Taught Courses

Taught degrees are typically one year Masters programmes, based upon a structure of lectures, seminars and tutorials. At Durham University, we consider Engineering as an integrated subject rather than sub-dividing the discipline into narrow areas. We follow a modular system and you will normally have a number of core modules and the opportunity to select a number of optional modules.

The postgraduate taught route is ideal for anyone who prefers a structured framework for their studies but one which also allows a certain degree of flexibility and scope for building research skills. The Department offers an excellent environment for postgraduate study. These pages will tell you all you need to know about studying for a taught Masters degree in Engineering at Durham.

• MSc Advanced Mechanical Engineering
• MSc Biomedical Engineering
• MSc Civil Engineering
• MSc Electrical Engineering
• MSc Electronic Engineering
• MSc Energy Engineering Management
• MSc Renewable and Sustainable Energy

Course Content

We deliver a balance of taught content, group design and individual cutting-edge research project. The contents and the weightings of these elements are shown below.

Durham University runs a term system with one examination period per year. The first and the second term, each having 10 weeks, are for teaching activities. Term 3, having 9 weeks, are for revision lectures and exams. After that, you will spend your full time to do the individual research project until end July.   

Students have around 10 hours per week of contact time. The example timetable for Advanced Mechanical Engineering shown below provides an indication of how you will be spending your time (timetables change year to year).  The blue blocks are lectures (6 of lectures per week  - roughly one per module), the purple block is group design project, the red block is for research project supervision meeting and the white blocks are optional sessions where you can speak one-to-one with an academic.  Wednesday afternoons are kept free for research seminars and extracurricular activities.  

Scholarships and Prizes

A number of scholarships are available to apply, including Postgraduate Student Support Scholarships  and Alumni Fee Scholarship; see the comprehensive lists of scholarships here and here to check coverage, eligibility and application deadlines.

In particular, we offer scholarships to international applicants from six countries; details can be found here. For international applicants from other countries, a list of other scholarships can be found here. 

The department also offers 15 prizes to the students of outstanding performance at the end of each academic year.

Student research projects result in journal paper publications

Postgraduate Module Handbook

Find out more information about the programme framework for your Masters using the Postgraduate Module Handbook. This includes details on which modules are compulsory on your programme, whether you have any optional choices, and if you do have optional choices, how many you have and the extent of the choice open to you.