MSc Climate Change: Science, Society and Solutions / Course details

Our climate is changing. How we mitigate climate change and adapt to live in a changing climate are fundamental questions for society. Delivered from the unique vantage point of the world's first industrialised city, the MSc Climate Change: Science, Society and Solutions has been designed to equip you with the knowledge and skills you will need to help respond to the challenges of human-induced climate change.

This interdisciplinary programme is led by the Department of Geography, with contributions from around the University, including the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research. It will develop your understanding of the options for tackling climate change, the societal and political contexts in which they reside, and the scientific background to the problem itself.

The programme aims to empower you with an applied and critical understanding of the full range of social, political, and technical options for tackling climate change. This includes mitigation options for reducing and removing greenhouse gas emissions, and adaptation options for protecting against climate change impacts, as well as more unconventional solar geoengineering ideas for reflecting sunlight back into space and cooling the planet. It will also enable you to develop your scientific knowledge of climate change; hone your critical, analytical, and communication skills; and to design and deliver cutting-edge research under expert guidance.

The programme is ideal for those who want to pursue a career in: local, national or international climate policy; businesses and industries focussed on climate change innovations or corporate social responsibility (CSR); non-governmental organisations (NGOs) campaigning or lobbying for action on climate change issues; or in academia with a focus on climate change research. You will have the freedom to specialise according to your interests and ambitions through drawing upon an array of elective units. This will be carefully guided through the induction process and wider programme support.

• Geography has been studied at Manchester for more than 125 years, and we're one of Europe's best-equipped universities for the subject.
• Our Geography research improves the quality of knowledge across the world, with 90% of our activity defined as ‘world-leading’ or ‘internationally excellent’ (Research Excellence Framework 2022).
• We’re home to world-class academics in Geography and other areas of the University contributing to the programme, including the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research.
• Join the Manchester University Geographical Society (MUGS)  a society run by Geography students for Geography students.

The course is taught by world-leading researchers, including but not limited to:

• Dr Rob Bellamy (Programme Director):  climate change, climate tipping points, carbon dioxide removal, solar geoengineering, energy systems, climate change adaptation, public perception, technology assessment, governance
• Dr Joe Blakey:  environmental politics, cultures of expertise, political philosophy, de-/re-politicisation, governance, accountability, accounting, standards and metrics
• Dr Gareth Clay:  carbon cycling, organic matter biogeochemistry, wildfires, land management, landscape disturbance
• Dr Chris Darvill:  past climate, glaciers, ice sheets, sea level
• Dr Will Fletcher:  palaeoclimate, environmental change, human-environment interactions
• Dr Claire Hoolohan:  decarbonisation, demand management, social practices, design and governance for sustainable consumption
• Dr Anna Hughes:  ice sheets, glaciers, sea level, climate, GIS and remote sensing

Typical course units are composed of two hours per week of lectures and seminars. These taught units comprise two-thirds of the course. The remainder of the programme consists of a 12,000-word dissertation on an approved topic.

Assessment will involve a range of formative and summative assessments, including individual and group work, oral presentations and essays, project work and reports. Coursework is designed to allow you to pursue your particular areas of interest. In the second semester, you will work independently to undertake a dissertation.

We are one of Europe's best-equipped universities for geography, with numerous laboratories. These include the main teaching laboratory, microscopy laboratory, and sediments and project laboratories.

You can also learn professional skills such as coding and programming specialist, industry-standard software such as image processing, GIS, GPS and cartographic representation.

The University's Main Library is the largest university library system in the UK apart from the copyright libraries and has a number of different working spaces. It is home to the University Map Collection, which comprises about 100,000 map sheets of every part of the world.

We also have our very own Kantorowich Library, which contains many of the teaching and learning materials that you will need, from books and journals to DVDs and past dissertations.

For more information, please visit our Facilities webpage.