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This interdisciplinary programme explores issues around and approaches to international and transnational population migration, with an especial focus on contemporary movements.
About this degree
Global migration is an issue of fundamental contemporary importance. Migration is not just a ‘problem’/’solution’ for nation-states, but impacts all levels of society, from regions and cities to ‘local’ communities. This degree, housed within the Geography Department but fundamentally interdisciplinary in nature, will give you a broad yet in-depth appreciation of the different facets of contemporary international population migration and its political implications.
As a student on the MSc Global Migration, you will be trained in advanced analytical skills and research methods. The degree culminates in the dissertation – a substantial piece of independent academic research.
On graduation, you will have an understanding of, and the ability to apply, key global migration concepts in both general and specialised contexts. You will have an appreciation of a wide array of processes, policies and politics relating to contemporary international population migration. You will have a grasp of key academic literature in this area.
Who is this course for?
You will be best suited for the MSc Global Migration if you are a recent graduate in the following disciplines: human geography, political science, sociology, anthropology, economics, and cultural and area studies.
Additionally, you may be interested in embarking on PhD research or a career in the field of migration studies.
The course also provides an opportunity for professionals already working in related fields interested in the latest academic developments and trends in migration.
MSc Open Event
Hear more about the course from Professor Johanna Waters:
Testimonial
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Vivian Kong | Clementine Andre | Anna Hutchinson |
- Academic Staff
Professor Johanna Waters (Convenor)
Johanna is the convenor of the MSc Global Migration programme and Co-Director of the Migration Research Unit. Her research interests include international and transnational migration, young people and international higher education, and educational mobilities. She is particularly interested in understanding how experiences of higher education and subsequent employment are being transformed through internationalisation and the relationship to mobility. She is co-Editor-in-Chief of the migration journal Global Networks.
Professor Ben Page
With over 25 years of experience working in Cameroon, Ben has a research interest in the fields of migration and development. He is the editor of Timespace and International Migration, published in 2017.
Professor Elena Fiddian-Qasmiyeh
Elena is Co-Director of the UCL Migration Research Unit and coordinates the Refuge in a Moving World research network. Her research focuses on the intersections between gender, generation and religion in experiences of, and responses to, conflict-induced displacement and statelessness. She has a particular regional focus on the Middle East and North Africa.
Dr Tatiana Thieme
Tatiana's research focuses on people cut off from mainstream institutional support and how they navigate precarious urban environments, especially concerning employment. Alongside her long-term and ongoing ethnographic engagement in Kenya, her projects include research on refugee economies and street-level humanitarian work in Athens, Paris, Berlin and Budapest, funded by the British Academy Camps2Cities.
Professor Tariq Jazeel
Tariq is co-founder and co-director of UCL’s Centre for the Study of South Asia and the Indian Ocean World. His research examines the intersection between critical geography, postcolonial and critical theory, and South Asian studies. He is interested in the politics of ethnicity and difference in Sri Lanka and the diasporic and transnational forms of South Asian cultural production.
Professor Alan Latham
Alan is an urban geographer whose research focuses on sociality and urban life, globalisation and the cultural economy of cities, and corporeal mobility. He is interested in how certain internationally module individuals and groups use globalisation, the transportation and communication networks within, to create life projects strung across enormous distances.
Dr Russell Hitchings
Russell is examining the changing aspects of everyday life with important implications for social wellbeing and environmental sustainability. He is interested in a range of topics from theories of social practice and norms, through ways of studying nature and environmental experience, to human adaptation, sustainable consumption, energy research within the social sciences and qualitative interviews and ethnographic methods.
Dr Tom Western
Tom's research and teaching focus on creative citizenships and migratory activisms, from social movements, cities, citizenships and activisms to anticolonialism, creativities, migrations, and borders. His work often focuses on sound and listening. He follows how activisms travel, circulate and migrate, considering the ways citizenship struggles shuttle from place to place and how resistances resonate across anticolonial geographies and radical trajectories.
UCL Migration Research Unit
The UCL Migration Research Unit brings together more than 40 academics with interests in migration across UCL
Funding
Information about various funding sources for graduate studies can be found on UCL Funding. Numerous schemes are available to support you throughout your degree. We recommend exploring funding opportunities at the earliest possible stage.
- Available funding
Here is a brief list of opportunities specifically available to taught postgraduate students:
- UCL Doctoral School
- UCL Graduate Scholarships and Awards
- ESRC funding at UCL (including the 1+3 scheme, but please contact Professor Ben Page directly for application)
- UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office Chevening Programme: Provides approximately 1,000 scholarships for international students pursuing taught postgraduate study or research at a UK Higher Education Institution.
- Commonwealth Scholarships and Fellowships Plan (CSFP): Open to prospective postgraduate students from Commonwealth countries.
- Ford Foundation International Fellowships Programme: Available for students from Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Latin America, and Russia.
- Marshall Scholarships - Marshall Commission: Offers funding for taught postgraduate studies to US citizens.
- Fulbright Traditional Postgraduate Student Awards - US-UK Fulbright Commission: Provides awards to US citizens for funding their first year of a Masters or Doctoral Degree, or for pursuing research at a UK educational institution.
The application deadline for most of these awards is typically in early March each year, although some awards may require up to 12 months' notice.
We strongly encourage you to contact your Ministry of Education or Education Department, as they will have information on various funding schemes and advise you on your government's conditions for studying abroad.
Additionally, please reach out to the nearest British Council Office in your country of origin. They can provide details on scholarship schemes, as well as information and guidance on educational programs and living in the UK. In the absence of a British Council Office, please contact the nearest British Embassy, High Commission, or Consulate.
There are also additional funding opportunities available from institutions such as the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, and the European Commission. It is advisable to directly contact these institutions for more information.
For further assistance and information about studying in the UK as an overseas student, please get in touch with the UCL International Office.
Visit the Prospectus for information on Fees:
News from MSc Global Migration
 | Job Opportunities: Research Fellow and Project and Communications CoordinatorProfessor Elena Fiddian-Qasmiyeh is looking for a Research Fellow and a Project and Communications Coordinator to join her European Research Council-funded project, 'Analysing South-South Humanitarian Responses to Displacement from Syria: Views from Lebanon, Jordan and Türkiye'. |
 | Tyler Valiquette Awarded Next Economy Trust FellowshipWe are thrilled to announce that Research Student Tyler Valiquette is one of two Geography students to be awarded the prestigious Next Economy Trust Fellowship. |
 | 60 Seconds With…Professor Ben PageAs Professor Ben Page prepares for his Inaugural Lecture on 10 January 2024, he reflects on his extensive research journey so far, centred on the dynamics of human migration and economic development in Cameroon. |
 | Watch the Claire Dwyer Lecture: Geographies of Private TutoringProfessor Sarah Holloway (Loughborough University) gives the first ever Claire Dwyer Lecture, looking at private tutoring and its impact on education. |