The University of Manchester
School of Environment and Development

The School of Environment and Development (SED) is a major centre of postgraduate education on issues relating to society, the economy and the environment, offering over 30 postgraduate taught masters degrees and hosting hundreds of students from across the world.

The School was created in 2004 as part of the new University of Manchester, building on the strengths and the experience in teaching and research of pre-existing units: the School of Geography , the School of Planning, the Institute for Development Policy and Management , and the Manchester School of Architecture (created in 1996 as a joint venture between the University of Manchester and Manchester Metropolitan University).

The School obtained excellent results in the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise (RAE): all areas of research in the School showed significant growth and increased quality, with Development Studies (IDPM) ranked as the UK’s number one unit for research into international development based upon research power. Research in other areas of the School was also classed as excellent.  

Postgraduate studies at SED
SED is a school of substantial size and diversity, with over 100 academic and research staff and 1,400 students, many of whom come from outside the UK, in particular from Africa, Asia and Western Europe, but also from Latin America, the Middle East, North America and the Pacific.

Our commitment to high quality, globally recognised research makes the School also one of the UK’s premier centres for postgraduate education into issues relating to society, the economy and the environment.

Whatever the subject area, all our programmes are aimed at developing a ‘learning to learn’ capacity and independent, critical-thinking skills combined with academic rigour and access to leading-edge thinking and research.

Our research has been rated ‘excellent’ at national and international level in a variety of areas, and the School hosts a number of world-class research centres on subjects such as chronic poverty, development economics, urban and regional ecology, urban policy and strategy, urban planning, human resource management and organisational development, development informatics, and architectural studies.

SED also hosts the Brooks World Poverty Institute, chaired by Nobel Laureate Professor Joseph E Stiglitz.

The School is housed in the state-of-the-art Arthur Lewis Building, built in 2007 and located at the heart of the University Campus. The building is equipped with dedicated postgraduate PC clusters, study space, modern research laboratories and a coffee bar, and the John Rylands Library, one of the largest of its kind in the UK, is just a short walk away.

All research, academic and professional training programmes in SED are assisted by a team of skilled and experienced administrative and technical support staff who are committed to providing an efficient administrative service to support the School's diverse portfolio of activities, and who are available to offer help and advice.

Students in SED also benefit from excellent study resources, including specialist libraries and computing facilities. A wide range of software resources is available, including personnel management, project management, statistical analysis software packages and GIS facilities. Wireless access to the internet is also available in most University buildings.

Masters programmes
SED offers over 30 postgraduate masters programmes in areas as diverse as architecture and the built environment; environmental governance; physical geography; environment and development; development economics and finance; poverty reduction; human resource management and development (HRM/HRD); ICTs for development; project management; urbanism and design; environmental planning and management; urban regeneration and development.

Some of our Masters programmes are also available by distance learning, enabling students to complete a Masters degree without leaving their job or moving to the UK.

Masters students in SED have access to a wide range of funding opportunities, including School studentships, Commonwealth Scholarships, Chevening Scholarships and Economic and Social Research Council/European Science Foundation (ESRC/ESF) studentships.

Doctoral programmes (PhD)
The School offers four top-quality doctoral programmes in architecture, geography, urban and regional planning and international development.

All research students in SED benefit from a dedicated research training programme, as part of our commitment to a rigorous postgraduate education, and are part of a large, international research community across the School.

Many of our PhD students have successfully obtained funding to support their doctoral research projects, either externally or through awards offered directly by the School.

Careers
When you graduate from the University of Manchester, you will have more than a world-renowned qualification. You will also have developed important skills that will boost your career prospects.

Manchester graduates are highly attractive to a wide range of employers, with almost 4,000 recruiters actively targeting our students and graduates in 2007/08. In fact, according to recent research we are the university most often targeted by Britain's top graduate employers (The Graduate Market in 2009 - High Flyers Research).

In particular, SED graduates benefit from excellent career prospects in public and private sector organisations and NGOs around the world, including international organisations such as the UN and other large international bodies and corporations, due to their advanced understanding of important contemporary challenges such as climate change, poverty reduction and other issues linked in various ways to the relation between societies, economies and the environment.

In addition to this, the university provides a number of services dedicated to making the most of your employability, such as a Careers Service voted best in the UK for five years running by graduate employers, innovative teaching methods, which give our graduates intellectual and practical skills to prepare them for employment, a wide range of careers fairs, and an experienced team of professional Careers Consultants, including experts on international career issues.

I recently accepted a position at a leading brokerage firm trading carbon credits and investing in renewable energy projects in developing countries.
Matt Gray, MSc Environmental Governance (Geography)

I strongly believe that knowledge gained from the University of Manchester will be useful for the developing country I belong to and will be a great advantage to my personal and career development.
Aigerim Kussainova, MSc Human Resource Development (International Development)

 

Contact
Recruitment and Admissions Office
School of Environment and Development
The University of Manchester
Oxford Road
Manchester M13 9PL
UK

T: +44(0)161 275 0969
F: +44(0)161 275 0421
E: sed.admissions@manchester.ac.uk
W: http://www.sed.manchester.ac.uk/