numerical methods and how to use statistical software packages such as SPSS and EXCEL, without the need for A level maths or the overseas equivalent.

The course includes a module on Management Enquiry to help you adapt to university study through active learning sessions on topics such as working in groups, report writing and time management.

Our Business and Management BSc is accredited by the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA), which means you will gain exemptions from some of their professional papers if you wish to undertake further study towards being a chartered management accountant after you graduate.

There is the option to take a year’s work placement between your second and third year. Previous employers have included Adidas, Microsoft, British Airways, PwC and Nissan. This is an excellent opportunity to gain experience and make valuable contacts for your future career. Find out more on our work placement year page.