Masters Programmes, Practitioner Doctorate in Sustainability, Environment and Sustainability PhD
The Centre for Environment & Sustainability (CES) is an internationally-acclaimed centre of research and teaching excellence on sustainable development. It takes an inter-disciplinary approach to the analysis of sustainable systems, integrating strong, engineering and natural science based approaches with insights from the social sciences to develop action-oriented, policy relevant responses to long-term environmental and social issues.
We offer comprehensive Masters and Postgraduate Research courses and CPD opportunities, please consult our website at www.surrey.ac.uk/centre-environment-sustainability and for further enquiries Mrs Moira Foster at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or 01483 686675.
1. Masters Programmes
Our Part-time or Full-time MSc programmes offer you:
- 5 day intensive teaching format for all modules
- A 25 year track record in leadership in sustainability and environmental strategy with business, government, civil society and academia
- Career and Professional development
- Understanding sustainability concepts e.g. circular economy, natural capital, SDG’s, clean growth, planetary boundaries
- Confidence in working with sustainability reporting
- Inbuilt access to IEMA and IES professional membership
- Cultural diversity
- Optional internship opportunities
- Extensive CES Alumni network for lifelong professional and personal development
Please see our animated Sustainability MSc student journey video on YouTube as well as a video from a current part-time MSc student, Carolyn Gardner, discussing the masters programme, modules and how her MSc is helping her career advancement
“The best thing about studying at CES was the flexibility that is built into the part-time course. The students on the course were a very rich group in terms of previous experience and having such a high percentage of part-time students in each class made for excellent network building opportunities.” Tim Cowman, Deputy Director, Carbon Africa Ltd
2. Practitioner Doctorate in Sustainability Programme
Graduates and researchers are often faced with a dilemma between pursuing their research studies at PhD level or taking a role in industry to apply their knowledge in the ‘real world’. The Practitioner Doctorate in Sustainability programme allows you to do both!
Researchers spend over three quarters of their time in an organisation combining in-depth industry experience whilst pursuing research leading to a PhD or EngD degree. The researcher will work on a research brief developed in partnership with the organisation and designed to resolve a current industry issue whilst also making a novel contribution to academic knowledge. This highly innovative course is aimed at high-achieving researchers and graduates whose vision is to become a sustainability leader in industry.
To hear the programme Director, Dr Jacquetta Lee and 2 students describe the PDS course, how it started, what we do and how our students experience research on ‘real life’ industry challenges please see our YouTube video or go to our website www.surrey.ac.uk/pds
“Our aim is to collaborate with industry to develop solutions based on academic & industry evidence that will have enduring value for organisations and the wider industry sectors.” Dr Jacquetta Lee, PDS Director, University of Surrey
3. Environment and Sustainability PhD
The University of Surrey has been leading the way in PhD-level environmental and sustainability research for over 25 years. Since CES was established in 1992, we have gained an outstanding international reputation for this multi-disciplinary research and training in all aspects of sustainability. Some examples of our major contributions include: life cycle assessment and environmental impact analysis; industrial ecology and the circular economy; techno-economic analysis; the water, energy and food nexus; bioenergy and biorefineries; low carbon transitions; lifestyles and behaviours; prosperity without growth; environmental and energy policy.
We have a vibrant and supportive group of postgraduate research students, embedded within and contributing to our research agenda. The group is multi-disciplinary, internationally diverse and reflects a striking depth of professional experience.
We champion two of the University of Surrey’s main research themes, Sustainability and Urban Living, and are also home to the prestigious Economic and Social Research Council-funded Centre for the Understanding of Sustainable Prosperity (CUSP) led by Professor Tim Jackson. We collaborate with staff across the University on a huge range of sustainability-related projects, giving you an excellent opportunity to learn from and contribute to this vital area of human development.
The professional development of all our postgraduate researchers is supported by the Doctoral College. This provides training in essential skills through its Researcher Development workshops, mentoring and coaching and a dedicated postgraduate Careers and Employability team is also available to help you with your next career steps after your PhD.
"Undertaking a collaborative PhD at CES ranks as one of the most rewarding endeavours that I have undertaken. The scale of support - and the many interesting, challenging and insightful discussions with my supervisor - greatly benefited both my academic research and my professional work. I am extremely pleased that I chose to conduct my PhD with CES." Dr Steve Waygood, Chief Responsible Investment Officer, Aviva Investors