Environmental Engineering MSc

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View our Academic experience page, which gives information about your Newcastle University study experience for the academic year 2024-25.

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Module information is intended to provide an example of what you will study.

Our teaching is informed by research. Course content changes periodically to reflect developments in the discipline, the requirements of external bodies and partners, and student feedback.

Full details of the modules on offer will be published through the Programme Regulations and Specifications ahead of each academic year. This usually happens in May.

To find out more please see our terms and conditions.

Optional modules availability

Some courses have optional modules. Student demand for optional modules may affect availability.

You will be required to complete a total of 180 credits throughout the course. Taught modules worth 110 credits are delivered in semesters 1 and 2. A 70 credit individual research dissertation project is undertaken in the third semester. You'll be taught through a combination of:

• lectures
• tutorials
• practical classes
• online materials
• coursework tasks with individual feedback
• site visits and field trips

You'll study a variety of taught modules, and work closely with academic mentors on an environmental engineering design challenge, followed by a research dissertation project.

Several modules incorporate extensive laboratory practical experience. These will be carried out through small group teaching and demonstrations in our labs.

Practical training, industrial site visits and field trips are an integral part of the course.

All taught modules provide direct access to course tutors through small group face to face meetings or via alternative online meetings.

Depending on your modules, you'll be assessed through a combination of:

• Design or creative project
• Dissertation
• Oral examination
• Practical lab report
• Poster
• Portfolio
• Problem-solving exercises
• Report
• Written examination
• Written exercise

Project design work

In the 20 credit Environmental Design module in semester 2, you'll work closely with academic mentors to develop sustainable solutions to protect the environment and public health.

Group work

In the Environmental Engineering for Low- and Middle-income Countries module and the Environmental Engineering Design module, you'll work in small teams to find appropriate environmental engineering solutions.

Field trips

Field trips will include guided visits to water and wastewater treatment plants, solid waste management facilities, and contaminated land sites in North East England. You wil have access to Newcastle University’s Urban Observatory, which provides the UK’s largest set of publicly available real time urban data in the UK, and the UK’s National Green Infrastructure Facility.

Dissertation

You'll put your specialist skills, knowledge, and understanding into practice undertaking a significant individual research project and written dissertation.

Your project might involve you working within one of the School's world-class research groups. We have well-equipped laboratories and pilot-scale research facilities.

Or you might work elsewhere in collaboration with another academic or industrial partner where we have strong links. Overseas field research may also be possible.

Wherever you work, you will be supervised, throughout your project, by an experienced scientist or engineer. They will also support you on your collection/analysis of data, and will guide you in producing a well-written dissertation.

Your teaching and learning is also supported by Canvas. Canvas is a Virtual Learning Environment. You'll use Canvas to submit your assignments and access your:

• module handbooks
• course materials
• groups
• course announcements and notifications
• written feedback

Throughout your studies, you’ll have access to support from:

• peers
• academics
• personal tutors
• our University Student Services Team
• student representatives

You'll also be assigned an academic member of staff. They will be your personal tutor throughout your time with us. They can help with academic and personal issues.

Professor Jaime Amezaga

Professor of Environmental Sustainability

Areas of expertise:

• policy and institutional analysis in sustainable water, land use and energy management
• socio-technical or socio-natural issues both in the UK and internationally
• sustainability, engineering ethics and public policy
• water policy and river basin management

Professor Thomas Curtis

Professor of Environmental Engineering

Areas of expertise

• science and technologies required for the treatment of water and wastes
• biological treatment systems
• experimental and theoretical microbial ecology
• wastewater treatment in developing countries
• waste tabilisation ponds
• microbial Fuel Cells
• pathogens and pathogen removal

Professor Russell Davenport

Professor of Engineering for the Environment and Human Health

Areas of expertise:

• understanding the fate, especially biodegradation, of chemicals in natural environments and engineered biological treatment systems
• the development and application of molecular-based techniques for the quantification of bacteria, especially in relation to key functions
• the application of ecological theory, molecular measurement techniques and mathematical models to understand, predict and manipulate microbial communities in engineered treatment systems

Professor David Graham

Professor of Ecosystems Engineering

Areas of expertise:

• the transmission, fate and impact of antibiotic resistance genes in the environment resulting from human activity
• energy minimization in water, wastewater and solid waste management systems
• the microbiology and ecology of greenhouse gas suppression and production in geochemical settings, especially in Polar regions
• water and environmental quality in the developing and emerging world

Dr Oliver Heidrich

Senior Lecturer

Areas of expertise:

• climate change adaptation and mitigation
• urban planning and infrastructure systems
• environmental, resource and waste management
• life cycle assessment and costing
• standardised management systems

Professor Adam Jarvis

Professor of Hydrogeochemical Engineering

Areas of expertise:

• source, transport and fate of metals in freshwaters
• development of sustainable systems for the treatment of metal-contaminated waters
• point and diffuse source pollution dynamics
• legacy industrial waste management

Professor David Werner

Envirnomental Systems Modelling

Areas of expertise:

• field methods for water quality surveying, including portable next generation sequencing
• innovative use of sorbents for water treatment and environmental restoration
• minimize water wastage in the built environment

Dr Lucia Rodriguez Freire

Lecturer in Environmental Engineering

Areas of expertise:

• mechanisms of interaction between microorganisms, plants, soil particles, and contaminants in the environment
• methods of mimicking natural processes to solve current and future environmental problems

From 1 January 2021 there is an update to the way professional qualifications are recognised by countries outside of the UK

Check the government’s website for more information.

As a general principle, you should expect the tuition fee to increase in each subsequent academic year of your course, subject to government regulations on fee increases and in line with inflation.

Depending on your residency history, if you’re a student from the EU, other EEA or a Swiss national, with settled or pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme, you’ll normally pay the ‘Home’ tuition fee rate and may be eligible for Student Finance England support.

EU students without settled or pre-settled status will normally be charged fees at the ‘International’ rate and will not be eligible for Student Finance England support. You will be eligible for a scholarship worth 15% off the international fee. 

If you are unsure of your fee status, check out the latest guidance here.

Scholarships

We support our EU and international students by providing a generous range of Vice-Chancellor's automatic and merit-based scholarships. See our searchable postgraduate funding page for more information. 

If you are an international student or a student from the EU, EEA or Switzerland and you need a visa to study in the UK, you may have to pay a deposit.

You can check this in the How to apply section.

If you're applying for funding, always check the funding application deadline. This deadline may be earlier than the application deadline for your course.

For some funding schemes, you need to have received an offer of a place on a course before you can apply for the funding.