Bachelor of Science (Hons) in Social Sciences with Placement Year

at University of Bath United Kingdom

Deepen your knowledge of international relations and gain the skills to unpack and detect the causes and consequences of the world’s biggest challenges.

Current world developments - such as security threats, changes of leadership, the emergence of new powers and the evolving nature of the EU - present fresh challenges to governments, regions and the international system as a whole.

This course explores these issues in-depth, taking a close look at politics and policy-making of cybersecurity, security, diplomacy, and great and emerging powers, as well as the interplay of international power, order and institutions.

You'll gain the analytical skills to be able to unpack and detect the causes and consequences of specific political problems and the different political processes that have generated them.

This course attracts students from all over the world at different stages of their professional and academic lives, adding to the richness of debate and offering deep and diverse perspectives on this multi-faceted subject.

Studying at Bath provides you with the opportunity to work with researchers in international security, terrorism, foreign policy and the international political economy. Our staff have expertise in many relevant topics including intelligence, the global resurgence of religion, emerging powers and peace and conflict studies, they offer fresh and leading perspectives on these highly complex and evolving areas.

You'll leave with:

• A broad and informed perspective on current issues of international relations
• The strong analytical skills and theory-informed reasoning to be able to conduct political analysis and understand current challenges and developments
• A deep insight into the world of negotiation and diplomacy and how multilateral institutions operate in the domains of trade and security
• A strong foundation for international careers in administration, diplomacy, policy formation and research

This course is suited to those with an interest in contemporary world affairs and a degree in a relevant subject, such as international relations, politics, European studies, history, sociology, economics or languages. It’s a highly relevant course if you’re interested in, or already working in, public policy, diplomacy, government, think tanks, NGOs, business and industry, or education.

Use your knowledge to specialise in an evolving area of technology and develop the management skills to play a part in the future of the automotive industry.

Our course teaches you how to use the knowledge from your first degree to further your education and specialise in automotive technology. You’ll combine your studies in technology with business and management theory to meet the current and future needs of the automotive sector.

At the start of your course, you’ll be set a topical automotive theme to carry through into group projects. This ensures the subject-based units are current and relevant to professional practice in the industry. It also gives you the benefit of a personalised learning pathway. We’ll introduce you to key scientific principles in automotive technology and give you specialist insight into the subject to help you build on your existing skills. Your studies will cover some of the leading areas of development in industry such as advanced propulsion systems, sustainable mobility and innovation for a zero-carbon economy.

Exploring a range of automotive engineering applications and technologies, you’ll consider their impact, analysing past failures and predicting future challenges and successes. You’ll develop systems-thinking approaches to understand the breadth of challenges faced in the sector such as moral, ethical and sustainability issues.

Complementing your technology studies, you’ll learn about business and management in the automotive sector. You’ll cover areas such as resource management, business processes, business theory, and change management. A key part is our ‘practice track’ business project, which allows you to work on a real engineering management challenge together with an industrial partner. In this you’ll explore new and existing business models, including innovative and conscientious partnerships that balance economic growth with the impact of their activity on society.

Develop the skills and understanding to tackle the global challenges of development, social justice and sustainability.

Whether you are a graduate aiming to make a difference in the world, or a professional wishing to deepen your knowledge and critical thinking, this course is for you.

You will explore the political, economic and social forces that promote and prevent social and environmental justice around the world. These include people’s struggles for wellbeing and sustainability and the visions that inspire them; and the roles of state, society and market actors. Transcending geographical binaries of Global North and South, you will consider areas of complementarity and trade-off between economic development, human wellbeing and environmental sustainability.

This specialist master’s combines skills and knowledge of international development with an in-depth focus on social justice, wellbeing and sustainability. Innovative learning approaches promote investigation of particular cases and issues drawing out connections and contradictions between different actors, analytical perspectives and across global, regional, national, and local scales.

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.

Placement Year

The placement year is an opportunity for you to use the theory you have learnt in a practical context. You will learn about an organisation and its area of work. This is an excellent opportunity to test potential career paths. Sometimes permanent jobs are offered to our students. You’ll develop skills such as teamwork, planning, problem-solving, decision-making and project management.

Employers value a year of professional work and you’ll gain an advantage in the job market. Over the years, we have built contacts with a large number of organisations that can provide the high standard of training we expect.

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.

Year abroad

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

We have links with universities in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, South Africa and Europe. This includes Binghamton University, National University Singapore, University of Canterbury, Stellenbosch University and the University of Helsinki.

Gain the technical and professional skills to pursue a wide range of careers as a chemical engineer.

Our course introduces you to the core principles and practices of chemical engineering. It develops your professional skills in engineering, mathematics, science, information technology, research, design, communication and management.

Through lectures and practical lab sessions, you’ll learn how to gather and assess data to develop industrial strategies. You’ll explore new technologies and gain a comprehensive understanding of process design. Your studies will give you the confidence to critically apply scientific and engineering knowledge.

You’ll also develop transferable skills such as problem solving, teamwork and resource management. Integrating these with your technical knowledge, you’ll learn how to tackle complex, and often open-ended, engineering problems.

Placement Year

A placement gives you the chance to gain experience and develop skills in a commercial or industrial environment, and can count towards becoming chartered. The professional knowledge you gain can benefit the rest of your degree and improve your career prospects. It can also be an opportunity to earn a salary during your degree.

Our students have worked at companies such as GSK, Unilever, Mondelez, Wessex Water, Biobean, BP and Exxon Mobil.

Combine specialist knowledge in engineering with advanced business skills to impact the future of vehicle engineering in the automotive sector.

Our course gives you the opportunity to build on your first degree with more in-depth knowledge in automotive engineering. Alongside this, you’ll learn key business management skills relevant to a variety of industries but focusing first on the automotive sector.

You’ll advance your technical engineering knowledge in areas such as propulsion systems and how they will influence the future of vehicle engineering. Exploring a range of automotive engineering applications and technologies, you’ll consider their impact, analysing past failures and predicting future challenges and successes. Using a systems-thinking approach, you’ll learn to understand wider challenges that affect the automotive sector including moral, ethical and sustainability issues.

Learn fundamental management skills alongside the nature, context and process of entrepreneurship. This course will prepare you for an entrepreneurial career and a range of management roles.

This course is for graduates who want to develop an entrepreneurial mindset and pursue entrepreneurial careers.

You will learn how to:

• Understand trends
• Identify and exploit opportunities
• Apply management knowledge to business problems or entrepreneurial ideas

Key benefits

• Our approach to the dissertation is unique. Use your dissertation to develop a viable business model. Gain valuable experience for your entrepreneurial career by researching and testing assumptions behind the model
• Network with our graduate entrepreneurs. They will give workshops on pitching, creative thinking, persuasion and negotiation. Enjoy coaching and feedback on your business ideas
• Experiment with the entrepreneurial process and develop your skills in an open learning environment
• Develop a global outlook by learning and sharing knowledge with students all over the world
• Combine practical experience with the newest, leading research.

Develop your knowledge of biomechanics, physiology and psychology. You will understand how humans function in sport, physical activity and health environments.

This degree has three core strands running throughout the course:

• Biomechanics will explore how humans create and control movement including athletes’ technique
• Physiology will cover the structure, function, regulation and performance of bodily systems
• Psychology will examine the role of thoughts, feelings and behaviours in sport and exercise settings

Through these core disciplines you'll apply your knowledge to sports performance and exercise participation and understand the relevance of sport and exercise science to current practice.

Use specialist facilities

As a student on one of our sport, exercise and health courses you'll have access to facilities that support your learning, including laboratories with specialist equipment and the latest technology, including:

• Applied Biomechanics Laboratory
• Applied Physiology Laboratory
• Biochemistry Laboratory
• Metabolic Research Laboratory
• A dedicated movement analysis suite

Placement Year

The placement year will give you valuable practical experience and is an excellent opportunity to try different careers. It enables you to leave university with a strong CV and may set you apart from other graduates entering the job market. You can take placements in elite sports, healthcare and industries around the globe. We advertise around 200 placement opportunities.

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.

Year abroad

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

We currently have links with universities in North America, Australasia, Asia and Europe, including Purdue University, the University of Queensland, National University Singapore and the University of Helsinki.