Masters Degrees
Please note: This page is for 2027 entry. Click here for 2026 entry.
| UCAS code | 1234 |
|---|---|
| Duration | 1 year full time 2 years part time |
| Entry year | 2026 |
| Campus | Streatham Campus |
| Typical offer | Normally a 2:2 degree or equivalent |
|---|---|
1st in the UK for Climate Action
Outstanding Contribution to Environmental Leadership prize
THE awards, November 2024
Top 50 in the world in the QS World University Sustainability Rankings 2026
Top 40 in the world for Geography
QS World University Subject Rankings 2026
All applicants are considered individually on merit although we usually require a 2:2 honours degree.
No specific subjects are required.
The programme has been designed to allow students from a wide range of backgrounds to immerse themselves in a transformative educational experience. No science, mathematics, or engineering prerequisites are required.
Please also see our guidance on essential documentation required for an initial decision on taught programme applications.
International students need to show they have the required level of English language to study this course.
The required IELTS test scores for this course fall under Profile B1.
Please visit our English language requirements page to view the required test scores and equivalencies from your country.
The knowledge that I have gained from the MSc Global Sustainability Solutions has been invaluable to inform the research that I now do into climate science and policy research in my role as Sustainability Analyst at ITV.
In terms of course content, I really enjoyed learning about the policy landscape within the Innovation and the Science-Policy Interface module, particularly the group work aspect of creating a report on a new policy proposal. But candidly, one of the most enjoyable parts of the course was meeting the variety of people that shared the same passion for climate change solutions as I did.
Tom
MSc Global Sustainability Solutions graduate
I’ve really enjoyed meeting new people from all over the world and being able to come together to brainstorm and learn about subjects that we’re all really motivated about. I’ve also enjoyed working on real-world challenges as well as having a dissertation project that has the potential to encourage positive change.
I’m a mature student who, after completing my first degree 11 years ago, decided to return to part-time study with the aim of learning about and helping to create solutions for some of today’s most urgent sustainability challenges. I chose to study at the University of Exeter for its track record of excellence in research.
The programme has been interdisciplinary in nature and has covered a wide range of subjects.
Charlie
MSc Global Sustainability Solutions
Our impacts on the Earth system are at such a scale that we have become a geological force. If we are to not just survive but to flourish, we urgently need to create robust and practical solutions to a set of interacting and complex global challenges.
These challenges span countries, regions, and academic disciplines. For example: the challenge to establish food, water, and energy security for a global population increasing towards nine billion by the middle of this century; the urgent need to halt the rapid decline in biodiversity; or the required decrease of greenhouse gas emissions in order to avoid dangerous climate change. While diverse, the common thread that links these and other challenges is that these are all ultimately a challenge of systems.
The programme addresses global sustainability challenges, equipping you to apply systems thinking to solve complex problems in a wide variety of environments and contexts and develop a deeper understanding of the interface between science, policy and practice. Additionally, you can tailor the programme to meet your areas of interest and passion by choosing 30 credits of optional modules.
You can choose to focus your dissertation (Solutions Project) on a piece of original academic research or take the opportunity to apply your learning to a real-world sustainability problem in an internship with an external organisation. To assist you we advertise projects connected with our external partners or internal research projects, and you can also choose to follow your own passions or ideas and reach out to potential companies or academics. We provide support and resources to help whichever path you choose.
Every year we have part-time students studying this programme who are an important part of our community. For part-time study we recommend that you complete 75 credits in year one, and 105 credits in year two (of which 60 credits is your dissertation). This means you will be taking approximately two core 15-credit modules per term and one optional 15-credit module, but there is flexibility if needed.
A key element of the programme is the application of academic learning to real-world sustainability challenges. This is achieved through a variety of diverse assessments, as well as with internship and placement opportunities with a wide range of local, national and international organisations and companies.
MSc Global Sustainability Solutions (GSS) has been designed to allow students from a broad range of backgrounds to immerse themselves in a transformative educational experience. No science, mathematics, or engineering prerequisites are required. Upon graduation, you will have the skills to become an agent of change for a sustainable future and you will join our fantastic alumni network.
The modules below provide examples of what you can expect to learn on this degree course based on recent academic teaching. The precise modules available to you in future years may vary depending on staff availability and research interests, new topics of study, timetabling and student demand.
Please note that the module information displayed here is subject to change.
A wide range of optional modules are possible. The list below is offered for initial consideration.
150 credits of compulsory modules, 30 credits of optional modules.
You must choose either GEOM146 or GEOM147 from Compulsory Choice Module Group, you cannot choose both modules
| Code | Module | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Compulsory 2 | ||
| Global Challenges | 15 | |
| Theory for Sustainable Transitions | 15 | |
| Green Planet | 15 | |
| Systems Thinking and Positive Tipping Points | 15 | |
| Energy and Climate Policy | 15 | |
| Climate Change Science and Solutions | 15 | |
| Compulsory Choice | ||
| Solutions Project (Academic) | 60 | |
| Solutions Project (Internship) | 60 | |
This module will give you an introduction to real-world sustainability challenges and potential solutions, training in problem-solving research and how it can be applied to effect meaningful change. This includes an introduction to earth system science and humans' impacts. You will receive training sessions that will develop core skills such as communication, project management, researching the literature, critical thinking, and presenting.
This module will provide you with an understanding of the global context of sustainability and how this can be downscaled to specific challenges, with an emphasis on how to connect sustainability and systems theory to real-world challenges. You will receive guidance and training on critically assessing a proposed sustainability solution. This will give you first-hand experience of working in wicked problem spaces and the challenges and opportunities they provide. A formative assessment will allow you to develop a short factual 'explainer' film that will effectively communicate a particular global challenge to an online general audience.
This module will provide a deep understanding of key sustainability theory and its relevance for practice. The focus will be on theory that has importance for understanding global sustainability solutions, including some of the theories and concepts that have been most influential within contemporary policy and practice. Through the module you will develop abilities for critical engagement with sustainability policy and practice, as well as increasing your capacities to interpret the challenges and opportunities that exist for contemporary solutions. Though social science led, the module is interdisciplinary and with a focus on practical application and reflection will be suitable for students from diverse backgrounds.
The module will equip you with an understanding of key influential sustainability theory and provide a firm basis for critically engaging with sustainability debates in real world contexts. Leading academics actively engaged in research on environment and sustainability will lead interactive sessions designed to enhance your critical and analytic faculties and give insight into theory that has been important in shaping agendas relating to global sustainability. There will be opportunities for peer-to-peer as well as independent learning, and expectations for you to engage in debate, discussion, and activities during module sessions.
The Green Planet module will connect you with the land, the greenscapes that provide our home, our food, filter our water and draw down carbon from the atmosphere. The aim being to provide you with an informed, solutions-focussed understanding of the value held within our planets land-based ecosystems, that are literally a green economy. The module will be presented by an array of experts in the field; both from academia, policy, land-management and industry, linking research-based understanding of nature with practical application. The course will cover the basics from the definition of natural ecosystems, why biodiversity matters to the understanding of ecological baselines and biodiversity in the Anthropocene. But further, it will provide you with the opportunity to develop your understanding of the challenges for conservation and how these interact with zero carbon agendas, how we can value and quantify the natural capital held in ecosystems and the services they provide through considering sustainable land-management for food production. If you want to see the value of our natural land-based environment and hone your thinking towards working to provide sustainable land management practices, then this is the module for you.
We are often encouraged to think in simple cause and effect ways, but the world is full of complex interacting systems that sometimes pass tipping points where a small change makes a big difference. This non-mathematical module will help broaden your ways of thinking and acting to allow you to tackle sustainability challenges in new ways. You will critically engage with systems thinking approaches to sustainability and explore how systems thinking is used to understand the Earth system and social systems. You will learn how to identify tipping points in complex systems, and identify actions that can trigger positive tipping points towards sustainability.
This module examines evidence-based environmental policymaking, focusing on energy and climate policy. You will study both successful and less effective policies from around the world and explore different economic traditions, including classical environmental economics and ecological and innovation economics, which emphasises systems thinking and concepts such as ‘positive tipping points’. Policy approaches are compared, from cost-benefit analysis to mission-oriented strategies, and you will consider how innovation policy supports climate solutions. The module also explores major trends in the clean energy transition, identifies policy gaps, and examines the role and power of different stakeholders in shaping policy outcomes.
By the end of the module, you will understand key decision-making tools and approaches, their strengths and limitations, and how policy effectiveness depends on factors such as stakeholder influence, the maturity of green technologies, and the role of government procurement.
The module includes contributions from leading academics and practitioners, interactive sessions and debates. You will also gain practical experience by designing your own policy proposals.
This module will expose you to some of the most vibrant frontiers in the science of anthropogenic climate change. It will provide an overview of the natural science underlying projections of future climate change, enabling you to distinguish between what is known with high-certainty from aspects that remain uncertain. These latter ‘Frontiers in Climate Change Science’ will be introduced by a number of international experts from the University and other renowned research institutions (such as the nearby Met Office-Hadey Centre). Though natural science led, the module is interdisciplinary with a focus on understanding the climate change problem as part of the wider sustainability agenda.
The module will equip you with an understanding of the science that underpins projections of anthropogenic climate change, and separate what is well known from what remains unknown. It will help you to understand the frontiers of climate change science, through guest lectures by international experts (from the university, the Met Office and other centres), and through student-led discussions. There will be opportunities for peer-to-peer as well as independent learning, and expectations for you to engage in debate and discussion during module sessions. As part of the module assessment, you will work in interdisciplinary groups to explain a proposed climate change solution through a group presentation.
Developing skills to conduct original research will be vital for your ability to effect meaningful change. Your Solutions Project will allow you to focus on a topic of your choice. You will be responsible for designing, planning and implementing the study, as well as analysing the data and writing it up. You will define your project over Terms 1 and 2 via seminars and workshops. By the start of the summer term, you will have a project proposal agreed and an academic supervisor assigned. You will be encouraged to develop your proposal in collaboration with one of the programme's academics and so apply your learning to a real-world sustainability challenge.
This module will allow you take a deep dive into a sustainability topic. You will gain experience in designing and carrying out a substantial research project. This will link the theory and knowledge you gained during the taught components of the programme to a specific sustainability challenge. You will be responsible for planning and conducting the research dissertation, with input from your academic supervisor.
Applying your learning to a real-world sustainability challenge will help accelerate your ability to affect meaningful change. You will be responsible for collaboratively designing, planning and independently implementing the research project, as well as analysing the data and writing it up. Your Solutions Project will allow you to focus on a topic of your choice via research during an internship with an external partner organisation. You will define and develop your knowledge and planning on your dissertation project over terms 1 and 2 via lectures and group workshops. By the start of the summer term, you will have a project proposal agreed, an academic supervisor, and partner organisation secured.
| Code | Module | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Optional 1 | ||
| Environmental Economics and Sustainability | 15 | |
| Sustainable Tourism Management | 15 | |
| Blue Planet | 15 | |
| Transdisciplinary Collaborations for Creative Futures | 15 | |
| Coding for Spatial Analysis | 15 | |
| Open Source GIS | 15 | |
| Just Futures | 15 | |
| Sustainability in Practice (Work Placement) | 15 | |
| Global Classrooms: Health Humanities and Geographies | 30 | |
| Food and Sustainability: Economy, Society and Environment | 15 | |
| Food Systems, Alternative Food Networks, and Ethical Consumption | 15 | |
This is a module about the economics of sustainability and the links between the environment and the economy designed to be accessible to all undergraduate students with an interest in sustainability. We will apply economic principles to answer questions about 1) how to allocate scarce resources across individuals and through time, 2) what sustainability means, and 3) how to assess our progress toward sustainable development. Exposure to economics or public policy will allow us to focus on tackling environmental and resource management problems in the real world.
This module aims to equip you with the economic skillset to assess policies through the lens of sustainability. By the end of the module, you should be able to differentiate between normative and positive criteria, apply the fundamentals of welfare and growth economics (including the notion of inclusive wealth) to the theory of sustainable development, understand what macroeconomic indicators like GDP do and do not capture, and interrogate the use of the term 'sustainable' in business and policy contexts. Finally, you will engage with primary data to assess the sustainability of a country or region.
Tourism relies on the quality of the environment so the careful management of businesses, people and places is a critical issue for the sector. This module offers critical insights into the impact of tourism on a variety of environments, the emergence of more sustainable forms of tourism and the management responses to developing more sustainable practices. Although the module starts from first principles, it offers you an opportunity to develop a critical awareness of the theoretical and practical issues that influence how the principles of sustainable development are applied in tourism. You will study the challenges of tourism activity in a one-day field visit, enabling you to appreciate the issues for businesses, communities, organisations and tourists at first hand. The aims of the module are:
Additional Information:
Internationalisation
Tourism, in itself, is a globally significant subject and it is taught using a number of international case studies, covering examples from every continent in the world.
Sustainability
The entire module is dedicated to embedding sustainable principles into tourism management. Thus, sustainability is a fundamental aspect of the curriculum where the aim of the module is to encourage future tourism practitioners and managers to develop a sustainable perspective.
All of the resources for this module are available on the ELE (Exeter Learning Environment).
External Engagement
Guest speakers have previously included Dartmoor National Park Authority, Historic Royal Palaces, VisitExeter, Eden Project, and tourism and environmental consultants.
Employability
Students develop their understanding of how to apply sustainability principles in practice through a strategy plan assignment. Through guest lectures and a field visit, engagement with external organisations allows students to gain insights and connect with sustainable tourism practitioners.
This module offers critical insights into the evolution of sustainable tourism; the impact of tourism on a variety of environments; and the emergence of more sustainable forms of tourism. Although the module starts from first principles, it offers students an opportunity to develop a detailed and critical awareness of the theoretical and practical issues that influence how the principles of sustainable development are applied in tourism. The aims of the module are to:
This module provides you with an opportunity to engage with ocean issues and investigate practical and policy opportunities for change. You will consider the importance of the ocean including the different goods and services that it provides to humans and the planet. You will also evaluate and create solutions for the identified challenges and learn about the processes needed to support a sustainable ocean.
This module, suitable for both science and non-science graduates, introduces fundamental principles of marine research. It provides a solid platform upon which to explore key issues in marine science, including impacts such as climate change, deep sea mining, ocean pollution and aquaculture. Taught sessions from leading marine biologists and policy experts will provide introductions to a range of topics, whilst subsequent interactive discussion sessions and debates will deepen your understanding and develop critical awareness and creative solutions-focussed thinking.
Within this module you will learn with staff and students from across the University, collaborating beyond traditional academic boundaries in a transdisciplinary way where disciplines serve the issue in hand, rather than serving each other. You will work in transdisciplinary teams to explore complex social, educational and ethical issues facilitated through a combination of Creative Pedagogies and Design Thinking. You will be encouraged to collaboratively, and critically, produce original ideas, and think innovatively about the future through research-based activities, fieldwork and creative workshops that blend the arts, sciences, social sciences, humanities and business. Using appropriately innovative assessment techniques, the module will equip you to respond to the global complexity and uncertainty that you will inevitably encounter when you graduate.
There are no pre-requisite or co-requisite modules; it is suitable for postgraduate students from across the University, including interdisciplinary pathways.
Coding for Spatial Analysis module description:
Geospatial Analysts (hereafter referred to as Analysts) investigate the Earth’s physical processes, including landforms, climate, ecosystems and human-environment interactions.
Spatial analysis relies on tools and techniques to process, analyse and visualise geospatial data. Proficiency in coding languages (Python and R), operating systems (Linux), geospatial libraries (GDAL) and Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) equip Analysts with critical skills to address complex research questions and significantly enhances their employability in a competitive job market. These technical skills are indispensable, particularly in terms of career opportunities.
Discover the fast-growing market of GIS beyond commercial and proprietary GIS, enabling individuals, small and medium enterprises to enhance their work through communicating and engaging with spatial data. Become proficient with open-source platforms such as QGIS made available through the Open Source Geospatial Foundation. Discover Google Earth Engine and R as powerful geospatial tools enabling non-GIS specialists to create online interactive maps and share them with the wider world. Students will be exposed to open-source data sites and version control, and will learn the importance of collaboration and workflow management.
This module aims to give an overview and critical knowledge of how open-source GIS can be utilised to conduct a variety of GIS applications. The module has the following broad aims:
The module includes a combination of extensive practicals and group work that aim to develop the following skills:
How have geographers tried to make the world more just and what impact has this had on the discipline? This module focuses on how geography and geographers have developed thought and practice around the idea of 'just futures'. This module will be of interest to students interested in social justice, activism, and politics who wish to engage with non-academic as well as academic materials.
This module will build on other geography modules, such as GEO2311 Ideas in Geography, but there are no pre-requisite modules and it will be open to geography and non-geography final year undergraduate and masters students.
The aim of the module is to give you a deep understanding of social justice theory and practice within geography and how this has shaped the discipline, wider academic thought, and the world beyond academia. It will introduce you to some of the key developments and attempts to expand the horizons of what geography can be, what methods can do, and what the role of geography is in the world. The module will give you the opportunity to engage in depth with cutting-edge debates in the discipline, critically engage with activist and scholar-activist work, and develop your writing skills.
More than ever before business and enterprise need to engage with sustainability in both their vision and operation. This module will help students to better understand some of the practical aspects of working within a range of workplaces that benefit from a knowledge of global sustainability solutions. The core of the module is a work placement, which you will secure with ideas from guest speakers who are actively working within a range of relevant sustainability roles, and access to bespoke careers advice. Within your placement, you will have the opportunity to either develop an original project, or to support ongoing work that will articulate sustainability as a core value.
This module aims to enable students who have an interest in working in the environment and sustainability sector to develop transferable skills, through work experience with a relevant organisation, an online skills development programme, and guest speakers from a range of sustainability focussed workplaces. You will have the opportunity to gain experience in the sector and to develop a range of transferable career skills.
The module will:
This module is an exciting and unique opportunity to work with students from other universities and courses. This is a highly accessible interdisciplinary course with no pre-requisites and no prior knowledge required.
It is a transnational, trans-institutional and transdisciplinary exploration of pressing, contemporary concerns in health humanities and geographies, delivered through transformative and innovative sensorially rich methods, both digital and in person.
You will have an unprecedented opportunity to engage with students from across prestigious partner organisations exploring and sharing disciplinary and cultural differences in relation to concepts of health, care, gender and sexuality, wellbeing, ableism and disability, shame, 'madness' and embodiment.
If you have a keen interest in health humanities, environmental humanities or health geographies, or want a course that uses innovative technology in learning environments and helps develop your knowledge and skills in digital learning and interaction, then this is the module for you!
This module surveys the ways in which food production and consumption is connected to the contemporary crisis of sustainability, as well as ways in which associated problems may be addressed. You will critically examine the technologies of contemporary food production, processing, and retailing. You will focus on the impact of fertilizers, herbicides, pesticides, and antibiotics on soil, water, biodiversity, food productivity and consumer health; the promises and threats arising from new technologies such as genetic engineering, automation and artificial intelligence; and the causes and effects of waste along the food chain. You will also learn how proponents and practitioners of innovative approaches—from regenerative agriculture to a circular economy approach—draw selectively on knowledge systems, old and new, in attempts to build more sustainable food systems. In the examination of each of these topics, you will look at the social, political, economic, and environmental dimensions of problems and proposed solutions, with a view toward understanding the tensions between these as well as potential synergies.
Suitable for specialist and non-specialist students such as MSc Global Sustainability Solutions; MSc Environment and Human Health; MSc Sustainable Development
This module critically examines the workings of food systems, from the global scale to the local. You will study the globalization of trade in agriculture and food, including arguments for and against trade liberalization, as well as the idea of food sovereignty. You will examine food poverty, from famines to food deserts, and critically analyze the concept of food security in diverse contexts. You will also study a range of alternative food movements and networks as well as forms of ethical consumption, such as fair trade, organics, and transitions towns, with a focus on how these might create more viable livelihoods and contribute to environmental sustainability. You will also examine the use of food and foodways in the development of cultural economies and in the preservation of cultural heritage.
You will read works on food systems within a range of disciplines, including political economy, development studies, geography, sociology, and anthropology. Through engagement with the literature, you will develop perspectives on food systems at various scales, not only analyzing how existing systems work but also how alternatives to these might be created. The module will prepare you for your own research in the field of study, whether academic or within the context of public institutions, industries, or third sector organisations with an interest in food and its role in economic development, social justice, cultural preservation and environmental sustainability.
£14,300 full-time; £7,150 part-time
£30,100 full-time; £15,050 part-time
The University of Exeter offers a wide range of scholarships to support your education, with £7 million available for international students applying to study with us in the 2026/27 academic year, including our prestigious Exeter Excellence Scholarships. We also provide awards for sport, music and other achievements, as well as regional and partner scholarships with organisations such as Chevening, The Beacon Trust and the British Council. For more information on scholarships and other financial support, please visit our scholarships and bursaries page.
We are pleased to offer the University of Exeter Alumni Scholarship, a scholarship for University of Exeter alumni beginning a standalone postgraduate programme in 2026/27 with us a scholarship worth 20% of the cost of your first year tuition fees.
Terms and conditions, including deadlines, apply.
I love that the course has an interdisciplinary approach and together across a range of subjects we can work to create sustainability solutions. Each of our lecturers are the best in their field.
I also feel we are getting a wider range of knowledge through the programme's interdisciplinary approach as my knowledge isn’t limited to one field. For example, as well as learning elements from Geography, we also get to choose a range of optional modules in other departments. I am doing a module from the Business School which demonstrates how this programme has a very holistic approach.
I love living in Exeter as the place I come from in India is a green area and Exeter is also green with lots of trees, so it has helped me adapt and I feel happy here. You get the calmness of nature but also the perks of living in a city too.
Roshny
MSc Global Sustainability Solutions
Innovative teaching lies at the heart of the programme. Emphasis will be placed upon applying learning to real-world challenges and enhancing your employability. We will be delivering some of this innovative training using Prosocial as part of empowering you to become agents of change for a sustainability transition.
You will be taught by leading academics at the University of Exeter working in the sustainability sphere. You will be given the training and opportunity to practice how your learning is engaged within wider social, economic, and policy debates.
Organisations such as the Met Office, ARUP, Lloyds and the University of Exeter’s Sustainability Team, will provide real-world challenges and opportunities for you to address as part of the programme. Every year we work with a variety of external partners to offer internship and placement opportunities, and students can create their own real-world opportunities too.
Immersive learning experiences will provide an opportunity to develop a cohort identity across staff and students, whilst learning fundamental skills and approaches to understanding and solving challenges. This includes group social activities at the start of the programme and a period of shared learning in the middle of Term one to help build community and create a space for personal development.
With a strong research-led approach to the teaching on the GSS programme, we believe every student benefits from being taught by experts in their field. You will discuss and explore the very latest ideas, research and debates with academics directly involved in this research. You will be able to explore the research avenues that are of specific interest to you in your assessments, and develop your own research skills and expertise within your dissertation.
The University has been recognised as being home to more of the world’s most influential climate scientists than any other university by Reuters and in November 2024 we won the Outstanding Contribution to Environmental Leadership prize at the Times Higher Education (THE) awards. We are 6th in the UK for world-leading research in Geography and Environmental Studies Based on 4* research in the Research Excellence Framework 2021. The University is ranked 10th in the World in the influential Times Higher Education Impact Rankings (2024) for our pivotal research, action and progress towards delivering the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Exeter has also been placed 24th globally for Environmental Education and 25th for Environmental Research in the latest QS rankings.
MSc Global Sustainability Solutions (GSS) is the flagship MSc programme for the Global Systems Institute which brings together researchers, students, citizens, and partner organisations to solve global challenges, and help create a flourishing future world together, through transformative research and education.
Several GSI researchers have featured in the 2024 Clarivate list of most highly cited researchers in the world.
The Global Systems Institute works with others to secure a flourishing future for humanity as an integral part of a life-sustaining Earth system. It is uniting a trans-disciplinary group of researchers, educators and partners to look beyond single ‘environmental’ issues to a truly systemic view of coupled global changes in the human social and economic sphere and the biosphere. As an MSc student on the GSS you will be part of the GSI community, with the opportunity to attend weekly seminars covering a wealth of topics and the latest research.
Each student is allocated a personal tutor who is available for advice and support throughout your studies. There is also a pastoral mentor available to help with further guidance and advice.
Assessments will focus on the application of your learning and go beyond exams and essays. You will have the opportunity to be assessed via the creation of project reports, policy briefings and white papers, the preparation and delivery of press conferences, online and interactive infographics, short documentary films, reflective pieces and journals.
Throughout the course you will gain confidence in systems thinking and complex problem-solving, as well as acquire the sought after, transferable skills needed for a successful career in the field. A key feature of the programme is the diversity of assessment which imitate tasks that may be required of you in future employment. Emphasis is placed upon applying learning to real-world challenges and enhancing your employability, as well as network building opportunities throughout the programme.
You will develop an in depth understanding of how your academic work is engaged within wider social, economic and policy debates. Upon graduation, you will have the experience and skills necessary to become agents of change for a sustainable future.
The GSS MSc is an approved Institute of Sustainability and Environmental Professionals (ISEP) degree programme, meaning that ISEP recognises that students finish the GSS MSc with the right knowledge, skills and tools to deliver value in the global economy. Students on the GSS MSc get student membership to ISEP during their course, providing them with an invaluable toolkit of resources, access to ISEP’s network and events. Once our GSS students complete the MSc, they will be eligible for ISEP Graduate Membership. For our alumni who then work in the sustainability section after graduating, the ISEP Graduate Membership offers career support and a pathway to Practitioner Membership (PISEP) through a work-based assessment.
Graduates of this programme might expect to gain the following attributes:
There is increasing demand for sustainability professionals in commercial, private and third sector organisations. GSS graduates have pursued careers in a variety of roles including:
We have a selection of GSS alumni profiles available to demonstrate a few different companies and roles that our alumni have gone to, but the variety for each cohort is huge, depending on each student’s passion and preferred career path. Regardless of your career goal, the MSc GSS will provide you with essential skills for employment, as well as several opportunities to connect with GSS alumni for career advice and potential future employers.
This programme offers the opportunity for a research project to be undertaken with a local, national or international organisation to address a real-world sustainability challenge as an alternative to a traditional academic dissertation. You will identify and secure your own placement but will be facilitated with appropriate support. We have links with numerous organisations who offer internship opportunities to our students, including the Met Office, which is based in Exeter, Lloyds, ARUP, Environment Agency, National Trust, and the Galapagos Conservation Trust. You are also supported to forge your own connection with an external company to create a unique learning experience that works for you if you prefer.
As well as this dissertation module, we also have an optional 15-credit module, Sustainability in Practice, where you can capitalise on a short work placement to get an applied understanding of sustainability in practice. We have links with various companies for this shorter placement opportunity, including CO2 balance, Devon NHS Foundation Trust, and Green Future Solutions (powered by the University), and you are supported in the preparation for securing this placement.
We have a dedicated, award-winning Careers Service, ensuring you have access to careers advisors, mentors and the tools you need to succeed in finding employment in your chosen field on graduation. We offer the Exeter Award and the Exeter Leaders Award which include employability-related workshops, skills events, volunteering and employment which will contribute to your career decision-making skills and success in the employment market. Our graduates compete very successfully in the employment market, with many employers targeting the University when recruiting new graduates.
You will benefit from employability training, course specific and relevant University careers events and engagement with world leading academics and experts. You will capitalise on the Global Systems Institute academics and external partner network, for collaboration on the Solutions Project Academic module and placement opportunities for the Solutions Project Internship module. This network will also accelerate your search for employment or future career paths after graduation.
Each year students are able to access a huge range of opportunities when considering their future career options, specifically with GSS Alumni and potential employers. Recent events have included:
Accreditation by ISEP demonstrates our commitment to environment and sustainability management. It also entitles all of our GSS MSc students to free ISEP student membership throughout the whole duration of their degree, providing them with a significant benefit and resources.
