Overview
- Degree awarded
- Master of Arts
- Duration
- 1 year full-time, 2 years part-time
- Entry requirements
-
We require an Upper Second-class honours degree or overseas equivalent in an appropriate discipline, which may include humanities or science subjects. You should provide transcripts or study plans indicating performance on the most relevant course content.
Applicants may also be accepted based on evidence of alternative study, research or professional experience that meets the University's central requirements.
This course is also available for intercalating medical students, both from the University of Manchester and other UK universities, upon completion of their third year. For St Andrews students, this includes the three-year course plus the following one or two years spent in Manchester. Intercalating medical students need to have passed all assessments at first attempt (if they are third year) or have no fails in third year if they are fourth year.
- How to apply
You should apply for this course via our online application form.
See the Application and selection section for details of the supporting documents that we require with your form.
Course options
| Full-time | Part-time | Full-time distance learning | Part-time distance learning | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MA | Y | Y | N | N |
Course overview
- Study at the UK's leading centre for the integrated historical study of science, technology and medicine.
- Work with world renowned experts in the history of science, technology and medicine, environmental humanities, bioethics and science communica
- tion. Have the option to take a placement that allows you to gain transferable skills by working with a range of external organisations.
- Open up flexible career options, from PhD preparation to jobs in science writing, public engagement, museums and heritage.
Open days
The Centre for the History of Science, Technology and Medicine usually offers open day events in November and February or March of each year. For details, see the open days page on the CHSTM website.
At other times of the year, CHSTM staff are happy to meet potential students individually or talk via email and phone.
Fees
For entry in the academic year beginning September 2024, the tuition fees are as follows:
-
MA (full-time)
UK students (per annum): £12,500
International, including EU, students (per annum): £30,000
Further information for EU students can be found on our dedicated EU page.
The fees quoted above will be fully inclusive for the course tuition, administration and computational costs during your studies.
All fees for entry will be subject to yearly review and incremental rises per annum are also likely over the duration of courses lasting more than a year for UK/EU students (fees are typically fixed for International students, for the course duration at the year of entry). For general fees information please visit: postgraduate fees. Always contact the department if you are unsure which fee applies to your qualification award and method of attendance.
Self-funded international applicants for this course will be required to pay a deposit of £1000 towards their tuition fees before a confirmation of acceptance for studies (CAS) is issued. This deposit will only be refunded if immigration permission is refused. We will notify you about how and when to make this payment.
Additional expenses
Policy on additional costs
All students should normally be able to complete their programme of study without incurring additional study costs over and above the tuition fee for that programme. Any unavoidable additional compulsory costs totalling more than 1% of the annual home undergraduate fee per annum, regardless of whether the programme in question is undergraduate or postgraduate taught, will be made clear to you at the point of application. Further information can be found in the University's Policy on additional costs incurred by students on undergraduate and postgraduate taught programmes (PDF document, 91KB).
Scholarships/sponsorships
Several sources of funding are available. For current possibilities, please see the funding page on the Centre for the History of Science, Technology and Medicine website. Please note that funding application deadlines are usually significantly earlier than the application deadline for the course.
For the latest scholarship and bursary information please visit the fees and funding page.
Contact details
- School/Faculty
- Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health
- Contact name
- Postgraduate Admissions Team
- Telephone
- +44 (0)161 529 4577
- pgtaught.medicine@manchester.ac.uk
- Website
- http://www.chstm.manchester.ac.uk/
- School/Faculty
-
Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health
Courses in related subject areas
Use the links below to view lists of courses in related subject areas.
Entry requirements
Academic entry qualification overview
We require an Upper Second-class honours degree or overseas equivalent in an appropriate discipline, which may include humanities or science subjects. You should provide transcripts or study plans indicating performance on the most relevant course content.
Applicants may also be accepted based on evidence of alternative study, research or professional experience that meets the University's central requirements.
This course is also available for intercalating medical students, both from the University of Manchester and other UK universities, upon completion of their third year. For St Andrews students, this includes the three-year course plus the following one or two years spent in Manchester. Intercalating medical students need to have passed all assessments at first attempt (if they are third year) or have no fails in third year if they are fourth year.
English language
International students must demonstrate English proficiency through a secure and approved testing system.
We ask for English language proof if you are from non-majority English speaking countries (a list of majority English speaking countries, as defined by the UK Home Office, can be found here ).
Specifically, we require a minimum of:
- IELTS: 6.5 overall with a minimum of 6.0 in every component.
See further information about r equirements for your country.
We may also accept evidence of a confirmed place on a University Pre-sessional English language course. Please visit the University Language Centre webpage for details.
Please note, we must approve this before you apply for the English course. If you wish to be considered for a pre-sessional course please contact the admissions team pgtaughtmedicine@manchester.ac.uk.
English language test validity
Other international entry requirements
Application and selection
How to apply
You should apply for this course via our online application form.
See the Application and selection section for details of the supporting documents that we require with your form.
Advice to applicants
We require the following documents before we can consider your application.
- Official transcript of your studies to date. As far as possible, this should include details of grades achieved for individual modules or courses. If the transcript is generated in a language other than English, you should also include a translation.
- One academic reference will be sought. You will be required to provide contact details for one academic referee when completing your application form.
- Degree certificate (if you have already graduated).
- Personal statement of 300-500 words, explaining your background and interest in the course.
- Curriculum vitae (CV) outlining your career and/or study history.
- If English is not your first language, we require proof of your English language ability. If you have already taken an English language qualification, please include your certificate with your application. We may be willing to consider your application without this document, but if we choose to make you an offer, the conditions will include IELTS (or equivalent qualification).
Interview requirements
Overseas (non-UK) applicants
CAS Information
Self-funded international applicants for this course will be required to pay a deposit of £1,000 towards their tuition fees before a confirmation of acceptance for studies (CAS) is issued. This deposit will only be refunded if immigration permission is refused. We will notify you about how and when to make this payment.
For CAS purposes, you will be asked to upload a copy of your current valid passport showing the photograph page. This must show your full name, date of birth, nationality, passport number and the date the passport is valid until, which must be later than the date of your planned arrival in the UK, and the start date of your course.
You cannot use your CAS to apply for a visa more than three months before the start date of your course, the Admissions Team will contact you at the appropriate time.
Your CAS number is only valid for one Tier 4 application.
Re-applications
Course details
Course description
Our taught MA History of Science, Technology and Medicine (HSTM) focuses on key topics from the 19th century to the present, and gives students a critical perspective on global challenges such as:
- The history of climate change
- Questions about trust and expertise
- The relationship between information technology and society
- Science, race and empire
- The politics of public health and access to medical care
The degree focuses on humanities skills, but can be taken successfully by students from any disciplinary background.
Our flexible curriculum provides breadth and choice across the history of science, technology and medicine, allowing you to tailor your studies to suit your interests.
The placement option allows you to gain transferable skills for employment by working with museums, charities, policy organisations and heritage bodies.
You will become an integrated member of a research community with dedicated facilities and a vibrant seminar programme.
You will learn from and work with world-leading staff, whose expertise encompasses political, social, and cultural approaches to the history of science, technology and medicine, from both national and global perspectives.
PhD with integrated master's
If you're planning to undertake a PhD after your master's, our Integrated PhD programme will enable you to combine your postgraduate taught course with a related PhD project in biology, medicine or health.
You can also visit this page for examples of projects related to integrated master's courses.
Aims
This course aims to:
- explore how science, technology and medicine have become integral to the ways in which we order, imagine and experience modern societies;
- provide opportunities to study significant historical and contemporary topics in depth, by working with experts across a number of fields and specialisms;
- prepare you for further academic study or employment by supporting the development of writing and presentation skills, and providing opportunities to gain professional experience outside universities;
- enable you to produce a major piece of original research and writing in the form of a dissertation.
Special features
Placement option
The optional placement unit enables you to gain direct professional experience and enhance your CV by working with an organisation from the heritage, charitable or policymaking sectors. This allows you to gain practical skills that can be invaluable both in your studies and when applying for jobs after graduating.
Explore Manchester's history
Manchester is the classic 'shock city' of the Industrial Revolution and its environmental and social outcomes, and a global city whose identity is closely tied up with scientific discovery. You'll be able to relive the development of industrial society through visits to local museums and sites of historic interest.
Research support
We have 15 members of staff with expertise across the history of science, technology and medicine. All of our staff offer dissertation supervision in a range of specialist areas.
Opportunities for further study and experience
Take up optional classes and volunteering opportunities shared with the parallel MSc Science and Health Communication course at Manchester, including science policy, science media, museums and public events activities.
Convenient study options
Benefit from flexible options for full or part-time study.
Teaching and learning
Teaching includes a mixture of lectures and small-group seminar discussions built around readings and other materials. We emphasise the use both of primary sources and current research in the field.
Most students will also visit local museums and other sites of interest to work on objects or archives.
All students meet regularly with a designated personal tutor from among the staff, and, from Semester 2, a dissertation supervisor.
Coursework and assessment
Assessment is mostly based on traditional essay-format coursework submission, although in Semester 2 you will have the option to undertake alternative assessments such as creative writing.
All MA students undertake a research dissertation accounting for 60 of the 180 credits.
Course unit details
You are required to complete 180 credits in the following course units to be awarded this MA:
Semester 1 course units (credits):
- Major themes in the history of science, technology and medicine (30 credits)
- Historiography of science, technology and medicine (
- 15) Communicating ideas in science, technology and medicine (15)
Semester 2: optional course units (accounting for 60 credits) from the below list, or students can choose to incorporate a maximum of 30 credits of course units from an affiliated programme:
- Placement in the History of Science, Technology and Medicine (30 credi
- ts) Decolonising History of Science, Technology and Medicine (15 credits)
- Madness and Society (15 credits)
- Making Life: Biological Sciences since 1800 (15 credits)
- Technology, identity and society (15 credits)
- Nature and Artifice: Environmental Sciences since 1800 (15 credits)
- Politics of Public Health (15 credits)
- Risk: Science, Society and Culture (15 credi
- ts) The Nuclear Age (15 credits)
Plus:
- Dissertation in the history of science, technology and/or medicine (60)
Course structure (part-time)
Part-time students study alongside full-timers, taking half the same content each semester over two years.
You are required to complete 180 credits in the following course units to be awarded this MA.
Semester 1: Major themes in the history of science, technology and medicine (30 credits).
Semester 2: 30 credits of optional course units from:
- Placement in the History of Science, Technology and Medicine (30 credits)
- Decolonising History of Science (15 credits)
- Madness and Society (15 credits)
- Making Life: Biological Sciences since 1800 (15 credits)
- Technology, identity and society (15 credits)
- Nature and Artifice: Environmental Sciences since 1800 (15 credits)
- Politics of Public Health (15 credi
- ts) Risk: Science, Society and Culture (15 credits)
- The Nuclear Age (15 credits)
Semester 3:
- Historiography of science, technology and medicine (15)
- Communicating ideas in science, technology and medicine (15)
Semester 4: 30 credits of optional course units from:
- Placement in the History of Science, Technology and Medicine (30 credits)
- Decolonising History of Science (15 credits)
- Madness and Society (15 credits)
- Making Life: Biological Sciences since 1800 (15 credits)
- Technology, identity and society (15 credits)
- Nature and Artifice Environmental Sciences since 1800 (15 credits)
- Politics of Public Health (15 credits)
- Risk: Science, Society and Culture (15 credits)
- The Nuclear Age (15 credits)
Plus:
- Dissertation in HSTM (60 credits) across second year and during the summer
Course unit list
The course unit details given below are subject to change, and are the latest example of the curriculum available on this course of study.
| Title | Code | Credit rating | Mandatory/optional |
|---|---|---|---|
| Major Themes in HSTM | HSTM60511 | 30 | Mandatory |
| Communicating ideas in STM | HSTM60571 | 15 | Mandatory |
| Dissertation in HSTM | HSTM60632 | 60 | Mandatory |
| Historiography of STM | HSTM60651 | 15 | Mandatory |
| Decolonizing History of Science | HSTM60652 | 15 | Optional |
| The Nuclear Age: Global Nuclear Threats from Hiroshima to Today | HSTM60662 | 15 | Optional |
| Risk: Science, Society and Culture | HSTM60672 | 15 | Optional |
| Technology, identity and society | HSTM60682 | 15 | Optional |
| Madness and Society in the Modern Age | HSTM60692 | 15 | Optional |
| Making Life: Biological Science and Society since 1800 | HSTM60702 | 15 | Optional |
| Displaying 10 of 13 course units | |||
| Display all course units | |||
Scholarships and bursaries
Facilities
All MA students have use of a shared office in the Centre for the History of Science, Technology and Medicine, including networked computer terminals and storage space, and use of the dedicated subject library.
The Centre is located within a few minutes' walk of the University of Manchester Library, the largest non-deposit library in the UK.
Resources for student research projects within the University include the object collections of the Manchester Museum, also nearby on campus, and the John Rylands Library special collections facility in the city centre.
CHSTM also has a close working relationship with other institutions offering research facilities to students, notably the Museum of Science and Industry.
Disability support
Careers
Career opportunities
Many of our MA students go on to PhD research, whether in the history of science, technology and medicine itself, in other fields of history, or in a range of allied subjects including historical geography, science and technology studies, and museum studies.
Other graduates have gone on to a diverse range of careers involving a significant element of specialist expertise on the role of science or medicine in society. These include museums, science centres and the heritage sector; libraries and archives; the civil service; media production; journalism; specialist public relations; and technical authorship and editing.
The MA is also a valued qualification for general graduate recruitment, owing to its combination of scientific and medical context with a humanities-style focus on writing skills.