Master of Science in Sociology and Social Policy

at University of Southampton - Highfield Campus United Kingdom

MSc Operational Research and Finance will give you expert skills in revenue management, credit scoring, and financial risk management. A summer dissertation provides an opportunity to develop your research skills, often in a commercial setting. You’ll graduate with the applied analytics and financial modelling skills highly sought after by financial institutions. 

The study of operational research is the application of scientific methods to the study of complex organisational problems. We’ll train you in key techniques, methods and approaches, and you’ll apply them to practical problems. You’ll also learn about the role of operational research in financial markets and corporate finance. 
 
This operational research master’s at the University of Southampton will give you in-depth knowledge of: 

• Revenue management 
• Credit scoring 
• Financial risk management 

You’ll get a specialist understanding of applied analytics and financial modelling that’s applicable across financial institutions and in financial operations. 
 
The summer dissertation gives you an opportunity to develop your research skills, often in a commercial setting, and our industrial liaison team will work with you to find a project that suits your skills and ambitions.  

All MSc students have the opportunity to compete for a 3-month summer project with an external organisation, which will form the basis of their dissertation. Alternatively, students have the option of working on an internal project linked to cutting-edge research led by one of our academics. 

How do we develop the next generation of drugs for treating bacterial infection, AIDS, cancer, depression and heart failure? These are among the challenges being addressed by pharmacologists at Southampton. Our BSc Pharmacology degree will prepare you to make your own contribution to this important work.

This 3-year programme will give you an in-depth understanding of the major pharmacological concepts and principles.

These include:

• The discovery and production of new drugs
• The interaction of drugs with humans and animals
• How existing drugs can be improved or repurposed
• Ways to solve the problems of toxicity
• New-generation antibiotics

You'll refine your practical skills in our state-of-the-art teaching labs. This will prepare you to work with our experts in pharmacology and undertake your individual research project in year 3.

As part of your degree you can also:

• Spend a year working in the pharmaceutical industry between years 2 and 3
• Spend a semester at a partner university abroad during year 2

Our MMus Musicology degree gives you the opportunity to specialise in various elements of musicology. On this course, you’ll study:

• Current trends in musicological method and critical practice
• Key research skills in musicology
• Methodologies of advanced musical analysis

Our academic staff are internationally noted performers with active solo and ensemble careers, and established composers of contemporary art music, electronic music, media music (for example, in film, TV and videogames), and jazz. These world-leading experts can offer you intensive one-to-one tuition in music history, culture and performance.

We offer a broad-based MMus programme with 4 specialist pathways:

• Musicology
• Performance
• Music Education
• Composition

On the Musicology pathway, you’ll work towards the final goal of a professional research project and dissertation. We’ll work with you to create a portfolio of work that’s relevant to your career aspirations. On completion of the course, you’ll be ready to:

• Continue your research at a doctoral level
• Work in the music industry or wider cultural sector
• Become a teacher
• Work as a freelance musician

This flexible, integrated master's course looks at life at all levels, from molecules and cells, to whole organisms. It also covers species, communities and entire ecosystems. You'll develop your research skills and work closely with our researchers as they address major global issues.

This degree will help develop your practical skills and experience. You'll have many opportunities for field trips and laboratory work.

Each year you'll improve your skills and knowledge and use our wide range of expertise in biological science. This includes:

• Ecology
• Microbiology
• Neuroscience

Southampton is a research university. We're home to the UK's first Cancer Immunology Research Centre, and we're a lead university of the Biofilms Institute. Our research feeds directly into what you'll learn on our advanced biology courses.

On this master's in biology you can:

• Choose from a range of modules and specialise in an area of biology that best suits your interests and career plans
• Carry out fieldwork in the New Forest, Exmoor, Spain and Belize
• Work alongside our active research staff on 2 independent research projects
• Spend a semester studying at a university in Europe or Australasia.
• Take a year out to work in industry
• Develop transferable skills that employers look for

This course will give you knowledge about the biology of the marine environment and how it relates to physical and chemical oceanography. You'll cover advanced topics like data management for biologists and advanced oceanography fieldwork. This will prepare you for a range of careers such as research and wildlife management, or for work in government agencies.

This degree examines the biology of marine organisms within their environments, from intertidal coasts to deep sea and hydrothermal vents systems. You'll learn how marine plants and animals interact with their environment and respond to change.

You'll become part of one of the largest marine science communities in Europe through the world-leading research institution, the National Oceanography Centre Southampton (NOCS). Our research vessels are only a 10-minute walk from the lecture theatres. Boat-based fieldwork is an important part of the programme.

With this course, you can:

• Gain detailed knowledge of marine biota and the physics, chemistry and sedimentology that influence them
• Cover a broad variety of topics, from hydrothermal vents to coastal lagoons
• Take part in a full fieldwork programme including residential trips
• Complete an independent research project working alongside active research staff
• Get practical experience of doing experiments, learning to adapt to sea state and weather conditions, collect samples, and use ocean instrumentation
• Select optional modules depending on your area of interest – for example, you can study palaeobiology and explore how fossils are used to study ecology
• Choose from a variety of semester abroad study opportunities

This degree is accredited by the Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology (IMarEST).

Learn the knowledge and skills to develop and manage new products, services and business models on this Business Strategy and Innovation Management master’s course. You’ll develop an in-depth understanding of the latest concepts in strategy and innovation, with a focus on business growth and sustainability issues.

With this master’s in strategic management you can go into any organisation that is interested in developing new products or business models.

On this UK master’s course at the University of Southampton, you’ll explore how different aspects of strategy and innovation can be used to:

• Help companies become more competitive
• Drive change in industries
• Create new business opportunities

You'll also learn about the strategic and management challenges of developing, implementing and marketing new products and services.

Among the latest topics that you’ll cover are:

• The sharing economy
• Disruptive technologies
• Service innovation concepts
• Social, environmental and economic sustainability
• Growth, innovation and technology transfer

You can fit this master’s in strategy and innovation to your own interests or career plans by choosing optional modules on subjects such as marketing, retailing in the digital age, or entrepreneurship and new business venturing.

You’ll also benefit from:

• Strong links with businesses such as Sainsbury’s and Rolls-Royce
• Visits to businesses to find out how they innovate
• Guest lectures by industry partners

The course content is directly informed by the work of academics who are carrying out research into digital innovation, new business models and sustainability through our Centre for Inclusive and Sustainable Entrepreneurship and Innovation.

On this computer science degree, you'll learn how to design and build software programs and systems. You’ll find out about the latest advances in areas like machine learning, cyber security and computer vision. This will prepare you for success in a fast-moving industry.

This BSc Computer Science course will teach you about the essentials and give you the flexibility to follow your interests through specialist modules. You’ll gain the know-how to develop technologies that can make a difference to people’s lives in topics such as:

• Algorithmics
• Data management
• Software design and modelling
• Interaction design
• Cyber security

You don’t need any previous computing experience to join the course – you can choose your own level for the first programming module. We can give you plenty of support if you are a complete beginner, or set something more challenging if you’re already a proficient programmer.

You’ll study in state-of-the-art teaching labs with the latest equipment and high-quality displays, as well as dedicated labs for project work.

There’s also an informal lab, with group-work areas, projectors and whiteboards. This acts as the department’s social hub – a place where you can have lunch and meet up with students from across the department to work on academic or personal projects.

Our Southampton-based degree is accredited by the British Computer Society (BCS) and the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) on behalf of the Engineering Council for the purposes of:

• Fully meeting the academic requirement for registration as an Incorporated Engineer
• Partly meeting the academic requirement for registration as a Chartered Engineer

This specialist astrophysics course offers an unrivalled opportunity to study astrophysics with a year abroad. You'll spend your fourth year on a research project at the prestigious Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA) in Boston, USA. We are the only UK university that partners with Harvard in this way.

This flagship course is offered to the best University of Southampton astrophysics students studying our MPhys Physics with Astronomy degree at the end of year 2.

Another feature is a 2-week field trip to Tenerife where you’ll take part in a space mission design project.

You’ll also spend a week at an observatory learning to use high-spec telescopes.

As part of your astrophysics degree, you’ll develop an in-depth understanding of:

• The make-up, dynamics and environment of galaxies
• The life cycle of stars
• How radiation is produced and detected in a cosmic setting
• The space environment and space weather
• Concepts of modern cosmology, including the nature of dark matter

You’ll also learn the science behind powerful phenomena such as white dwarfs, black holes and neutron stars, the evolution of the universe, the formation of galaxies and space weather.

Make the music you're passionate about in a vibrant, cultural city with a great music scene. This 3-year BA Music degree provides a broad musical education across all forms and styles. You can specialise in areas including music performance, history, composition and technology. You'll then develop all the skills and experience you need for a successful career.

Our students sing opera and music theatre, play funk guitar and classical oboe. No matter what your musical background, we'll provide:

• Regular performance and composition workshops, including with guests from the industry
• Performance projects with world-renowned performers and recording artists
• Up to 20 hours of fully funded individual tuition per year
• Ensemble and conducting coaching

As part of this course, you can:

• Learn different approaches to musical topics, from the middle ages to global hip hop
• Work on projects with other students across classical, pop and jazz
• Study concert hall composition, commercial songwriting or film scores
• Experience advanced studio techniques, jazz theory and orchestration
• Spend a semester studying abroad
• Take your music to the local community, with school placements, therapy sessions and workshops

You'll also gain professional career skills. These may include arts administration or managing events.

Our excellent facilities include:

• Dedicated rehearsal spaces
• Electronic studios
• Networked multimedia workstations

Our Turner Sims concert hall supports the most extensive series of professional concerts and workshops of any UK university. You can also perform around the city in a range of different venues.

The MSc in Education Practice and Innovation examines professional development, inclusivity in education with a focus on contemporary teaching and learning models for innovation. It's for teachers who want to drive change and make a difference in an inclusive way.

On this master's in educational practice, you'll learn how to respond to the teaching needs of different types of learners, to give all students an equal chance to achieve their full potential. This is a research-focused course, so you’ll be expected to assess the impact of research in education and social sciences and how it affects educational strategies and policies. You’ll learn to refine your practice based on the critical skills you’ll develop, using evidence from research to analyse different teaching and learning methods. During the course, you’ll learn about:

• Policies, educational practice and innovation within workplace learning
• Different forms of innovation in learning and teaching
• Barriers to and enablers of change in educational innovation
• Major processes of training and development
• The evaluation process and its relationship to training and development

Southampton Education School is one of the top higher education providers in the UK. There’s a strong interest in inclusivity in education at the university so you’ll not only have access to expert teaching staff but research groups like the Centre for Research in Inclusion.