Heriot-Watt University
Study Postgraduate

MSc Applied Mathematical Sciences with Climate and Environmental Modelling

The course

Delivery
Full-time, Part-time, Per course
Course type
Taught
Location
Edinburgh
Entry date
September
Find out how to apply More about this subject area

Contact

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Overview

Climate change is recognised as having potentially huge impacts on the environment and on human society. This programme is designed to give students an understanding of climate change causes, impacts, mitigation and adaptation measures from a life science perspective. Students will also develop a wide variety of mathematical modelling skills that can be used to investigate the impacts of climate change.

The programme closely follows the structure of our Applied Mathematical Sciences MSc. Two of the mandatory courses will specifically focus on the issues related to climate change and are taught by expert staff from the University's School of Life Sciences.

Programme duration

  • MSc: 12 months
  • Diploma: 9 months

Also available part-time over 2 to 3 years.

September 2024 entry

The deadline for applications from UK students is 30 August 2024. For EU and overseas applicants, we guarantee to consider applications submitted by 2 August 2024.

Go Global

Some of our Postgraduate Taught Masters Programmes are eligible for Inter-Campus Transfer. Please contact goglobal@hw.ac.uk for further information.

Course content

Students will take a total of 8 courses, 4 in each of the 1st and 2nd Semesters followed by a 3-month Project in the summer. A typical distribution for this programme is as follows:

Core courses:

  • Mathematical Ecology
  • Modelling and Tools
  • Data Assimilation with Applications to Climate Change
  • Modelling and Simulation in the Life Sciences

Optional courses:

  • Climate Change; Causes and Impact
  • Statistical Methods
  • Optimisation
  • Stochastic Simulation
  • Statistical Machine Learning
  • Mathematical Biology and Medicine
  • Partial Differential Equations
  • Numerical Analysis (PDEs)
  • Bayesian Inference

Typical project subjects:

  • Population Cycles of Forest Insects;
  • Climate Change Impact;
  • The replacement of Red Squirrels by Grey Squirrels in the UK;
  • Vegetation Patterns in Semi-arid Environments;
  • Daisyworld: A Simple Land Surface Climate Model.

The final part of the MSc is an extended project in mathematical modelling the impacts of climate change on environmental systems, giving the opportunity to investigate a topic in some depth guided by leading research academics.

Entry requirements

Entry is aimed at graduates with strong mathematical knowledge and skills. A good honours degree in mathematics, statistics or a related subject with a substantial mathematical content is desired. Motivation and a willingness to work hard are also important pre-requisites.

English language requirements

If your first language is not English, or your first degree was not taught in English, we'll need to see evidence of your English language ability. The minimum requirement for English language is IELTS 6.5 or equivalent.

We offer a range of English language courses to help you meet the English language requirement prior to starting your masters programme:

  • 20 weeks English (for IELTS of 5.0 with no skill lower than 4.5)
  • 14 weeks English (for IELTS of 5.0 with minimum of 5.0 in writing and no skill lower than 4.5)
  • 10 weeks English (for IELTS of 5.5 with no skill lower than 5.0)
  • 6 weeks English (for IELTS 5.5 with no skill lower than 5.5)

Fees

Tuition fees for entry
Status Full-time Part-time Per course
UK £9152 £4576 £1144
Overseas £19056 £9528 £2382

Footnotes

  1. 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. Find out more about tuition fees.
  2. Fee per course (module). Refer to the Course Content to see how many courses comprise the full programme.
  3. Overseas includes applications from European Union countries who do not hold Pre-Settled or Settled status in the UK. Read more about the application process for EU nationals.

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.

View our full range of postgraduate scholarships.