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MSc Logistics and Supply Chain Management

Key information

Our MSc Logistics and Supply Chain Management provides you a detailed understanding and cutting-edge expertise of the discipline, to enable you to proceed to professional and managerial careers in business and the public sector.

Level
Postgraduate Taught
Delivery type
Full Time, Part Time
Degree qualification
MSc
Mode of delivery
On-Campus
Duration
1 year
Location
Edinburgh
Start date
September, January

Our MSc Logistics and Supply Chain Management provides you with a detailed understanding and cutting-edge expertise in the discipline, to enable you to proceed to professional and managerial careers in business and the public sector. The programme has been specifically designed for those with no prior knowledge of logistics and supply chain management, as the one-year master’s degree will blend contemporary academic thinking with best practices from industry, to allow you to advance to Logistics and Supply Chain management roles with a highly developed skillset.  

During the master’s programme, you’ll develop knowledge that covers and integrates the main areas of logistics and supply chain management. You’ll gain a critical understanding of a range of specialised theories, principles, and concepts and develop extensive, detailed, and critical knowledge of a variety of specialisms, informed by research-teaching linkages. You’ll gain knowledge of how Logistics and Supply Chain Management is developed, by exploring the implementation of emerging techniques of research and scholarly enquiry. You’ll use case studies to interpret data and relate real-life scenarios to the frameworks identified in the academic literature and use appropriate tools to support and enhance academic and professional activities.  

Beyond the taught skills and knowledge, you’ll gain key transferrable skills which will set you up for life after graduation. You’ll learn key qualitative and quantitative forms of analysis, learn to work to strict timescales both independently and in self-managed groups, learn to apply academic and business techniques to a variety of business cases, develop your justification and application skills, and develop your general data interpretation and advanced communication skills. You’ll be equipped with the ability to think critically, identify problems, evaluate options, and communicate solutions which will enable you to effectively implement your specialist knowledge to any logistical problem you may face in your career.  

You’ll have the opportunity to specialise and choose three optional courses – from business analytics and introduction to big data, measuring and managing performance, green and sustainable logistics, quality management, project management, and systems thinking and analysis – to customise your learning and develop your specific interests. Your logistics and supply chain management dissertation will allow you to further build on your specialist area, by presenting you the opportunity to carry out an original research project at the forefront of knowledge. The knowledge base, subject and transferable skills you will gain will prepare you for lifelong learning and personal development in various industrial sectors.     

Your student experience

Your learning will be informed by the expertise of our research-active academics whose work contributes to tackling grand societal challenges through our Global Research Institutes in areas such as Net Zero and Health and Care Technologies. 

Heriot-Watt University stands at the forefront of logistics research and specialises in the study of management, integration, reform, impact, and modelling of logistics activity, particularly from an environmental and sustainability perspective through our Centre for Logistics and Sustainability. 

You’ll learn from academics, whose work provides government, industry, commercial and other sectors with insight into logistical trends, transport benchmarking and road use throughout the UK and Europe. Much of our research output is transformed into practical management guides, tools, and techniques.

Go Global

With Go Global, Heriot-Watt's global student programme, you can carry your studies to new places and experience new cultures, expanding your horizons on the way. You'll discover what it means to be a true global citizen and emerge prepared for wherever your career journey will take you.

Inter-Campus Transfer: Dubai

Discover new friends and places with an inter-campus transfer to Dubai.

Course content

September Intake - Edinburgh

Mandatory September

  • Freight Transport and Warehouse Management
  • Strategies for Managing Supply Chains
  • Operations Management

Optional September

  • Business Analytics and Introduction to Big Data
  • Supply Chain Risk and Adaptation
  • Measuring and Managing Performance

Mandatory January

  • Research Philosophy and Practice
  • Global Purchasing and Supply

Optional January

  • Green and Sustainable Logistics
  • Quality Management
  • Project Management
  • Systems Thinking and Analysis

Mandatory May

  • Logistics and Supply Chain Management Dissertation

January Intake - Edinburgh

Mandatory January

  • Research Philosophy and Practice
  • Global Purchasing and Supply
  • Green and Sustainable Logistics

Optional January

  • Systems Thinking and Analysis
  • Project Management
  • Quality Management

Mandatory September

  • Operations Management
  • Freight Transport and Warehouse Management
  • Strategies for Managing Supply Chains

Optional September

  • Supply Chain Risk and Adaptation
  • Measuring and Managing Performance
  • Business Analytics and Introduction to Big Data

Mandatory Second January

  • Logistics and Supply Chain Management Dissertation

Programme Video

The Heriot-Watt experience

Student testimonials

Sara-Christine Bach Overbo

MSc Logistics and Supply Chain Management

Being a part of the School´s unique multinational environment provided an arena for lots of interesting discussions and reflections. This enabled me and my peers to better understand our studied fields in the bigger global perspective.

Teaching staff

Programme leader

Claire Lindsay

Associate Professor

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David Charles Steinberg

Associate Professor

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Philip Greening

Professor

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Christine Rutherford

Professor

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Fees and funding

/ intake tuition fees
StatusFull TimePart Time
UK£12,344£6,172
International£28,056£14,028
  • Status: Your residency status is usually defined as the country where you have been ordinarily resident for the three years before the start of your course.
  • International: 'International' includes applicants from European Union countries who do not hold Pre-Settled or Settled status in UK. (This does not include students from the Republic of Ireland - see above).

Additional information

Note: the fees indicated above will apply if you begin your studies in September. If you choose to join us in January instead, the fees below will apply.

January 2025 intake tuition fees

Status Full Time Part Time
UK £10,736 £5,368
International £26,976 £13,488
  • Status: Your residency status is usually defined as the country where you have been ordinarily resident for the three years before the start of your course.
  • International: 'International' includes applicants from European Union countries who do not hold Pre-Settled or Settled status in UK. (This does not include students from the Republic of Ireland).

Scholarships and bursaries

Postgraduate scholarships and bursaries

We aim to encourage well-qualified, ambitious students to study with us and we offer a wide variety of scholarships and bursaries to achieve this. Over £6 million worth of opportunities are available in fee and stipend scholarships, and more than 400 students benefit from this support.

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Entry requirements

We have standard entry requirements for all of our courses that you will have to meet.

A minimum of honours degree at 2:2 or non-UK equivalent in a relevant subject. Whilst we can consider applicants from a wide range of academic backgrounds such as Logistics, Engineering, Business Admin/ Management, Journalism, we hope to see demonstrable evidence of numeracy. This can include algebra, statistics, calculus, Accountancy and Finance, or similar subjects that shows ability to manipulate numbers. Work or project experience in a logistics-related field will be of further advantage but is not essential.

Why Heriot-Watt

We're the top university in Scotland for graduate outcomes which means that more of our graduates are employed or in postgraduate education than any other institution in the country and we ranked 5th in the UK.

We're also rated number one in the UK for CEO or MD roles, meaning more of our graduates go on to become CEOs or MDs than any other university in the whole of the UK. On top of that, we have beautiful campuses, across the globe, so you'll get a truly international education. Our Edinburgh Campus is home to Oriam, Scotland's National Sports Performance Centre combined with plenty of wellbeing resources, prioritising fitness and mental health for all students. Our Global Research Institutes look at solving real world issues such as climate change and saving our oceans as well as working on the next medical technological breakthrough and the future of AI and robots.

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