MSc Geographical Information Science

Fees for entry in 2027 have not yet been set. For reference, the fees for the academic year beginning September 2026 were as follows:

• MSc (full-time)
  UK students (per annum): £15,200
  International, including EU, students (per annum): £33,600

The fees quoted above are fully inclusive of tuition, administration and computational costs.

Fees for entry are subject to yearly review. The University reserves the right to increase your tuition fee by up to 7% each year for courses lasting more than one year, including to reflect rising costs associated with delivering our educational and wider student experience. Postgraduate fees information .

Always contact the admissions team if you are unsure which fee applies to your qualification award and method of attendance.

International student CAS deposit

Self-funded international applicants are required to pay a deposit of £2500 towards their tuition fees before a confirmation of acceptance for studies (CAS) is issued. Some applicants will be required to pay a higher deposit. More information on tuition fee deposits .

All students should normally be able to complete their programme of study without incurring additional study costs over and above the tuition fee for that programme. Any unavoidable additional compulsory costs totalling more than 1% of the annual home undergraduate fee per annum, regardless of whether the programme in question is undergraduate or postgraduate taught, will be made clear to you at the point of application. Further information can be found in the University's Policy on additional costs incurred by students on undergraduate and postgraduate taught programmes (PDF document, 91KB).

We know that student finance can be complicated. The links below provide further information to help guide you.

• Learn more about - student finance options for UK students .
• Learn more about - fees and finance for international students .
• Graduates of The University of Manchester and Manchester Metropolitan University can receive a 10% discount on their master's degree tuition fees as part of our Manchester Alumni Loyalty Discount scheme.

This module will explore the theory and principles of landscape ecology and the spatial techniques available to test, demonstrate and put into practice these principles.

Students will explore ecological data (habitat, species and topographic) across a range of spatial contexts and explore the effect of landscape configuration, land-use and land-cover combinations, on biogeographical patterns, ecological functions and species distribution. This will be done through the application of spatial techniques such as density functions, point patern analysis and graph theory, as well as through computational landscape ecology metrics and analyses.

Equip students with knowledge on the theory of spatial ecology, primarily focused on landscape-ecological methods and principles.

Students will gain proficiency in computational ecology acquiring skills that are highly transferable and sought-after by employers in environmental consultancy and data science.

Development of object-based programming skills (R), GIS-based and ecological knowledge and skills will create highly skilled and employable graduates for roles in ecological, environmental, commerce, planning and related fields.

Students will have access to a range of GIS, programmatic and online materials and resources that will see them greatly increase their digital literacy.

Syllabus (indicative curriculum content):

Lecture One: Course orientation and introduction Spatial Ecology and R

Lecture Two: Scale in ecology

Lecture Three: Species Distribution Modelling

Lecture Four: Advanced Species Distribution Modelling

Lecture Five: Introduction to Assessment 2

Lecture Six: Landscape Connectivity

Lecture Seven: Advanced Connectivity Modelling

Lecture Eight: Diversity

Lecture Nine: Course summary and re-cap; assessment tips.

The module will be delivered through nine one-hour lecture sessions and 11 two-hour practica classes.

All materials will be delivered synchronously but with the addition of asynchronous access and materials. For example, practical classes are made available through web pages and examples are facilitated trough interactive apps developed by the convenor and made available to students.

Links to all resources are made available through the course VLE page.

• Key concepts in spatial ecology, knowledge of landscape ecological processes and reflecting on their importance across a range of contexts.
• Use of spatial, ecological and geo-statistical techniques such as networks, density functions, species distribution models, buffers and landscape ecology metrics.
• Accessing, interpreting and analysing large spatial datasets such as multi-band imagery, land-use datasets and species record data.

• Identifying key spatial components of ecological systems.
• The ability to critically evaluate the opportunities and limitations of applying spatial data and techniques to the analysis of complex systems.
• Employ critical analytical factors such as scale and spatial context.
• Model ecological processes.

• Use of R as a GIS.
• Statistical analysis.
• Programmatic geo-computation skills.

• Ability to express complex ideas related to spatial ecological.
• Experience of project design and report-writing.
• Ability to communicate knowledge and reasoned arguments on complex topics and debates.
• The ability to source, manage and operationalize spatial data and techniques to explore real-world problems.

Assessment 1 - Submission of practical workbook. 
1000 words.
Verbal and written feedback. 
40% weighting.

Assessment 2 - Individual student project on a chosen species ecology application (e.g. species, habitat). 
Examples will be provided or students can propose their own with guidance.
2000 words.
Verbal and written feedback. 
60% weighting.

Fletcher, R. and Fortin, M., 2018. Spatial ecology and conservation modeling (p. 523). Cham: Springer International Publishing.

Miguet, P., Jackson, H.B., Jackson, N.D., Martin, A.E. and Fahrig, L., 2016. What determines the spatial extent of landscape effects on species?. Landscape ecology, 31, pp.1177-1194.

Guisan, A. and Zimmermann, N.E., 2000. Predictive habitat distribution models in ecology. Ecological modelling, 135(2-3), pp.147-186.

Renner, I.W., Elith, J., Baddeley, A., Fithian, W., Hastie, T., Phillips, S.J., Popovic, G. and Warton, D.I., 2015. Point process models for presence‐only analysis. Methods in Ecology and Evolution, 6(4), pp.366-379.

Dennis M, Huck J, Holt C, McHenry E. 2024. A mechanistic approach to weighting edge-effects in landscape connectivity assessments. Landsc Ecol 39, 68.

Teaching and learning will be designed to be inclusive through providing materials online in advance of sessions in accessible formats (visual media, lecture recordings). Students can engage with discussion in class and online via the VLE discussion forum.

Assessment instructions and criteria are clearly communicated in advance of the deadline via the course webpages and all lectures are recorded.

Individualised feedback is provided for all students for both assessments, and formative feedback is provided in class and via the discussion board. Assessments are spaced to give students time to act on feedback.

Essential software used as part of this unit is freely available, open source and meets accessibility requirements (e.g., R Studio).