Master of Science in Engineering Smart Systems

at Manchester Metropolitan University United Kingdom

This course is a popular joint honours combination which brings together two subjects with highly complementary approaches and interests. Study English and history and you will explore a wide range of sources and representations that enhance our understanding of the world around us, both past and present.

As well as offering a balanced combination of core and option units rooted in each of the two subjects, this course has been designed so that your growing knowledge and skills in each subject will help you to develop a distinctive perspective, and strengths, in the other. During year 1, for instance, you will study the history of Manchester as a radical city on the History side of the joint curriculum, and the various ways in which it has been represented in literary and cultural texts on the English side. As you do so, you will be developing foundational skills and subject knowledge in the study of each discipline.

You may also have the opportunity to study abroad and, if you wish, to take your third year as a placement – in Britain or abroad. In your final year, you will have a chance to spread your wings with a substantial piece of project work, presented in a thesis, building on the skills you've been developing over previous years.

The English and history subject groups are staffed by internationally renowned writers and academics, and there’s a strong research culture, creating a learning environment that is both supportive and intellectually challenging. We pride ourselves on our excellent teaching and highly positive student feedback. And with our extensive cultural links both in Manchester and further afield, you will be in the right place to begin building a network for your future.

Placement options
You may have the chance to spend a year getting a taste of professional life. It is an opportunity to develop core skills and explore how this course can relate to the graduate world. It shows employers that you’re ready to get to work.

Students are free to choose placement opportunities from a wide range of roles both in the UK and abroad. Students choosing this option are supported by a dedicated placement team who provide links to employers through presentations, events, and fairs, and provide a specialist program of guidance on recruitment procedures including CV and interview preparation, as well as work readiness and working overseas.

Illustrators work within many disciplines, and are able to visualise, elucidate and extend the meaning of a given field of knowledge or information and communicate ideas and narratives to specific audiences.

The contemporary practice of illustration is multidisciplinary, incorporating drawing, printmaking, traditional and digital media, model making, performance and collaborative, interactive practices.

The MA in Illustration is designed for creative practitioners who wish to advance their knowledge, skills and specialism within this expansive field.

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 and research-driven 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.

Whatever the purpose and whoever the user, web design marries the technical with the creative. The pioneers and leaders in this industry over the past 20 years have been both talented developers and left-field thinkers – a combination of creativity and code that has helped shape the modern digital experience.

As a Web & User Experience Design student, you will be part of a vibrant, multi-disciplinary creative community at our School of Digital Arts (SODA). With an innovative curriculum that ignores the narrow limits of any one discipline, you’ll have ample opportunity for collaborating with fellow SODA students – whether they’re studying games, photography, animation or sound design (to name a few). It’s an approach designed to mirror the real working practices within the creative industries, but it also lets you find the cross-over areas and creative directions that interest you most. And, just as you’ll learn industry practices, you’ll also use industry tools – developing your skills in an environment that has been designed, built and equipped with the latest technologies.

More than a purpose-built creative school, we also boast a globally renowned creative setting. Manchester is home to the second-largest media and creative sector in the UK, with a huge range of production companies, digital agencies and media businesses, from national broadcasters to innovative start-ups. As such, it’s not only an ideal city for your education in web and UX, but a perfect place to take your first steps as a professional. Here, you can learn from some of those at the forefront of the discipline, build your network and secure your career in the media, games or digital tech industries.

Placement options

SODA Placement Year
As part of your studies with SODA, you will have the chance to take a year working on placement within the industry. During your year, you will spend at least 36 weeks working within an organisation in the industry, developing workplace skills, practical understanding and genuine industry experience.

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.

Placement options
Our BA/BSc (Hons) Economics 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.

Decision making, big data, management… there’s more to accounting and finance than numbers. By studying our accounting and finance degree, you’ll explore every aspect of the area and learn to support businesses across different sectors.

Whether you want to work in a top accountancy firm or start a career in research, we’ll help you develop the expertise you need. You’ll take some of the professional exams too, so you’re one step closer to professional or chartered status when you graduate.

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.

Banking and finance are not only central to the country’s (and the world’s) economy – they also offer a diverse range of opportunities for your future. Whether you’re considering a career in personal banking, wealth management or corporate finance (to name but a few), our BSc (Hons) Banking and Finance program offers the skills and knowledge you’ll need to get started.

You’ll start off getting a good grounding in financial theory and practice, before exploring specialist areas in more depth – from retail banking and corporate finance, to risk management and the industry’s most influential institutions. You can also choose to spend a year working on a placement or studying abroad, developing valuable skills and boosting your career prospects.

Whether you take the three or four-year route – and whatever specialist areas you choose in your final year – you’ll find a practical focus throughout your studies. Not only is everything we teach rooted in real-world experience and expertise, but we’ve designed the course to give you the kind of transferrable skills employers across the industry demand.

A degree in AI and data science will equip you with the knowledge and skills to acquire, curate, manage, analyse, and make inferences from data for solving real-world problems.

In your first year, you will study core computing topics such as programming and databases, as well as specialist subjects such as mathematics, statistics, and the principles and practice of data science. As you move into your second year you’ll progress onto more advanced topics, such as applied predictive modelling, algorithms and data structures, machine learning (a key topic in artificial intelligence), and the theory and implementation of alternative database models. In your final year, you’ll be ready to meet complex subjects such as deep learning, high-performance computing and big data, and you’ll turn your hand to a large-scale technical project. Alongside these subjects, you will be developing your communication and team working skills.

Study artificial intelligence and data science with us and you’ll gain essential, transferable computational and statistical thinking skills to create and deploy data-driven products. We’ll equip you with the knowledge for solving challenges in a range of potential data-rich application domains, such as medicine, health, climate, transportation, marketing and sales.

Placement options
The four-year placement route provides the opportunity to go on a placement for at least 36 weeks, where you’ll get a taste of professional life. A placement not only gives you the opportunity to develop your core skills and experience but also shows employers that you’re ready to get to work. We offer a wide range of services to help you find the right placement, including employer presentations, advice and fairs. But it’s also up to you – the more proactive you are about applying for placements, the better. This is subject to national lockdown restrictions.

Philosophy is about making sense of ourselves and the world around us. It’s about asking and trying to answer the most fundamental theoretical and practical questions - from trying to understand the nature of consciousness, to whether current political institutions enable political freedom.

On BA (Hons) Philosophy you’ll consider ground-breaking philosophical theories from figures like Socrates, Kant and Nietzsche, to more contemporary thinkers such as Frantz Fanon, Hannah Arendt and Judith Butler. You’ll explore theories about the meaning of life, the nature of reality, who we are as individuals and society, and how these theories have shaped our ideas about humankind. And along the way, you’ll find your philosophical voice and develop a rich set of analytical and critical skills invaluable for your future – with the power to influence others and drive change.

As a philosophy student you will be joining a hub of research-active philosophers with local, national and international impact, with many of them being invited to present at major international conferences and workshops. Our staff work across key areas including History of Philosophy, critical social theories, Philosophy of Art, Metaphysics, Philosophy of Education, History and Philosophy of Science and much more – with this expertise behind us, we can give you a rounded, balanced understanding of the subject.

Placement options

You may have the chance to spend a year getting a taste of professional life. It is an opportunity to develop core skills and explore how this course can relate to the graduate world, and it shows employers that you’re ready to get to work.

You are free to choose placement opportunities from a wide range of roles both in the UK and abroad. Students choosing this option are supported by a dedicated placement team who provide links to employers through presentations, events, and fairs, and provide a specialist program of guidance on recruitment procedures including CV and interview preparation, as well as work readiness and working overseas.

FinTech (financial technology) is disrupting and reshaping commerce. The term is applied anywhere technology is used to help companies manage the financial aspects of a business. It includes new software and applications, processes and business models.

Understanding rapidly evolving financial markets
This course combines our expertise in finance, computing, risk and behavioural science. You’ll look at innovative technologies and the disruptive nature of FinTech business models.

We’ll show you how FinTech has combined finance and technology and is changing the way companies and consumers interact. You’ll also discover how it has affected the regulatory environment in which companies operate.

You’ll experience different elements such as programming, business analytics, digital strategy, data science, strategy and risk in financial services.

Managing teams across a business requires specific skills. On this course, you’ll explore management styles and how to apply them. We’ll also help you identify your own style and hone the skills you need to relate to employees across organisations and cultures.

This course is open to applicants from all subject areas, not just business and management. The field of management is so varied that you can adapt the skills you have learned from your previous studies to shape your future career.

Optional internship year

If you choose to take the optional one-year internship, you’ll do so once you have successfully completed your taught units. The internship takes place over 36-48 weeks – you will be supported by our Placement Office, who have extensive contacts with the industry and over 25 years of experience of helping students to find placements.

The Placement Office advertise a variety of opportunities, supports and advise on the application and recruitment process and continue to support you whilst you are away from the University.