MSc, 1 year full time/2 years part time
Subject overview
Climate change and sustainable energy are perhaps the most important issues of our time. The challenge is to make a worldwide transition to a low-carbon economy, while at the same time providing modern energy services to a growing population and adapting to the uncertain impacts of a changing climate. To meet these challenges, society needs professionals and policy-makers who understand the complex, multidimensional scientific, socioeconomic, technological and institutional challenges associated with sustainable energy, climate change mitigation and climate adaptation.
Our climate change and energy policy programmes are designed to provide state-of-the-art training for this expanding professional market.
The School of Global Studies offers partial scholarships for the MSc in Climate Change and Development and the MSc in Climate Change and Policy. SPRU – Science and Technology Policy Research offers partial scholarships for the MSc in Energy Policy for Sustainability.
Sussex is renowned for its agenda-setting, interdisciplinary teaching and research in science, development, and policy studies. You will be taught by leading researchers who have played key roles advising governmental/intergovernmental bodies and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) on climate change mitigation and adaptation.
You will be taught by faculty from the Department of Geography, SPRU – Science and Technology Policy Research, and the Institute of Development Studies (IDS):
- the Department of Geography is a leading centre of geographical scholarship in the UK, with particular strengths in climate science
- SPRU – Science and Technology Policy Research is ranked 1st science and policy think tank in the UK and 6th in the world (University of Pennsylvania: Global Go To Think Tanks Report 2011)
- the Climate Change and Development research team at IDS promotes collaborative research and policy analysis, delivery of high-quality research programmes, knowledge services, teaching and training. The team works closely with the University of Sussex and a strong network of partners in developing countries.
To find out more, visit the Sussex Climate Network.
Programme outline
You will be based in the School of Global Studies. This programme is taught jointly by IDS and the School of Global Studies.
Climate change is already affecting the world’s poorest and most vulnerable people, who often lack the robust systems and capacity needed to cope. This programme equips both those new to the field and development practitioners with the key skills and knowledge to work on the implications of climate change for global and regional development.
You will acquire specialist knowledge of the causes of climate change (taught specifically for non-climate specialists), the physical and human consequences, and efforts to mitigate and adapt to a changing climate. Throughout, the emphasis is on the specific implications of climate change for poverty in developing countries, the processes of adaptation, and policy responses. You can develop a specialist thematic or regional enquiry in the dissertation.
Assessment
Courses are assessed by essays, short term papers, policy briefs, presentations, research proposal, and book reviews.
Programme structure
We continue to develop and update our courses for 2012 entry to ensure you have the best student experience.
Autumn term: Climate Change Science • Ideas in Development and Climate Change.
Spring term: you choose two courses from Challenges in Climate Prediction • Climate and Energy Policy • Climate Resilient Development • Critical Debates in Environment and Development • Innovation for Sustainability • Low-Carbon Development. In addition you take relevant research methods courses.
Summer term and vacation: supervised work on a dissertation and relevant research methods courses including Geographical Information Systems • Quantitative and Qualitative Research Methods.
Entry requirements
UK entrance requirements
A first- or upper second-class undergraduate honours degree in either a social or natural science and two years' professional work in a developing country or in development-related work. Applications must be accompanied by a detailed, two page personal statement and a full CV.
Overseas entrance requirements
Please refer to column A on the Overseas qualifications table.
If you have any questions about your qualifications after consulting our overseas
qualifications table, contact the University.
E pg.enquiries@sussex.ac.uk
English language requirements
IELTS 7.0, with not less than 6.5 in each section. Internet TOEFL with 100 overall, with at least 21 in Listening, 22 in Reading and 27 in both Speaking and Writing.
Related programmes
Fees and funding
Fees
'Home' UK/EU students: £12,300
Channel Island and Isle of Man students: £12,300
Overseas students: £12,300
For more information, visit Fees, Fees by programme, Living expenses, and Other costs.
Funding
Refer to Funding, and find out more about our extensive range of scholarships and bursaries in our online funding guide.
Faculty interests
Professor Richard Black Global migration in response to climate change.
Rob Byrne Low-carbon development; renewable energy; socio-technical transitions.
Terry Cannon Rural livelihoods, disaster vulnerability and climate change adaptation.
Adrian Ely Innovation; sustainability; development; climate change and agriculture.
Mick Frogley Quaternary palaeoecology; and climatic history of lake basins.
Professor Frank Geels Socio-technical transitions; decline of industries; sustainable development; co-evolution of technology and society.
Blane Harvey Technologies for learning and knowledge sharing in the global South.
Sabine Hielscher Community innovation in sustainable energy.
Florian Kern Governance of energy transitions; energy, technology and innovation policy and politics (for example for renewables, CCS).
Dominic Kniveton Climate systems; and hydrological cycle in Southern Africa.
Markku Lehtonen Role of expert knowledge (evaluations, assessments, indicators, etc.) in energy and environmental policy; transport, biofuels, and sustainability; deliberative decision-making on nuclear energy
Matthew Lockwood The politics of climate policy and low-carbon innovation.
Professor Gordon MacKerron Energy policy of carbon emission reductions and security of supply; nuclear power economics and policy; economic regulation in the energy industries.
Francis McGowan Policy making in the European Union; European government/industry relations.
Professor Erik Millstone Public and environmental health protection policies; risk assessment and management by national and international regulatory bodies; obesity policy.
Julian Murton Permafrost; physical modelling; and Quaternary environments in Arctic Canada and UK.
Lars Otto Naess Social and institutional dimensions of adaptation to climate change.
Andy Newsham Local knowledge and participation in conservation and development.
David Ockwell Low-carbon technology transfer to developing countries; energy policy; communication and behaviour change.
Pedram Rowhani Climate change and food security; land cover change; GIS.
Adrian Smith Civil society and technology; environmental policy process.
Steven Sorrell Energy and climate policy; emissions trading; energy efficiency; rebound effects; resource depletion.
Lee Stapleton Energy efficiency; environmental economics; quantitative techniques.
Thomas Tanner The policy and practice of adaptation to climate change.
Professor Martin Todd The impact of climate change on hydrological and ecological systems; atmospheric aerosols.
Frauke Urban Climate change mitigation; low-carbon growth; energy transitions; climate policy.
Yi Wang Climate science: terrestrial ecosystems, global bio-geochemical cycles; climate change; ocean-land-atmosphere interaction; tropical convection.
Professor Jim Watson Development and deployment of cleaner energy technologies; distributed energy systems technologies and policies; energy and environment in developing countries.
Rebecca White Low-carbon food systems.
Jin Park Community innovation and sustainable energy; social network analysis.
Careers and profiles
This programme will equip you with the skills for a career in government departments such as the Department for International Development (DFID) and environment and climate change ministries, as well as UN agencies like UNFCCC, and NGOs such as Oxfam, Practical Action, Plan International, Christian Aid, and the International Committee of the Red Cross. Graduates will be able to apply their expertise to academic research in universities and institutes.
Martin's perspective
‘There can be few areas of science that directly inform policy to the extent that climate science does today. When I started my climate research career more than 20 years ago, climate science was a minority interest and climate change only a peripheral issue. Now it is at the forefront of the scientific, social, economic and political agendas and has a prominent media profile.
'Since climate change has moved out of the research labs and on to the front page, I felt I wanted to look outwards also. Coming to Sussex has enabled me to work with leading groups that work directly on developing policy on the shift from fossil fuels to low-carbon energy and on the impact of climate change on people in the developing world. It has highlighted the magnitude of the challenge society faces and the necessity for the multidisciplinary approach we are developing at Sussex.’
Professor Martin Todd
Chair in Climate Change
School and contacts
Specialist facilities
Specialist facilities at the School of Global Studies
The University offers extensive computing facilities with a full range of data-processing and communications software. Office space is usually allocated to students taking research degrees. You will have full access to the University’s main Library and its online collection.
Specialist facilities at IDS
IDS plays a lead role in the provision, development and support of information and intermediary services that build a bridge between development research and development policy and practice. The IDS Knowledge Services include both broad-based services such as the development policy, research and practice information online gateway Eldis, and specialist services such as BRIDGE (gender), the Governance and Social Development Resource Centre (GSDRC) and the Livelihoods Connect Network. IDS Knowledge Services also work in partnerships with organisations in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.
The British Library for Development Studies (BLDS) is Europe’s most comprehensive research collection on economic and social change in developing countries. IDS students have full access to a wide range of online databases, CD-ROMs, e-books and e-journals in addition to the facilities at the University’s main Library.
Further information
School of Global Studies
The School of Global Studies aims to provide one of the UK's premier venues for understanding how the world is changing. It offers a broad range of perspectives on global issues, and staff and students are actively engaged with a wide range of international and local partners, contributing a distinctive perspective on global affairs.
Professor Martin Todd,
School of Global Studies,
University of Sussex, Falmer,
Brighton BN1 9SJ, UK
T +44 (0)1273 873723
E climate@sussex.ac.uk
Sussex Climate Change Network
For more information about the admissions process at Sussex
For pre-application enquiries:
Student Recruitment Services
T +44 (0)1273 876787
E pg.enquiries@sussex.ac.uk
For post-application enquiries:
Postgraduate Admissions,
University of Sussex,
Sussex House, Falmer,
Brighton BN1 9RH, UK
T +44 (0)1273 877773
F +44 (0)1273 678545
E pg.applicants@sussex.ac.uk
