Master of Science in Applied Economics

at Manchester Metropolitan University United Kingdom

Businesses and governments rely on economists to help them examine issues, identify trends and deal with financial uncertainty. By studying our BA/BSc (Hons) Economics degree, you’ll explore how organizations and individuals invest and allocate their resources.

Throughout the course, we’ll challenge you to think about choices people make and how those decisions affect every aspect of our lives. You’ll explore everything from employment to distribution of wealth, government spending to international trade.

Please note that all students will apply directly to the BA (Hons) Economics. After studying BA (Hons) Economics in the first year, you can choose to continue on the BA (Hons) Economics, or transfer to BSc (Hons) Economics through the second and third year of study.

Study Abroad
Instead of a placement, you’ll have the opportunity to spend up to a year overseas, studying with one of our partner institutions across Europe, or beyond. Go abroad in the third year of your degree, and you’ll not only learn about other cultures, improve your language skills and discover more about yourself – you’ll also boost your career prospects.

Having first-hand knowledge of another country’s cultures and traditions can take you far in a range of careers. And, by going abroad you’ll also demonstrate the kind of independent spirit and adaptability that many employers want.

The MChem (Hons) Pharmaceutical Chemistry is an integrated four-year undergraduate masters degree providing an excellent grounding in the skills and knowledge vital to a future as a pharmaceutical chemist working in drug discovery.

Throughout the programme, you’ll study a wide range of subjects, both to gain a good understanding of the wider subject and to develop the specialist skills central to pharmaceutical chemistry. So, while you’ll study general chemistry, research methods and professional laboratory techniques, your programme will also focus on more specialist areas like drug testing, drug efficacy, computer-based drug design and the quality control of pharmaceuticals.

The MChem (Hons) Pharmaceutical Chemistry degree also includes a research project unit, where you spend a year focusing on a major independent project in pharmaceutical chemistry that you design, carry out and present, alongside your other areas of study.

Study a software engineering degree with us and you’ll build the essential skills you need to work with software systems – opening the door to a range of career opportunities. You’ll cover all aspects of the software engineering process, with a focus on the methodical approach to robust, error-free software design and development.

In your first year, you’ll start with the core principles of computer architecture, databases, web design and programming. You’ll then begin to specialise, with areas of study like software design and development processes, full-stack web development and advanced programming.

As you progress you’ll develop knowledge of cloud computing, full-stack web development, software testing, as well as advanced development skills in a range of programming languages. You’ll also tackle team-based projects and a large-scale software project in your final year. This will help you to build vital project management skills, as well as giving you a sound understanding of the role of software development tools within the software life cycle.

Our BSc (Hons) Software Engineering, BSc (Hons) Computer Science and BSc (Hons) Applied Computing degrees share a common first year, allowing you to switch between these courses at the end of your first year.

Political and economic developments such as Brexit mean that international trade agreements, foreign direct investment and the attractiveness of where a company does business and accesses talent are more important than ever.

In the digital age, almost every business operates on the world stage and supplies to multiple countries. To help you compete in a hugely competitive global landscape, our International Business Management degree will give you a greater understanding of the nuances, challenges and opportunities of operating overseas.

Exploring enterprise, entrepreneurship and emerging markets

We’ll help you gain specialist knowledge in managing people of different cultures and backgrounds, and the political and governing structures of different markets that influence how businesses operate.

You’ll also develop the cross-cultural management skills you need to build international business relationships in often volatile political, cultural and economic environments.

Our International Business Management degree offers four-year routes where you can spend your third year on placement or study abroad at one of our overseas partner universities. Past students have worked for Johnson and Johnson in Tokyo, Hellman Worldwide Logistics in the USA and Warner Bros in London.

By the time you leave our business school, you’ll have the business knowledge and cross-cultural management skills to kick-start your career in the UK and abroad.

Placement options

Our BA (Hons) International Business Management degree offers the chance to spend a year getting a taste of professional life. It not only gives you the opportunity to develop your core skills and learn about how a business really operates in your industry, but also shows employers that you’re ready to get to work.

The Business School Placement Team is ready to help. They offer a wide range of services, including employer presentations, advice and placement fairs. But it’s also up to you – the more proactive you are about applying for placement opportunities, the better.

The MFA in Graphic Design & Art Direction program is designed for creative practitioners who wish to advance their knowledge, skills and specialism within the field of visual communication.

Each student will develop a practice-led investigation within this broader context, actively constructing a bespoke body of design knowledge which combines theory, practice, research, entrepreneurship and innovation from a wide range of creative activities.

They will be taught to question and expand their creative thinking and generic design process by developing their analytical skills; engaging in critical dialogues; work independently, collaboratively and interdisciplinary; experimenting in a range of directions before delivering professional and innovative outcomes to defined audiences with confidence. All creative activities are supported by strategic thinking, robust methodologies and informed by practice-led research.

Understanding the link between foods, diets, dietary patterns, nutrients, and physical health is paramount in the current environment. And that’s where nutritionists can help.

You’ll look at the issues that make the headlines and the topics that touch our everyday lives. Whilst our relationship with food has never had a higher profile in the public sphere, the food industry is constantly adapting to new consumer trends and developments.

Many dietary factors can influence a person’s health, and throughout our course, you’ll gain a working knowledge of a range of contemporary nutrition issues such as the origins of nutrition-related illnesses, the chemistry of food and dietary assessment.

You won’t simply learn the theory behind nutrition, you’ll explore how it works through practical sessions.

We have chemistry and microbiology laboratories, a taste panel suite, a product development kitchen, a bakery and food quality testing equipment. We also have the capability to produce and develop new food products, test and analyse them, taking them through to the packaging and labelling stage.

This creates a holistic approach to our teaching and means you gain real-life experience whilst studying with us.

Our nutritional sciences degree also provides the option of spending an extra year working in a partner organisation on placement.

Placement options

• If you choose the sandwich year degree route, you will spend Year 3 of your studies on a placement in industry.  Placement learning is a key element of the course as it allows you to apply university-based knowledge, skills and understanding to the real world of work.

The MChem (Hons) Chemistry is an integrated four-year undergraduate masters degree that covers study areas like reactions and mechanisms, materials chemistry, drug discovery, computational chemistry and spectroscopy, chemical synthesis and physiochemical processes.

The program is a high-standard platform for a range of careers. It includes a research project unit, where you spend a year focusing on a major independent project that you design, carry out and present, alongside your other areas of study.

Throughout our chemistry degree, you’ll develop the kind of practical skills vital for lab work, along with a balanced understanding of inorganic, organic, physical and analytical chemistry.  You’ll also have the flexibility to pursue the specialisms you’re most passionate about – through your final project, but also within the units you study, helping you shape the knowledge, experience and skills required for the career you aspire to.

Mastering the science of blood – exploring its characteristics and disorders, and understanding how it’s transfused – impacts far beyond the laboratory.

We’ve designed our MSc Haematology and Transfusion Science course to enable you to develop an advanced theoretical understanding and the practical techniques you’ll need to apply those theories in a research or clinical context.

You’ll start by developing a well-rounded understanding of biomedical topics, learning about analytical techniques and human disorders. You’ll then look at a range of specialist units – offering an in-depth look at everything from blood cells and diseases of the blood, to blood groups, transfusion methods and immunological aspects of blood. From there, you'll be ready to tackle the issues that fascinate you, with an independent masters research project.

Whether you study full-time for a year or part-time for up to three, our haematology and transfusion science masters can open doors for your future. From furthering your career in a hospital laboratory or working in a research facility, continuing your studies or moving into teaching or management, be ready for a career full of impact.

Our course is accredited by the Institute of Biomedical Science (IBMS) which means our teaching is of a high standard and provides wide-ranging, research-informed education to ensure you develop the practical skills and experience that employers’ value.

Photography offers an exciting range of career paths and specialisms and this course provides the perfect starting point for them.

You will have the opportunity to discover and push the boundaries of current practices and approaches. You’ll discover how photography can be used to tell powerful stories and communicate your personal interests within cultural and industry contexts. You will also have an opportunity to explore a wide range of different subject areas such as fashion, documentary, editorial and commercial photography. Throughout the course you will have the chance to experiment in a purpose-built studio, darkroom and digital facilities.

As a Photography student you will be part of the broad, dynamic creative community at the School of Digital Arts. As such, you will have units and classes taught across all our courses, with the chance to collaborate on projects with animators, sound designers, games developers and a range of other media-focused students. It’s an approach designed to mirror the cross-disciplinary practices you’ll find in the professional world, while giving you the chance to explore the creative directions that interest you most. Matching that professional approach, our purpose-built school provides professional-standard tools – a brand new creative playground for producing photographic work at the cutting edge of emerging digital technologies. It’s a school and a course designed to give you the vital industry and artist networking, technical and creative skills to prepare you for a career in the photographic and related industries.

Manchester offers a fantastic backdrop for it all. Studying here puts the country’s second-largest media and creative sector on your doorstep, with a globally recognised photographic industry and a substantial animation, film and digital/tech sector. At MediaCityUK, there’s a mix of national broadcasters and independent operators, while the city is home to a wide range of major media businesses. Manchester has a dynamic artistic and cultural scene that houses some of the best public and independent museums and galleries in the UK . So, whatever path you want to pursue in photography – or in the wider media, arts and digital tech industries – Manchester offers all sorts of opportunities for building a network, gaining experience and making a great start in your career.

In the changing world of contemporary filmmaking, there is an increasing range of possibilities for future storytelling across different media and platforms. The School of Digital Art's (SODA) MA Filmmaking course explores filmmaking within a wide range of professional contexts. This includes a distinctive focus on short form filmmaking, spanning narrative, documentary, artistic and technological practices across a range of platforms.

You will be encouraged to develop an authorial voice using a wide range of creative, conceptual and technological approaches to communicate your ideas and observations. Working with established techniques and experimental and disruptive production processes, you will have the opportunity to develop specialist skills whilst exploring a range of interdisciplinary and collaborative working methods within the SODA.  

As a Filmmaking student you will be based within a cutting-edge, purpose-built building, equipped with the latest emerging technologies to enable you to develop industry-standard skills for creating and researching content across the latest digital platforms. It’s a place that will offer the opportunity to collaborate with a dynamic creative community of sound designers, photographers, games developers and more. SODA is also home to staff from a wide range of creative disciplines, who are research active and experts in their chosen areas and who have well-established links to the wider creative media, arts and digital tech industries.

During the course you will also develop professional links with the creative community and industries both locally, nationally and internationally. For students and creative media professionals alike, SODA is well positioned within Manchester as a great place for building a network and developing your research and practice in the media, games and digital tech industries.