Reading lies in a purpose built campus on the M4 corridor with excellent transport links to London (50 mins) and Heathrow airport (40 mins).

The Dept of Soil Science is internationally respected obtaining a grade 5 in the last RAE.

This course has five full NERC studentships which cover the cost of fees and provide living expenses of £8,280. Due to restrictions on this funding, only applicants from the UK/EU are eligible to apply.

This is a vocational course providing training designed to bridge the gap between the completion of a degree, and entering the environment industry as consultants or regulators. The course has been running for 15 years and is well regarded by industry and recognised by National Environment Research Council who support the course with studentships.

The strengths of the course are:

• Close ties with industry and regulators who provide research projects, lectures to the course and are members of the MSc steering committee.
• Modules are practically based with a combination of experienced researchers in the field and practitioners.
• The research project is 40% of the total mark allowing students to gain practical experience, often with industry, and potentially transfer to PhD.
• Good employment prospects - with the following destinations over the past 5 years; Environmental consultancy 57%, university research 19%, other industry positions 13% and destinations unknown 11%.

The 2006-7 cohort were all in employment within 3 months of completing their degree.

Programme Content

Term 1 provides an in-depth coverage of the chemical, biological and physical principles of soils and the movement of pollutants within them.

Term 2 contains the specialist modules which cover land contamination, remediation, soil and water quality, site investigation, and environmental law and risk assessment. Visits are arranged to local research institutes, commercial organisations involved in relevant activities and sites of historic contamination as well as a one week field course.

Term 3 is devoted to the field and laboratory project which can be carried out in collaboration with a commercial organisation, or research institute in Britain or overseas.

In addition to the scientific principles, training in business and transferable skills forms an important component of the programme and these are reinforced in the modules through student presentations in seminars, report writing and team projects.

Applicants are welcome from students with degrees in environmental science with a second class honours or above. Other degrees will be considered on a case by case basis.

For further details: www.reading.ac.uk/soilscience/pg-taught or for an informal discussion, please contact Dr Chris Collins, c.d.collins@reading.ac.uk 0118 378 8910.

Fees are £3,575 for UK and EU students and £11,300 for overseas students.

Application forms and details of support for funding can be downloaded from:
http://www.reading.ac.uk/Study/study-pg.asp .

Applications are welcome from UK, Europe and Overseas students.

The International Office at Reading has a very good reputation with links to 110 countries