MSc International Disaster Management

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): £14,700
  International, including EU, students (per annum): £30,700

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 course will enable students to understand current multi-disciplinary theory concerning disaster management. This will include analysis of various theoretical frameworks used to understand disaster phenomena. A wide range of case studies and cross-disaster analyses will be used to discuss management of these events. Practical risk-based management tools common in disaster planning will then be taught along with their application to risk assessments and policy analysis.

• Develop understanding of core issues concerning disaster management both in high- and low-income contexts
• Opportunity to conduct substantive disaster analysis
• Analyse assumptions that underpin the legal, policy and institutional frameworks for disaster management
• Evaluate possibilities and limitations of approaches to disaster risk reduction at different scales
• Suggest strategies for dealing with disasters

• The course is predominantly delivered through face-to-face interactive lectures. These lectures are spaces for instructor-led teaching, but students are also expected to participate in discussion and activities as directed
• Independent reading
• Engagement with professional sector – e.g. visit to emergency services; simulation exercise (these activities subject to change and will be confirmed on an annual basis)

• Understand the various interpretations of disasters
• Understand the legal, policy and institutional frameworks which set the context for disaster prevention, preparedness, response and recovery
• Identify key theories and research that underpin disaster management cycle
• Understand the value and importance of risk assessments in disaster risk reduction

• Analyse current trends and debates in disaster theory
• Assess disaster prevention, preparedness, response and recovery within the context of vulnerability and resilience
• Evaluate the effectiveness of global and local disaster policy frameworks and mechanisms in disaster risk reduction and suggest possible solutions
• Articulate and defend their own positions on the value and importance of prevention, preparedness, response and recovery in disaster risk reduction

• Demonstrate analytic skills through in-class discussion
• Present material in a clear coherent manner, with appropriate level of literacy, in various forms
• Use sufficient and relevant research 4. Acknowledge sources using an appropriate referencing system
• Demonstrate continued development of academic skills, such as the ability to summarise and evaluate arguments and apply the theory to challenges and dilemmas posed by disaster management 
• Interpret data and discuss implications for action

• Lead effective communication to promote the achievement of the best possible outcomes for disaster prevention, mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery
• Demonstrate, or give an account of the value and importance of risk-based approaches to disaster prevention, mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery
• Take responsibility for enabling their own learning and professional development and show leadership in developing others.

Assessment Task	Formative or Summative	Weighting
Essay	Summative	60%
Contingency Plan	Summative	30%
Simulation Reflection – Key Learning	Summative	10%
Written Reflections	Formative	0%

 

Feedback Method	Formative or Summative
Written feedback on contingency plan	Summative
Written feedback on essay	Summative
Informal oral feedback during lectures	Formative
Additional one-to-one feedback (during the consultation hour or by making an appointment)	Formative

Coppola, D.P. (2011). Introduction to international disaster management. Boston: Butterworth-Heinemann.

Cretney, R. 2014. Resilience for whom? Emerging critical geographies of socio-ecological resilience. Geography Compass 8 (9): 627–40.

Eshghi, H. and R. Larson. 2008. "Disasters: Lessons from the past 105 years." Disaster Prevention and Management. 17(1):62-82.

Frandsen, M., Paton, D., and Sakariassen, K. (2011). Fostering community bushfire preparedness through engagement and empowerment. The Australian Journal of Emergency Management, 26(2), 23–30.

Harris, M., Shaw, D., Scully, J., Smith, C. M., and Hieke, G. (2017). The Involvement/Exclusion Paradox of Spontaneous Volunteering: New Lessons and Theory From Winter Flood Episodes in England. Non-profit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 46(2), 352-371.

Haworth, B. (2018). Implications of volunteered geographic information for disaster management and GIScience: A more complex world of volunteered geography. Annals of the American Association of Geographers, 108(1): 226-240.

Laska, S., and Morrow, B. H. (2006). Social vulnerabilities and Hurricane Katrina: an unnatural disaster in New Orleans. Marine technology society journal, 40(4), 16-26.

Perry, R. W. (2006). “What Is a Disaster?” Pp. 1-15 in Handbook of Disaster Research, Havidán Rodríquez, Enrico L. Quarantelli, and Russell R. Dynes (eds.). New York: Springer. Available at https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-0-387-32353-4_1.

Twigg, J. (2015) Disaster Risk Reduction: Good Practice Review 9, ODI: London. Available at http://www.alnap.org/resource/21363.aspx.

UNISDR. (2015). Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030. Geneva: UNISDR. [online]. Available at http://www.preventionweb.net/files/43291_sendaiframeworkfordrren.pdf.