Master of Arts in Design (Optional Placement)

at University of Plymouth United Kingdom

Are you fascinated by the designs of large coastal structures such as seawalls and breakwaters and how these withstand attack by the sea? Do you want to help protect our coastal communities from the threat of flooding and sea level rise? Do you want to understand how to plan and construct a port? Our MEng graduates in civil and coastal engineering are trained as civil engineers with specialist knowledge in the realisation of projects that are essential to the functioning of coastal societies.

This accredited MEng provides the further learning component required for Chartered Engineer status. You will be supported and inspired by our enthusiastic academic staff. They will encourage you to enhance your professional experience through attendance at meetings and seminars, and the option of a paid year in industry with a civil engineering employer. You will also be offered a mentor from our network of Plymouth Civil Engineers to help guide you at the start of your professional career.

Have you considered

• BEng (Hons) Civil Engineering
• MEng (Hons) Civil Engineering
• BEng (Hons) Civil and Coastal Engineering
• BEng (Hons) Civil Engineering with Foundation Year

Key Features

Are you passionate about understanding animal behaviour and applying this knowledge to improve welfare? Do you want to explore the evolution of behaviour in a variety of species? Applying an understanding of animal needs and health, you consider the many aspects of animal welfare, including an examination of the legal and ethical frameworks that safeguard welfare. You also undertake practical work, conducting behavioural and welfare assessment studies, gaining the skills sought by employers.

In the 2019 National Student Survey, 100% expressed overall satisfaction with the course; 93% of students felt staff on this course were good at explaining things; 83% felt that the staff made the subject interesting and 93% found the course intellectually stimulating.

Key Features

• You will build a strong foundation in the fundamental science that underpins the study and understanding of behaviour and welfare - including ecology, evolution, microbiology, physiology, nutrition, health and disease. You will then build onto this with in-depth study of behaviour, welfare and their links in your second and final years of study.
• You will take part in residential field courses in South Devon and the Netherlands, allowing you to develop and apply the understanding you gain through lectures and to study animal behaviour in both wild and captive settings - the latter including zoos and agricultural settings.
• You will benefit from our collaborations with Dartmoor Zoo, Paignton Zoo, Newquay Zoo, the Donkey Sanctuary and National Marine Aquarium, which enable a number of field-trips throughout your course to look at captive animal behaviour, welfare, conservation and rehabilitation.
• You will have opportunity to boost your employability by taking a placement year between your second and final years of study, working in the industry, anywhere in the world - you can read more about this in the 'course details' section of this page.
• You can broaden your horizons by taking your second year at one of a range of universities overseas offered in our year abroad scheme.
• You will be supported pastorally and academically by a personal tutor throughout your studies, and will have regular 1:1 meetings to discuss your progress formally.
• You will interact with and be lectured by academic staff who are research-active and well regarded in their fields.
• You will undertake self-study throughout your course, using our well-equipped library and range of online scientific journals, as well as LABPlus, our unique laboratory and resource centre designed for science and engineering students, which will provide you with flexible workspace, computing facilities, specialist software and bioinformatic applications, access to microscopes, cameras and bespoke resources designed by academic staff to support specific modules as well as more general self-study.

Conserve our environment for future generations – work within the sector on an eight-week placement to reduce human impacts and provide solutions to today's environmental challenges across the globe. This MSc programme helps launch your career, giving you the skills and knowledge required for a job in the environment sector. Maximise your career prospects by learning the latest desk, laboratory and field techniques used in the management and assessment of environmental impact.

 Why should we conserve biodiversity? How can we manage and restore habitats? With a hands-on approach, we’ll give you the scientific tools to address these issues, developing your understanding of plant and animal biodiversity in the UK and abroad. Develop your knowledge of key areas such as population ecology, evolutionary processes, behavioural ecology, conservation genetics and habitat management, and prime yourself for a career in ecology, conservation or environmental monitoring.

This course focuses on conservation in terrestrial, marine and freshwater environments. You will experience two compulsory overseas residential field courses in years one (Spain) and two (Mexico), giving you first-hand experience of a range of ecosystems in other parts of the world. There’s no extra to pay: it’s all included within your tuition fees. You’ll participate in an optional work placement year, giving you the opportunity to apply your knowledge in a real world context.

Key Features

Our interior design course focuses on how design responds to the surrounding environment. We explore design interventions in existing buildings and neglected spaces with a hands-on approach to crafting their interiors. We study the space between object and architecture and promote an adaptive re-use approach to shaping the world around us with human, social, economic and environmental sustainability embedded in our process.

Key Features

• Teaching is in small groups with the studio culture run like a design practice with innovative delivery including flipped classroom, podcasts and team teaching.
• Work alongside students from our Product and Furniture Design course in our vibrant studio with individual desk space and CAD stations.
• You’ll build up a portfolio with fresh projects starting every few weeks. Assessments are 100% coursework – so no exams.
• Culture trips to Europe and study exchanges in Japan, USA, India or Italy are also possible.
• Engage with real clients with live projects. We’ve recently run projects with Vitra, John Lewis, Red Paddle, UPP, architects Willmore Iles and Herman Millar.
• Gain valuable industry experience through our competitions, studio visits, visiting lecturers and our meet the supplier visits.
• BA (Hons) Interior Design: is professionally accredited by the Chartered Society of Designers.

Bring your creativity to the world of computer games. Learn 3D modelling, 2D art and animation, level design and gameplay coding. Games industry experts will guide you through all aspects of game design and development, building a full understanding of the game creation process and allowing you to specialise in the areas you find most engaging.

Key Features

• Learn 3D modelling with industry-standard software like Maya, Blender, ZBrush and Substance Painter.
• Hone your 2D art and animation skills, using Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, Animate and After Effects.
• Create epic level designs in Unity and Unreal Engine.
• Develop your coding skills with C# and Blueprints.
• Taught by industry experts, with a focus on preparing you for a career in the games industry.
• Amazing national and international field trips to gaming expos and festivals, such as meeting professionals from top games studios at EGX Rezzed in London and exploring immersive gameplay Amsterdam.
• Explore sound design, narrative and game design theory, and study the psychology of games and gamification.
• Access to the latest hardware, including high-spec gaming PCs and VR headsets.
• Get a head-start in the industry with an optional placement year (for example, one of our students has secured a placement at Criterion Games).
• Get ready for a career as a game artist, 3D modeler, game designer, level designer or gameplay coder, joining Plymouth graduates who have gone on to work at the world's top games companies including Electronic Arts, Frontier Developments and Bossa Studios.
• We annually review the skills, software and hardware we teach, to ensure the course is always up to date.
• Our dedicated lab space is open until 10pm, other amazing facilities, include our 35-seat, 360° immersive vision theatre, VR kits, graphics tablets, game controllers, 3D printers and even an extensive collection of boardgames.
• Teaching and learning are practical and project-based - sometimes working individually, and sometimes in teams.
• Your assessments are 100 per cent coursework – no exams.
• No prior knowledge requirements – we teach everything from the ground up (but if you do already have art and coding skills, we can’t wait to see how much further you can take them with our help!).

Do you want to release your creative impulses and imagination, and nurture your intellectual drives whilst responding to real life design concerns? Studying BA (Hons) Architecture at the University of Plymouth will offer you an opportunity to do so! Our course – accredited by professional bodies (ARB and RIBA) – allows you to engage with current affairs and ever-changing global currents across multiple fields, whilst consciously being oriented towards proposing sensitive responses.

You will learn to think outside the box by engaging in multi-faceted and integrated processes of building design; covering subjects to do with architecture, urbanism and critical theories, to communications, sustainable systems and technologies. Doing this in a stimulating, dynamic and collegial environment will allow you to gain the confidence to ask questions, challenge inherited beliefs and gain skills employers value highly, whilst appreciating the built environment past, present and future.

This IEMA accredited programme provides an outstanding foundation for a career in environmental management by providing diverse perspectives and practical training on the scientific, economic, ethical and political challenges of sustainability and environmental protection.

Classroom and field-based teaching and a short placement enables you to investigate your specific interests and to gain first-hand experience and skills in developing practical solutions to environmental management issues and 21st century global challenges.

Key Features

Cyber security is essential for all organisations, with hacking, malicious code and social engineering ever present threats to data. This course provides holistic coverage of cyber security, from governance and policy, to cryptography, penetration testing and digital forensics. Grounded in core computer science, the course develops the knowledge and skills to design, develop and manage secure systems to produce highly employable cyber security professionals.

Being very applied in nature, you will spend a significant proportion of your time in our Security and Forensics Laboratory putting theory in practice whilst working alongside world-leading academics.

Have you Considered

• BSc (Hons) Computer Science
• BSc (Hons) Computing and Software Development
• BSc (Hons) Games Development Technologies

Key Features

• Make use of our links to professional and industry bodies, including the Chartered Institute of Information Security Academic Partnership
• Pursue industry-recognised professional certifications, such as the EC-Council’s Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH), forensics ACE (AccessData Certified Examiner).
• Access a wide variety of specialist software and up-to-date facilities, including a dedicated security and forensics lab.
• Enhance your knowledge of a variety of computing disciplines, including programming, networking, databases, data centres and defensive coding.
• Benefit from specialised course material covering the legal and regulatory aspects of cyber security.
• Seeking accreditation by BCS for 2020.
• Academic Partner status by the Chartered Institute of Information Security (CIISec).
• Hone your research skills - we work closely with our Centre for Security, Communications and Network Research

Podiatrists are experts in foot and ankle health keeping people of all ages active. Choosing to become a podiatrist will give you a broad scope of practice with a scientific approach to diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation of people with foot problems. A podiatry degree can launch a dynamic career and is a springboard to specialising in other areas of the profession such as sports medicine, injection therapy, independent prescribing, clinical research and podiatric surgery.

As a podiatry graduate you will be a highly skilled health professional who can work confidently with a variety of different patients in a range of settings. Six months after finishing the course 95 per cent of our graduates were in work or further study with an average salary of £22,000 according to the 2019 Destination of Leavers from Higher Education survey (DLHE)

Key Features

• Employability rates are high within the podiatry profession with potential to work in the NHS, but also as an independent practitioner. 95 per cent of our students go on to work or study, with an average starting salary of £22,000 a year (2019 Discover Uni*).
• The course has been designed, and continues to be developed, by expert educationalists, service-users and carers.
• Work-based learning is an integral part of the course and you spend 1,000 hours in clinical practice during your three years.
• Opportunities to attend vascular ward rounds at Derriford Hospital.
• Observe an independent practitioner working in the private sector.
• A Ministry of Defence placement is available for high achievers.
• Practitioners with specialist roles are invited to lecture regularly in years 2 and 3.