Course summary

The information provided on this page was correct at the time of publication (November 2023). For complete and up-to-date information about this course, please visit the relevant University of Oxford course page via www.graduate.ox.ac.uk/ucas. The MSc in Energy Systems augments world-leading research from the Department of Engineering Science with contributions from the Departments of Physics, Materials Science, Chemistry and the School of Geography and the Environment. The course is designed to be accessible by those who have a highly numerate first degree (see entry requirements for greater detail) and will be taught using a modular framework to ensure that students are able to progress at their own predetermined speed. The course structure is comprised of a combination of teaching methods, to provide a stimulating learning environment: taught modules, a small group case study project, a whole cohort exercise, industrial and relevant stakeholder visits and a dissertation. The taught modules are divided into three core themes: Resources, Systems and Services, exploring the production and supply of energy and the societal and political implications involved. Each module is taught over one or two weeks depending on the subject, from 0900 - 1600, Monday to Friday, and will utilise innovative methods such as project based and student led peer-to-peer learning with ample opportunity for discussion. Teaching modules will be closely aligned with current research within the University. This approach is expected to provide students with an optimal balance of working with sector stakeholders to develop understanding from taught elements while broadening personal horizons. Course teaching is concentrated in the first two terms of the academic year, leaving the final term for non-taught course components. The taught modules and unassessed skills training run for up to seven hours per day for all weeks of Michaelmas and Hilary terms. Trinity term is dedicated to the three non-taught assessed components of the course with the dissertation running all the way through to submission on or around the final week in the August after admission. The course’s three foundation modules are Energy Sources, Energy Infrastructure and Energy Demand. There are seven further one-week modules: Energy Conversion 1, Energy for Development, Energy Conversion 2, Energy and Society, Digitization, Smart Energy and Communication, Energy Policy and Governance, and Energy Systems: Economics and Markets. Further information about studying part time We offer two- and three-year part-time programmes. Part-time students will be expected to spend a minimum of 6 weeks in Oxford each year, depending on the course elements entered for at the beginning of each academic year. For students on part-time programmes, the Resources theme modules (4 teaching weeks) must be completed during Year 1, while the Dissertation must be completed in the final year of the programme. The Systems (5 teaching weeks) and Services (4 teaching weeks) module themes should each be completed as a block, but these themed blocks can be completed during any year of the programme. Other course elements, including the Whole Cohort Exercise and Small Group Case Study group assessments, can be completed during any year of the programme.