MSc International Disaster Management and Humanitarian Response - January Intake
Year of entry: 2025
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Overview
- Degree awarded
- Master of Science (MSc)
- Duration
- Up to 3 years part-time
- Entry requirements
-
A Second Class Honours Degree or equivalent in a relevant degree in any discipline from a recognised university or its equivalent.
- How to apply
- Apply online
Course options
| Full-time | Part-time | Full-time distance learning | Part-time distance learning | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MSc | N | N | N | Y |
Course overview
- Develop the skills and knowledge required to respond quickly to disasters and prevent them from occurring.
- Study via distance learning without leaving home or interrupting your career.
- Benefit from the expertise of the Humanitarian and Conflict Response Institute, including a decade of online teaching.
Fees
For entry in the academic year beginning September 2025, the tuition fees are as follows:
-
MSc (part-time distance learning)
UK students (per annum): £4,800
International, including EU, students (per annum): £9,333
Further information for EU students can be found on our dedicated EU page.
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
Each year the School of Arts, Languages and Cultures offer a number of School awards and Subject-specific bursaries (the values of which are usually set at Home/EU fees level), open to both Home/EU and international students. The deadline for these is early February each year. Details of all funding opportunities, including deadlines, eligibility and how to apply, can be foundon the School's funding page where you can also find details of the Government Postgraduate Loan Scheme.
See also the University's postgraduate funding database to see if you are eligible for any other funding opportunities.
Contact details
- School/Faculty
- School of Arts, Languages and Cultures
- Contact name
- PG Taught Admissions
- MASALC@manchester.ac.uk
- Website
- http://www.hcri.manchester.ac.uk/
- School/Faculty
-
See: About us
Courses in related subject areas
Use the links below to view lists of courses in related subject areas.
Entry requirements
Academic entry qualification overview
English language
An overall grade of 7.0 in IELTS with 7.0 in writing an no skill below 6.5 is required or 100+ in the TOEFL iBT with a minimum writing score of 25 and no skill below 22.
If you have obtained a different qualification, please check our English language requirements to ensure that it is accepted and equivalent to the above requirements.
English language test validity
Relevant work experience
Students who do not clearly meet the academic requirements may be considered based on relevant professional experience.
Applicants who fall into this category should contact the programme director, Dr Patience Muwanguzi , for advice.
Application and selection
How to apply
Advice to applicants
How your application is considered
Skills, knowledge, abilities, interests
Students who do not clearly meet the academic requirements may be considered based on relevant professional experience.
Applicants who fall into this category should contact the programme director, Dr Patience Muwanguzi , for advice.
Overseas (non-UK) applicants
Deferrals
Course details
Course description
When disasters strike suddenly, they require a quick response, and create burdens for rescue and humanitarian workers.
There is a great demand not only for preparing and equipping workers prior to the disaster event, but also building knowledge and skills to prevent disasters from occurring.
A community that has both a team with the capacity to prevent disasters and a ready-to-respond team can reduce disaster mortality and economic losses.
Our master's course is consistent with the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (SFDRR) 2015-2030, which emphasises disaster education, including for personnel who have difficulty in attending conventional face-to-face provisions.
This course has been designed to equip you with advanced knowledge, and to continue your personal development in disaster risk management and humanitarianism.
You will learn to conduct theoretical and practical analysis, as well as evaluation to support disaster management and humanitarian action in global health contexts.
This course offers flexible online study that enables part-time students to obtain a master's degree without residency and boundary restrictions.Aims
- provide you with critical insights into competing perspectives on how disaster management and humanitarian action can be understood, analysed and explained - from both an historiographic and contemporary viewpoint;
- develop your analytical skills in critically evaluating the idea of disaster risk management and humanitarian action and the ways it has been organised, justified and implemented. This includes competency in developing a reasoned argument, critically considering data sources and defending different approaches;
- develop your skills in gathering, organising and using evidence and information from a wide variety of sources. This will be complemented by guidance on how best to manage workloads and obtain research materials;
- enable MSc students to apply established techniques of research and enquiry to a relevant research area to create and/or interpret knowledge.
Special features
- We're one of the leading global centres for humanitarianism, conflict responses, global health, international disaster management and peacebuilding.
- We're a World Health Organisation Collaboration Centre with a focus on Conflict Analysis and Programming.
- We have a truly diverse student body, with individuals from over 65 countries.
- We bring together disciplines of medicines, humanities and social sciences, including international relations, geography and political sciences.
Teaching and learning
Coursework and assessment
Each course unit will include outline readings with points for discussion. These will help focus your study, while an online chat room/discussion board will be provided as an optional tool.
Course units will be assessed by formative and summative prose-based assessments.
Course unit list
The course unit details given below are subject to change, and are the latest example of the curriculum available on this course of study.
| Title | Code | Credit rating | Mandatory/optional |
|---|---|---|---|
| Community Approaches to Health | HCRI71000 | 15 | Mandatory |
| MSc Dissertation | HCRI71070 | 60 | Mandatory |
| Risk, Vulnerability and Resilience | HCRI77000 | 15 | Mandatory |
| Research Paradigms and Processes | HCRI78000 | 15 | Mandatory |
| Disaster Preparedness | HCRI79000 | 15 | Mandatory |
| Critical Approaches to Management of Humanitarian Operations | HCRI70040 | 15 | Optional |
| Cash and Market Based Programming in Crisis Settings | HCRI70082 | 15 | Optional |
| Humanitarianism and Conflict Response: Inquiries | HCRI70090 | 15 | Optional |
| Emergency Humanitarian Assistance (blended) | HCRI71060 | 15 | Optional |
| History of Humanitarian Aid | HCRI71200 | 15 | Optional |
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What our students say
Disability support
Careers
Career opportunities
You could also work at international institutions such as:
- UN Inter-Agency Standing Committee
- International Strategy for Disaster Risk Reduction
- World Bank
- World Health Organisation
- IFRC
- Peacebuilding Commission
- Department of Peacekeeping Operations
- Regional bodies such as the European Union, African Union, Organization of American States.