Master of Science / Postgraduate Diploma / Postgraduate Certificate
MSc/PGDip/PGCert Humanitarian Practice
Year of entry: 2027
Duration: Up to 5 years part-time
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Fees and funding
Fees
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): £29,900 -
MSc (part-time distance learning)
UK students (per annum): £1,225 per 15 credits
International, including EU, students (per annum): £2,493 per 15 credit -
PGDip (full-time)
UK students (per annum): £9,800
International, including EU, students (per annum): £20,000 -
PGDip (part-time distance learning)
UK students (per annum): £1,225 per 15 credits
International, including EU, students (per annum): £2,493 per 15 credit -
PGCert (part-time distance learning)
UK students (per annum): £1,225 per 15 credits
International, including EU, students (per annum): £2,493 per 15 credit
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 .
Policy on additional costs
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).
Scholarships/sponsorships
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.
Course unit details:
Critical Approaches to Management of Humanitarian Operations
| Unit code | HCRI70040 |
|---|---|
| Credit rating | 15 |
| Unit level | FHEQ level 7 – master's degree or fourth year of an integrated master's degree |
| Teaching period(s) | Full year |
| Offered by | Humanitarian Conflict Response Institute |
| Available as a free choice unit? | No |
Overview
This module aims to explore the making of operational decisions in an uncertain environment. This may be because the situation is evolving, the data is unclear, the operational dynamics are changing, or the mission terms of engagement need to adapt. It will explore the operational dilemmas and challenges faced by those involved in leading an organisation providing a humanitarian response to a crisis.
It will outline a conceptual framework for leadership and management in this environment and explore related academic concepts, ideas and debates. It will require students to develop the ability to critically review the literature, apply context, constructively engage with operational processes and consider how to adapt these to their own operational environment.
The module will use an individual’s own prior experiences to reflect on alternate individual or team approaches and practices that might be used in potentially complex, quickly evolving and challenging situations.
Central to this unit will be understanding the fixed and the flexible principles to be applied in a humanitarian situation and help develop a structured, logical and defendable approach to leadership and decision making within a complex and multifaceted but information poor environment.
Aims
- To sharpen diagnostic skills to identify key operational dilemmas and problematics in the cycles of humanitarian operations
- To acquire methodological tools and technique for situation analysis, operational decision, and evidence-based practice in humanitarian context
- To develop action-oriented leadership and management capacity for strategy formulation in diverse humanitarian challenges and operational dilemmas.
- To enhance collaborative decision-making process and negotiate skills with humanitarian peers having diverse backgrounds
- To consulate, communicate, advocate and critically revisit the lesson learned within and beyond the learning network.
Teaching and learning methods
This module will be delivered through an asynchronous distance learning methodology within the University Canvas system. It will consist of presented written and pre-recorded video material each week with associated core reading provided through the library reading list system and access to supplementary reference material.
Students will engage in formative asynchronous discussion board conversation with peers and the course leadership on a weekly basis. A core trigger question for discussion is presented and ideas and concepts developed from this over the week being taught and the following week before being closed to further submission but remaining available for reference. This ensures that the whole cohort moves through the material together.
There is a two-week period of synchronous on-campus learning in the middle of the module that allows the building of relationships between disparate practitioners and the real-time exploration of opinions and perspectives to some of the biggest challenges in the area under study.
Knowledge and understanding
- Demonstrate a critical understanding of the strategic principles and approaches to management of humanitarian operations.
- Understand some of the contemporary humanitarian issues, including inequality, displacement, accountability and advocacy and apply an operational design framework to managing these challenges.
- Understand approaches to evaluating, monitoring and reporting of a humanitarian operation in an information poor environment.
Intellectual skills
- Critically analyse data and information available to inform decision-making in information poor and changing environments.
- Describe the monitoring and evaluation process in an operation, considering the range of methodologies available.
- Understand organisational challenges and policy-making in a dynamic and evolving complex environment.
Practical skills
- Ability to reflect upon personal humanitarian experience and place this in the context of a contemporary professional environment.
- Ability to engage in critical discussion with peers around challenge management, appropriately using academic knowledge, personal experience and reflection.
- Appreciate a series of leadership and management development models and how to apply them to support teambuilding, using knowledge, personal values, behaviours, style and inter-personal skills to help create and improve an operational team.
Transferable skills and personal qualities
- Greater appreciation of the challenge of operational leadership and increased ability to support, facilitate and constructively critique an organisation in the field.
- Increased readiness to take responsibility for and take the initiative to improve team-working in a complex environment.
Assessment methods
Personal Reflection on Practice - Formative
Contribution to Discussion Board - 10%
Essay - 90%
Feedback methods
Essay - Written feedback following submission within 15 working days
Recommended reading
- This module requires a flexible, interactive and responsive reading list, although background readings are recommended as below:
- FARMER, P., KIM, J. Y., KLEINMAN, A., & BASILICO, M. (2013). Reimagining global health: an introduction. Berkeley, University of California Press.
- MAGONE, C., NEUMAN, M., WEISSMAN, F. (2011) Humanitarian Negotiations Revealed: the MSF experience https://www.msf-crash.org/index.php/en/publications/humanitarian-negotiations-revealed-msf-experience
- TOWNES, D. (Ed.). (2018). Health in Humanitarian Emergencies: Principles and Practice for Public Health and Healthcare Practitioners. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- FASSIN D, PANDOLFI M (2010), Contemporary States of Emergency: The Politics of Military and Humanitarian Interventions Zone Books – MIT press.
- REDFIELD, P (2013). Life in Crisis: The Ethical Journey of Doctors Without Borders Berkeley, University of California Press.
Teaching staff
| Staff member | Role |
|---|---|
| Bertrand Taithe | Unit coordinator |
| Darren Walter | Unit coordinator |
Additional notes
14 hours of on-line course content
8 hours of active discussion board engagement
28 hours of face-2-face learning
100 hours of self study
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