Bachelor of Science (Hons) in Business Management (Marketing)

at University of Bolton United Kingdom

In our ever-changing world, novel ideas can create new businesses, help them grow faster than ever and develop new industries overnight. We aim to prepare you to lead these changes. The University of Bolton’s MSc in Entrepreneurship and Innovation will build your knowledge in the three key areas of entrepreneurship, innovation and business development and help you gain the skills and self-confidence to showcase your worth. Our expert team will work to nurture your entrepreneurial mindset so you can realise your entrepreneurial potential.

Innovation for everyone
Entrepreneurship and innovation play vital roles in knowledge creation and exploitation to generate value and drive sustainable economic, social and organisational development. Organisations are increasingly seeking people with the ability to spot and take advantage of new opportunities so entrepreneurial and innovation skills are highly sought after. It doesn’t matter what your background or area of expertise is, this course is open to everyone with entrepreneurial drive and the desire to innovate.

Be the change
The need for professionals who can create and grow innovative companies and sustainable social enterprises has never been greater. We also want to prepare you to bring innovative insights into existing organisations so they can better respond to the complex challenges facing our society. Many business executives link the success of their businesses to innovation and as a result, put a lot of emphasis on it. Not only does it allow organisations to stay relevant in the competitive marketplace, but it also plays an important role in economic growth. Our MSc in Entrepreneurship and Innovation is designed to help you develop the high-level skills and critical competencies you’ll need to become a successful innovator and an entrepreneur who can build ethical and sustainable businesses.

Study in one of the most innovative regions in the UK
The North West of England was a powerhouse of the industrial revolution, and Greater Manchester remains at the heart of innovation in the UK today. MediaCityUK is an international hub for innovation, technology, and creativity and has been chosen as a base by over 250 media and digital businesses. Moreover, industry heavyweights like Google, Amazon, Freshfields, LLP, the BBC and Microsoft have opened offices in the Manchester area. Overall, the diverse industry base and the region’s growing population offer rich opportunities for those with innovative ideas coupled with the skills, knowledge and self-belief needed to build a new business from the ground up. As a graduate of this master’s degree, you’ll be well placed to thrive in this environment.

Supporting you to become the ‘complete package’
To succeed as an entrepreneur, you’ll need a combination of high-level business development expertise coupled with essential interpersonal and thinking skills, such as persuasion, negotiation, critical thinking, collaborative working and problem-solving. We draw expertise from across the University to ensure you gain the vital mix of hard and soft skills necessary for career success. In addition, our extensive links with regional and national employers offer opportunities for masterclasses, networking and individual industry-based projects. Overall, this course supports you to develop extensive knowledge of innovation and entrepreneurship, coupled with essential skills for business and leadership. Together these attributes will take your CV to the next level.

Would you prefer to complete your course over a longer time? We also offer this course with a duration of 18 months full-time or 24 months part-time. For full-time study, please visit our MSc Entrepreneurship and Innovation: Extended course search web page for details and to apply. Alternatively, for part-time study, please visit our MSc Entrepreneurship and Innovation course search web page.

Highlights

• Dr Selva Pankaj, the author of ‘Thinking into Character – A Proven Methodology for the Creation of Success & Self-Fulfilment’, is a valued partner of the University whose work will support you in the development of business and career planning, confidence and knowledge.
• We use small group and tutorial teaching, so you have the opportunity to benefit from the excellent and often personalised support offered by our teaching staff.
• Contemporary research findings are woven into our teaching and this is supplemented by colleagues from our enterprise lab who are on hand to offer practical support throughout the programme.
• Our industry?engaged staff have strong links with organisations across the range of public, commercial and industrial sectors, offering opportunities for industry masterclasses and lectures, joint projects, and networking.
• This MSc is part of the University of Bolton’s ‘Career Development Masters’ suite, offering shared modules that give you a wide business perspective. Inspired by the graduate training programmes of major companies, these modules will help you develop high-level employability and transferable skills and apply them in your career.

Key Features

• Course materials are available online, allowing you to prepare work at home and make the most of the highly interactive in-class tuition.
• Teaching and supervision are delivered by dedicated staff chosen for their expertise and experience in fields relevant to entrepreneurship, innovation and your professional development needs.
• We regularly invite guest speakers with varied and extensive experiences in industry and practice, enabling you to benefit from their knowledge and mentorship.
• You’ll benefit from opportunities for interdisciplinary learning and network building with students from our other Career Development Master’s degrees, including the Human Society, Data Analytics and Technologies, Professional Practice and Creative Industries courses.

Visual effects (VFX) and animation is at the heart of creating spectacular imagery for the film, TV, commercial and music video industries. VFX is an integral part of nearly every global blockbuster film in the modern era. Whether it’s the creation of hideous monsters, futuristic vehicles, or epic alien landscapes, VFX is the driving force behind the magic that you see on screen.

Our BSc (Hons) Visual Effects and Animation course is ideal if you wish to combine design creativity with cutting-edge 2D and 3D computer generated imagery and animation to create visual effects. We offer hands-on experience covering the whole workflow of a digital VFX pipeline – from concept design, pre-production and visualisation, to the production of photorealistic 3D models/environments, and computer generated and composited images.

Our dedicated and experienced team will lead you in an exploration of 3D computer modelling, texturing, lighting, rendering, rigging and animation, as well as the established areas of compositing, matte paintings and environments.

VFX artists need transferable skills too, including communication, project and time management, team-working and entrepreneurship. We aim to support you to develop these attributes, alongside the imagination, flair and curiosity that will enable you to design and deliver inventive VFX and animation solutions for film, TV and advertising.

Highlights

• Each year our final year students are set industry briefs by Oscar-winning VFX studios such as DNEG. Getting involved with these industry projects can help you form great links with top VFX studios, as well as give you direct feedback on your work from leading industry artists and professionals.
• You’ll have access to our fantastic range of VFX facilities, including our dedicated effects studio with infinity curve green screen, our site-wide renderfarm that uses distributed computing to render high quality, complex photo realistic scenes and environments, and our boutique film studio that includes broadcast standard cameras and lighting equipment.
• You’ll also use industry-standard software, such as Autodesk Maya for 3D work, The Foundry’s Nuke and Mari for compositing and digital painting, Houdini for technical effects and dynamics, and ZBrush for digital sculpting.
• We’re committed to helping develop your employability and career network. You’ll be encouraged to attend guest lectures that enhance your learning and help you make contacts in the industry. For instance, Malcolm Watts, a Lead Modeller at Oscar Award-winning visual effects studio DNEG (and University of Bolton VFX graduate) has recently shared his expertise with students on our film FX courses.
• Alongside your visual effects skills and knowledge, we’ll support you to develop a broader understanding of production design, including concepting, cinematography and composition. This will help you appreciate the roles, skills and expectations of other professionals working in the industry.

Key Features

• The course is designed and regularly reviewed in collaboration with professional visual effects artists and studio directors. This ensures that the content is industry-relevant and includes the latest techniques and innovations.
• We’ll help and support you to develop a portfolio of work/show reel that demonstrates your skills in readiness to impress potential employers.
• Course assignments and projects mimic industry pipelines and standards so your experience is a realistic preparation for a career in visual effects and animation.
• Our dedicated staff team have a wide range of professional experience, industry knowledge, technical expertise and academic credentials, offering you a variety of perspectives and broadening your horizons.
• We prefer to keep student numbers relatively small in lecture and practical classes, so that you have plenty of opportunities to ask us questions and get individual help, as well as benefit from the ideas and support offered by your classmates.
• We’ll encourage you to research, analyse, design and develop visual effects techniques so that you can take an idea from a brief or script scene and find the most time-efficient, cost-effective and visually impressive way to turn that vision into reality.

Professional recognition

• The University of Bolton’s BSc (Hons) Visual Effects and Animation degree holds Tick accreditation from Screen Skills, the industry-led skills body for the UK's screen-based creative industries, including animation, film, games, television including children's TV and high-end drama, VFX and immersive technology. Working with industry experts, ScreenSkills awards the quality mark of the Tick to practice-based degree courses that most effectively provide students with the skills and knowledge required by employers in the screen industries. ScreenSkills provides the highest level of industry-led accreditation for VFX focused degrees, meaning our degree is globally recognised for its outstanding levels of teaching, employability and links into the VFX industry.

The growing social and economic challenges to young people and adults in communities mean the need for highly trained, passionate and creative professionals in the areas of youth and community work have never been greater. The University of Bolton’s MA in Community Development and Youth Studies is designed to prepare future leaders for this sector, ready for a career changing lives by challenging discrimination and oppression through informal social inclusion.

The aim of this course is to extend your already considerable professional skills and knowledge with specialist modules that deepen your understanding of areas such as equality and diversity, community learning, and global community development and sustainability. Our expert team will help you gain critical reflection, analysis and evaluation skills that support your ability to determine the impact of professional interventions on the community and young people.

Combining this knowledge with the principles and techniques of academic research and investigation will help develop your evidence-based practice, and grow your skills in evaluating options and formulating creative solutions to complex problems. Studying leadership and management styles, theories and frameworks will support you to become more actively involved in the planning, delivery and transformation of services and interventions.

Overall, our aim is to help you gain the professional and transferable skills to move forward in your career, empowering young people and adults in communities.

Highlights

• Our students are drawn from a wide variety of backgrounds – sharing the individual and unique educational insights and perspectives of your peers helps to enrich your learning experience.
• We promote research and critical enquiry helping you learn to make sound, evidence-based independent judgements.
• Our excellent links with over 70 partners and external agencies means we can offer a wide variety of perspectives and research opportunities; for instance, we work with youth and community centres, schools, alternative education projects, women's refuges and community projects, as well as housing, health, leisure and youth training schemes, resettlement projects, and detached, outreach and mentoring projects.
• On successful completion of this course you’ll be awarded an MA in Community Development and Youth Studies from the University of Bolton.

Key Features

• Face-to-face sessions and one-to-one support is offered by our team of highly experienced, enthusiastic and dedicated experts.
• Staff and students from across our Faculty of Health and Wellbeing work closely together. By studying alongside people from related specialisms and sectors, such as early years and health and social care you can benefit from a wider range of knowledge and experience that supports cross-disciplinary thinking and inter-professional working.
• Our academic team is actively involved in community and youth studies research, helping you to explore issues from a robust research-informed knowledge base.
• Specialists in the field of community development and youth work will be invited to join us as guest speakers and lecturers, offering you first-hand live examples of current practice.
• Our highly experienced team will support you as you develop critical thinking and research evaluation skills and apply these during your independent master’s-level project.

It’s predicted that by 2022, there will be a worldwide shortage of 1.8 million information security workers , meaning that the future offers qualified cybersecurity professionals access to excellent career opportunities and competitive salaries. Our BSc (Hons) Computing (Cyber Security) course is an ideal route into this dynamic and evolving industry.

Cyber security focuses on protecting data and information systems from cyber breaches. Covering how to design secure computer systems, this unique degree emphasises secure software development and promotes a deep understanding of the structure of computing systems. Throughout the course, you’ll develop technical knowledge and applied skills in security defence techniques and counter-measures, ready to protect computer systems and electronic infrastructures from attack. In particular, we’ll focus on helping you learn to design and develop your own security tools for probing, analysing and defending computer systems against attack.

Our expert and dedicated team will cover how to analyse and evaluate security threats and vulnerabilities to information systems, perform security risk assessments and develop security controls, processes and software. We’ll support you as you learn how to respond to security incidents and implement resolution activities. The department’s strong links with business mean you’ll have the chance to work on ‘live briefs’ in your coursework assignments, so you’ll have the opportunity to enjoy real-world context and application for the skills and knowledge we’ll help you develop.

With class sizes no greater than 30, we can offer you meaningful, personalised learning plans. Our dedicated and enthusiastic lecturers – many of whom are active researchers with extensive industry insights and experience – will help you develop both the theoretical knowledge and the practical, hands-on skills required by the security sector that will put you one-step ahead of attackers from day one. Meanwhile, guest speakers and lecturers give you access to highly relevant and up-to-date input from industry settings.

All of this is backed by our well-equipped IT suites, where you’ll get to apply and develop your learning individually and in groups, with expert guidance and support.

Highlights

• The department – and the wider University – provides a warm and friendly environment for your studies, with relatively small class sizes, purpose-built teaching facilities, and excellent student support and library services.
• Your teaching and tutorial team brings an impressive range of professional experience and technical prowess to the course, so you’ll have the chance to explore and evaluate a range of perspectives relating to your studies.
• A big part of our commitment to your progress is helping you develop your employability and industry networks. The teaching team work collaboratively with industrial partners to ensure that you have access to the latest and relevant industrial skills. So, we’ll encourage you to attend guest lectures that give your learning context, offer access to industry contacts, and contribute to your underlying professional development.
• By underpinning our content and assignments with a strong industrial focus, we foster a keen understanding of the professional IT environment, and help you develop essential skills such as team-working, communication and problem solving.
• This degree offers a comprehensive overview of key cyber security principles, methods and activities, such as types of security, common attack techniques, performing a risk assessment, penetration testing, managing risk and assessing the ‘cyber security culture’ of an organisation.
• We’ll focus on your individual needs, and provide personalised learning support in order to help you find the learning strategies that best support you as you begin your journey towards an exciting and challenging career as a cyber-security.

Key Features

• Our dedicated laboratories, servers and end-hosts feature high-specification hardware and the latest software, so you’ll have industry-equivalent hands-on experience.
• You’ll also get to experience the latest technologies, such as OpenStack – developed by Rackspace and NASA.
• As you’d expect, many of our computing facilities are accessible online, so you can work on your assignments wherever you are, and whenever inspiration kicks in.
• We’ll support you to develop sought-after skills such as background research, critical reasoning and problem solving, as well as professional communication, time management, teamwork, and lifelong learning.
• We’ll also encourage you to build a portfolio of evidence representing the projects and tasks you’ve completed during your studies, ready to impress potential employers.
• We continually monitor and update the course to reflect current and ever-changing issues in computing, and to keep your learning in line with technological advances and innovations.

Professional recognition

• The University of Bolton’s BSc (Hons) Computing (Cyber Security) programme offers you the opportunity to develop the skills to be recognised as a RedHat certified practitioner in systems administration, and gain a number of other industry-relevant professional accreditations. We were the first UK university to become a RedHat academy and offer you access to the accreditation examinations at a significantly reduced cost.

If you have a passion for the arts and culture and a keen interest in areas such as creative producing, galleries and curation, and cultural heritage and museums, this master’s degree offers you a route into a rewarding career in arts management. Whether you are progressing straight from undergraduate study, or are already working in the sector, this programme aims to prepare you to work in partnership with a range of arts, theatre and cultural organisations to develop and manage projects that have tangible social, educational and commercial benefits.

Our dedicated team will support you as you investigate the current arts landscape to develop your understanding of the social, political and cultural contexts for the arts, examining growth areas such as arts and wellbeing, social prescribing, social engagement and regeneration. The applications for arts and culture are varied and you’ll have the opportunity to explore areas such as social enterprise, creative engagement, and arts and culture for health and wellbeing.

Your studies will focus on key aspects of arts management practice, including leadership and management, networking and collaboration, logistics and managing risk. Audience engagement, project planning and development, and impact evaluation will also form key cornerstones of your learning. You’ll have the opportunity to work with a number of arts and cultural organisations via live briefs and work-based learning, as well as to gain additional qualifications such as safeguarding, health and safety in the workplace, equality and diversity, and risk assessment to further strengthen your professional profile. Our aim to support you to develop the real-world skills that will enable you to work freelance, on contracted roles within existing organisations, or to set up your own company.

Highlights

• This MA offers opportunities for you to work with a range of arts and cultural organisations across Greater Manchester and the North West region on live projects.
• Our industry-engaged staff are experienced in developing and leading arts and cultural projects, so are well-versed in the skills and knowledge needed for success in the field.
• We’ll focus on helping you develop the practical, real-world arts management skills you’ll need to work freelance, start your own company, or secure employment with established organisations.
• We'll help you learn about tax self-assessment, invoicing, intellectual property and risk assessments, as well as offer business start-up sessions to prepare you to take advantage of opportunities for enterprise development.

Key Features

• Teaching and supervision are delivered by our dedicated team of experienced and well-qualified staff who are engaged in arts practice, management and research.
• We offer an engaging programme of visiting speakers and practitioners that gives you opportunities to network with and learn from industry professionals.
• You’ll have opportunities to gain additional qualifications such as safeguarding, health and safety in the workplace, equality and diversity, and risk assessment, alongside your master’s degree to ensure you achieve a strong professional profile in preparation for employment.

Games are serious business. The industry needs professionals with in-depth technical games knowledge and creative vision combined with business know-how and marketing expertise. The University of Bolton’s MA in Games Development offers you the chance to grow your skills and confidence in all these areas, gaining experience as a developer, and graduating with at least one credit on a published game to your name.

Designed around team-based development projects, the course involves you working with other students to form and run ‘indie’ style teams. Our highly-experienced games team will support and encourage you as you learn to plan, design, develop and publish games.

We will work to further extend your already substantial understanding of game development concepts and production methods, helping you master an arsenal of advanced tools and techniques to create compelling and inventive experiences.

Alongside these games-specific skills, we offer commercial and business knowledge for the creative sector; for instance, business planning, client negotiation, pitching for projects, responding to project briefs, intellectual property licencing and marketing campaign planning. Our academic team will provide critical support while helping you hone your project management and other transferable skills, ready to progress your career in the industry.

Highlights

• You will have opportunities to create and publish games for a variety of platforms including mobile, desktop, VR and console, building an impressive portfolio as you gain experience creating and running an indie studio.
• All the games staff at Bolton have worked on published games and most have experience working at or with publishers and developers – collectively, we have over seventy game credits on published titles.
• We offer focused teaching based on the latest research and industry trends and you will be encouraged to apply your new knowledge immediately in your projects.
• Our projects are flexible and designed to offer appropriate challenges based on you and your development team mates’ skills, competencies and interests.
• Industry experts from the leading games studios in the UK, along with Bolton graduates now successful in the sector, are regularly invited to give guest lectures on aspects of games development.

Key Features

• University of Bolton games graduates have been enjoying careers in the games industry for longer than most – we were one of the first UK universities to offer games courses and we now offer specialisms in Games Design, Games Art and Games Programming.
• We share your passion for games. Our dedicated games tutors offer a vast range of industry experience, a wide network of contacts in the games industry, and knowledge of the latest games research and developments.
• This course offers intensive practical experience in an environment designed to emulate conditions in the industry – you will be expected to spend approximately 30 hours per week in our development studio.
• Our well-equipped, dedicated games studios feature high-specification hardware and industry-standard software, along with modern and vintage consoles.

Interested in a career that combines technical skill, the ability to care for people and a level of artistry? Dental technicians (or dental technologists as they are often referred to) make dentures, crowns, bridges and dental braces that improve patients’ appearance, speech and chewing function. The University of Bolton is home to state-of-the-art facilities and knowledgeable, professional staff committed to delivering a varied curriculum of theoretical, practical and transferable material. Studying subjects within the fundamental areas of oral anatomy and physiology, you’ll have the opportunity to get hands-on with the latest equipment in our specialised laboratories and learn the biomechanics and biomaterials science behind dental appliance design.

We’re dedicated to coaching the next generation of dental technicians in the knowledge and competency required to compete and exceed in this sought-after profession. Strongly employer informed and designed to meet the learning outcomes required by the General Dental Council, this course aims to provide students with a thorough overview of the key regulatory, legal and ethical topics relevant to the industry today, as well as the essential theory of dental technology and biomedical science.

Highlights

• As a dental technology undergraduate, you’ll have access to the latest specialist equipment in our advanced laboratories and have the chance to participate in regular hands-on sessions to help develop your practical capabilities.
• You’ll have the opportunity to apply your skills to live patient cases via work-based learning modules.
• The course has strong employer links, reinforced by industrial dental laboratory work placements. Every student is assigned a work-based mentor, supported by a work placement officer from the dental academic team.
• On successful completion of this course you will be awarded a BSc (Hons) in Dental Technology.

Key Features

• Practical projects are assessed in the three key disciplines of fixed prosthodontics, removable prosthodontics and orthodontics. You’ll have the opportunity to further demonstrate your skills by completing a specialist dental technology module.
• In preparation for your dissertation, you’ll focus on study skills and research methodologies over two modules.
• Opportunities for progression after completing the include BSc (Hons) course include dental technology MSc and PhD programmes.

Professional recognition

• This programme was new for 2016 and has been provisionally accepted to commence delivery by the General Dental Council (GDC) following initial quality assurance processes. The GDC inspected the University provision in the academic year 2018/19 and have reported to the Registrar that the programme is fit for purpose to develop individuals for professional registration as dental technicians.

A recent survey of 9.2 million job adverts found that just over one in ten roles required data expertise (1). Across the economic spectrum, there is a growing need for professionals who can unlock the potential of data, turning raw information into actionable insight. From healthcare, government and public services to marketing, telecommunications and the energy sector, data skills are highly transferable between industries. It doesn’t matter what your background area of expertise is, the University of Bolton's MSc Data Analytics and Technologies: Extended is open to everyone wishing to launch their career in data analysis, data visualisation and the technologies that underpin these essential business activities.

Supporting you to become the ‘complete package’
Employers are not looking for ‘robots’ that process data – they are looking for well-rounded human beings with a combination of high-level technical expertise and essential interpersonal and employability skills, such as leadership, communication, critical thinking, team working and problem-solving. We draw expertise from across the University to ensure you gain the vital mix of hard and soft skills necessary for career success. In addition, our extensive links with regional and national employers offer opportunities for masterclasses, networking and individual industry-based projects. Overall, this course offers you the opportunity to develop extensive knowledge of data analytics and a broad grounding in technology solutions, coupled with essential skills development for business and leadership. Together these attributes will take your CV to the next level.

Mastering the data
Our experts will support you as you develop an extensive knowledge of data analysis principles and methods and gain a broad grounding in technology solutions. We’ll focus on high-impact areas such as digital marketing and how the culture of the web, social media and digital technologies affect consumer behaviour. You’ll be encouraged to explore how concepts from consumer psychology, marketing and business intelligence are applied in areas such as web analytics, email marketing, search engine optimisation and online advertising. We’ll guide you as you learn how to use a selection of data analytics software packages, and apply this knowledge to contemporary case studies in a hands-on way to extract and present valuable insights from the data. This course offers you the skills to interrogate and make sense of data, unlock vital insights and communicate your discoveries.

Helping you pursue Amazon Web Services (AWS) certification
To ensure you have the skills to effectively manage and store data, we’ll support you to develop critical understanding and practical ability in the use of core IT infrastructure, architecture, processes and technologies. This will be particularly helpful when you undertake cloud-based data analysis. Companies are increasingly using the public cloud so need professionals with the skills to design, deploy and manage applications in cloud computing so we offer specific materials to help you pursue AWS certification as a Cloud Practitioner (2). AWS certification emphasises hands-on experience and best practice, meaning it stands out for its rigour and thoroughness in evaluating your skills. As the market leader in the cloud computing space, AWS certification demonstrates and validates your technical cloud knowledge and skills, helping you stand out to employers.

Future-proof your career
Big data, cyber laws, consumer data analytics and AI is revolutionising and transforming how people do business. Being able to adapt and work effectively in a digitally enriched business environment is a key skill required by employers. Our MSc Data Analytics and Technologies: Extended degree offers an innovative approach that will help you to become your own careers coach. We’ll take a multi-faceted approach to help you gain a combination of academic, analytical, business and professional skills that will prepare you for a career as a data analyst, as well as provide a sound basis for doctoral-level study. We’ll use tried and tested, research-informed coaching and training methods to support your development and help you form clear plans for your future. You’ll undertake individual industry-based projects and create a body of work that focuses on your progression into employment. Completing this course will extend your skills and increase your self-confidence so you can compete with confidence for your dream job, secure a promotion or build your own business.

Would you prefer to complete your course over a different timeframe? We also offer this course full-time over 12 months or part-time over 24 months. For details of the 12-month course, please visit our full-time MSc Data Analytics and Technologies course search web page. Alternatively, to find out more and apply for the 24-month course, please visit our part-time MSc Data Analytics and Technologies course search web page.

Highlights

• Dr Selva Pankaj, the author of ‘Thinking into Character – A Proven Methodology for the Creation of Success & Self-Fulfilment’, is a valued partner of the University whose work will support you in the development of business and career planning, confidence and knowledge.
• Our industry?engaged staff have strong links with organisations across the range of public, commercial and industrial sectors, offering opportunities for industry masterclasses and lectures, joint projects, and networking.
• We offer you the opportunities to develop extensive knowledge of the key data analysis principles and methods, along with a broad grounding in technology solutions.
• This MSc is part of the University of Bolton’s ‘Career Development Masters’ suite, offering shared modules that give you a wider business perspective. Inspired by the graduate training programmes of major companies, these modules will help you develop high-level employability and transferable skills and apply them in your career.

Key Features

• Teaching and supervision are delivered by dedicated staff chosen for their expertise and experience in fields relevant to data analytics and big data, relevant technologies and your professional development needs.
• We offer an engaging programme of visiting speakers so you can enjoy masterclasses with industry professionals, gaining insights into contemporary issues, developments and practice in data analysis, digital technologies and the broader commercial environment.
• We'll offer you opportunities for interdisciplinary work and collaboration.
• On graduation, you’ll be able to showcase your expert knowledge to employers through your Professional Dissertation. This independent and substantial body of work will demonstrate your mastery of an aspect of data analytics and technologies, as well as your postgraduate-level skills in research and critical thinking.

If you’re looking for a postgraduate course that exactly matches your strengths and ambitions then your search is over. The University of Bolton's MA/MSc Professional Practice (Specialism): Extended allows you to design your own master’s degree. We’ll help you personalise your postgraduate education by combining the disciplines that matter for your future. This bespoke course will support you to gain a combination of academic, analytical, and employment-focused skills that will prepare you for a career in your chosen professional area, as well as provide a sound basis for doctoral-level study.

Supporting your choices
Working with our expert tutors, you can choose two modules from across the whole spectrum of master’s level modules available at the University of Bolton. You’ll also be supported to devise a master’s-level dissertation or major project that develops your research and critical thinking skills and allows you to demonstrate your expertise. We’ll counsel you as you make these choices to ensure you create a coherent programme of study – one that is achievable and that will support you to develop the skills and knowledge you seek. We offer a wide range of subjects and you can choose modules from a single area or from two different disciplines, depending on your interests, prior qualifications and experience.

Capture essential employability, transferable and business skills
Alongside your subject-specific studies, you’ll have the opportunity to build the essential employability, transferable and business skills you need to compete with confidence for your dream job or build your own successful business from the ground up. You’ll focus on developing the skills that are most valuable to you as an individual, as shaped by your prior learning and future plans. We’ll guide you to explore areas such as influence and impact, self-management, creativity and innovation, and professional identity, bringing in business and psychological concepts to enhance your development as a professional.

Focusing on your future
We want to help you gain the skills and self-belief to showcase your worth in your chosen field. We’ll guide you to explore and understand the postgraduate labour market in the sector you wish to join, preparing you to apply your new knowledge, attributes and experiences so that you can satisfy and impress your stakeholders (such as employers, clients, commissioners and funding bodies). We’ll help you learn about the recruitment methods used by different types of organisations in your field, explore your personal brand and self-positioning, and prepare for recruitment and selection or self-employment. In addition, we’ll support you to develop skills in commercial ability and acumen, networking and professional relationship management, as well as strategies for career maintenance and growth.

Tried and tested research-informed coaching
Throughout the programme, we’ll use tried and tested, research-informed coaching and training methods to support your development. These will range from postgraduate-level skills in research, critique, problem-solving, professional presentation and synthesis to interpersonal and business-relevant skills such as innovative thinking, team working and project management, the effective use of technology, public speaking and professionalism. All this knowledge will be tailored to your chosen employment context to help you achieve your vision for your future.

An ideal course for graduates and professionals in a wide range of areas
This course should appeal to (but isn’t limited to) graduates and professionals in areas such as art and design, accountancy, science, engineering, business management, film FX, performing arts, community development and youth, computing, games, construction, law, crime and criminal justice, early years, education, English and creative writing, mathematics, nursing and the caring professions, media, psychology, the humanities and sport.

Would you prefer to complete your course over a different timeframe?
We also offer this course full-time over 12 months or part-time over 24 months. For details of the 12-month course, please visit our full-time MA/MSc Professional Practice (Specialism) course search web page. Alternatively, to find out more and apply for the 24-month course, please visit our part-time MA/MSc Professional Practice (Specialism) course search web page.

Highlights

• Dr Selva Pankaj, the author of ‘Thinking into Character – A Proven Methodology for the Creation of Success & Self-Fulfilment’, is a valued partner of the University whose work will support you in the development of business and career planning, confidence and knowledge.
• This course allows you to focus on one subject or to combine two areas of interest to follow an interdisciplinary route. When you successfully complete the master's, your degree title will be chosen to reflect the focus of your studies.
• Our highly qualified and professionally experienced staff have strong links with many economic sectors, offering opportunities for industry masterclasses and lectures, joint projects, and networking.
• The University of Bolton offers a host of world-class facilities across our campus and faculties. Depending on your choice of modules, you'll be able to make use of our specialist facilities to support your studies.
• This MA/MSc is part of the University of Bolton’s ‘Career Development Masters’ suite, which offers shared modules designed to give you a wider business perspective, including tax self-assessment, invoicing, intellectual property and risk assessments, as well as knowing how to start a business and to take advantage of opportunities for enterprise development.

Key Features

• Teaching and supervision are delivered by dedicated staff chosen for their expertise and experience in fields relevant to your areas of study and professional development needs.
• We offer an engaging programme of visiting speakers and practitioners that gives you opportunities to network with and learn from industry professionals.
• We'll offer you opportunities for interdisciplinary work and collaboration.
• Your studies will culminate in your Professional Dissertation, an independent and substantial piece of research that will further your knowledge and practice. This will demonstrate your mastery of an aspect of your field, showcasing your expert knowledge to employers as well as forming an ideal preparation for doctoral-level studies should you to wish to pursue a PhD.
• Your final master’s degree title will reflect your specialist areas of study (please note that the final award title will be selected in agreement with the University within the parameters specified in programme documentation). If you have chosen two specialist subject areas with equal weighting, the title will reflect both specialist subject areas; for instance, MA Professional Practice Creative Writing and Computing. If one of your specialist subject areas has a greater weighting than the other, the word ‘with’ will be used instead of ‘and’ between the two subject areas; for example, MA Professional Practice Creative Writing with Computing.

Understanding how the human body works – and the need to continuously develop and improve ways to diagnose and treat disease – is integral to improving both the length and quality of our lives. Medical biology is therefore a huge and vital topic. This is your opportunity to take great steps into the subject and develop an understanding of its key principles, concepts and applications. As well as teaching the human biology aspects of medical biology, we’ve designed the course to demonstrate key principles and advancements relating to the medical technology, biotechnology and pharmaceutical job markets.

Early in the course you’ll have the chance to familiarise yourself with the fundamentals of human biology from molecular to organ level. Our dedicated and expert team will also introduce you to the principles of scientific investigation that relate to medical biology. As you progress, you’ll build on these themes in a range of ways, taking a medical perspective on disease and treatment.

The course aims to help you develop skills that will be of value should you wish to apply for the GAMSAT, BMAT and UKCAT medical school entrance exams. It’s also designed to help you develop strong communication and problem solving skills, quantitative and scientific reasoning, and gives you the chance to gain experience using a wide variety of relevant biomedical instrumentation.

Highlights

• You’ll explore the causes of disease, and the methods and technologies used to treat and diagnose disease.
• This highly practical course focuses on developing your practical skills, and knowledge of research methods, by giving you experience of using equipment in our high-spec instrumentation laboratory.
• We’ll also support you to gain skills in critical thinking, problem solving and communication that are highly valued in the biosciences and medical industries, and beyond.
• Many of the areas you’ll explore benefit from University staff research, so you’ll have direct access to in-house expertise, and the latest ideas and learning as they present themselves.
• The course includes a framework through which suitable work placements can accrue credit towards your degree, allowing you to gain work experience in a career-relevant environment and build your network of industry contacts. If you’re interested in a placement, we'll work with you to identify and approach suitable placement providers.
• We offer a warm and friendly environment, with relatively small class sizes, purpose-built teaching and laboratory facilities, and excellent student support and library services.

Key Features

• Our Biological Sciences courses are placed in the UK’s top 15 for teaching quality by The Times and The Sunday Times Good University Guide 2020.
• We’re based in the Queens Specialist Building, which offers modern teaching laboratories and classrooms, plus a high-spec instrumentation laboratory, microscopy facility, microbiology laboratory and tissue engineering suite, all dedicated to undergraduate teaching.
• You’ll have opportunities to explore medical biochemistry, molecular genetics, medical microbiology, cancer biology, neurobiology, clinical examination skills and tissue engineering.
• We prefer to keep lecture and practical classes relatively small, so that you have plenty of opportunities to ask our friendly, supportive tutors for help, as well as benefit from the ideas and support offered by your classmates.
• By inviting experts in specialist areas of biology to give guest lectures and provide an overview of their research and professional experience, we aim to enhance your learning and help you to make contacts in the industry.
• We spoke to biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies, as well as the NHS, while designing the course, to ensure that our graduates gain the knowledge and skills these industries need.

Professional recognition
You can become a Student Affiliate member of the Royal Society of Biology.