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Department of Geography
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Course Structure

The Risk Masters provides multiple pathways of study and the option to pursue either a vocational or research dissertation (jump straight to dissertation options).

To find out more about the course and modules click here for the MA or click here for the MSc.

Our graduates from both the MA and the MSc program go on to a variety of careers (jump straight to careers).

Diagram of Risk masters pathways

Choose a Vocational or Research Dissertation

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Students can choose to undertake a traditional dissertation by research or a vocational dissertation. In vocational dissertations the student is based with a practitioner organisation / company / partner to undertake work experience on which they base their dissertation. A vocational dissertation is an excellent opportunity to gain work experience, explore potential routes for future employment and develop your CV. For some lucky students a vocational placement may lead to a job with the partner. We have informal relationships with various partners that offer vocational projects, and through this every year we manage offer a number of placements. The ultimate responsibility to secure a vocational placement lies with the student, and we encourage and support those students interested in contacting partners and develop vocational projects themselves.

Partners to date have included the following:

  • JBA, Skipton (risk of wind damage)
  • AIR, London (catastrophe modelling)
  • Environment Agency, Newcastle (understanding sources of flood runoff; weir assessments)
  • Liberty Syndicates, London (catastrophe modelling)
  • ARUP, Newcastle (flood mitigation strategies and environmental engineering)
  • National Flood Forum, Swindon (developing community resilience to flooding)
  • Durham County Council, Durham (risk to public health)
  • Northumberland District Council, Morpeth (wildfire risk)
  • Eden Rivers Trust, Carlisle (impacts of flooding)
  • Wear Rivers Trust, Durham (evaluating community understanding of risk)
  • Newcastle City Council (resilience building)

Examples of Vocational Dissertations

  • An evaluation of the Healthy Living Pharmacy framework, with emphasis on weight management, smoking cessation and alcohol use (with Durham County Council)
  • Northumberland National Park’s automated wildfire detection system: potential network expansion through spatialities of physical and socially identified risk (with Northumberland NPA)
  • Understanding risk in non-modelled regions: a Thailand flood model (with Liberty Synidicates)
  • Developing community engagement with flood risk assessment and mitigation in the Roe Beck catchment (With the Eden Rivers Trust)
  • Assessing European Demand Surge associated with risk events (with AIR)
  • An assessment of water related risk associated with the River Gaunless, County Durham (with the Wear Rivers Trust)
  • A review of catchment modelling for natural flood management implementation in Guisborough (with ARUP)
  • Validating the AIR US Hurricane Model: Keeping an eye on risk with Liberty Syndicates)
  • Integration of the EU flood sand Water Framework Directives: evaluation of the Leeds Flood Alleviation scheme (with ARUP)
  • An assessment of runoff generation on the Greencroft farming Estate, County Durham (with the Environment Agency)

Careers

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Students and others at a panel session

Graduates from the Risk Masters are enjoying huge success at entering the job market and have progressed on to a range of employment and career development opportunities. These range from further study, to consultancy, humanitarian focused disaster risk reduction roles and community resilience support officers. Former students are thus playing a key role in managing hazard and risk around the world for example with UNICEF, US Homeland Security, UK Government and the Risk Industry more widely. Jobs including working as:

MA in RiskMSc in Risk
International risk management e.g. UNICEF humanitarian support and UNICEF emergency hazard management, Afghan Ministry of Public Health, Rocinantes NGO Emergency Management Analysts (e.g. in USA, and Nepal)
Fast Track Civil Service Regional Flood Officer with The National Flood Forum
Asset Management (e.g. with Thames Water and PwC) Resilience planning officer with Edinburgh City Council
Public Health Advisor, Afghanistan Catastrophe modellers (Amlin, RMS)
Research Assistant, Cambridge University, Centre for Risk Studies Brokers and researchers in re-insurance (Catlin, Liberty Syndicates, Marsh, Aviva, Channel Syndicates, Waterman Group, AXIS)
PhD Research Environmental consultants working in risk (JBA, Halcrow, Tiscali, Ambiental, URS, Aurecon, AECOM)
Trainee Solicitors International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development, Nepal
Teaching Assistant, University of Hong Kong Senior Geologist with National Space Research and Development Agency (Nigeria)
  PhD Research