MSc Conservation Science
Canterbury, United Kingdom
MSc
DURATION
2 years
LANGUAGES
English
PACE
Full time, Part time
APPLICATION DEADLINE
EARLIEST START DATE
TUITION FEES
EUR 24,700 / per year *
STUDY FORMAT
On-Campus
* for international | UK: £15,000
Key Summary
You will gain an interdisciplinary perspective on conservation issues, drawing on over 30 years of DICE expertise on what it takes for effective conservation management. You will receive state-of-the-art training across the full breadth of conservation disciplines, learning the approaches needed where local communities also rely on natural resource use, as well as the skills needed to restore threatened species and habitats. You will gain practical and methodological tools you will need to achieve success as a conservation scientist who can operate across the natural and social sciences.
Our Conservation Science MSc course reflects your interests, with the option to take our 'Conservation and Resource Management' pathway depending on the modules you take - meaning your Master's will represent your interests and specialism.
Why study Conservation Science at Kent?
- Learn from DICE staff, all of whom have practical conservation experience from around the world and have published internationally excellent research (we are ranked first in the UK for our research publications).
- Conduct fieldwork anywhere in the world or use outstanding facilities on-campus for your research project, including modern laboratories in molecular genetics and wildlife ecology and the DICE field site to support your research.
- Learn outside the classroom with a residential field course at the Durrell Conservation Academy, based at the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust, Jersey, and gain insight into cutting-edge population recovery techniques.
- Build your professional network by becoming part of the global DICE alumni network that includes award-winning conservation scientists and practitioners from over 100 countries.
- We provide a rich postgraduate learning environment that spans all areas of conservation, and perfectly reflects the DICE mission of focusing on applied conservation that breaks down the barriers between the natural and social sciences.
Scholarship value
The award covers tuition fees, return airfares and living costs for a one-year taught Master's programme.
Deadline
Deadline for Commonwealth application: - 12 December 2024.
Hold an unconditional offer (with the only outstanding condition, international fee deposit) of a programme of study from the University of Kent - 31 January 2025
Criteria
To be eligible to apply for this scholarship, candidates must:
- Hold an undergraduate degree at UK first-class level equivalent.
- Be a citizen of or have been granted refugee status by one of the eligible Commonwealth countries listed or be a British Protected Person.
- Be a permanent resident in one of the eligible Commonwealth countries listed above.
- To be committed to the University of Kent, you can apply for more than one course and/or to more than one University, but you may only accept one offer of a Shared Scholarship.
- Not have studied or worked for one (academic) year or more in a high-income country.
- Be unable to afford to study in the UK without this scholarship.
- Return to their home country as soon as their period of study is complete. In some circumstances, a student may be permitted to remain in the UK if seeing doctoral study and satisfy certain strict conditions.
- Hold an offer by the deadline for a full-time postgraduate taught degree on one of the eligible courses at the University of Kent:
- MSc Artificial Intelligence
- MSc Infectious Diseases
- MSc Cyber Security
- MA International Negotiation and Conflict Resolution
- MSc Applied Actuarial Science
- MSc Conservation Science
- MA English and American Literature
Further details
Commonwealth Shared Scholarships, set up by DFID in 1986, represent a unique partnership between the United Kingdom government and UK Universities.
Funded by the UK Department of International Development (DFID), Commonwealth Shared Scholarships enable talented and motivated individuals to gain the knowledge and skills required for sustainable development. They are aimed at those who could not otherwise afford to study in the UK.
These scholarships are offered under six themes:
- Science and technology for development
- Strengthening health systems and capacity
- Promoting global prosperity
- Strengthening global peace, security and governance
- Strengthening resilience and response to crises - Access, inclusion and opportunity.
How to apply
To be considered for the Commonwealth Shared Scholarship you must:
- Make a formal application for a postgraduate degree at the University of Kent commencing September 2025/26. This can be done online here.
- Complete the Commonwealth Scholarship Commission (CSC) online application process. For information on how to do that and full details of the application process please go directly to the Commonwealth Scholarships webpages.
- Applications will be considered based on Academic Excellence and a completed application.
- The Commonwealth will accept applications until 12th December 2024 (closing at 16:00 GMT).
Stage 1
Compulsory modules currently include the following
- Multidisciplinary Perspectives on Conservation
- Conservation Biology and Nature Recovery
- Research Methods for the Social Sciences
- Research Skills and Advanced Analytical Methods
- Research Dissertation Skills
- Dissertation
Optional modules may include the following
- Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
- Wildlife Trade and Resource Economics
- Conservation and Community Development
- Leadership skills for Conservation Managers
Teaching and assessment
Assessment is carried out primarily through coursework with written examinations for some modules. The research dissertation is written in the format of a paper for publication.
Programme aims
This programme aims to:
- produce postgraduates equipped to play leading roles in the field of international conservation and biodiversity management
- develop new areas of teaching in response to the advance of scholarship and practice
- provide you with opportunities to gain an interdisciplinary perspective on conservation issues through collaborative exchange between DICE and the wider University
- develop your competence in applying theoretical and methodological skills to the implementation of conservation practice and biodiversity management
- develop your critical and analytical powers in policy formulation data analysis and interpretation
- provide you with the skills to adapt and respond positively to change
- develop critical, analytical problem-based learning skills and the transferable skills necessary for professional development
- enhance the development of your interpersonal skills
- assist you in developing the skills required for both autonomous practice and teamwork.
Learning outcomes
Knowledge and understanding
You will gain knowledge and understanding of:
- fundamental ecological concepts and how they apply to conservation biology and biodiversity management
- conservation at the species, population, community and ecosystem levels
- fundamental social science perspectives on conservation, and the principles of interdisciplinarity
- principles and significance of resource economics
- biodiversity law, policy and legislative frameworks
- principles and practices involved with sustainable resource use
- principles and practices involved with managing protected areas for conservation
- principles of conservation research design, implementation and analysis, including problem-led interdisciplinary approaches
- principles and practice in conservation, business and rural development.
Intellectual skills
You develop intellectual skills in:
- the ability to marshal ideas and examples into well-organised written and oral presentations
- critical analysis of case studies
- reflective evaluation of theoretical and methodological frameworks
- design, implementation, analysis and write-up of a substantial research project (your Master’s dissertation)
- linking theory to practice in conservation science and social science.
Subject-specific skills
You gain subject-specific skills in:
- field biology skills
- social science methodologies
- experimental design and statistics
- methodologies for analysing and appraising conservation case studies
- population assessment and assessment of threat status
- methodologies for estimating sustainable wildlife management
- methodologies for protected areas management and planning.
Transferable skills
You will gain the following transferable skills:
- IT: Word, Excel, statistical and modelling programmes, email, bibliographic and web searches
- presentation skills
- writing reports and funding proposals
- time management
- using a library
- working in groups
- the skills to exercise initiative and personal responsibility
- independent learning skills required for continuing professional development.
The School has a very good record for postgraduate employment and academic continuation. DICE programmes combine academic theory with practical field experience to develop graduates who are highly employable within government, NGOs and the private sector.
Our alumni progress into a wide range of organisations across the world. Examples include:
- Consultancy for a Darwin Initiative project in West Sumatra
- Wildlife Management Officer in Kenya
- Chief of the Biodiversity Unit – UN Environment Programme; Research and Analysis Programme Leader for TRAFFIC
- Freshwater Programme Officer, International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)
- Head of the Ecosystem Assessment Programme, United Nations Environment Programme-World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC)
- Community-Based Natural Resource Manager, WWF
- Managing Partner, Althelia Climate Fund
- and Programme Officer, Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation.
Teaching and assessment
We use a variety of assessments, including written reports, statistical analysis, critical reading assessments, case-study evaluations, presentations, in-class tests, and a research project dissertation.
Study support
Postgraduate resources
We provide a rich postgraduate learning environment that spans conservation, geography and anthropology, and perfectly reflects the DICE mission of focusing on applied conservation that breaks down the barriers between the natural and social sciences.
Our lively postgraduate community is drawn together not only by shared resources such as postgraduate rooms, computer facilities (with a dedicated IT officer) and laboratories, but also by student-led events, societies, staff/postgraduate seminars, weekly research student seminars and a number of special lectures.
We house well-equipped research laboratories for genetics, ecology, visual anthropology, virtual paleoanthropology, Animal Postcranial Evolution, biological anthropology, anthropological computing, botany, osteology and ethnobiology. In addition to various long-term study sites around the world, we maintain an ecology field trials area and a field laboratory on the University campus.
The DICE postgraduate student body is global. Since 1991, there have been over 500 MSc graduates taught from 75 countries, most of whom now have successful full-time conservation careers. The PhD research degree programme has produced over 90 graduates from 27 different countries. Several graduates have gone on to win prestigious international prizes for their outstanding conservation achievements.