Study with us

Why study environmental sciences?

With the increasing pressure from the world’s growing population, world population leading to growing demands and pressures being placed on the environment, addressing environmental sustainability is of enormous societal importance to ensure that water, food and other natural resources are available in the future. Growing population sizes, higher standards of living and an increasingly aging population mean that addressing environmental challenges to ensure sustainability is of enormous societal importance

The natural world is complex and human activity can have unexpected consequences that are hard to reverse. The study of how physical and biological processes maintain life, and how humans affect nature, requires a broad interdisciplinary perspective. Environmental problems and their associated solutions typically involve social, political and economic aspects which the scientist must be aware of.

This is why the dedicated study of environmental science is so important. It is only by understanding how the world works that we can begin to tackle some of our pressing problems. 

Why study with us?

The Department of Geographical Sciences is an open and welcoming community and we take pride in having small classes and getting to know all of our students. We are proud of the supportive family atmosphere within our department and our teaching quality is consistently rated as amongst the highest in the university by our students.

Our undergraduate programme covers all the major aspects of environmental sciences and aims to equip you with a deep understanding of the discipline. We also aim to develop your practical, analytical and communication skills to enhance your future career prospects. The majority of our graduates move on to global top ten universities for their postgraduate studies.

Our masters programme is research focused (MRes in Environmental Science and Engineering) and we welcome applications from a diverse range of applicants with backgrounds in natural and social sciences and engineering.

Our PhD programme in Geographical Sciences covers a diverse range of subjects ranging from ecology to physical geography to environmental management to geospatial analysis to human geography and a wide range of funding options are also available. Applicants can either approach potential supervisors with their own ideas and we can help find them funding or they can apply for a fully-funded scholarship from the doctoral training partnership (DTP) we lead with the Institute of Geographical Sciences & Natural Resource Research (IGSNRR), Chinese Academy of Science or our DTP with the Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences. 

You will benefit from a wealth of unique opportunities that only an international, multi-campus university such as Nottingham can offer. For an environmental scientist, this means that you will be able to experience multiple environmental systems across China, Malaysia and the UK and gain a greater understanding of the environmental challenges facing our planet.

The Department of Geographical Sciences offers both undergraduate and postgraduate courses in an inter-disciplinary environment.  The courses focus on international issues and have a distinctive China flavor.  Many of the dissertations focus on important contemporary issues and are linked to the growing environmental awareness in modern-day China.  

All degrees awarded at the China campus are the same as those conferred in the UK. Visit each programme page to learn more about course structure, content and entry requirements.