Program Overview

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MSc Ship & Offshore Structures

The MSc Ship & Offshore Structures program is designed for graduate engineers in naval architecture, offshore engineering, mechanical engineering, and other related disciplines. This course was developed in response to the demand for design engineers who can design and assess new ships and offshore structures.

Key Facts

• Start date: January & September
• Accreditation: RINA / IMarEST
• Study mode and duration: MSc: 12 months full-time
• The University of Strathclyde is ranked 1st in Europe & 3rd in the world for Marine/Ocean Engineering (Shanghai Rankings Academic Ranking 2022)

Why this Course?

This course aims to introduce students to ultimate strength, fatigue, and design concepts for structural components of ships and offshore floating systems. Students will also gain knowledge of material behavior together with factors influencing the dynamic behavior of offshore installations.

What you’ll Study

The program consists of three components:

• Instructional modules
• Group project
• Individual project

Group Project

Students will be part of a group of three to five people in ‘consultant teams’ for 10 weeks addressing a practical engineering problem. This project will enhance team working and communication skills and provide valuable access to industrial contacts.

Individual Project (MSc only)

MSc students will take on an individual dissertation on a topic of their own interest. The aim of the individual project is to develop research skills and to combine many of the aspects learned from other modules within a specific topic.

Facilities

The department has excellent teaching facilities, including:

• Our departmental racing yacht, Catalina
• Kelvin Hydrodynamics Lab – the largest ship-model experiment tank in any UK university
• Towing/wave tank exclusively for teaching purposes
• Marine engine laboratory
• Cutting-edge computer facilities
• Industry-standard software

Accreditation

This course is accredited by the Royal Institution of Naval Architects (RINA) and the Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology (IMarEST) on behalf of the UK Engineering Council.

Course Content

A typical selection of modules offered on the program includes:

• Offshore Structural Integrity
• Systems Availability & Maintenance
• Finite Element Analysis of Floating Structures
• Advanced Marine Structures
• Theory & Practice of Marine Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD)
• Design & Construction of Floating, Production, Storage & Offloading Vessels
• Dynamics of Fixed & Floating Offshore Structure
• Group Design Project
• Risk & Reliability Engineering
• Renewable Marine Energy Systems

Learning & Teaching

There are two teaching semesters of 11 weeks each. Course modules are delivered in the form of formal lectures supported with tutorials and laboratory experiments when needed.

Assessment

There are two types of method for module assessment: coursework assessment only, and exam assessment. For examined modules, the final assessment mark consists of 30-40% coursework marks and 60-70% exam marks.

Entry Requirements

• Normally a first-class or second-class honors degree (or international equivalent) in a relevant subject.
• English language requirements: If English is not your first language, please visit the English language requirements page for full details of the requirements in place before making your application.

Fees & Funding

All fees quoted are for full-time courses and per academic year unless stated otherwise.

• Scotland: £10,800 (2024/25), £11,900 (2025/26)
• England, Wales & Northern Ireland: £10,800 (2024/25), £11,900 (2025/26)
• Republic of Ireland: If you are an Irish citizen and have been ordinary resident in the Republic of Ireland for the three years prior to the relevant date, and will be coming to Scotland for Educational purposes only, you will meet the criteria of England, Wales & Northern Ireland fee status.
• International: £27,500 (2024/25), £30,250 (2025/26)

Careers

Career destinations include:

• Naval Architect
• Marine Engineer
• Graduate Engineer
• Marine Surveyor
• Offshore Renewables Engineer
• Project Engineer

Location

The University of Strathclyde is located in the heart of Glasgow, Scotland's biggest and most cosmopolitan city. The campus is based right in the very heart of Glasgow, next to the Merchant City, both of which are great locations for sightseeing, shopping, and socializing alongside your studies.