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Ecology and Urban Engineering MSc

London, Stratford (UCL East)

Bridge the gap between built environment planning and ecological science. With this valuable new Ecology and Urban Engineering MSc, you’ll devise new design approaches for cities, towns and infrastructure to help reduce emissions, improve the health of living systems and increase resilience for the climate emergency.

UK students International students
Study mode
UK tuition fees (2025/26)
£24,100
£12,050
Overseas tuition fees (2025/26)
£39,800
£19,900
Duration
1 calendar year
2 calendar years
Programme starts
September 2025
Applications accepted
Applicants who require a visa: 14 Oct 2024 – 27 Jun 2025

Applications not yet open

Applicants who do not require a visa: 14 Oct 2024 – 29 Aug 2025

Applications not yet open

Find similar courses still open

Entry requirements

A minimum of an upper second-class UK Bachelor's degree in life sciences, environmental science, civil engineering, urban design or architecture subject area, or an overseas qualification of an equivalent standard.
 Applicants with an appropriate professional qualification and relevant work experience (e.g., engineering design, green infrastructure, local government) will be considered.

The English language level for this programme is: Level 2

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

Throughout the programme, you’ll get the chance to put your theoretical learning and project work to the test across UCL’s purpose-built facilities, including the People and Nature Lab at UCL East and the Bartlett Faculty of the Built Environment’s Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis (CASA).

On a course that’s led by award-winning ecologists and conservation scientists, you’ll work alongside planners, architects, industry professionals and local authorities and communities to deliver real urban projects. 

This experience will also hone the communication and organisational skills you’ll need to advocate for more sustainable planning and spread ecological literacy. 

Who this course is for

This course is ideal for ecologists looking to apply their expertise to built environments and drive change in the spatial planning industries, as well as planners, engineers and architects looking to incorporate a greater level of ecological knowledge in their planning and design. 

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

What this course will give you

The built environment generates around 37% of all global greenhouse gas emissions. To reduce our impact on the natural world, we need ecological science to guide the design of our cities and urban spaces.

This multidisciplinary master’s enables you to deliver ecological expertise to the heart of the planning process. You’ll hone your biodiversity research skills, learning how to manipulate, visualise and analyse ecological data.

You’ll also gain a detailed understanding of the factors and principles that govern urban design, learning to create spaces that support the needs of both people and nature, and consider issues like flood prevention and green infrastructure. 

What you can gain from this course:  

  • Learn from world-renowned expert academics from across the UCL Faculty of Life Sciences and the Bartlett Faculty of the Built Environment. 
  • Acquire sought-after data analysis and programming skills, using widely-adopted programming languages like R and SQL. 
  • Enjoy practical fieldwork activities in the purpose-built People and Nature lab, located at the UCL East campus in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in East London.
  • Test and assess new ecological approaches to spatial planning at the Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis (CASA).
  • Work in partnership with either an industry, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) or local community organisations to tackle a Nature-Smart Challenge, putting your learning to good use.  
  • Design and implement your own practical research project, with guidance from expert UCL academics or industry partners.
  • Build the programme around your interests, with optional specialisms in areas like citizen science, inclusive design and environmental AI.
  • Support local authority decision-makers as they rise to the challenge of adapting our cities to meet new environmental, housing and biodiversity targets.  
Read about what you'll get out of a graduate programme

The foundation of your career

This programme is designed to equip you with the specialist skills and ecological knowledge urgently needed to implement sustainable approaches to spatial planning.

Your expertise in data science and data analysis will also be of critical importance for measuring and monitoring the success of sustainability measures and urban biodiversity initiatives. 

Employability

Transformative legislation (including the UK Government’s Environment Act 2021) means that future construction and infrastructure developments both here and overseas will need to promote biodiversity net gain (BNG) and adopt innovative emission-reduction approaches.  

This means that graduates of this multidisciplinary master’s will be in high demand for project management roles in local and national government as well as a range of consultancy positions in construction and engineering industries

Networking

You’ll have regular opportunities to connect, collaborate and build professional contacts as part of your master’s.  

  • Attend divisional, departmental and faculty seminars and network with a varied cross-section of academic peers, senior investigators and illustrious guest speakers.
  • Take part in careers events through UCL Careers during the academic year, and enhance your CV writing and interview skills.  
  • Work alongside a broad range of industry partners from local and national government agencies, consultancies and NGOs as part of the Nature-Smart module. 

Teaching and learning

You will learn through a broad suite of teaching approaches, including lectures and seminars incorporating problem-based learning, group discussions, concept mapping, task-focussed workshops, hands-on experience, and reflective learning.

You will be assessed through a variety of means including case study report, individual video presentation, group presentation/pitch, open book exam, grant proposal, reflective summary (group and individual), science communication, and a final research project developed in collaboration with UCL academics and/or with a programme partner.

This programme offers approximately 300 contact hours with approximately 1200 hours of self-directed learning.

Approximately 8-12 contact hours a week during term time, 35-50 hours per week total study time (including self-study). The contact time may rise to 30-35 hours per week during full-time project work with the self-study time reducing accordingly.

Modules

In term one, you will take three core modules that cover (i) the impacts of building and infrastructure design and construction on nature; (ii) the fundamental aspects of ecological theory, survey design and sampling, sensing and sensor technology and their ecological applications; (iii) experimental design, field techniques, data collection, visualisation, management, and analysis. 

In term two, you will develop and integrate applied skills across a range of activities delivered through two core modules. The first provides both theoretical and experiential explorations and develops practical insights on the design and build of projects that work with nature to improve biodiversity outcomes and support healthy ecosystem function. 

The second module - Urban Engineering: Nature-Smart Challenge - spans two terms, and you will work in teams to deliver a solution to an urban design/construction problem posed by an external client (a programme partner from industry, an NGO, or local community). To succeed, you will apply your learning, insight, skills, and experience within a team dynamic to answer a real-world urban design question in need of a pro-nature solution. 

You will further develop your interdisciplinary skills in terms one and two via optional modules you choose, selected from People and Nature Lab (Technology for Nature; AI for the Environment; Foundations of Citizen Science) or other available UCL East electives (e.g. Inclusive Design and Environments).

As well as finalising the Urban Engineering Nature Smart Challenge, term three will also see the start of your individual research project. With academic support from experts in the field, you will develop an original question with UCL academics and/or in collaboration with industry partners, which in order to answer, you will draw upon and apply your learning and experience from terms one, two, and three.

Depending on the project, it may be possible to develop your research question directly from the work you complete on the ‘Nature-Smart Challenge’ module. Weekly tutor-facilitated, student-led workshops will provide the platform for you to discuss the central themes in conducting research in urban design and engineering in an ecological context, and support you in exploring and resolving challenges you may face in your own research-project work, in collaboration with your peers. 

If your research project is supervised by a member of academic staff based at Bloomsbury, you will need to spend time at this campus.

Year One:
In term one, you will take two core modules that cover (i) the impacts of building and infrastructure design and construction on nature; (ii) the fundamental aspects of ecological theory, survey design and sampling, sensing and sensor technology and their ecological applications; (iii) experimental design, field techniques, data collection, visualisation, management, and analysis.

In term two, you will develop and integrate applied skills across a range of activities delivered through a core module which provides both theoretical and experiential explorations and develops practical insights on the design and build of projects that work with nature to improve biodiversity outcomes and support healthy ecosystem function. 

You will further develop your interdisciplinary skills in terms one and two via optional modules you choose, selected from People and Nature Lab (Technology for Nature; AI for the Environment; Foundations of Citizen Science) or other available UCL East electives (e.g. Inclusive Design and Environments).

Year Two:
In term one, you will take one core module that covers experimental design, field techniques, data collection, visualisation, management, and analysis. 

In term two, you will continue to develop and integrate applied skills across a range of activities delivered through Nature-Smart Challenge: Urban Engineering. This spans two terms, and you will work in teams to deliver a solution to an urban design/construction problem posed by an external client (a programme partner from industry, an NGO, or local community). To succeed, you will apply your learning, insight, skills, and experience within a team dynamic to answer a real-world urban design question in need of a pro-nature solution. 

As well as finalising the Urban Engineering Nature Smart Challenge, term three will also see the start of your individual research project. With academic support from experts in the field, you will develop an original question with UCL academics and/or in collaboration with industry partners, which in order to answer, you will draw upon and apply your learning and experience from terms one, two, and three.

Depending on the project, it may be possible to develop your research question directly from the work you complete on the ‘Nature-Smart Challenge’ module. Weekly tutor-facilitated, student-led workshops will provide the platform for you to discuss the central themes in conducting research in urban design and engineering in an ecological context, and support you in exploring and resolving challenges you may face in your own research-project work, in collaboration with your peers. 

If your research project is supervised by a member of academic staff based at Bloomsbury, you will need to spend time at this campus.

Compulsory modules








Optional modules








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 in total. Upon successful completion of 180 credits, you will be awarded an MSc in Ecology and Urban Engineering.

Fieldwork

There is a one week fieldwork course in term one which takes place in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park where the UCL East campus is based.

Accessibility

Details of the accessibility of UCL buildings can be obtained from AccessAble. Further information can also be obtained from the UCL Student Support and Wellbeing Services team.

Fees and funding

Fees for this course

UK students International students
Fee description Full-time Part-time
Tuition fees (2025/26) £24,100 £12,050
Tuition fees (2025/26) £39,800 £19,900

Additional costs

For Full-time and Part-time offer holders a fee deposit will be charged at 10% of the first year fee.

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

Students are required to have a laptop which is suitable for running R software.

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 £114.50. This price was published by TfL in 2024. 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

UCL East Scholarship

The scholarship works to support the ambitions of east Londoners by funding the fees and living costs of eligible Master's programmes including this MSc at UCL. Further details at: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/scholarships/ucl-east-london-scholarship.

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

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 programme 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 Ecology and Urban Engineering at graduate level
  • why you want to study Ecology and Urban Engineering at UCL
  • what particularly attracts you to this programme
  • How your academic, professional and personal background meets the demands of this programme
  • 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 programme match what the programme will deliver.

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

Got questions? Get in touch

Division of Biosciences
Division of Biosciences

biosciences.ucleast@ucl.ac.uk

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