نظرة عامة على البرنامج

---

MSc Global Environmental Change and Policy

The MSc Global Environmental Change and Policy equips students with a bachelor-level graduate degree in earth and environmental science, or a related degree, with the multidisciplinary skills necessary to understand and tackle complex global issues associated with climate change, societal challenges, and policy development.

Key Information

• Level: Postgraduate Taught
• Delivery type: Full Time
• Degree qualification: MSc
• Mode of delivery: On-Campus
• Duration: 1 year
• Location: Edinburgh
• Start date: September, January
• Next intake: January 2026

Course Description

This career-focused master's programme develops technical, scientific, and managerial abilities relevant for a marine science career in academia, industry, government, and non-governmental organisations. Students gain a highly integrated level of fundamental, applied, and communication-based knowledge needed to identify, characterise, and effectively find solutions to a range of challenges related to climate change.

Your Student Experience

• Learning environment informed by experts in earth and marine sciences from the Institute of Life and Earth Sciences (ILES), part of Heriot-Watt's School of Energy, Geoscience, Infrastructure and Society.
• Benefit from teaching and research at the Lyell Centre, a leading centre in earth, marine, and ecosystem sciences, and a collaboration between the British Geological Survey and Heriot-Watt University.
• Opportunity to participate in Heriot-Watt's global student programme, Go Global, to carry studies to new places and experience new cultures.

Course Content

September Intake - Edinburgh

Mandatory September

• Research Skills for Earth Systems Scientists
• Earth System Science
• Innovative Technologies and Global Water Challenges
• Reconstructing Environmental Change

Mandatory January

• Global Environmental Sustainability Leadership and Governance in a Changing World
• Science Communication and Engagement
• Equity, Economics and Ecosystems under Pressure

Optional January

• Environmental Evidence Synthesis
• Tropical and Coral Reefs: Monitoring and Management
• GIS for Marine and Environmental Scientists
• Fisheries Sustainability and Gear Technology
• Marine Environmental Monitoring
• Marine Vertebrate Ecology and Conservation
• Practical Skills in Marine Surveying

Mandatory May

• Earth Sciences MSc Project

January Intake - Edinburgh

Mandatory January

• Global Environmental Sustainability Leadership and Governance in a Changing World
• Science Communication and Engagement
• Equity, Economics and Ecosystems under Pressure

Optional January

• Environmental Evidence Synthesis
• Marine Environmental Monitoring
• Tropical and Coral Reefs: Monitoring and Management
• Fisheries Sustainability and Gear Technology
• GIS for Marine and Environmental Scientists
• Marine Vertebrate Ecology and Conservation
• Practical Skills in Marine Surveying

Mandatory September

• Earth System Science
• Innovative Technologies and Global Water Challenges
• Reconstructing Environmental Change
• Research Skills for Earth Systems Scientists

Mandatory Second January

• Earth Sciences MSc Project

Teaching Staff

Programme Leader

• Ingrid Kelling, Assistant Professor
• Other teaching staff include:
  • Daniela Diz, Associate Professor
  • Michel J. Kaiser, Professor of Fisheries Conservation
  • Thomas Wagner, Professor Earth System Sciences

Fees and Funding

• January 2026 intake tuition fees:
  • UK: £12,344
  • International: £28,056
• September 2026/January 2027 intake tuition fees:
  • UK: £12,744
  • International: £28,952
• Scholarships and bursaries available, including postgraduate scholarships and bursaries, and a Postgraduate European Union Scholarship.

Entry Requirements

• A minimum of a 2:2 honours degree or non-UK equivalent in a subject such as earth, marine, or environmental science.
• Proficiency in numeracy is an advantage.
• Degrees with evidence of understanding conservation, ecology, biology, geology, chemistry, or microbiology will also be considered.
• English language requirements: IELTS 6.0 (or equivalent) with no score lower than 5.5.

Why Heriot-Watt

Heriot-Watt University is the top university in Scotland for graduate outcomes, with more graduates employed or in postgraduate education than any other institution in the country. The university is also rated number one in the UK for CEO or MD roles and has beautiful campuses across the globe, offering a truly international education.