Master of Arts (Hons) in Accountancy and Finance (Accelerated)

at Heriot-Watt University - Edinburgh Campus United Kingdom

Business Management at Edinburgh Business School was ranked 3rd in Scotland and top 10 in the UK in the Guardian University League Tables 2018. It achieved the 7th highest level of student satisfaction in the UK in the National Student Survey 2018.

This degree puts specialist business theory through a real-world filter and offers the chance of a truly international university experience. It develops the knowledge and interpersonal skills you will need to thrive in the positions, organisations and industries of the future.

On this degree, you will spend Year 3 studying abroad at a partner business school or university in the USA, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, Belgium, Poland, Sweden, Italy, or France. All partner universities teach their management courses in English and students follow a course similar to that of Level 3 of the MA (Hons) International Business Management.

You will develop important transferable skills such as: critical thinking, problem solving, communication and team working, as well as creativity, confidence and research abilities – skills that will help you succeed in your career and personal life.

Since the 1990s Heriot-Watt University has had an internationally renowned research group in Mathematical Biology, Ecology and Medicine. This group includes Jonathan Sherratt, Andy White and Kevin Painter; all of whom are leading researchers in mathematical biology with strong international reputations.

Building on the strength of this research group we are excited to be launching a brand new MSc Programme in Mathematical Biology Ecology and Medicine. The programme includes high level and high quality courses that will provide a comprehensive training in mathematical modelling of problems in the life sciences, in mathematical techniques to study these models, and in the use of data to both inform and test the models.

During the summer you will do an extended project on a cutting-edge research topic that is aligned with our research interests. These include work on wound healing, pattern formation in developmental biology, epidemics, cancer, semi-arid ecosystems, and evolution. The programme will open up for you a wide range of career paths and possibilities for future study.

This masters in Quantitative Finance and Mathematics course introduces innovative modern mathematical techniques and financial modelling. It focuses on probability and stochastics, which are often not included in standard mathematics degrees. It’s been designed to include the practical and pragmatic aspects of mathematical finance – offering you relevant and modern skills relating to structured finance in demand in the UK and internationally. The aim is to understand, both quantitatively and qualitatively, the risks and uncertainty involved. And, the wide range of optional courses offers you the chance to tailor your learning experience to suit your interests.

At Heriot Watt, we are delivering a new MSc programme in Subsurface Energy Systems (SES) that will edcate you about unlocking energy resources with a low carbon footprint. This will be a stepping stone for your career in industry, government, non-government organisations (NGOs) or academia.

The programme addresses key concepts in subsurface energy and CO2 storage, geothermal energy or transitional gas while integrating geoscience, engineering, political and societal aspects. It will appeal to geoscientists, reservoir engineers, governmental stakeholders and all those interested in the management of subsurface reservoirs used to switch from a fossil fuel-driven economy to a decarbonised one, using natural gas as a transitional energy resource. Its production from unconventional reservoirs comes with environmental risks that we have to assess and control. This degree is delivered jointly by The Lyell Centre and the Institute of GeoEnergy Engineering.

The recent report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change predicts serious consequences from further emitting CO2 into the atmosphere, thereby accelerating man-made climate change. This requires a drastic decarbonisation of our economies by switching from fossil fuels to renewable energies like wind, solar, hydro, or geothermal or by implementing carbon capture and storage (CCS) at scale. Renewable energies can readily be used in the form of electrical power. When electricity production exceeds the demand, electricity can be stored in grids or batteries at limited capacity. At larger scale, electricity can be stored in the subsurface after conversion to, for example, hydrogen, thermal energy, or compressed air until needed, allowing for back-production within short and longer time scales of hours to years.

In comparison to temporary energy storage, CCS aims at safe and permanent storage. The UK and especially offshore storage sites in Scotland are attractive targets for CCS and considered to extend the lifetime of oil and gas reservoirs significantly, thereby strengthening the related industrial sectors. The combined technologies of geothermal energy production, subsurface energy storage or CCS refer to the geoengineering aspects of subsurface energy systems (SES). In this context, SES rather refers to the integration of geoenergy applications with energy production at the surface as well as economic, societal and policy aspects.

There is a significant demand globally for research and training in these technologies, given that many small and large integrated oil and gas companies are decarbonising their assets, which at the same time, needs to be monitored and regulated by governmental bodies. Councils across the UK and Europe are increasingly looking at the subsurface for storing or producing energy.

This is a 2-year MSc progamme, offering practical application as well as advanced teaching, design and research in mechanical engineering. It is specifically for graduates with an engineering degree looking to enhance their career opportunities. Students will gain the technical, scientific and managerial abilities essential for a career as a professional mechanical engineer. The programme enables students to obtain an MSc as well as gaining practial experience in an industrial setting.

The programmes delivered by Mechanical Engineering are accredited by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers.

Data Scientist has been dubbed the 'sexiest job title' (Harvard Business Review, 2012) with IBM predicting a 28% growth of jobs by 2020. The UK government has set out their strategy for the UK to be a world leader in data science to enable the growth of the UK economy. Data Scientists require a combination of statistical analytical skills, the ability to process large volumes of data efficiently, c.f. Big Data, and then to generate visualisations to explain the results.

This two year programme offers an opportunity for graduates looking to transition to a new career path in Data Science, yet coming from a background outside Computing. Whether your experience lies in Science, Technology, Mathematics or the Arts, this pathway programme is a rare opportunity to become well-versed in the advanced, challenging field of Data Science.

Our four year BSc Computer Science (Artificial Intelligence) Honours degree is oriented to constructing robust and useable systems. We aim to teach people not just how to deploy cutting edge tools and techniques, but how to build the next generation of software tools that other system constructors will use. This course aims to give a well integrated balance of theoretical underpinnings and practical experience, strongly informed by the research expertise of our academic staff.

All Year 3 students take part in a year-long group project, where they co-operate in tackling a large, realistic problem. Year 4 students conduct a major, year-long, individual dissertation project.

The Artificial Intelligence specialism is gained through taking prescribed courses from the final year options (two of the following: Biologically Inspired Computation, Data Mining and Machine Learning, Intelligent Robotics) and having an approved AI topic for the final year project.

The psychology component of the course (75% of the curriculum) covers the discipline’s main areas, namely social psychology, developmental psychology, cognitive psychology, biological psychology, individual differences, and research methods, and emphasises their application to various employment-related contexts. The management component (25%) of the course introduces (and allows specialism within) marketing, human resource management, finance, and management.

Teaching is mainly via lectures, but large numbers of tutorials mean that staff and students know one another well. Assessment features a mixture of coursework and examination.

The Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) accredited MA (Hons) Marketing degree at Heriot-Watt University’s Edinburgh Business School is designed to develop key knowledge and skills related to professional marketing practices.

The courses you take on this degree will provide you with the platform to thrive in both academic study and the professional practice of marketing.

Your learning will focus on three central themes that we believe will be key for future marketing professionals:

• Global marketing
• Digital marketing
• Sustainable marketing

Teaching on MA (Hons) Marketing is led by our internationally respected faculty who bring marketing theory to life by drawing on their own cutting-edge research and industry experience, and by sharing best practice from business case studies. This approach ensures that everything you learn reflects the current marketing landscape in both business-to-consumer and business-to-business marketing contexts.

In Year 1 you will study the established suite of courses form Edinburgh Business School’s common first year and gain an understanding of important areas of modern business, including Management, Accounting and Finance, and Economics and Marketing.

As your studies progress through Years 2, 3 and 4, you will study an increasing number of specialist marketing courses.

If you want to start your career with a year's work experience in hand, then you should consider this course. It combines the rigorous studies of the BSc (Hons) Actuarial Science with a year-long work placement in level 4. The work placement gives you experience of working in an organisation such as a life insurance company, a pension consultancy, an investment management firm or a bank. The Diploma in Industrial Training is gained through successful completion of this work placement. The work placement helps you to develop specific work-related skills, giving you the opportunity to apply and build upon the theory you learn in your studies. It allows you to take on real responsibilities, enhance your interpersonal skills through teamwork and communication and experience workplace culture.

The Diploma is available to all students, including those from overseas, as it does not require a work visa. If you are planning to come to the UK using a student visa you should check the Tier 4 Student Visa Policy Guidance to confirm you are permitted to undertake a work placement as part of your studies. It is your responsibility to find a suitable work placement; acceptance onto the course does not guarantee you a placement. If you are registered on the course and are unable to find a suitable work placement before the end of level 3 then you can transfer to the standard BSc (Hons) Actuarial Science degree. Organisations that recent students have secured placements with include Prudential, Aegon and Mercer.