MSc, 1 year full time/2 years part time
Subject overview
Geography at Sussex is ranked in the top 20 in the UK in The Sunday Times University Guide 2012 and in the top 30 in the UK in The Complete University Guide 2014.
Sussex is ranked in the top 100 in the world for geography in the QS World University Rankings by Subject 2013.
In the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) we were the highest ranked department of comparable size, and came 13th overall, with 95 per cent of our research rated as internationally recognised or higher.
Geographical research at Sussex is characterised by its international focus, its openness to the full range of philosophical and methodological approaches, and its relevance to policy and industry.
Geography at Sussex has strong interdisciplinary links. The Department is located within the School of Global Studies, which brings together fields of study such as anthropology, development studies, geography and international relations. The School houses a number of interdisciplinary research centres, including geomorphology and climate change.
Our MSc in Applied Geomorphology has a unique modular structure, and can be studied full time, part time, or by taking individual modules for Continuing Professional Development (CPD) credit. For more information, refer to Department of Geography: Continuing Professional Development (CPD).
All our degrees provide a strong intellectual grounding and sophisticated analytical skills appropriate to a wide variety of careers in the academic and policy fields, and in the private sector.
Specialist facilities
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, and to the British Library of Development Studies, at the Institute of Development Studies (IDS), which is located on the Sussex campus.
Geography at Sussex has its own vehicles for field trips, specialist cartographic facilities and a well-equipped Physical Geography Laboratory.
Programme outline
This degree is intended both for those who wish to progress to careers in the professional earth, engineering and sciences communities and those already working within these communities. It provides you with training (or refresher experience) in applied geomorphological skills directly relevant to work in the earth sciences, environmental management and consultancy sectors.
This MSc covers state-of-the-art imaging, monitoring and modelling of landforms and earth-surface processes, as well as the protocols professional geomorphologists use for carrying out site investigations and terrain evaluation. It integrates key methods of analysing the earth’s surface with the increasingly important issue of responsibly managing this environment.
A key component of the degree is user-related training, particularly via opportunities for work placements in consultancy companies (eg in the Geomorphology Services Group at Halcrow, a global company specialising in the provision of planning, design and management services for infrastructure development) or environmental organisations.
You have the opportunity to develop a specialist thematic or regional enquiry in your dissertation during the summer term.
We continue to develop and update our modules for 2013 entry to ensure you have the best student experience. In addition to the course structure below, you may find it helpful to refer to the 2012 modules tab.
This degree has an innovative module structure and can be studied full time over one year or part time over two years. Each module comprises full-time field or laboratory teaching over one week followed by a week of independent project work that can be completed at Sussex or, if you study part time, at your work place.
Assessment
Each module is assessed by an oral presentation and a project report.
Current modules
Please note that these are the core modules and options (subject to availability) for students starting in the academic year 2012.
Core modules
Geomorphological Processes
15 credits
Spring teaching, year 1
This module will cover the range of geomorphological processes that may pose hazards and shape landscapes, including weathering, mass movement, glacial & permafrost, fluvial, dryland, coastal and subsea processes. The module includes invited lectures from industry showcasing applied work from around the world. The module will explore current research themes, review monitoring and assessment methods for building temporal datasets and measuring event frequency and magnitude, an essential input to risk analysis. Project work will comprise a processes study of choice, demonstrating an ability to collate, describe and analyse temporal processes data.
By the end of the module, you will be able to:
- review and analyse the interaction of factors that control geomorphological processes.
- assimilate information from empirical and theoretical sources to allow informed discussions around important geomorphological issues.
- explain and evaluate the methodologies, problems and applicability of geomorphological techniques.
- critically assess management strategies for geomorphological landscape components.
Entry requirements
UK entrance requirements
A first- or upper second-class undergraduate honours degree in geography, geology, engineering or natural sciences. Applicants with relevant professional experience will also be considered.
Overseas entrance requirements
Please refer to column A on the Overseas qualifications.
If you have any questions about your qualifications after consulting our overseas
qualifications table, contact the University.
E pg.enquiries@sussex.ac.uk
Visas and immigration
Find out more about Visas and immigration.
English language requirements
IELTS 6.5, with not less than 6.5 in Writing and 6.0 in the other sections. Internet TOEFL with 88 overall, with at least 20 in Listening, 20 in Reading, 22 in Speaking and 24 in Writing.
For more information, refer to English language requirements.
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
Related programmes
Fees and funding
Fees
Home UK/EU students: £6,5001
Channel Island and Isle of Man students: £6,5002
Overseas students: £14,0003
1
The fee shown is for the academic year 2013.
2
The fee shown is for the academic year 2013.
3
The fee shown is for the academic year 2013.
To find out about your fee status, living expenses and other costs, visit further financial information.
Funding
The funding sources listed below are for the subject area you are viewing and may not apply to all degrees listed within it. Please check the description of the individual funding source to make sure it is relevant to your chosen degree.
To find out more about funding and part-time work, visit further financial information.
HALCROW-CH2M HILL Scholarship (MSc in Applied Geomorphology) (2013)
Region: UK, Europe (Non UK), International (Non UK/EU)
Level: PG (taught)
Application deadline: 31 August 2013
Two scholarships of £3,000
Leverhulme Trade Charities Trust for Postgraduate Study (2013)
Region: UK
Level: PG (taught), PG (research)
Application deadline: 1 October 2013
The Leverhulme Trade Charities Trust are offering bursaries to Postgraduate students following any postgraduate degree courses in any subject.
Sussex Graduate Scholarship (2013)
Region: UK, Europe (Non UK), International (Non UK/EU)
Level: PG (taught)
Application deadline: 16 August 2013
Open to final year Sussex students who graduate with a 1st or 2:1 degree and who are offered a F/T place on an eligible Masters course in 2013.
Faculty interests
Geography faculty enjoy reputations for world-leading academic research as well as policy-relevant studies on global socioeconomic and cultural transformations, and on climate change and geomorphology. Our research includes a number of projects funded by UK Research Councils such as the ESRC, AHRC and NERC, as well as major contributions to policy debates within the UK Government, EU, other international organisations and industry.
The research clusters in Geography are described below:
Climate
Economic geographies of globalisation and development
Geographies of migration
Geomorphology
Histories, cultures, networks
For more information, visit the Department of Geography.
Climate
In recent years, the spectre of anthropogenic climate change has thrust climate science into the centre of current political and public debates. Climate science is now directly informing policies on how we fuel our economy, which will affect all our lives. The Department contributes to this agenda through research to improve our understanding of fundamental climate processes within the earth system and climate impacts on our life-support systems.
We focus on climate change and the global water cycle, the role of mineral dust aerosols in the climate system, the role of terrestrial ecosystems in the climate system, and human dimensions of climate change.
Associated Geography faculty include:
Dr Mick Frogley Quaternary palaeoecology, and climatic history of lake basins.
Dr Dominic Kniveton Climate systems, and the hydrological cycle in Southern Africa.
Dr Julian Murton Permafrost, physical modelling, and Quaternary environments in Arctic Canada and UK.
Dr David Ockwell Transitions to a low-carbon economy; economics, politics and ecology of fire management in Cape York, Australia.
Professor Martin Todd The role of mineral dust in the climate system, the impact of climate change on hydrological and ecological systems.
Dr Yi Wang Climate change and earth systems science.
Economic geographies of globalisation and development
This research cluster focuses on global value chains, developing country industrialisation, industrial change and regional economic performance, the nature and impact of the emergence of China, and spatial price formation.
Research on regional inequality and regional economic performance has focused on regional economic performance in Europe, including governance and cohesion in an enlarged Europe. Current plans centre on an extension of this research to a comparative study of the EU and China. We are working on an ESRC-funded project in partnership with the Chinese Academy of Sciences on EU-China links and regional development in China.
Our research on global value chains involves close relationships with the research of the Institute of Development Studies (IDS) Globalisation Group. Scope exists for joint supervision with IDS. For more information, refer to the Development studies subject area.
Associated Geography faculty include:
Professor Mick Dunford Comparative regional and urban economic performance; inequality and social cohesion in Europe; and theories of regulation.
Geographies of migration
This cluster constitutes the core of the Sussex Centre for Migration Research, co-directed by Professor Richard Black and Professor Russell King since 1997. It is a unique venue for migration research in Britain, centred on creating a close-knit, interdisciplinary environment for faculty and graduate researchers alike, and linking research with its well-established MA in Migration Studies.
Highlights of this research effort have included a six-year ‘Development Research Centre’, funded by the Department for International Development, on the relationship between migration, globalisation and poverty; research on issues of integration, social cohesion and identity among migrants to the UK; and extensive research on migration issues in Europe. The group also supervises a number of doctoral students working on migration issues around the world.
The Centre is home to the internationally established Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, edited by Professor Russell King. Alongside Professor Richard Black’s co-editorship of the Journal of Refugee Studies, the world’s leading journal in the field of forced migration, this makes Sussex the main agenda-setting centre outside the US for journal-based empirical research on all aspects of migration.
Associated faculty include:
Professor Richard Black Migration, globalisation and poverty; social aspects of climate adaptation.
Dr Mike Collyer Migration policy, refugees and asylum, and Europe and North Africa.
Professor Russell King International migration in Europe, rural geography, the Mediterranean, and islands.
Dr Ben Rogaly Labour geographies; class and community; identity, place and belonging; temporary migrant workers; agriculture and food; poverty and social exclusion; UK; India.
Professor Ronald Skeldon Population migration in the developing world, especially Asia.
Dr Katie Walsh The intersection of migration, home and belonging; transnational spaces and identities; British expatriates; and Gulf region.
Geomorphology
This research cluster focuses on modelling and monitoring of sensitive earth-surface and atmospheric systems. The study of sensitive systems such as mountains, coasts, the atmosphere and the arctic is becoming critical to societies, as they adjust to the impacts of environmental change. Our research investigates sensitive systems by field monitoring, physical and numerical modelling, geotechnical analysis of sediments and rocks, and reconstruction of Quaternary environments.
Our expertise concerns:
- climate systems
- coastal and estuarine systems
- dryland systems
- permafrost and Arctic systems
- Quaternary palaeoenvironments
- slopes and landslides systems, and
- soil systems.
Key achievements
Recognition for the high quality of our research has led to several recent achievements:
- papers in Nature, Science, Geology and Geophysical Research Letters
- grants: more than £3.5 million (for example from the EU, INTERREG, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, NERC, Royal Society, Environment Agency)
- Beaches At Risk project – a showcase Franco-British project
- Chair of NERC Grant-awarding panel
- Chair of the British Society for Geomorphology
- associate editor of Journal of Geophysical Research – Earth Surface, and
- Dorothy Hodgkins Royal Society Research Fellowship to a former PhD student.
Associated faculty include:
Dr John Barlow Geospatial mapping and image analysis.
Professor Roger Moore Coastal instability and erosion, slopes and landslides, geohazard risk, subsea geomorphology.
Dr Cherith Moses Rock weathering; coastal processes; and karst landforms in the British Isles, the Mediterranean Basin and Australia.
Dr Julian Murton Permafrost, physical modelling, and Quaternary environments in Arctic Canada and UK.
Dr David Ockwell Transitions to a low-carbon economy; economics, politics and ecology of fire management in Cape York, Australia.
Dr David Robinson Rock weathering, coastal processes, soil erosion and conservation, and landform evolution.
Geomorphology at Sussex has close links with industry including collaboration through Halcrow Ltd, Royal Haskoning Ltd, Arup, Mott MacDonald and other consultants.
Histories, cultures, networks
This cluster centres around space and place in colonial and postcolonial worlds. Research is orchestrated around two interdisciplinary research centres: the Centre for Colonial and Postcolonial Studies and the Centre for World Environmental History.
Associated faculty include:
Dr Grace Carswell Rural livelihoods in eastern Africa, population-environment interactions, and agricultural change under the influence of colonialism.
Professor Alan Lester The historical geographies of the 19th-century British Empire, and of South Africa, Australia and New Zealand; histories of humanitarianism and ‘race’.
Dr Simon Rycroft Radical urban cultures in the 1960s, the analysis of such cultures from a counter/cultural perspective showing how they engage with ‘nature’, 20th-century cosmologies.
Dr Katie Walsh The intersection of migration, home and belonging; transnational spaces and identities; British expatriates; and Gulf region.
Careers and profiles
This degree provides essential skills training and experience to professionals looking for a career in applied geomorphology and associated disciplines in industry and research. It offers enhanced prospects of employment in a wide range of organisations, including:
- agencies and utility companies
- applied research organisations
- central and local government
- engineering and environmental consultancy firms
- international funding agencies.
The project may involve either a placement with a consultancy company or environmental organisation, or a piece of independent academic research.
Paul's career perspective
‘As a professional geomorphologist with Halcrow, I work on a wide variety of projects, ranging from remote sensing studies of terrestrial and marine geohazards to field mapping of landslides and climate change impact assessments. I often work with integrated multidisciplinary teams of engineers or geologists, collaborating with experts from universities, the Met Office and Natural England, among others.
‘The new MSc in Applied Geomorphology at Sussex provides a highly vocational Masters or Continuing Professional Development (CPD) qualification for students looking for a career in industry or developing skills and experience in specific aspects of commercial work. The mix of field-, laboratory- and classroom-based teaching is particularly innovative for such a programme. You have the opportunity to meet practitioners and clients involved in high-profile case work and you get a real insight into commercial applied geomorphology.
‘Successful completion of the MSc will no doubt enhance your employment prospects if you want to join international firms such as Halcrow, operating in the earth and environmental engineering consultancy sectors.’
Dr Paul Fish
Senior Geomorphologist, Halcrow Ltd
For more information, visit Careers and alumni.
School and contacts
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 Roger Moore,
Department of Geography,
University of Sussex, Falmer,
Brighton BN1 9SJ, UK
T +44 (0)1273 877421
E r.moore@sussex.ac.uk
E geomorphology@sussex.ac.uk
Department of Geography
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