Postgraduate MSc Opportunities

The aims of the module Energy Principles are to review the key concepts of energy and energy sources, types, measurement, conversions, transmission and usage. The modules introduces energy grids, conversion and storage, environmental impacts, pollution as well as energy innovation and the transition to clean energy.

The module also aims to provide students with a strong grounding in the economic, regulatory and policy context for managing energy supply and demand at the international and national levels. It looks at the context of global energy markets and pricing. It provides insights into energy sustainability considerations and how they impact on decision-making. 

This module aims to equip students with advanced skills in impact assessment and data-driven analytical methods to evaluate and improve sustainability, regulatory compliance, and operational performance in organisations.

It focuses on energy impact assessments and analysis across key domains, including infrastructure projects, energy systems, corporate operations, and policy frameworks.

Students will develop techniques for impact analysis, lifecycle assessment and measurement against compliance frameworks. There is also consideration of infrastructure risk assessment and mitigation, along with case studies.

Students will develop the ability to assess environmental, social, and economic impacts using internationally recognised standards and methodologies, and apply their findings to support strategic, evidence-based decision-making. 

This module gives students an appreciation of the drivers, technologies and techniques behind the management of energy from an energy user perspective. This includes corporate strategies for managing energy use, optimisation of energy systems for efficiency and managing demand and consumption through innovative techniques and solutions.

Applications may include factories, public transport networks, buildings and infrastructure such as data centres and commercial premises. Innovations and technologies, as well as AI and data tools, that help to reduce energy consumption and moderate demand will be considered.  

In addition, the module will give students practical insights into energy auditing and rating, including monitoring and targeting, enabling them to identify energy efficiency opportunities. The role of Sustainability Managers is explored. Students will also gain an awareness of the economic and political context for energy management.   

This module provides an overview of current global energy and sustainability issues, priorities and trends, and helps students develop more in-depth expertise in an area of energy and energy management that they are interested in.  This could include technical capability, policy and regulation, finance and innovation in the energy sector. Students may gain business insights into specific domains such as the solar industry, shipping, construction, transport or commercial energy supply and consumption.  

There is a strong emphasis in the module on the role of entrepreneurship in the energy sector. Students gain insights into the technology and the wider political, regulatory, financial and social context for energy transition, the low-carbon economy and sustainability.  

Through this module, students develop a strong understanding of the employment market in the energy sector and are encouraged to identify and develop their career aspirations.  

This module introduces students to the application of artificial intelligence (AI) in the energy sector, emphasizing its transformative role in addressing evolving energy demands and optimizing energy system efficiency.  

Students explore how AI-driven data analytics can enhance the integration of renewable energy sources and distributed energy resources, addressing challenges in energy forecasting, load management, and resource allocation. The module covers essential AI techniques, highlighting their real-world applications and critical importance in advancing sustainable, resilient, and efficient energy systems.  

Students critically evaluate the application of AI tools for energy management in different sectors such as consumer supply and demand, electric vehicle energy demand, commercial users, logistics and delivery systems and infrastructure management.

The aims of this module are to provide students with a macro level picture of energy supply and demand and how renewable sources of energy are impacting on energy resources, supplies and markets at the global and national levels.   

Students learn about the different types of clean energy from scientific, technical, scalability and economic perspectives. There is consideration of grids, micro-grids,  integration and energy use forecasting.  

The module introduces students to new technologies, including new fuels and storage, trends, research, innovation and business opportunity in the energy sector.  

The business and enterprise aspects of clean energy are considered, including business planning, investment, scalability, profitability and the commercial drivers. Students learn how to develop business plans.  

This module aims to provide students with a critical, multi-dimensional understanding of how shifting global geopolitical dynamics directly influence and shape the cyber threat to energy infrastructure. 

Students learn abouthigh-consequence threats targeting modern power grid systems. This includes how the transition towards decentralised green energy networks, which rely on Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) ecosystems, introduces novel systemic vulnerabilities and cyber-physical exposures. By dissecting contemporary international energy issues and the role of cyber threats and security, students will understand why the rise of infrastructure cyberattacks can be actively anticipated within these highly connected environments and how this can be managed.

Students will develop the skills in analytics and high-level reporting fluency that are required to counsel regulatory bodies and global energy corporations through high-stakes security crises. 

This module has a focus on tactical, hands-on mastery of modern Cyber-Physical Power System (CPPS). Today's smart grids have evolved into hyper-connected networks driven by the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), expanding opportunities for cyberattacks in which automation can create critical infrastructure vulnerabilities.Students develop skills in the operational technologies and industrial control systems that are essential for the running of physical infrastructure.  

Through immersive, hands-on simulations, students will learn how to identify and exploit vulnerabilities and understand how protocol manipulation impacts real-time physical processes. From a defence perspective, students evaluate "Security-by-Design" methodologies, the architecture of resilient Zero-trust microgrids and industrial intrusion detection systems. Students learn how to navigate the unique constraints of low-level OT incident responses and substation forensics.

This module aims to provide students with the principles and methodologies required to design, manage, and defend highly resilient power systems capable of surviving and recovering from sophisticated cyberattacks.  

Students learn about active, consequence-driven network survival, including the paradigms of Cyber-Informed Engineering (CIE) and how to ensure that core power processes survive during wide-area technical failures or from climate-driven extreme weather events. Through this all-hazards resilience framework, students will learn to model disruptions and establish Recovery Time Objectives (RTO). Students explore decentralized energy resources and develop the technical capability to coordinate multi-microgrid community clustering and deploy Grid-Forming (GFM) inverter control strategies. The module equips students with the controls needed to execute a successful, step-by-step cyber-physical black start under degraded network conditions. 

This module aims to provide students with the critical knowledge and analytical skills to use data, digital technologies and transformation frameworks to address sustainability and energy challenges across diverse industries.  

It focuses on sustainability analytics, including the use of cloud-based digitisation and data analytics, AI and IoT, to evaluate organisational performance, resource efficiency, supply chains, energy use, sustainability impacts and long-term value creation. Students will explore strategic frameworks for assessing opportunities for organisational innovation, managing risks, and aligning data-informed transformation initiatives with organisational sustainability goals.  

The module emphasizes the use of data-informed decision-making and digital tools in change management processes that help organisations to improve sustainability performance. By the end of the module, students will be able to evaluate and develop analytics-informed strategies for organisational transformation.

This module aims to equip students with advanced knowledge and practical skills to design, evaluate, and implement circular economy strategies within businesses and value chains.   

Students will examine how organisations can move from linear models of production and consumption towards circular business models that improve resource efficiency, reduce waste and create long-term economic, environmental and social value. With an emphasis on digital tools such as life-cycle assessment (LCA), material flow analysis (MFA), and emerging technologies like blockchain and IoT, students will gain the ability to support evidence-based business decision-making.   

By the end of this module, students will be able to critically assess and apply the principles of circular economy and apply them to business operations, supply chains, product and service design, and organisational strategy across various sectors. Students will also evaluate the commercial feasibility, scalability and sustainability impacts of circular initiatives, while addressing regulatory, technological, organisational and financial barriers to implementation.

This module introduces students to green finance and responsible investment, and their role in supporting sustainable development, net-zero transition, biodiversity and clean energy. There is an overview of green and sustainability-linked bonds. Students gain a strong understanding of the underpinning global and national frameworks, for example UN SDG's, Paris Agreement and other international standards.

The module also has a focus on different types of risk, from the perspectives of government, investment, business and public. Students will learn about the tools and data analytics that measure investment performance, risk, resilience and value creation. The policy, regulation and governance contexts are also considered, including reporting and disclosure, carbon markets, compliance, greenwashing and government incentive systems.

Students gain exposure to emerging trends, for example in institutional investment, the transition to low-carbon economies and international collaboration that address energy and sustainability challenges.

The Enterprise Project makes up a third of the total academic credits awarded in the MSc programmes.  It provides students with an opportunity to apply all their module learning to a real-world scenario.    

Students are provided with an energy project that is sourced in industry or another organisation. The project depends on the student’s interest, for example it could have a technical, policy, data, security, regulatory or economic focus.  

As part of this module, students learn project management skills, including the technical management of projects, research methodologies, presentation and communication skills, networking and interacting with peers and supervisors. Students will develop confidence in applying their learning to the workplace, communicating with fellow professionals and gaining insights into career opportunities.  

Students complete the full lifecycle of a project, including review and scoping, research and development, presentation and delivery of the final outcomes. In doing so, each student will develop an enhanced level of expertise in their chosen energy project domain. Students are supported by project supervisors and mentors who help to ensure a supportive environment that reflects workplace practice.  

Students will graduate as confident energy professionals.