MRes - Faculty of Health and Social Sciences

The MRes programme allows you to undertake a research project at Master’s level which would be assessed via submission of a thesis and a viva voce.

Tailor your studies to your specific interests or career aspirations such as; healthcare, midwifery, nursing, leadership or dementia. Other areas include radiography and medical imaging, nutrition, exercise, the social sciences, humanisation or social work.

You can set out to find the answer to a particular research question and will have the chance to delve more deeply into a subject area that you are passionate about.

Your research project will be developed in collaboration with our academic University staff who will provide you with specialist knowledge and supervisory input, while accessing BU’s technical and information resources.

You will also be part of BU’s wider postgraduate community and have access to the suite of research, professional and personal training offered through the Doctoral College and your academic faculty.

We strongly encourage collaboration across specialisms, and an MRes provides an opportunity to work with supervisors from various backgrounds to deliver truly impactful research.

The minimum completion time for the full-time course is 12 months with flexibility to take up to 18 months. If you would prefer to complete the course part-time, the minimum completion time is 24 months with flexibility to take up to 36 months to complete.

Course details

The MRes is focused on the development of generic research knowledge and critical analysis skills applied to independant research on an approved topic. You research would normally involve a literature study, an experimental or hypothesis-testing phase, an evaluation phase and a writing-up phase.

Your independant research would be written up as a thesis, which is expected to be between 15,000 and 30,000 words (depending on the discipline).

Careers

Undertaking a research degree will not only allow you to carry out research in a specialist field, it will also equip you with transferable skills that can be applied to roles within project management, commercial research and development, or consultancy services.

You may decide that you would like to pursue a career within academia, developing the research that you undertake during your MRes and sharing your expertise with others who have an interest in a similar field.