The Aberystwyth MSc in Remote Sensing and Geography

The Aberystwyth MSc in Remote Sensing and Geography is designed to provide you with a range of key skills and expertise required to understand, analyse and interpret Remote Sensing datasets, and to apply them in the mapping, monitoring and modeling of geographical systems.

In this highly interdisciplinary Masters in Remote Sensing and Geography course, you will be exposed to the cutting edge of understanding from a range of subject areas, taught by world-class experts. All the Remote Sensing Masters are offered through the collaboration of the Institutes of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences (IBERS), of Mathematics and Physical Sciences (IMAPS), of Computer Sciences, and of Geography and Earth Sciences (IGES). IGES is also an eCognition Centre of Excellence, specialising in object-based analysis of landscapes.

You will have access to these four world-class departments. The superb teaching staff members maintain active national and international research programmes in their specialist subjects and ensure that every exciting development is brought into the course material. Their collective expertise and experience, and the superb departmental facilities available at Aberystwyth, ensure that your Remote Sensing course has a rigorous academic core with strong practical relevance.

The Aberystwyth MSc in Remote Sensing and Geography has a strong vocational dimension, with field-based and work experience modules that link the latest theoretical concepts with real applications. You will develop a cache of practical, technical and analytical skills which will stand you in excellent stead for entry into further study, public sector organisations and private companies.

The entry requirement for the MSc in Remote Sensing and Geography is a first class or 2:1 degree in a relevant discipline. Candidates with equivalent experience and qualifications will be considered.

Overview

The Master’s in Remote Sensing and Geography combines the fields of Geography and Remote Sensing to provide students with a strong theoretical and conceptual background and vocational training in these inter-related topics. Having completed your undergraduate degree in a related field, this MSc will enable you to bring your skills and knowledge up to date with a mastery of the latest technological tools and contemporary theoretical understanding. The course particularly focuses on conveying new approaches to data processing, analysis and interpretation as well as the use of innovative technologies, such as laser and terrestrial-related scanning.

The course is a full-time programme, taught over one year, and is divided into two parts over three semesters. In part one, you will establish a breadth of necessary skills in a number of core modules whilst directing your own study by choosing specialist modules, worth a total of 120 credits. In part two, you will apply your learning in the individual dissertation worth an additional 60 credits.

The Remote Sensing component will introduce you to a range of technologies (including radar, optical/hyperspectral sensing and LiDAR) in a breadth of application contexts. Within Geography, you will encounter fundamental concepts and software functionality and apply them across a range of topics including ecology, biogeography, deforestation, climate change, and natural and human disasters.

Whatever your own previous experience or future aspiration, you will benefit from the marvellous integration of cutting-edge theory and practical application, across four world-class departments. In addition to this input, you will be encouraged to conduct your own reading of up-to-date articles on key aspects of Geography and remote sensing, and also to participate in relevant meetings and conferences, such as the Remote Sensing and Photogrammetry Society Annual Conference.

As a graduate of the Aberystwyth MSc in Remote Sensing and Geography, you will possess the latest technological, theoretical and practical understanding of the subject. Recent graduates in remote sensing have been highly successful in continuing within academia and finding employment within private enterprises and in UK and international government agencies. You can be fully confident that this MSc, as a statement of contemporary academic expertise proven in practise, will make you highly desirable to employers, academic institutions and recruiting government bodies.

Factfile

Duration:	One year full-time or two years part-time. The academic year (September to September) is divided into three semesters: September to January; January to June; June to September.
Contact Time:	Approximately 8-10 hours a week in the first two semesters. During semester three you will arrange your level of contact time with your assigned supervisor.
Assessment:	The taught part of the course (Part 1) is delivered and assessed through lectures, student seminars, practical exercises, case studies, course work and formal examinations. The subsequent successful submission of your research dissertation (Part 2) leads to the award of MSc.
Entry Requirements:	A first class or 2:1 degree at undergraduate level. Candidates with equivalent experience and qualifications will be considered.
English Language Requirements:	If you have a Bachelor’s degree from a UK University, you do not need to take an English proficiency test. Non-native English speakers who do not meet this requirement must take a University-recognised test of academic English language proficiency: IELTS or TOEFL. The required IELTS minimum proficiency level is 6.5. For TOEFL, the minimum scores are as follows: 580 for the paper-based test; 237 for the computer-based test (with an essay rating of 5.0); and a score of 93 for the internet-based test. More information can be found on the IELTS and on the TOEFL websites.
Course Fees:	The fee for this course for 2011- 2012 is £3 for UK and EU students and £10,500 for international students. For details of other students’ fees, please view the Funding and Fees section of our website. There are a number of Aberystwyth Scholarships and International Excellence Scholarships (AIES) to help fund the studies of students who meet specific criteria. In addition, accommodation is guaranteed to all international students.

Career Development

Qualification: MSc in Remote Sensing and Geography

This degree will suit you:

If you wish to obtain a Master’s degree with leading input from four internationally-renowned research departments;
If you have a 2:1 degree or higher in a related discipline;
If you wish to gain academic expertise, field skills and technical experience in a remote sensing discipline;
If you wish to enter one of a diverse range of careers requiring research, analysis and practical excellence.

Employability

Every aspect of the Aberystwyth Master’s in Remote Sensing and Geography programme is designed to enhance your employability: indeed, successful completion of this degree is in itself certain to do so by building your CV; but more significant is the hugely enhanced array of knowledge, abilities and skills with which you will graduate. We know from past graduates’ success that prospective employers take a similar view, as our alumni have taken positions with UK and international government bodies, private enterprises and leading research establishments.

By completing the Aberystwyth Master’s in Remote Sensing and Geography, you will have strengthened your employability in both specialist and more general areas of work. As a specialist, you will be a highly competent contributor to any work relating to climate change, human impacts on terrestrial ecosystems, glaciology, hydrology, forestry, coastal change, carbon cycle science and biodiversity. In more generic employment situations, your strengths will be broad and deep because you can demonstrate mastery of any planning, research, analysis and reporting skills that your employer will require.

You may choose to apply for the Access to Masters scheme (ATM) which ensures that postgraduate training is geared towards the needs of business. Masters students on ATM undertake projects with local businesses, which are tailored to meet the interests of the companies. This scheme ensures that Masters students have gain experience in a relevant workplace and begin to build their personal business networks, ready for graduation.

All employers, whether subject-related specialists or more general corporate bodies and consultancies, place a high value on first-rate technical aptitude, clarity in research and analysis and fluency in communication. You will gain these skills, and much more, as you progress through your studies at Aberystwyth to become an engaging candidate for areas of work relating to remote sensing and beyond.