Master of Mathematics in Financial Mathematics with Placement (Thick - Sandwich)

at Brunel University London United Kingdom

What is the social and cultural impact of media communications in today’s world? How do communication and information media actually work and what are their importance to our society?

This course enjoys a very close relationship with sociology at Brunel and combines the theoretical elements of sociology with the practical elements of media studies. You’ll focus on all aspects of society: its personal, social and cultural dimensions.

Studying communications and media at Brunel is not just limited to the classroom. You’ll have the opportunity to broaden your mind by going on field trips and joining film sessions, where you’ll learn about cameras lighting and editing. You’ll be able to attend optional company visits, for example IMG studios, where you’ll receive a tour of the studios.

On this course you’ll have the chance to make your own films in groups. You’ll develop your skills in our media services suite which has industry-standard facilities. You’ll be taught about the software Final Cut Pro and how to use different types of Canon cameras. You’ll experiment with different lighting styles and practise sound editing techniques. This practical work will equip you with the skills you’ll need for a media related career or for working in the field of production.

You’ll also be able to take your learning outside the classroom – on field trips and company visits. Previous students have toured the IMG studious right here in Uxbridge.

If you choose to go on a placement, you’ll benefit form Brunel’s contacts and location. Examples of recent student placements have been in advertising, digital marketing and public relations in organisations such as Cartoon Network, IMG Media, Sweet Images and the Walt Disney Company.

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 global temperature has increased to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. What is the impact of this and what will happen if it continues to rise? Studying Environmental Sciences at Brunel will give you the foundation you need to pursue a career that makes a difference to our planet.

At Brunel you’ll develop your scientific skills in the classroom, laboratory and through field work. You’ll attend residential field trips in the UK and abroad. Our current trips take students to Dorset and Tenerife.

Your first year will bring together many different disciplines. You’ll use physical, chemical and biological knowledge to develop an understanding of the Earth’s environment.

Your course is based on the 15 “most wanted skills” identified from a national employer’s survey by the Natural Environment Research Council. This means that in addition to studying scientific topics, you’ll learn to use computer programs such as GIS, you’ll perform data analysis and be trained in areas such as public engagement, communication, leadership and teamwork.

You'll also have the option to carry out a placement as part of your degree, giving you the experience to create a stand-out CV. The Environmental Sciences BSc offers a unique compressed degree where you can carry out two placements within your three year degree during summer vacations, where you’ll earn a graduate level salary. You can also carry out a one year placement between years two and three, as part of a four year degree.

The International Business BSc is a highly relevant course in today’s commercial climate. It covers the fundamentals of national and international market economies and looks at the many forces that shape the operating environments of organisations worldwide.

The emphasis of this degree is on the challenges created by globalisation, challenges which are particularly relevant to multinational enterprises (MNEs) as they account for over fifty percent of global output. A deeper understanding of the commercial power of MNEs is key to understanding how and why companies expand in an increasingly competitive market.

The International Business BSc is designed for those seeking to operate within an international business setting or within companies and jobs where an understanding of international business is an asset. We’ll explore the impact of internationalisation on factors such as human resource management (HRM), entrepreneurship, and emerging markets. There will also be the opportunity to study modules on marketing, environmental sustainability, and global investment.

As well as the focus on international business, this degree will equip you with the broad business and management background and the analytical and interpersonal skills required to understand, analyse and address issues faced by today's companies. You’ll broaden your knowledge of business concepts as you work on real business issues and live case studies to develop your managerial skills.

Valuable technical skills will be developed in numerical methods, quantitative methods, and by using statistical software such as SPSS and EXCEL. This part of the course does not require 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 International Business 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.

You’ll also have the opportunity to take a year's paid professional work experience and be part of the team at an international company or organisation. Previous employers have included Adidas, Microsoft, British Airways, PricewaterhouseCoopers and Nissan. Occasionally students are invited back to a full-time graduate position by their placement employers so as well as offering experience, a placement can open doors. Find out more on our work placement year page.

Financial mathematics builds on the application of advanced concepts in modern probability theory to enable market professionals to tackle and systematically resolve a huge range of issues in the areas of pricing, hedging, risk management, and market regulation.

On this course you’ll put theory into practice by developing your numerical and computational skills to implement financial models. These are the skills you’ll need to work for a financial institution.

The course has an emphasis on:

• The modelling of the dynamics of financial assets, both in equity markets and in fixed-income markets
• The pricing and hedging of options and other derivatives
• The quantification and management of financial risk.

The course will give you a balanced mixture of advanced mathematics (including modern probability theory and stochastic calculus), modern finance theory (including models for derivatives, interest rates, foreign exchange, equities, commodities, and credit), and computational technique (GPU-based high-performance computing).

The Brunel Finance and Investment MSc gives graduates the advanced knowledge and skills needed to pursue careers in financial management, with a focus on investment analysis and portfolio management.

In addition to core subjects including financial theory, financial markets and corporate finance, you’ll examine in detail financial modelling, investment strategies, performance evaluation, risk assessment, investment valuation and asset pricing. 

Further, you’ll develop your quantitative and problem-solving skills and ability to critically evaluate and deliver midterm and long-term strategic solutions. 

Throughout the course you’ll have access to a variety of professional databases used in business and finance including Datastream, Bloomberg, Bank Scope, Osiris, Reuters 3000 Xtra and Thomson One Banker.

We hold regular training sessions with Bloomberg, which will enhance your research and give you a taste of a real-world working environment.

You can choose to study one year full-time, two years full-time with a year's work placement or 16 months full-time with a 6-12 week work placement.

While you study for your Finance and Investment MSc you can take advantage of the opportunity to follow the CFA Program (Chartered Financial Analyst) specialist pathway and gain the skills required to complete the Level I CFA Program exam.  The CFA Program has become the most respected and recognised professional qualification in finance in the world. Find out more on our  Level I CFA® Program Pathway page. 

As global capital and money markets grow, so does the demand for professionals with specialist skills and competencies in finance and investment. Your Brunel Masters will give you that and make you a sought-after job candidate to employers across the industry.

The Brunel International Human Rights Law LLM is designed for graduates wishing to develop the specialist skills needed for a career in this dynamic field of law.

Through a detailed analysis of the theory, history and development of human rights, and an exploration of the mechanisms of human rights protection you will acquire a comprehensive understanding of international human rights law and its interconnection with international criminal and comparative criminal law.

The course places particular emphasis on the radical transformations in international human rights law since the beginning of the 21st century, with the establishment of the International Criminal Court, the on-going process of the United Nations reform, and the post 9/11 shift to a more ‘security-at-all-costs’ approach to criminal process values, especially with regards to the war against terror.

You will explore key contemporary issues, such as: 

• Human rights advocacy and global governance though NGOs and non-State actors 
• The European system of human rights protection 
• Group rights and the rights of minorities and indigenous peoples 
• The challenges posed by international migration and the protection of migrants, asylum seekers and refugees 
• Women’s rights and the rights of the child, including protection for victims of human trafficking
• Sexual and gay rights 
• The right to development and “third- generation” rights

With human right issues featuring more and more prominently in public debates and institutional policy considerations, employers are looking for job candidates with the specialist training needed to keep up with the new realities. Your International Human Rights Law LLM will give you that expertise and make you a sought-after prospect by law firms, businesses and government bodies.

The Business Computing (Social Media) BSc course looks at the ways that social media has transformed how we connect and how we do business in the 21st century. You’ll study how the internet has rapidly evolved to accommodate services and technologies which can be used by companies as commercial tools. In your final year, we’ll take a closer look at applications integral to supporting business such as Skype, Facebook and Twitter.

Through a mixture of theory and real-world practice, you’ll learn how to assess organisational problems and apply solutions. We’ll teach you 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.

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. 

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.

This course has a placement option. Find out more about work placements available.

Opt for a one-year work placement while you study to gain real-world technical and soft skills which will set you apart from the competition after you graduate from your Computer Science degree.

• All of our undergraduate computing courses come with the option of undertaking a year’s placement out in the industry. This means that you have the opportunity to experience a real working environment and develop your softer skills like presenting, negotiating and working to a specific brief and tight deadlines.
• A dedicated placement tutor from the Professional Development Centre will work with you to help secure your work placement, which could be in market, product or research development areas. Previous students have taken their placement year in companies such as Microsoft, BMW, GlaxoSmithKline, IBM, and Xerox.

The Education BA at Brunel offers you the opportunity to combine the study of education with professional practice to give you a pathway into a range of education professions and postgraduate professional study including teacher education.

Whether you are looking to explore education related fields – such as counselling, educational psychology, social services, local authority work, social work, administration and education management – or you already know you want to teach, Brunel’s Education BA will give you a strong foundation from which to build.

The course will equip you with a broad and balanced view of educational theory, policy and practice within a range of educational contexts. You will also have numerous opportunities to develop a range of transferable skills such as critical reflection, systematic analysis, communication, collaboration, presentation and writing skills.

When it comes to professional practice, the Education BA includes three integrated work placements to give you the opportunity to explore different educational settings. To help you manage your time, you can do your placement experience weekly or in a block over the holidays.

If it’s teaching experience you’re seeking, Brunel’s network of partner schools is diverse and well-established which means you can gain highly valued teaching experience in vibrant multi-cultural schools where you will be fully supported by a work placement mentor as well as a Brunel tutor.

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.