Master's graduate's stories

Many of our alumni have gone on to work in heritage organisations around the world. Several of our graduates have shared their experiences studying Sustainable Heritage at UCL.

Find out what they have to say about: Career opportunities | Chaning career path | Learning experience | Continuing in academia 

Career opportunities

“Since graduating I have been using data science skills learnt from the MSc straight away in my role as Preventive Data Scientist at the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) in coding applications for the prevention of damage to museum objects from the climate, insects, light and other risks to the objects."

Bhavesh Shah, studied Data Science for Cultural Heritage MSc, 2020-21
Find out more about Bhavesh's experience ►

My experience on the MSc Sustainable Heritage course led to a successful internship opportunity at Historic England, where I had a very enjoyable experience after graduating. Meanwhile, the knowledge I gained during my postgraduate studies helped me to become more certain about the kind of work I want to do in my future career in relation to public engagement and urban renewal."“

Xinrui Dan, studied Built Environment: Sustainable Heritage MSc, 2020-21
Find out more about Xinrui's experience ► 

Experiences of changing career path

UCL’s Sustainable Heritage MSc was the first step on the route to a new career for me, after 17 years in finance. I’d long had an interest in old buildings, so it was a real boon, in amongst all the other projects and topics, to find myself studying environmental management strategies for historic houses with the person responsible for this area at the National Trust. He then agreed to mentor my dissertation, which centred on conservation heating at three National Trust properties, and from there I never really looked back."
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Hilary Jarvis, studied Built Environment: Sustainable Heritage MSc 2014-15

Embarking on a mid-life career change from publishing to heritage was a daunting prospect, but from the moment I met the UCL Sustainable Heritage course tutors and my fellow students I knew I’d done the right thing! The course stretched me in ways I couldn’t have anticipated."“

Tessa Harvey, studied Built Environment: Sustainable Heritage MSc 2014–2016 

Learning experience

What I personally most enjoyed was learning about heritage and the great mix of modules, which really allowed me to be creative. I also got to work on some techniques that I'd never used before, such as when I built a graffiti image classifier which was one of my favourite projects."“

Irene Iriarte, studied Data Science for Cultural Heritage MSc 2020-21
Find out more about Irene's experience ►

“The MSc helped me to broaden my view about what sustainability is and how best a holistic approach can be implemented, whilst providing the technical skills and using systems thinking in various fields."

Ed Gritten, studied Built Environment: Sustainable Heritage MSc 2020-21
Find out more about Ed's experience ►

The Sustainable Heritage MSc is perfect for someone looking for an intellectual challenge, and complements a variety of future careers relating to the built environment or museum collections. I not only gained a wealth of knowledge, but I have also widened my skillset through teamwork and project management, which will be invaluable in my new role."“

Natalie Ioannou, studied Built Environment: Sustainable Heritage MSc 2020-21
Find out more about Natalie's experience  ► 

Experience continuing in academia

“First, and most importantly, savour your time at University College London. For students interested in pursuing a future Ph.D. or another master’s degree, my advice would be to establish a strong foundation in your interest research area. Data Science for Cultural Heritage program would be a good choice because of its professional supervisors and a range of cross-discipline courses.”

Anping Zhang, studied Data Science for Cultural Heritage MSc 2020-21
Find out more about Anping's experience ►