Program Overview

MSc Robotics

The MSc Robotics postgraduate master's degree is linked to the UK's National Robotarium and will equip students to work in industry and wider society in areas where robots can be used to improve productivity, transform transportation, work in extreme environments, and improve quality of life.

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 Content

The programme offers extensive training in robot programming with ROS, practical implementation on real robots, and major projects involving autonomous vehicles, underwater robots, humanoid and social robots, advanced manipulators, and novel designs. Students gain expertise in kinematics, robot control, navigation, planning, machine vision, and human-robot interaction, alongside enabling technologies such as AI, NLP, ML, and IoT.

September Intake - Edinburgh

Year 1

Mandatory September

• Robotics Systems Science
• Intelligent Robotics

Optional September

• Embedded Systems
• Optimisation & Deep Learning for Imaging and Vision I
• Biologically Inspired Computation
• Data Mining and Machine Learning
• Internet of Things
• Human Robot Interaction

Mandatory January

• Machine Vision
• Robotic Mechanical Systems

Optional January

• Embedded Software
• Critical Analysis and Research Preparation
• Conversational Agents and Spoken Language Processing
• Image Processing
• Systems Thinking and Analysis
• Optimisation and Deep Learning for Imaging and Vision II
• Research Methods and Project Planning

Optional May

• MSc Project
• Masters Project and Dissertation

January Intake - Edinburgh

Year 1

Mandatory January

• Robotic Mechanical Systems
• Machine Vision

Optional January

• Image Processing
• Embedded Software
• Conversational Agents and Spoken Language Processing
• Systems Thinking and Analysis

Mandatory September

• Robotics Systems Science
• Intelligent Robotics

Optional September

• Data Mining and Machine Learning
• Biologically Inspired Computation
• Human Robot Interaction
• Research Methods and Project Planning
• Optimisation & Deep Learning for Imaging and Vision I
• Embedded Systems
• Internet of Things
• Critical Analysis and Research Preparation

Optional Second January

• Masters Project and Dissertation
• MSc Project

Your Student Experience

Our MSc Robotics draws upon the world-class research carried out by Heriot-Watt as part of the EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Robotics and Autonomous Systems (CDT-RAS). The centre is leading in the UK effort to realise the potential of Robotics and artificial intelligence (AI) technology, by producing a new generation of highly skilled researchers, trained to take a leading role through technical skills coupled to industry and marketing awareness.

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

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.

Entry Requirements

• A first class or upper second honours degree in mathematics, physics, engineering, and computer science or other relevant disciplines with a numerate background and sufficient computer programming experience.
• Equivalent overseas qualifications will also be considered.
• We can consider a 2:2 in relevant subject areas in conjunction with 3 or more years of relevant work experience.
• English language requirements: The minimum English language requirement for entry to this programme is IELTS 6.0 (or equivalent) with no score lower than 5.5.