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Applied Infectious Disease Epidemiology MSc

London, Bloomsbury

Infectious disease epidemiology is the study of how infections spread, how they cause ill-health in populations and how they can be controlled. Epidemiologists help track, analyse and combat infectious diseases, preventing outbreaks and improving healthcare strategies. Through this work, they save millions of lives. This one-year Master’s degree draws upon the expertise of UCL's world-leading researchers in both infectious diseases, and in epidemiological methods for the prevention and control of infectious diseases. 

UK students International students
Study mode
UK tuition fees (2026/27)
£16,000
£8,000
Programme also available on a modular (flexible) basis.
Overseas tuition fees (2026/27)
£35,400
£17,700
Programme also available on a modular (flexible) basis.
Duration
1 academic year
2 academic years
5 academic years
Programme starts
September 2026
Applications accepted
Applicants who require a visa: 20 Oct 2025 – 26 Jun 2026

Applications closed

Applicants who do not require a visa: 20 Oct 2025 – 28 Aug 2026
Applications close at 5pm UK time

Applications open

Apply for this course

Entry requirements

A minimum of an upper second-class Honours in a relevant degree of a UK university, or an overseas qualification of an equivalent standard, a professional qualification in a health related area such as medicine or nursing of an equivalent standard. Relevant research, work or volunteer experience will be viewed favourably. Students without the minimum academic standards may be considered if they have extensive relevant work or research experience.

The English language level for this course is: Level 3

UCL Pre-Master's and Pre-sessional English courses are for international students who are aiming to study for a postgraduate degree at UCL. The courses will develop your academic English and academic skills required to succeed at postgraduate level.

Further information can be found on our English language requirements page.

Equivalent qualifications

Country-specific information, including details of when UCL representatives are visiting your part of the world, can be obtained from the International Students website.

International applicants can find out the equivalent qualification for their country by selecting from the list below. Please note that the equivalency will correspond to the broad UK degree classification stated on this page (e.g. upper second-class). Where a specific overall percentage is required in the UK qualification, the international equivalency will be higher than that stated below. Please contact Graduate Admissions should you require further advice.

About this degree


Epidemiology – the study of patterns and causes of diseases in human populations – is the underpinning science for clinical and public health research. Infectious disease epidemiologists integrate understanding across biology, society, and the environment to help control infections, addressing important global health challenges.

This MSc aims to train the future leaders in infectious disease epidemiology to make meaningful contributions to public health. You will learn how to design and conduct epidemiological investigations, and how to analyse and critically interpret data to identify patterns and associations through studying the effects of antimicrobial resistance, climate change, changes in the vectors that transmit infections, population movement, and access to and uptake of interventions such as vaccines. You will learn how to apply this learning to mitigate the global health impact of infections.

This MSc will equip you with core skills and understanding of epidemiology, statistics, and data science, alongside learning about host and pathogen biology and broader social, economic, and cultural influences on infectious diseases. You will tailor your MSc course to your own needs and interests, choosing optional modules such as climate change, disease modelling, global eradication of viruses, health economics, digital health, and evaluation of public health interventions, among others. 

Who this course is for

This course is suitable for applicants from a wide variety of undergraduate degree backgrounds, including biology, maths and statistics, medicine, social sciences and related disciplines.

We welcome students from many professional backgrounds, including researchers, healthcare professionals, vets, public health and development practitioners. Students come from all over the world, as well as the UK. This diversity increases opportunities to learn from other students' experiences and perspectives.

Read about what it takes to study for a Master's at UCL

What this course will give you

  • Study at one of the world's top ten universities. UCL is ranked 3rd in the world for public health (ShanghaiRankings 2024), 9th in the world as a university (QS World Rankings 2026) and is rated number one for research power and impact in medicine, health and life sciences (REF 2021).
  • Learn how to investigate the causes of infectious disease outbreaks, their impacts, and how to predict future patterns. 
  • Gain skills in research study design, data management, statistical analysis, assessing research evidence for infectious disease epidemiology, and the application of evidence to improve public health.
  • Study the clinical and biological mechanisms of infectious diseases, so you have a better understanding of how these impact transmission dynamics and health. 
  • Engage with cutting-edge developments in the field of infectious disease epidemiology such as pathogen genomics and other molecular technologies, specifically understanding how they may be applied to epidemiology.
  • Explore examples from high, middle, and low-income settings, across a range of conditions, including emerging and re-emerging infections, HIV, influenza and other airborne viruses, sexually transmitted infections, tuberculosis, vector-borne diseases, and viral hepatitis.
  • Benefit from a cohort of between 20 and 35 students, which allows us to facilitate vibrant discussions and learning between students and the formation of life-long connections. 
  • Be a part of an intellectually vibrant environment, being taught by world leading research active experts in a variety of infectious diseases affecting populations globally and in relation to contemporary challenges, such as in antimicrobial resistance, pandemic preparedness, and climate change. 
Read about what you'll get out of a graduate programme

The foundation of your career

Our graduates have gone on to a variety of roles as epidemiologists, analysts and data scientists in research, public health, healthcare, and private sector organisations, both in the UK and internationally. 

Examples of graduate destinations include the UK Health Security Agency and other country public health agencies, the UK National Health Service (NHS), the World Health Organization (WHO), private sector healthcare companies such as IQVIA, and universities in the UK and abroad. Many graduates have secured places on funded PhD programmes at UCL and at other universities*. 

We provide departmental and university-wide career support, events, and networking opportunities throughout the year.

*Graduate Outcomes survey carried out by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), looking at the destinations of UK and EU graduates in the 2017-18, 2018-19, 2019-20, 2020-21, 2021-22 and 2022-23 cohorts.

This degree provided me with the epidemiological skills and knowledge to work in epidemiology, particularly because the programme gave us the opportunity to apply knowledge to real-life problems. I was able to take the wealth of knowledge and skills and translate that effectively to my current work.

Vishnuga

Applied Infectious Disease Epidemiology MSc

Read more

Employability

The course will equip you to start your career as an infectious disease epidemiologist, analyst or data scientist. You will develop the diverse set of skills needed to approach complex infectious disease problems, relevant for a wide range of careers within epidemiology and public health. Your training in quantitative methods and epidemiology, in addition to your understanding of how the biology of microorganisms impact on transmission dynamics and infection control, will be highly valued in a world where infectious disease outbreaks are likely to become more common.

Networking

Students at the UCL Institute for Global Health (IGH) have priority access to academic events held throughout the year. This includes UCL's prestigious Lancet Lecture series which showcases leading global health scholars working on key public health issues. Students are also invited to institute events, which showcase the breadth of research being undertaken by academic staff and doctoral students at the Institute for Global Health.   

Teaching and learning

The course will be delivered through a mixture of lectures, tutorials and practical sessions that build your learning throughout the year. Practical sessions include critical appraisal, data analysis, interpretation of data, application of evidence to scenarios, presentations, and discussion forums.

UCL academics with wide-ranging and international expertise in epidemiology, medicine, public health, social science, and basic science research of infectious diseases will deliver lectures, facilitate practical sessions and act as your supervisors and tutors.

Your learning will culminate in an independent dissertation project, supervised by one of UCL IGH’s world class research staff and supported through skills sessions and milestones throughout the year.

Classes take place during business hours. Modules are delivered as blocks of study. The duration of modules ranges from one to ten weeks. This course can be taken full-time, part-time or flexibly (see ‘course structure’).

Modules are assessed by a variety of different assessment types including coursework, oral presentations and some exams. Examples of coursework tasks include investigating an outbreak, developing a funding proposal to tackle an infectious disease problem, critically appraising papers, and conducting and presenting statistical analyses. You will build skills in presenting your work orally and in a variety of written formats including short reports, responses to questions, data visualisations, and a dissertation. 

Full-time students will spend approximately 14–18 hours per week in contact time (e.g. lectures, seminars and practical sessions). You will be expected to spend 26–22 hours a week in self-directed study – reading, reviewing materials, and practicing methods to consolidate your learning, as well as to prepare formative and summative assessments.

Overall, students taking the course full-time should expect to spend approximately 40 hours per week studying throughout the year.

During Term 3, you will continue with one or two optional modules but will have more independent study time to work on your dissertation. You will have approximately 10 hours of supervision time with your dissertation supervisor, in addition to dissertation skills sessions throughout the year.

Modules

You will be introduced to key concepts in infection and population health in Term 1 including epidemiology of infectious diseases, microbiology, immunology and pathogenesis, as well as designing your own interventions.

Alongside this you will acquire the foundations for statistical analysis skills to enable you to work with epidemiological data. In Term 2 you will undertake molecular epidemiology, learning about using pathogen genomics to understand transmission patterns, and you will further build on your statistical understanding. We will support you to meet your interests and career needs by choosing two more optional modules during Terms 2 and 3 from across the Institute for Global Health, the UCL Department of Infection and Immunity and elsewhere in the university.

A core part of the MSc is your dissertation project, which can be a data analysis or literature review.  You will attend dissertation skills sessions throughout the year and will begin working with your dissertation supervisor at the beginning of Term 2, building to introducing your research question and approach in an assessed oral presentation during Term 3. Your 7,500-word dissertation report will be submitted at the end of the summer.

The course can be taken part-time (over two years). We have experience supporting students with this mode of study. Part-time students take 90 credits in Year One (not including the dissertation) and 90 credits (including the dissertation) in Year Two. 

The course can be taken flexibly over more than two years. We also have experience supporting students with this mode of study. Modular/flexible students should discuss their plans with one of the course directors before making their module selections. 

Compulsory modules








Optional modules










Public Health Data Science






Please note that the list of modules given here is indicative. This information is published a long time in advance of enrolment and module content and availability are subject to change. Modules that are in use for the current academic year are linked for further information. Where no link is present, further information is not yet available.

Students undertake modules to the value of 180 credits. Upon successful completion of 180 credits, you will be awarded an MSc in Applied Infectious Disease Epidemiology.

Accessibility

The department will endeavour to make reasonable adjustments for students with disabilities, including those with long-term health conditions, neurodivergence, learning differences and mental health conditions. This list is not exhaustive. If you're unsure of your eligibility for reasonable adjustments at UCL, please contact Student Support and Wellbeing Services.

Reasonable adjustments are implemented on a case-by-case basis. With the student's consent, reasonable adjustments are considered by UCL Student Support and Wellbeing Services, and where required, in collaboration with the respective department.

Details of the accessibility of UCL buildings can be obtained from AccessAble. Further information about support available can be obtained from UCL Student Support and Wellbeing Services.

For more information about the department and accessibility arrangements for your course, please contact the department.

Visit us

All open days and events

Online - Open day

Graduate Open Events: Applied Infectious Disease Epidemiology MSc

Studying at the Institute for Global Health opens doors to impactful careers across public health, epidemiology, economics, and research. Join our virtual open events to explore our Master’s degrees in Global Health and Development, Health Economics and Decision Science, Applied Infectious Disease Epidemiology, and Global Mental Health. At these events, you will meet Programme Directors, and learn how to make your application stand out.

Watch on demand event

Fees and funding

Fees for this course

UK students International students
Fee description Full-time Part-time
Tuition fees (2026/27) £16,000 £8,000
Tuition fees (2026/27) £35,400 £17,700

Programme also available on a modular (flexible) basis.

Postgraduate Taught students benefit from a cohort guarantee, meaning that their tuition fees will not increase during the course of the programme, but UCL reserves the right to increase tuition fees to reflect any sums (including levies, taxes, or similar financial charges) that UCL is required to pay any governmental authority in connection with tuition fees.

The tuition fees shown are for the year indicated above. Where the course is offered on a flexible/modular basis, fees are charged pro-rata to the appropriate full-time Master's fee taken in an academic session. Further information on fee status, fee increases and the fee schedule can be viewed on the UCL Students website: ucl.ac.uk/students/fees.

Additional costs

For full-time and part-time offer holders with a fee status classification of UK, a fee deposit will be charged at 2.5% of the first year fee.

For full-time and part-time offer holders with a fee status classification of Overseas, a fee deposit will be charged at 10% of the first year fee.

For modular/flexible offer holders with a fee status classification of UK, a £350 deposit will be charged.

For modular/flexible offer holders with a fee status classification of Overseas, a £500 deposit will be charged.

Further information can be found in the Tuition fee deposits section on this page: Tuition fees.

There are no additional costs for this course.

For in-person teaching, UCL’s main teaching locations are in zones 1 (Bloomsbury) and zones 2/3 (UCL East). The cost of a monthly 18+ Oyster travel card for zones 1-2 is £119.90. This price was published by TfL in 2025. For more information on additional costs for prospective students and the cost of living in London, please view our estimated cost of essential expenditure at UCL's cost of living guide.

Funding your studies

Funding opportunities relevant to this course include:

  • UCL Institute for Global Health Postgraduate Bursary.
  • Commonwealth Shared Scholarship Scheme.

Find out more on the UCL Institute for Global Health website

For a comprehensive list of the funding opportunities available at UCL, including funding relevant to your nationality, please visit the Scholarships and Funding website.

See all the ways you can fund your studies

African Graduate Scholarship

Deadline: 29 May 2026
Value: £40,670 per award (1 year (full-time study))
Criteria Based on both academic merit and financial need
Eligibility: EU, Overseas

Commonwealth Shared Scholarship Scheme (CSSS)

Deadline: 9 December 2025
Value: Full fees, flights, stipend, and other allowances (1 year)
Criteria Based on both academic merit and financial need
Eligibility: EU, Overseas

Institute for Global Health Postgraduate Bursaries

Deadline: 26 June 2026
Value: £2,000 (Duration of study)
Criteria Based on both academic merit and financial need
Eligibility: UK, EU, Overseas

Mukul Madhav Foundation Scholarship

NOW CLOSED FOR 2026/27 ENTRY
Value: Full tuition fees (1 year)
Criteria Based on financial need
Eligibility: EU, Overseas

Office for Health Economics (OHE) MSc Fellowship Programme

Deadline:30 April 2026
Value: Full tuition fee coverage (part-time study) and a monthly stipend of £1,600 during term time. (2 years (part-time study))
Criteria Based on academic merit
Eligibility: UK

Next steps

Students are advised to apply as early as possible due to competition for places. Those applying for scholarship funding (particularly overseas applicants) should take note of application deadlines.

There is an application processing fee for this course of £90 for online applications. Further information can be found at Application fees.

When we assess your application, we would like to learn:

  • Why you want to study Applied Infectious Disease Epidemiology at graduate level.
  • Why you want to study Applied Infectious Disease Epidemiology at UCL.
  • What particularly attracts you to the chosen course.
  • How your academic and professional background meets the demands of this challenging course.
  • Where you would like to go professionally with your degree.

Together with essential academic requirements, the personal statement is your opportunity to illustrate whether your reasons for applying to this course match what the course will deliver.

You should demonstrate an appreciation of the quantitative content of the course, and describe any previous experience (from study or work) that will support you in engaging with the quantitative aspects. A good level of numerical competence is required, such as A level or advanced secondary school mathematics or equivalent experience.  

In addition to the above, please ensure your personal statement addresses why you have chosen the course with particular regard to its focus on quantitative epidemiology and statistics.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the career opportunities following the Applied Infectious Disease Epidemiology MSc?

Our alumni have gone on to positions in international health agencies, national ministries of health, health services and public health bodies, work in private healthcare consultancies, and in research positions and university doctoral programmes in epidemiology and public health.

My undergraduate degree is less relevant to epidemiology and infectious diseases, but I have been working for several years since then in a relevant field (e.g. community health). How can I convey that my background prepares me for this course?

We welcome applications both from recent graduates and those who have been working and outside of education for some time. Please make sure that experience you have in epidemiology, infections and public health, is reflected in your application - we place value on this as well as on degrees. Please describe your role in this work, and the skills and perspective you have gained from it in your personal statement.

How can I see the full timetable for this course so I can plan ahead? 

You can check timetable for each module by clicking on ‘Link to online timetable’ on its module catalogue page. A provisional full-year timetable will be shared with students with offers in August – September period.

Please note that you may submit applications for a maximum of two graduate courses (or one application for the Law LLM) in any application cycle.

Choose your programme

Please read the Application Guidance before proceeding with your application.

Year of entry: 2026-2027

Apply for this course

Got questions? Get in touch

Institute for Global Health
Institute for Global Health

igh.aide@ucl.ac.uk

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