Master of Science in Criminology with Quantitative Research Methods

at University of Bristol - Clifton Campus United Kingdom

The MSci Pharmacology degree is a four-year degree with an extended research project in the final year. This degree provides the opportunity to gain an excellent knowledge of pharmacology and apply it to experimental research. The extended project will provide valuable day-to-day experience of what it is like to be a researcher and develops the skills required to embark on a career in research.

The first three years of this degree follow the BSc Pharmacology course, with the opportunity to study a number of core pharmacology units in the first two years. These units will introduce you to the fundamentals of drug action and how drugs interact with their targets.

The degree is focused on the pharmacology of the nervous and cardiovascular systems and provides extensive investigation into how drugs are being used in a variety of disorders. You will also be able to choose further units in the first two years, including biochemistry, molecular genetics, infection and immunity, cellular and molecular medicine and mammalian physiology.

Third-year units emphasise the molecular mechanisms of drug action within the nervous and cardiovascular systems. These units are taught from the current scientific literature and will take you to the forefront of current research, which you evaluate by undertaking a literature-based research project.

The final year of the MSci Pharmacology will focus on an extended research proposal within a research laboratory using advanced techniques. Alongside the project you will take units that will develop valuable skills in communicating science to the public and will develop a portfolio of public engagement activities.

This final year will instil a range of skills essential for understanding how to plan and conduct research projects; these skills are widely applicable to future employment and will also benefit those considering future PhD training.

This course is ideal for students interested in learning more about how to analyse and use numerical data within criminology. It provides training in practical and analytical skills, which will enhance your career prospects and provide you with a strong platform for postgraduate study. No prior knowledge of statistical techniques is required.

About two thirds of your studies will follow the single honours BSc Criminology course, where you will acquire core knowledge in crime and justice. By drawing on social harm perspectives, criminology at Bristol examines conventionally defined crimes along with other problem activities or behaviours which may not be criminalised but which still cause extensive harm to individuals and society. This approach helps you to develop a critical and informed understanding of crime and the criminal justice system, as well as related social and economic questions.

The remaining third of your course will provide interdisciplinary training in quantitative methods. In year one of the quantitative pathway we discuss how numbers and data are used to tell convincing stories in the media and social research. We consider what is meant by segregation and how it can be mapped and measured. Year two offers practical classes in social statistics and applied data analysis, which will develop your skills in numeracy and analysis and enable you to undertake your own individual research project in an area of quantitative social science in year three.

Preserving the security of computers, connected devices and their data becomes more important every year. Mathematics plays a key role in both preventing and modelling security breaches, with many cybersecurity tools and algorithms being based on mathematical ideas.

This postgraduate program gives you a rigorous introduction to the underpinning theories in mathematics and will equip you with modern data science, analytical and computational tools to implement them.

Developed in collaboration with industry and government, our curriculum includes a broad variety of units, from strands of pure mathematics and data science to computer science and statistics. You will work at scale on large datasets to implement real-world cybersecurity solutions, gaining a qualification and experience in a field that has a recognised skills shortage.

The School of Mathematics has more than doubled in size over the last decade; in the most recent Research Excellence Framework, 87 per cent of our mathematical sciences research was recognised as world-leading or internationally excellent. Learn alongside expert academics, challenging you to consider some of the big security questions facing us today.

The MSci Neuroscience is a four-year degree with an extended project in the final year. The course provides an opportunity to gain in-depth understanding of how to plan and perform experimental research in a specialised subject area. The final year provides valuable experience in research and you will develop the skills required to embark on a career as a researcher.

The first three years follow the BSc Neuroscience course. In the first and second years you will explore many aspects of neuroscience, including the neurophysiology of the central nervous system; the pharmacology of drugs that affect the nervous system; and the techniques that have enabled advances in understanding the nervous system.

Alongside neuroscience, you will also learn about how other specialised body systems work and will have the opportunity to study complementary subject areas, including psychology and anatomical science, broadening your knowledge of biomedical sciences.

By the third year you will be learning at the forefront of current research, taking units such as Synaptic Plasticity; Brain and Behaviour; and Neuropsychiatric Diseases. You will also spend a total of 30 days on a research project.

The MSc Psychology of Education is a British Psychological Society (BPS)-accredited MSc conversion programme that provides students with an excellent grounding in the psychology of education. It draws on a wide range of theories and methods from across the core areas of psychology and encourages you to consider how they apply to education and educational contexts.

Students on the programme will benefit from our longstanding tradition of high-quality research and teaching in this area and will acquire unique skills in both psychology and research methods. You will learn how research can inform theory, policy and practice, and how to conduct your own piece of empirical research to answer appropriate research questions. You will also acquire a range of transferable skills, such as communication skills, numerical reasoning, computer literacy and teamwork.

The MSc Psychology of Education is designed specifically for individuals who do not already hold a BPS-accredited degree in psychology and who are seeking to achieve Graduate Basis for Chartered Membership (GBC) with the BPS. Individuals who are already eligible for GBC, having graduated from a BPS-accredited psychology undergraduate programme, will cover similar content to what they have studied previously, but may be interested in this programme because of its applied focus and relevance for pursuing professional training.

The knowledge and skills you will obtain are highly desired by employers and relevant to a wide range of careers in which an understanding of human behaviour or research methods is relevant. Successful students will be eligible to apply for GBC with the BPS and for further professional training accredited by the BPS.