Key Information

Entrance Requirements for All Courses

For MSc level entry, candidates must hold a First or Second Class Honours Degree or equivalent qualification from a British or approved overseas university, preferably in a Biological Science, Chemistry or Chemical Engineering for the Brewing and Distilling, and Food Science courses. Similar qualifications or, alternatively, backgrounds in Geography, Civil Engineering, Economics and other disciplines are suitable for the marine and environmental programmes.

For Diploma level entry candidates must hold a degree, preferably at Honours level in an appropriate subject as defined above. Equivalent qualifications will be considered on an individual basis; please enquire if you have any doubts.

For applicants with no formal higher education but suitable experience in the food or beverage industries, initial registration on the relevant distance learning programme may be permitted with transfer to the Masters degree depending on progress. Please enquire for details.

Duration

MSc programmes last for one year (September to August inclusive) and include a substantial research project. The Diploma covers the same classes as the MSc and includes a short project but lasts for just 9 months (September to June inclusive). Students admitted to the Diploma programme and who perform well in the taught courses may be invited to transfer to the appropriate MSc programme. Marine and environmental programmes can also be studied on a part-time basis.

The distance learning version of the MSc programmes can be extended to seven years.

PhD Programmes

Thriving PhD programmes cover all disciplines within the School. There is the opportunity for partial financial support for well-qualified students, particularly if their project can attract further funding either from industry or government sources. The major disciplines are listed below and in greater detail later in this entry.

• Biology: including aquaculture, fish diseases and their prevention, biochemistry, brewing and fermentation technology, cereal science, food science, microbiology and nutrition.
• Environmental Science: covers environmental monitoring, marine biology and biodiversity, oil pollution in marine systems, coastal and estuarine studies, renewable energy from marine systems.
• Psychology: currently graduate students are pursuing topics on the psychology of work and organisation, occupational health and stress at work, organisational trust, and self-efficacy in safety situations. We intend to extend this into areas of cognitive psychology, including perception and decision-making in both field and in experimental settings. We also encourage projects that explore psychology in multi-disciplinary contexts in the life sciences.
• Sport and Exercise Science: research interests are based upon the alteration of human metabolism using tools such as exercise, dietary intervention, and environmental stress. This enables PhD projects investigating physiological mechanisms and method of improving health and the limits of human performance in sport and exercise.

Research at the School of Life Sciences

Heriot Watt’s School of Life Sciences addresses a “Quality of Life” theme. Several of our research activities are internationally renowned and include research into health and well-being, food and drink and the environment. Many of these activities are multidisciplinary, with substantial interaction with other Schools within the University and beyond Heriot-Watt.