Course overview
Whether you are managing a complex project, bringing a new product to market or managing an organisational change, this course gives you the tools to plan, implement, control and deliver your projects strategically and operationally.
Gain significant analytical, interpersonal and practical competencies that cover advance planning and visualisation, risk management, procurement and contract strategy, health and safety, managing operations and finance, and change management. You undertake a major research project that allows you to specialise in a field of interest.
This two-year master’s degree with advanced practice strengthens your qualification by integrating either a vocational or research-based internship. A vocational internship offers valuable industry experience and helps you stand out in a competitive job market, while a research internship allows you to develop your analytical, teamwork, academic and research skills by working alongside an active research team. We guarantee all students a research internship; however, vocational internships cannot be guaranteed. If you choose the vocational route, we will support you with practical guidance to help you identify, apply for and secure your own internship opportunity.
This extended, full-time (including Advanced Practice) programme enhances the qualification by adding a vocational or research-based internship to the one-year programme. This is a great way to gain work experience and give your CV a competitive edge. A research internship provides the opportunity to develop analytical, team-working, research and academic skills by working alongside a research team in an academic setting. We guarantee a research internship, but cannot guarantee a vocational internship. We provide practical support and advice on how to find and secure vocational internship positions.
View our study dates for detailed information about the duration based on your course start date.
Course details
Course structure
Core modules
Advanced Practice is normally undertaken over a one semester period and has been developed to enable a student to gain real-world practical experience to enhance their employability and academic learning. Students will receive preparatory sessions to enable them to apply to internship opportunities, which normally include:
Vocational internships with external organisations based offsite
Research or development internships based on campus
Employer-led internships based on campus
Students will undertake an appropriate advanced practice opportunity to meet their skill set and aspirations, related to their course.
All students will be assigned an academic supervisor to provide academic and pastoral support throughout their internship. Students will be assessed through a reflective report on a pass/fail basis. This module does not count towards the overall classification of the degree.
Advanced Project Planning and Visualisation
In this module you explore engineering project planning problems and solutions and learn to develop knowledge in emerging technologies used in advanced project planning. You develop planning skills and knowledge of the key concepts and tools used in traditional and advanced project planning. In particular, you familiarise with: principles of project planning, multi-constraints project planning techniques, and advanced 4D visualisation techniques.
Big Data and Business Intelligence
You develop your ability to design and implement database, big data and analytics applications to meet business needs. A case study is used to follow the system development lifecycle. You develop a plausible application from inception to implementation for a real-world scenario.
You investigate the issues and technologies associated with implementing and supporting large scale databases and the services that are needed to maintain and access a repository of data. Investigations are undertaken in a number of areas including big data, data warehouses, integrating legacy data, data management and approaches that support the modelling and visualisation of data for a range of use views.
You investigate an area of engineering and work independently to a level recognised to be at the forefront of the discipline. The topic can be in the form of a research project or a design project. Key skills in research and in knowledge application and creation will be developed through keynote lectures and self-managed independent study. You are required to demonstrate the capacity for a comprehensive and objective analysis, and for developing innovative and constructive proposals for the solution to the project topic.
Managing Projects with PRINCE2®
This module explores in detail an established and widely recognised governance standard method called PRINCE2®. Students will work on simulated project brief in order to build their understanding and critically review the governance methodology.
The module will focus on the structure, processes, documentation, terminology but also tailoring of the governance method in order to plan for a particular project.
The students will be assessed by two in-course assessment elements (60% and 40%) requiring them to work as part of a team.
PRINCE2® is a registered trademark of AXELOS limited
Procurement and Contract Strategies
This module aims at developing your knowledge and critical understanding of the types of procurement arrangements and contract strategies that are commonly used in the engineering sector, including construction, oil and gas, heavy civil engineering and production. It also provides an introduction to Contract Law to allow you to better understand the legal framework in which engineering companies and projects are managed.
We provide you with an advanced level of study in risk management in projects. You explore a range of tools and techniques used in risk identification, qualitative and quantitative risk analysis, risk-planning responses, PERT and risk monitoring. You learn about financial risk, project-appraisal methods and the application of a decision tree within a project.
You gain awareness of probability theory that represents the corner stone of risk management. Invited speakers from the industry give an overview of risk management in different projects; for example IT, finance, construction, and oil and gas. You work in groups on project case studies which apply risk management theory. In addition, you gain hands-on experience in applying the @RISK© tool to a variety of scenarios of risk factors. You develop a deep understanding of the systematic process of risk management and application of @RISK© software.
This module develops your critical understanding of the development of business strategy as a starting point to change. A more generalised understanding of the management of change is then developed, with particular emphasis on aspects of people management.
Modules offered may vary.
How you learn
You learn through a series of lectures, tutorials and laboratory sessions, applying your knowledge through project modelling and case studies.
In addition to the taught sessions, you undertake a substantive engineering research project and the Advanced Practice module. This module enables you to experience and develop employability or research attributes and experiential learning opportunities in either an external workplace, internal research environment or by studying abroad. You critically engage with either external stakeholders or internal academic staff and reflect on your own personal development through your Advanced Practice experience.
How you are assessed
You are assessed through in-course assignments, presentations and formal exams.
Your Advanced Practice module is assessed by an individual written reflective report together with a study or workplace log, where appropriate, and through a poster presentation.
Entry requirements
You must have one of the following:
- an honours degree (at least a 2.2) in relevant subject, including science, technology, engineering, mathematics, business, management, computing or IT
- a post-experience or professional qualification
- equivalent qualifications (including international qualifications).
International applicants
International applicants can find out what qualifications they need by visiting Your Country
What you need
To access the on-campus facilities you need a HTML5-capable web browser on a computer such as a Windows, Mac, Chromebook, or Linux computer. HTML5-capable web browsers that can be used include the following:
- Google Chrome
- Mozilla Firefox
- Safari
- Microsoft Edge
For some sessions you can also access sessions on the following browsers and devices:
- Chrome or Safari on an iPad (iOS 11 or later)
- Android (Android 8 or later)
- Microsoft Surface Pro (Windows 10) tablet
Don't have your own device yet?
Don't worry - we have a bank of devices available for you to loan whenever you are on campus.
You can also access Adobe Studio - a suite of industry standard creative apps.
Employability
Career opportunities
As a project manager, your skills will be in demand by companies and organisations worldwide. The most common industries include engineering, process and oil and gas, construction, manufacturing, digital, IT and telecoms.
Information for international applicants
Qualifications
International applicants - find out what qualifications you need by selecting your country below.
Select your country:
Useful information
Visit our international pages for useful information for non-UK students and applicants.