Master of Science in Finance and Investment with Placement (Thick - Sandwich)

at Brunel University London United Kingdom

The Brunel Economics and Management BSc offers students interested in careers in management a detailed understanding of how economies and corporations function. 

You’ll examine how resources are allocated in response to consumer demand, business objectives and government policy, and how incentives are aligned between shareholders, managers and employees.

Specifically, your economics studies will give you a broad understanding of the production, distribution and capital formation activities within which organisations operate, while your management specialisation will focus on the coordination and use of materials and labour to achieve defined goals.

You’ll also study econometrics and develop sought-after skills in data modelling, and get training 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 the chance to apply the theoretical principles you’ve learned to a working environment.

This degree is accredited the ACCA, which means you’ll gain exemptions from certain professional qualifying exams should you decide to study further to become a chartered accountant.

In a world of integrating global markets, the expertise you’ll get from your Brunel degree in how corporate entities are organised and managed will make you a preferred job candidate to employers in business, finance and government.

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.

Our Civil Engineering BEng degree is a highly innovative course that has been developed to equip you with a broad range of knowledge and skills to meet the real world needs of the civil engineering and construction industry.

You will study the traditional elements of civil engineering including design, structures, materials, fluid mechanics, geotechnics and maths. You’ll be introduced to a range of construction topics and then progress to specialist subjects such as structural analysis and computational mechanics.

Access is available to custom-designed technical facilities to work on your laboratory experiments. These include fluids and hydraulics laboratories, and structures, materials and geotechnics labs. The latest industry standard engineering software packages are available for you to use in dedicated computer clusters.

During your studies, there is a residential field trip with hands-on experience in surveying and geology using industry standard equipment. You will also benefit from guest lectures delivered by industry professionals, as well as visits to construction sites and civil engineering development projects.

Due to recent changes to the engineering curriculum, our accreditation is currently being reconfirmed with the Joint Board of Moderators (JBM). The JBM compromises the Institution of Civil Engineers, the Institution of Structural Engineers, the Chartered Institution of Highways and Transportation, and the Institute of Highway Engineers. We have every expectation that our accreditation will be renewed later in the academic year.

This BEng degree in civil 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). You may wish to transfer to the MEng route of study at the end of your second year, subject to meeting the progression requirement. The MEng degree fully meets the educational requirement to become a Chartered Engineer (CEng) and involves a further year of academic study.

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 the civil engineering sector. It could be for a contractor, consultant or government authority.

You only have to turn on the news or open a newspaper to see how differently the nations of the world are governed. What is democracy and democratisation? How has US foreign policy changed in the last 20 years? What is globalisation?

Politics is an exciting and dynamic subject, simulating debate and offering insight in 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 so many fields of work.

As well as providing a foundation in the approaches and theories of politics and international relations, through this degree you will develop your understanding of the importance of politics in a globalising and integrating world.

Whether you’re studying modern Africa, imperialism or Trump’s foreign policy, you’ll not just learn about politics, you’ll be analysing politics using the tools of political science and philosophy 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, an international politics degree with Brunel will set you up for a successful future.

Building services engineers are involved with virtually every aspect of a building’s interior environment. They design, install and maintain electrical and mechanical services - heating, cooling, lighting, water, lifts, and telecoms - and advise on issues of health and safety, security, sustainability and energy efficiency.

In short, they help buildings work, whether for residential, educational, commercial, industrial or cultural purposes.

Brunel's Building Services Engineering MSc gives graduates with engineering or technology backgrounds the technical, design and management skills they need to excel in this lucrative and multi-faceted profession.

You'll get a solid grounding in core subjects of heat transfer, energy conversion, acoustics, electrical services and lighting design as well as in the practicalities of building management, fire and smoke control, waste disposal and lifts and escalators.

Additionally, as there is a growing demand for a new generation of environmentally responsible buildings, you’ll also examine energy efficiency and sustainable design.

You can choose to study 1 year full-time at Brunel or the distance learning programme over 3 years.

This course is accredited by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE), the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE) and the Energy Institute (EI), which means your 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.

With the growing complexity of engineering services in modern buildings and the significance of energy conservation and emissions control, the role of the building services engineer is becoming increasingly important. Your Brunel engineering master’s will give you the technical, creative and managerial expertise that lead to excellent career opportunities.

Far from being just knowledge of the past, studying issues related to important world events, defence, security, intelligence and strategy are not only insightful, they’ll be highly valued in a troubled world by employers within these fields, and beyond.

A varied set of core modules will take you into scope of studying history at University, whether you’ve got a history qualification or not. Modules like ‘What is History’ which uncovers the themes and tools used by historians and ‘Total War in the Modern Era’, chronicling key wars and their influence, will help prepare you for the more specialist modes to follow later in the course.

A wide range of optional modules in years two and three will help you decide where your interests lie in preparation for your final year project, including the option to study intelligence and security taught by experts in the University’s internationally renowned Centre of Intelligence and Security Studies (BCISS).

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.

Studying military and international history at Brunel has many advantages. Situated in London, 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 is a walk away from campus where Brunel students regularly volunteer.

Managing teams of people while recognising the needs of individuals in the workplace is a growing area of interest for corporations who want to ensure employee wellbeing and good productivity levels. With the introduction of concepts such as flexi-hours and remote working, and rights around parental leave, human resource management is taking centre stage. This comprehensive course will give you a thorough grasp of current theory and practice, both nationally and internationally.

The course is accredited by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), which students and graduates are encouraged to join. The CIPD is the world’s largest Chartered HR and development professional body and by becoming a member, you become part of a global network of HR professionals. Find out more on our accreditations and exemptions page.

Whilst the UK is the primary focus for the study of employment relations issues, we will also consider the HR management challenges of organisations that operate across national boundaries. There is an entire module dedicated to the importance of the relationship between employers, employees, and their representatives in effective organisational working.

Key issues of employee communication and the impact of EU directives on work arrangement will be considered. A number of optional modules are also available on the programme allowing you to specialise, including Global Diversity Management, International Business Ethics and Corporate Governance.

As a prospective human resource manager, you will be able to address business and professional situations knowledgeably, making a contribution to improved organisational performance and delivering sound HR support.

Our Visual Effects and Motion Graphics BSc degree is a modern, hands-on course that combines digital technology and creative design. It has been developed to equip you with the knowledge and practical skills required by the visual effects and motion graphics sector within the entertainment and creative industries.

At Brunel, we combine a study of visual effects with motion graphics so you can learn a wide range of creative and technical skills required to produce high-quality visual assets and artefacts for film, TV, the Web, games and other creative outlets. You’ll study VFX acquisition, motion design, CGI, digital graphic design, digital photography and video. You will then progress to producing more complex post-production assets and artefacts involving compositing, advanced CGI, 3D animation, media aesthetics, motion graphics and mixed reality. In your final year, you can choose from modules in advanced digital graphics and motion design and advanced 3D animation with additional options in digital experiences and creative technology design.

Professional and transferable skills required for working in the creative digital industries are developed throughout each year of the course. 

Our modern, industry standard digital media facilities include a green screen and post-production studio, motion capture, sound and photography studios, 4K digital cinema cameras, and a dedicated render farm. You will have independent access to exclusive PC and Mac computing laboratories and benefit from the latest industry standard specialist software for graphics and image/video editing, 3D animation, digital compositing and high-quality asset creation. There's also the opportunity for you to use our immersive virtual environment laboratory. This includes an immersive dome (planetarium) set up for Brunel by the National Space Centre in Leicester, and is one of only a few in the UK! 

There are guest lectures covering lots of different digital media topics and the visiting lecturers provide industry insight and advice on how to structure your portfolio and showreels. Speakers include creative and design directors, motion graphics professionals, 3D graphic supervisors, and VFX specialists and generalists.

Visits are arranged to TV and photography studios, and post-production houses. There’s also the opportunity to go to conferences and this is your chance to build networks with key industry experts. In addition, you have the advantage of Brunel’s close location to London for trips to exhibitions celebrating the creative industries.

The course can be studied full-time over three years, or four years with a placement year. 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 a digital media placement year, you will have the opportunity of working in the ever-growing creative industries.

The end-of-year highlight is the BrunelDigital degree show hosted on Brunel’s one London campus. Exhibiting your creative work at this event is a great way for you to connect with leading creative technologists and showcase your talent.

Brunel’s visual effects and motion graphics course is fully accredited and industry recognised by ScreenSkills, the industry-led skills body for the UK’s screen-based industries. It carries the ScreenSkills Select quality mark which indicates that it is best suited to prepare you for a career in the screen industries. An added benefit as a student on this ScreenSkills endorsed course, is that you're eligible to apply for a Royal Television Society (RTS) bursary.

The digital media courses at Brunel are the only ScreenSkills-accredited degree programmes in London and the South East.

What's happening inside our cells? What's happening at a molecular level? The bringing together of biology and chemistry allows scientists to use chemical knowledge to understand biological problems.

At Brunel, we understand that your specialist knowledge should be built on a sound grounding of all the areas of biomedical sciences. This means that your first year will cover areas such as the human body, biochemistry and research skills. As you continue through your degree you'll study specialist areas that will teach you about the various biochemical pathways and how they may be altered during specific human diseases.

And if you change your mind about your specialist area, don’t worry. The flexibility of our course at Brunel means that you can switch to another specialist pathway in the second year or even take the general Biomedical Sciences BSc.

The Royal Society of Biology has awarded its accreditation to all of Brunel’s biomedical sciences BSc courses. This means that you can be confident that your degree will prepare you for the working world – and your prospective employers will know this too. You'll receive a one year’s membership as an Associate Member once you graduate, integrating you into the sector with access to key contacts and up-to-date knowledge.

In your final year you’ll have the opportunity to contribute to our research programmes in cellular and biochemical pathways, the regulation of gene expression, DNA repair and immunological responses to microbial infection. This will give you first-hand experience of real-world laboratory research and prepare you for your future career.

The Brunel Sport, Health and Exercise MSc is aimed at graduates with a background in sports science who want to build on their existing knowledge with advanced study in the specialist areas of human performance and sports psychology.

Our selection of optional modules, covering the range of physiological, biomechanical and psychological factors governing how the human body works, allows you to tailor your course to your interests and objectives.

You can choose, for example, to concentrate on the mechanics of optimal performance, with a focus on developing your practical and analytical skills of accessing and enhancing a person’s strength, flexibility, stamina and athletic technique. Alternatively, you might examine the key psychological factors that impact on sports performance such as anxiety, motivation, concentration and confidence, and learn strategies that help athletes to overcome inhibitions and achieve peak performance.

Your course will include two compulsory modules. One investigates contemporary issues related to physical activity and health such as the effects of ageing, injury rehabilitation, obesity, and cardiac health. The other looks at research methods and data analysis, tools that will prepare you for higher, research-related degrees.    

Throughout your studies you’ll be able to take advantage of our modern physiology and biomechanics laboratories and some of the best sports facilities in the UK.

From elite performance to personal fitness to community-based sport activity, sport is an ever-expanding, global industry. The expert knowledge and practical skills you’ll gain from your Brunel master’s will boost your employment prospects in the lab, on the training field or with sporting bodies.