Bachelor of Science (Hons) in Politics with Economics with Placement Year

at University of Bath United Kingdom

Direct your own learning with a broad-based training in the social sciences that is focused on cutting-edge issues of social change and justice.

This course draws on insights from several disciplines, including sociology, social policy as well as international development and criminology. You’ll be free to explore which issues or ideas in social science you find most interesting. You’ll study these from diverse perspectives and link them with relevant research skills. You’ll be supported in tailor-making your degree according to your interests.

In your first year you’ll study social policy, sociology and gain a firm grounding in research methods and sources of data. You'll develop an understanding of how society works and the levers of social change. Through tutorials focused on developing key academic skills in these areas, you’ll also learn how to evaluate data and information to develop your own arguments tailored to different audiences.

In your second year you'll continue a broad-based approach or choose to specialise in specific areas, whether it’s policy, social theory, or justice and conflict.

In your final year you’ll carry out a year-long social science dissertation. You'll be able to make use of a range of methodological skills you’ll have accumulated during the course.

Equip yourself to work as a proficient Chinese-English translator and business interpreter on this master's course.

Our MA Translation with Business Interpreting (Chinese) is a highly competitive master's, ideal for those with an interest and aptitude for translation or business interpreting.

You may already be working as a translator and interpreter in mainland China, Taiwan, the UK or elsewhere, or looking to establish yourself with the specialist skills needed to excel in this profession.

The focus of the course is on written translation from English to Chinese and Chinese to English, as well as business interpreting between English and Chinese. In particular, you'll develop translation and interpreting skills suited to working in business and tailored to market needs in mainland China, Taiwan, the UK and other regions.

The course is highly practical, so you'll have plenty of opportunities to hone and develop your skills. You will:

• Gain extensive experience in translating a wide range of texts, from general business communications to specialist and technical materials
• Take part in weekly simulated 'real life' business liaison scenarios to enhance your interpreting and negotiation capabilities
• Gain practical experience of translation management software
• Develop sought-after and important business skills such as editing and proofreading
• Gain useful insights into marketing yourself as a freelance translator and interpreter

In a world regularly rocked by major upheavals, this course offers you a solid grounding in political systems and ideas, and contemporary global challenges.

This degree combines the study of political theories and concepts with the study of global affairs. You will gain the knowledge and analytical skills required to understand and respond to contemporary international and domestic socio-political challenges, from political polarisation to climate change. The integrated study of politics and international relations allows you to tailor your degree to suit your interests.

In your first year you’ll study topics such as political theory and analysis, comparative political systems, international relations, international political economy and UK politics in a global context.

In your second year you'll delve further into political theory and analysis and advance your skills in research design and data analysis. You'll start to specialise, with themes such as conflict and security, foreign policy analysis, or the politics of environmental crisis.

In your final year you’ll carry out a year-long dissertation and select optional units relating to your interests, covering themes such as international economic crises, war and peace, gender politics, and contemporary critical theories.

Develop a deep understanding of the fundamental principles of physics, expand your knowledge with flexible options and get involved in our high-level research.

This is our broadest physics degree and gives you the opportunity to explore a wide range of areas in physics, from the nanoscale to the most energetic processes in the Universe.

As well as gaining a deep knowledge and understanding of physics, you’ll graduate with strong experimental, mathematical and computational expertise. You’ll gain powerful problem-solving, analytical and critical thinking skills, preparing you for careers in physics and many other fields as well.

Placement Year

As an MPhys student, you can choose to undertake a research placement in the final year of the course. You’ll spend six months (July to December) working in a research organisation of international standing, before returning to the University for the final semester. We have links with leading research organisations, including CERN, NTT Basic Research Laboratories (Japan), European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (France) and Rutherford Appleton Laboratory.

Vital in addressing global health and environmental challenges, biochemistry explores the chemical processes of living organisms at a molecular level.

Combine your interests in biology and chemistry by applying chemical knowledge and techniques to study biological processes. You’ll learn what’s happening inside cells, how they communicate with each other, and use this to predict how molecules will interact.

Explore issues facing us in the 21st century relating to crime and criminal justice. Develop research and data handling skills relevant to a range of careers.

This degree has a strong global focus. You’ll explore crime and related topics from around the world, including human rights and terrorism, social justice, contemporary social problems, and the globalisation of crime.

You’ll develop an in-depth knowledge of how the various components of the criminal justice system work, from the police through to prison and probation. As well as a strong theoretical grounding, the course is designed to equip you with practical skills in critical enquiry, research and data generation.

Studying at Bath means you’ll get to work with a leading team of criminal justice researchers and criminologists, with significant global expertise. There’s also the chance to hone your skills further by doing a placement year in a relevant setting.

Become an innovative computing professional with the skills needed for a career in the fast-growing field of AI.

This course is for you if you’re keen to learn about current Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies, specialising in this field from the start of your degree whilst still gaining a broad grounding in computer science. AI is becoming an ever more important part of a wide range of sectors from medicine to marketing, so this course will help prepare you for continued demand in the job market.

You'll gain the skills and knowledge to apply the latest AI technologies and methods to a wide range of problems, studying topics such as machine learning, algorithms and complexity, and visual computing.

Tailor to your interests

In the first year, you’ll learn the basics of computer science, including mathematics and programming skills, along with an introduction to the theory and practice of AI. In the second year, you’ll continue to develop your AI skills, with a focus on machine learning. In the final year, you’ll choose optional units alongside an individual project in a specific area of AI. You can specialise in areas such as robotics, natural language processing, intelligent agents or computer vision. You’ll regularly meet with an academic who’s an expert in your chosen field.

Year abroad

Broaden your horizons with a year studying at a university abroad. You’ll experience another culture while studying a course that complements your studies at Bath.

We have links with universities in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Europe, currently including Binghamton University, University of Nebraska, University of Canterbury, TU Vienna and National University Singapore.

Apply the full breadth of physics to a wide range of astrophysical phenomena from star formation to black hole growth and the expansion of the Universe.

Physics with Astrophysics at Bath will give you a strong grounding in physics, along with in-depth specialist knowledge of astrophysics. You’ll learn how to combine evidence from stellar and extragalactic astronomy to build consistent theoretical models of the evolution of galaxies.

Topics covered include exoplanets, galaxies, cosmology, stars and stellar evolution, general relativity and high energy astrophysics. There'll also be opportunities for you to carry out both observational and computational astrophysics projects alongside our astrophysics research group.

Make invisible social structures visible. Use social theory and research methods to identify and explore the processes and forces that shape our lives.

Through this degree, you'll study and learn to apply core social theory in practice. You’ll learn to understand the structure of today’s society, how it came about, and whether we could live differently.

This course will appeal if you want to gain an analytical and methodological foundation for the study of collective and individual behaviour.

You will not only expand your knowledge of British society but also compare it with other societies around the globe. You’ll gain practical research skills so you can investigate society in practice, in original ways, and in a variety of settings.

In your first year you'll learn how sociology can be used to think in new ways about our everyday life. You'll study classical social theory and qualitative and quantitative research skills. Through tutorials focused on developing key academic skills, you’ll learn how to evaluate data and information to develop your own arguments tailored to different audiences.

In your second year you'll study contemporary social theory and further expand your skills in quantitative and qualitative research methods. You will also choose from a range of optional units from various areas of sociology, social policy and social science more broadly.

You will also choose from a range of optional units from various areas of sociology, social policy and social science more broadly.

In your final year you’ll carry out a year-long dissertation and choose from optional units focusing on specialist areas in sociology.

Gain specialist knowledge in pure and applied mathematics with a particular focus on statistics.

Mathematics enables us to reason logically, to understand structure and formulate scientific principles. Statistics is the collection, analysis and interpretation of data central to everything from scientific progress to medical research and the work of government.

This course is for you if you would like to study statistics and have a significant interest in mathematics. You’ll be trained how to analyse problems and interpret patterns in data to make careful predictions about the future.