Master of Science in Operational Research and Finance

at University of Southampton - Highfield Campus United Kingdom

Explore the fundamentals of finance and the rapidly evolving industry known as Financial Technology (FinTech). This 3-year programme will put you at the forefront of research and development within this sector, allowing you to gain the skills necessary to pursue a wide range of careers.

Applications for 2022 entry to this course are now closed to all international applicants. View our undergraduate courses.

You’ll have the opportunity to:

• Develop an in-depth understanding of the business environment and the real-world application of relevant theories that underpin finance
• Utilise our financial laboratory (finlab), home to our bloomberg terminals
• Learn the basics of computer programming, and become a confident user of statistical software, such as eviews, stata, and matlab, and more advance machine learning and ai techniques
• Understand the foundations of financial technology, and the most recent innovations in this area
• Develop a high level of numeracy and a capacity for reasoned thought and analysis

Financial Technology remains a vital part of the modern finance debate. To capture this, the course combines key quantitative and analytical skills in finance, with modern, fintech related topics such as:

• Cryptocurrency
• Crowdfunding
• Peer-to-peer landing

The programme will prepare you for a career in the dynamic financial environment by providing a technical and research-driven curriculum.

You’ll graduate with the ability to apply the most recent developments in Finance to complex real-world problems.

Your studies will be informed by the latest findings, with our academics operate at the forefront of research in areas such as:

• FinTech
• High-frequency trading
• Corporate finance
• Portfolio theory  
• Alternative investments

All of our Business courses include the option to spend a year studying abroad at one of our partners in Europe, North America, Australia or Asia. This is a unique opportunity to experience another culture, improve your language skills and enhance your CV.

Explore the key strategic and tactical challenges faced by managers at all levels with our full-time MSc Accounting and Management degree. You’ll develop your financial management practice to understand the risks and uncertainties impacting modern business.

On this course, you’ll focus on accounting and financial management as you learn how to measure and assess organisational performance. This will give you the skills to pursue careers in finance, accounting or consultancy.

Our master's in accounting and management is a great way to advance to higher-level strategic management roles. You don’t need training or experience in accounting to apply, and we consider applicants from a range of backgrounds.

During the course, you’ll gain a solid foundation in management and accounting concepts, along with related topics including:

• Managing in a global context
• Accounting for corporate performance
• Marketing in the digital age

You can personalise your learning to suit your professional needs. For example, you can choose to focus on:

• Corporate finance
• International logistics  
• Risk taking and decision making
• Entrepreneurial governance
• Project management

Our academic team will enrich your learning through their research and industry insights.

This course gives you the digital skills and industry experience to protect companies and governments from the rapidly increasing threat of cyber crime. Your skills will be in high demand when you graduate because of a global shortage of qualified cyber security professionals.

You’ll be taught by academics who are directly contributing to important advances in areas like blockchain and the Internet of Things.

The UK government’s National Cyber Security Centre recognises Southampton as a centre of excellence when it comes to research in this growth area.

As part of your master's, you will:

• Learn how to design, build and deliver software programs and systems
• Study in computer science labs recognised as an Academic Centre of Excellence in Cyber Security Research by the UK government
• Learn how to identify and address cyber security risks in software, internet-connected devices, web-based and networked systems
• Be taught by academic staff at the forefront of research
• Do an individual special project in year 3
• Take part in a group design project in year 4, working with an academic or an industry customer

The course is accredited by the British Computer Society and is one of just 3 UK integrated master's degrees to be provisionally certified by the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC).

This MEng Computer Science with Cyber Security degree is also accredited by the Institution of Engineering and Technology on behalf of the Engineering Council for the purposes of fully meeting the academic requirement for registration as a Chartered Engineer.

Become a proficient data scientist with a master’s in Data Science at the University of Southampton.

You’ll study the latest techniques and technologies, including data mining, machine learning, and data visualisation. By the end of your studies, you’ll be able to develop original ideas and solve problems using advanced data science methods. You can apply what you have learned in fields such as data journalism, open government and social media.

Data scientists help organisations handle large amounts of data produced by digital technologies. Southampton is recognised around the world as a leader in many of the topics that form our data science curriculum. We offer one of the only data science master's programmes in the UK that covers every subject needed to become a skilled data scientist in industry, government or academia.

Our module teachers use their latest research to inform their teaching in emerging topics like:

• Intelligent agents
• Computational finance
• Open data innovation
• The science of online social networks
• Deep learning

Module options are flexible, so you can pursue your interests and adapt the programme to prepare you for your ideal career. We’ll also give you access to dedicated project labs, computer workstations, and infrastructure for large-scale analysis.

Prepare for a career as an ecological consultant or conservation manager with our MSc Biodiversity and Conservation master’s degree. This programme draws on our world-class reputation for environmental research and offers an industry-relevant education for highly-skilled environmental scientists.

This programme will teach you to accurately monitor species diversity, change, population abundance and distribution. You’ll learn how to apply these skills to protect the world’s ecosystems and habitats.

On completing the course, you should be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of:

• The importance of environmental concepts, terms, principles and methods
• The value using techniques and ideas in different subject disciplines
• The socioeconomic context of environmental issues and the legal framework through which environmental regulation is facilitated
• Current issues, paradigms and approaches within a specialist subject area of the environmental sciences
• The contribution of science, engineering or communication to the identification, understanding of environmental issues and concerns
• The human causes and consequences of environmental impacts, and responses to such impacts
• General environmental concerns, which may include: biodiversity; environmental limits to economic or population growth; demand for, and consequences of, water resource utilisation; energy and material production and use, including alternatives; air, land and water pollution; climate change; environmental change

You’ll have the chance to apply geographical information systems, modelling and spatial analysis and acquire the interdisciplinary skills required for effective research project management.

With our Business Analytics and Management Science master's, you'll develop your skills in business analysis and learn how to gain insights from data. You can also compete for an industry placement for the chance to get valuable experience.

This UK master’s degree will equip you for a career in data analysis. It is ideal for graduates with analytical skills who can use data to improve business performance and solve problems for organisations.

This business analytics master’s with management science is ideal for students with a background in quantitative study or work experience in this area. The course will help you to specialise in further study, advance in your current professional role or change your career.

Organisations are looking for people with analytical skills and an ability to form insights from data, to improve their performance and grow business intelligence. We've designed our MSc to teach you theory and practical application, which will prepare you for your future career.

We teach in partnership with the Centre of Operational Research, Management Sciences and Information Systems (CORMSIS), one of the country’s best analytics research groups.

As part of CORMSIS, your learning is informed by specialist research and you'll have a wider module choice in business and maths topics. This gives you a chance to customise your postgraduate experience.

You can either complete a dissertation or compete for a 3-month analytics summer project with an organisation, such as British Telecommunications, Deloitte or Ford. This competitive industry placement will boost your career prospects as you take on a real-world challenge and make a strong connection with the business. Whatever you choose, we'll give you career support to maximise your employment prospect.

MSc Business Analytics and Management Science is taught by supportive lecturers who bring learning to life through case studies, active discussions and practical exercises. The course content is based on the latest industry practice, ensuring you learn skills relevant to the current job market.

Learn about the design and manufacture of aircraft, avionics, race cars and rockets, and spend a semester studying overseas. MEng Aeronautics and Astronautics / Semester Abroad examines many aspects of aerospace engineering, including the design and manufacture of fast-moving aircraft and spacecraft, before specialising in more focused topics in the last 2 years.

Aeronautics and Astronautics looks at the science, engineering and manufacture of aircraft and spacecraft. You'll learn how they operate within our atmosphere and in space.

You’ll study the principles of aerospace engineering and in year 3 you’ll study aerospace engineering abroad in either semester one or two. You’ll enrich your skills and experience a new culture at one of our partner universities in:

• France
• Italy
• Sweden
• Netherlands
• USA

In year 3 you will also complete an individual research project and in year 4 you’ll participate in a group design project.

You’ll get hands-on experience in our extensive facilities, which include:

• the largest wind tunnel in any UK university
• dedicated student design studios and workshops
• state-of-the-art space propulsion facilities
• jet laboratory with supersonic ramjet, turbojet and rocket engine
• Boeing flight simulator
• professional manufacturing centre

As part of this course you can:

• Showcase your work in our annual Engineering Design Show
• Attend site visits to experience engineering in practice
• Apply your engineering knowledge to solve a real-world problem

As well as the semester abroad, you can also take this course with an additional year-long, paid placement. Apply with UCAS code H4HH for the Industrial Placement Year option.

Explore a subject that is at the forefront of medical science, looking at the mechanisms of life and the causes of disease. On this 3-year biomedical sciences course, you'll study a broad range of specialist topics. Our world-renowned research facilities and teaching staff will prepare you for a career in clinical research, medicine or beyond.

Biomedical science provides advances in vital areas, including:

• Investigating potential treatments for Alzheimer’s disease
• Finding the causes of cystic fibrosis
• Improving our understanding and treatment of cancer

Our biomedical degrees focus on the science behind clinical medical practice. On this course, you'll develop the main skills required for biomedical research and explore topics such as:

• Biochemistry
• Physiology
• Neuroscience
• Cell biology
• Genetics
• Pharmacology

We're home to the UK's first Cancer Immunology Research Centre. We're also a lead university of the Biofilms Institute, a cutting-edge research consortium.

On this course you can:

• Work with our research staff on an independent project
• Tailor your degree to your areas of interest
• Spend a semester studying at a university in Europe or Australasia
• Gain valuable experience from a year in employment

Customise your degree to suit your law interests and tackle the latest legal problems on this LLM Master of Laws. Choose modules across areas like commercial, corporate and human rights law.

Learn from our research-active team, who are at the forefront of global legal reform and development. Gain the knowledge and practical skills to pursue a wide range of legal and non-legal careers.

On this flexible master’s in law you'll start with a week-long introductory course on common law to understand the way this important legal system works.

From here you’ll develop your legal skills to take on complex issues arising from practical scenarios. You’ll learn how to advise, litigate and negotiate. You'll learn to understand the legal frameworks that underpin your areas of interest.

During the taught element of the course you choose the modules you’d like to study to match your career plans. They might include:

• International law of the sea
• Marine insurance
• Principles of commercial arbitration
• Intellectual property law in a global world
• Corporate governance
• Human rights in context
• Armed conflict in international law
• Free speech and privacy on the internet

Our high-profile advisory and law reform work, along with our internationally recognised research, brings the latest legal developments to your learning.

Learn how to prepare and interpret financial and managerial information for a variety of users. You'll also gain a sound understanding of investment and finance. Our research-focused academics keep the course up to date with the latest financial, regulatory and accounting requirements and trends.

BSc Accounting and Finance is a flexible course and can be tailored to your own interests and career plans. You could choose to learn more about international banking, or select modules in other areas of business and management such as marketing, human resources management, or project management.

With this accounting and finance degree you will:

• benefit from direct contact with research-led academics who are experts in corporate governance, taxation, auditing, and financial accounting and reporting
• gain a thorough grounding in management and financial accounting theory and practice
• explore possible career paths by taking optional modules in a range of business and management topics
• take a year on an industrial placement to improve your skills
• benefit from our strong links with industry, including an opportunity to present an assignment to audit partners from PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC)
• attend guest lectures
• gain accreditations that will enable you to apply for exemptions from professional exams