Master of Science in Human Resources and Employment Relations

at Brunel University London United Kingdom

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.

Our Aerospace Engineering MSc degree is a specialist, accredited course that has been developed to equip you with advanced technical knowledge and management skills to meet the needs and current challenges facing the ever-growing aerospace engineering industry.

Through theoretical study and hands-on practice, you will gain an in-depth understanding of key aerospace disciplines covering aerodynamics, propulsion systems, and space mechanics. You’ll deepen your knowledge of aerospace structures, and the design and analysis of aerospace vehicles, and also acquire specialist knowledge on current aerospace engineering topics concerning flight safety, environmental impact, and fuel efficiency.

You’ll have access to a range of technical facilities including our aerospace/aviation laboratory, full-motion engineering flight simulator, supersonic and subsonic wind tunnels, materials and structure testing laboratory, anechoic chamber for aero-acoustic experiments, and 3D printing in the digital fabrication workshop. Industry standard specialist software for aircraft design is available for you to use 24 hours a day in high-performance computing clusters.

During your time at Brunel, you will benefit from guest lectures delivered by industry professionals who present a valuable insight into current, challenging topics in the field of aerospace. There are also planned visits to engineering and manufacturing companies where you’ll see first-hand the latest breakthroughs in development and technology for future aerospace systems. In addition, you have the advantage of Brunel’s close location to London’s Heathrow Airport for site visits as well as project and employment opportunities.

Our MSc aerospace engineering course is accredited by both the Royal Aeronautical Society (RAeS) and the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE). These professional bodies ensure that your engineering degree meets the academic requirement to qualify as a professional engineer. This accredited MSc degree in aerospace engineering fully meets the educational requirement for progression to Chartered Engineer (CEng) status. It is studied full-time over one year.

Brunel Engineers is an annual exhibition that showcases our engineering talent at its finest. It’s a great way for you to network with leading aerospace engineering experts and show them the innovative, creative and enterprising work you have produced during your time at Brunel.

As an extracurricular activity, there is also the opportunity to be part of a student-led initiative involving the design and build of an unmanned aircraft vehicle and participating in the IMechE industry-sponsored UAS Challenge (Unmanned Aircraft Systems Challenge).

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.

Design at Brunel is all about realising fantastic ideas in the real world. Our Product Design Engineering BSc degree is for creative thinkers who are also comfortable with mathematics and who enjoy deeper analysis of functional and technical design challenges, principally focused on industrially-manufactured products. The course spans design and engineering, meaning you can develop products that both look good and work well.

There is a lot of project-based learning to test your skills and you’ll see the outcome of your design from concept to making the actual product. This means you’ll be able to build a great portfolio of your best-quality projects, academic and industry briefs, and case studies, during your studies.

You’ll have workshop training and will use industry-standard equipment and software to develop quality hands-on skills to become a maker. Independent access is available to modern facilities that include dedicated design studios, digital sketching, extensive prototyping workshops, and electronics and digital fabrication labs. The practical knowledge you gain is transferable to industry and provides a head start for your future career as a designer and design making in the modern world.

Our product design engineering course is accredited by the Institution of Engineering Designers (IED) and can be studied full-time over three years, or four years with a placement year.

The placement year helps you to prepare for the world of work and you’ll have a year’s worth of invaluable professional experience when you graduate. Our students have worked in both small innovation start-ups and multinational organisations such as Dyson, Jaguar Land Rover, Philips, Procter & Gamble, and Reckitt Benckiser. 

Our students have the opportunity to add another dimension to their university experience by spending a term or a year in one of our partner universities via our exchange programme: Politecnico di Milano in Italy; Delft University of Technology in The Netherlands, San Francisco State University in USA and Institut Superieur de Design, ISD Bubika in France.

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.

This course can be studied 4 years full-time or 5 years full-time with placement, starting in September.

Mechanical and Automotive Engineering students have the opportunity to take part in a work placement and get first-hand professional industrial experience – a great advantage in the workplace.

• Students are encouraged to take the sandwich course and benefit from a high-quality, paid, work placement which develops both academic and work-related skills. Your placement will give you valuable experience and help you to understand the industry.
• The placement in industry is taken between Levels 2 and 3 for at least 44 weeks. This time will help you to gain professional competencies and can count towards becoming an Incorporated or Chartered Engineer (CEng). Our students have experienced placements in government departments, the motor and automotive industries, and multinational manufacturers.
• Each student has a mentor from the Mechanical and Automotive Engineering department, and an Industrial Tutor from Brunel’s Professional Development Centre. They are on hand to ensure that the placement yields the best possible experience for your personal and professional development. You also benefit by learning from a mentor with industry experience and a tutor who regularly checks that you are properly supported.

Handling large amounts of data efficiently and quickly is becoming an increasingly important aspect of computing; businesses need to understand trends in data which will allow them to make informed and timely decisions. Artificial intelligence (AI) and the techniques it embraces provide opportunities for this to happen and to make sense of big data.

Qualified graduates with the skills and ability in AI to take advantage of these opportunities are in great demand. Brunel’s Computer Science (Artificial Intelligence) BSc, will expose you to the foundations, theory and practical aspects of computer science and AI.

You’ll gain a good understanding of computer science and a grasp of the important elements of a computer system. You’ll also learn how to build different types of software, from web-based systems to mobile solutions.

By specialising in AI you’ll develop a range of techniques which can be applied in software to solve complex problems. AI is inherent in modern games, financial trading systems and medical systems and enhances the software solutions in each of these areas.

You’ll be confident in your knowledge of the nature, diversity and limitations of software artefacts (or programs) that display apparently intelligent behaviour, understand a range of machine learning paradigms, and be able to apply them to the production of innovative and useful artefacts.

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.

If studies of the mind and mental health interest you, this socially and culturally focused course may provide a rich alternative to more scientific studies in psychology and psychiatry.

Study this course and you will investigate psychological and psychiatric issues from an anthropological perspective, addressing issues at the forefront of debates in social policy, morality, personal identity, and mental health.

By considering cases from around the world you’ll explore how person, consciousness, and experience are shaped through cultural practices and political realities.

Examining world ethnography (including the UK), you’ll learn about selfhood, emotion, personality, and understandings of ‘madness’ and mental illness in cultural context.

Brunel students come from varied professional and academic backgrounds, many taking time out for professional development. If you haven’t studied anthropology before, you’ll be offered introductory modules in anthropological theory to help prepare you for the rest of the course.

Anthropology at Brunel is well-known for its focus on ethnographic fieldwork and you will be expected to get out of the library and undertake your own, original research – whether in the UK or overseas – and to present your findings in a dissertation.

Your fieldwork can be taken anywhere in the world, locally, previous students have explored psychic training, Pentecostal churches, and mental health charities, and internationally, students have explored subjects like funerals in Iran, Amazon neoshamanism, and autism programmes in Belgium.

Statistics is the study of the collection, analysis, interpretation, presentation and organisation of data. Statistical analysis and data analytics is listed as one of the highly desirable skills employers are looking for, and with data becoming an ever increasing part of modern life, the talent to extract information and value from complex data is scarce.

The new Statistics and Data Analytics MSc is designed to train the next generation of statisticians with a focus on the field of data analytics. Employers expect skills in both statistics and computing. This master’s programme will provide a unique and coherent blend of modern statistical methods together with the associated computational skills that are essential for handling large quantities of unstructured data. This programme offers training in modern statistical methodology, computational statistics and data analysis from a wide variety of fields, including financial and health sectors.

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.

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.