Cardiff University

Master in Global Ecology and Conservation

Cardiff, United Kingdom Taught in English Open to international students

Introduction

Cardiff University, established in 1883 and located in the capital of Wales, is a research-led institution with a global reputation for high-quality, innovative scholarship. Home to more than 33,000 students, including over 9,000 international students from more than 100 countries, the university offers a vibrant, multicultural campus within a dynamic city. Teaching is informed by cutting-edge research, ensuring students learn from academic leaders who are active in advancing knowledge and addressing real-world challenges.

The university provides a wide range of undergraduate and postgraduate programs across faculties, with roughly 266 programs available that span the arts, sciences, engineering, business, and health disciplines. Cardiff emphasizes a student-centered approach, offering strong academic support, opportunities for study abroad, and industry partnerships that help students gain practical experience. Many undergraduates benefit from international exchanges and placements that enhance employability and global perspective.

Cardiff’s civic mission prioritizes community engagement, sustainability, and public good, with initiatives that contribute to regional health, wealth, and wellbeing. The campus environment supports extracurricular involvement, research internships, and student societies that enrich campus life. For international applicants seeking a research-intensive university in a welcoming capital city, Cardiff combines academic rigor, global connections, and extensive support services to help students thrive.

About the Program

! Content unavailable How to watch this video Video disabled icon ### **Content unavailable** This content is not available because your cookie preferences do not allow it. In order to view this content, you will need to allow cookies that: - help with our advertising and marketing - enable useful features Enable cookies Or view the content on Youtube ! Close Our MSc in Global Ecology and Conservation trains the ecologists and conservationists of the future. tick Latest conservation trends Learn the concepts and challenges in conservation, including in legislative and NGO contexts, and ‘horizon-scanning’ for future threats. molecule Practical training Use the latest survey technologies such as eDNA for monitoring ecosystems, detecting species declines and diagnosing their causes. plane Fieldwork in the UK or abroad An optional Field Course and Placement module (BIT055) extends the field-based teaching by up to two weeks with a choice of UK and/or international destinations. star Expert contributors We invite leading external experts and thinkers in conservation to contribute regularly to our course. people Ranked 4th in the UK and 28th in the world Our School is ranked highly for Biological Sciences by the 2024 Shanghai Ranking Global Ranking of Academic Subjects. With a changing climate, an increasing human population, and growing rates of extinction and habitat loss, the world is facing unprecedented challenges. Covering the complete span from ecological theory and pioneering research, through to practical site assessments and conservation interventions, we equip you with the skills and knowledge required to tackle major global challenges and make a ‘real world’ difference. From the rivers of South Wales to the Bornean rainforest, our MSc covers the major conservation issues affecting habitats across the globe. With training in core areas, such as wildlife surveys, biodiversity assessments and species management, you learn how to identify current and emerging threats to species and ecosystems and develop the necessary skills to tackle these threats with effective and scalable solutions. These are bolstered by training in complementary topics including data handling and geographical information systems (GIS), which are essential employability skills in ecology and conservation. There is scope to tailor the course to your interests and career aspirations, with a range of options for your professional work placement, field course, and final research project (dissertation). Depending on your choices, you could potentially spend several months working in the field during your MSc. The course is delivered by leading academics who work across the world conducting cutting-edge research and addressing key global challenges – from pioneering climate change research, to developing action plans to preserve native species. As well as offering you the excitement of learning in an active research environment, this approach will also demonstrate how your work can be translated into practical conservation measures. You’ll receive training in data handling, analysis, and visualisation, using publicly available biodiversity data and learn how to archive your own data for others to use. In addition, science communication is embedded across the course, where you’ll learn to interact with different individuals and organisations, and use different formats to target audiences from the general public through to policy makers and funding bodies. We know that ecology and conservation are constantly evolving, and, in response, we have developed an MSc that is explicitly forward-looking, covering new technology and ‘horizon scanning’ for future conservation issues. With a flexible and interdisciplinary approach, we aim to train postgraduates who can take on roles in research, practice, policy, consultancy and more, and who have the skills, confidence and knowledge base to adapt to a global job market and changing environme

Tuition in Context

This program's tuition is 45% above the typical master's in the United Kingdom.

Median tuition for that cohort is 27,309 USD, across 6,232 programs in our catalog.

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