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Future Manufacturing and Nanoscale Engineering MSc

London, Stratford (UCL East)

From the manufacturing of lightweight, sustainable and durable materials, to revolutionising additive manufacturing, nanotechnology is shaping our future. When you’ve completed this specialist Master’s, you’ll have the technical skills and practical experience to design, and manufacture, materials and solutions at the nano and micro scales.  

UK students International students
Study mode
Full-time
UK tuition fees (2026/27)
£21,500
Overseas tuition fees (2026/27)
£42,700
Duration
1 calendar year
Programme starts
September 2026
Applications accepted
Applicants who require a visa: 20 Oct 2025 – 26 Jun 2026
Applications close at 5pm UK time

Applications open

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 Bachelor's degree in a relevant discipline from a UK university or an overseas qualification of an equivalent standard.

The English language level for this course is: Level 1

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.

If you are intending to apply for a time-limited visa to complete your UCL studies (e.g. Student visa, Skilled worker visa, PBS dependant visa etc.) you may be required to obtain ATAS clearance. This will be confirmed to you if you obtain an offer of a place. Please note that ATAS processing times can take up to six months, so we recommend you consider these timelines when submitting your application to UCL.

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


Designed and delivered by UCL Mechanical Engineering, this one-year MSc course will get you industry-ready for a career as a manufacturing, materials and design engineer. 

You’ll put your learning into practice on every module of this course, translating your theoretical studies into concrete practical experience through lab work, design activities or specially designed industry-relevant manufacturing challenges. 

Working in the world-class engineering facilities at our purpose-built UCL East Campus on Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, you’ll learn how to achieve results in environments designed to replicate industrial settings. You’ll collaborate regularly with external industry partners, some of whom may also supervise your group project. 

In addition to the demonstrable hands-on experience with a broad range of manufacturing, machine shop, and characterisation techniques, and numerical toolsets necessary to work in nanoscale manufacturing, you’ll develop solid project management and design skills. This will give you an even greater chance of career progression in this rapidly expanding field. 

You can also shape your studies around your specific interests, with a wide range of optional modules that includes Nature-Inspired Solutions and Sustainability Analysis, allowing you to explore the vital research of safety issues, ethics and life cycle impacts of nano-engineered materials.

Who this course is for

This programme is for students with a background in chemistry, materials, chemical engineering, mechanical engineering or civil engineering, who are interested in deepening their understanding of materials engineering manufacturing. It will prepare you for leadership positions across a wide range of sectors, from energy and sustainable development, to healthcare and medical innovation.

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

What this course will give you

This course offers you the following benefits and opportunities:

  • A postgraduate degree from a top-ranked university. UCL is consistently ranked among the best universities globally (ranked 9th in the latest QS World University Rankings 2026), providing you with a prestigious qualification that is highly regarded by employers worldwide. 
  • A Master's degree which is accredited by the IOM3 on behalf of the Engineering Council. This means that on completion of this MSc you could meet the academic requirement to register as a Chartered Engineer. 
  • Mastery of advanced characterisation techniques to investigate the properties of different materials at the nano and micro scales.
  • Ample opportunities to get hands-on, industry-relevant experience with the manufacturing, metrology, and testing of materials and structures.
  • Mastery of computational modelling techniques used to overcome challenges in material design and perform structural analyses.
  • A comprehensive skillset for both ‘bottom-up’ processes such as additive manufacturing and ‘top-down’ approaches such as precision manufacturing, enabling you to work with the future needs of the manufacturing sector in mind.
  • Network with peers and industry partners to solve real-world manufacturing challenges, implementing an entire engineering workflow to design, build and test a functional prototype. 
Read about what you'll get out of a graduate programme

The foundation of your career

The skills you will learn on this Master's will be immensely valuable in any industry that uses, designs, or manufactures materials. 

Recent graduates from this MSc have gone on to work for organisations such as Rolls Royce, Xiaomi, AECOM, and Sinopec. Others have successfully launched their own enterprises or continued with further higher education (PhD) (departmental data).

Employability

This course’s emphasis on practical skill-building will provide you with valuable evidence of your technical prowess and ability to design, characterise, test and apply nano-engineered materials and manufacturing techniques. 

Your specialism will also qualify you to work in any industry that uses, designs or manufactures materials. This robust technical background will be supplemented with extensive training in practical problem solving and real-world application, along with an understanding of commercialisation, sustainability and how processes can be scaled to meet changing demands.

Your combination of in-demand technical and commercial skills will be sought by a large range of future employers as nanotechnology becomes an ever-greater part of our daily lives.

Nano-engineering skills are particularly prized in the automotive, aerospace and additive manufacturing (3D printing) industries, where you can take on roles such as design engineer, structural analyst or innovation consultant.

Networking

You’ll have regular opportunities to connect, collaborate and build professional contacts as part of your Master’s. You will be able to:

  • Enjoy regular access to industry experts throughout the programme, including industry supervision over your group project. 
  • Explore tailored events at both the faculty and departmental level facilitated by UCL Careers, UCL’s alumni team, and UCL Innovation and Enterprise. 
  • Participate in and organise student-led events, such as industry visits or guest lectures, with a focus on specific industrial sectors relevant to your studies. 
  • Get enterprise-ready through the UCL Innovation and Enterprise entrepreneurship skills programme. You’ll access an entire ecosystem of start-up support, with events, lectures, enterprise bootcamps, competitions and more.

Accreditation

This course has been accredited by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE), and the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (IOM3) on behalf of the Engineering Council as meeting the requirements for Further Learning for registration as a Chartered Engineer. Candidates must hold a CEng accredited BEng/BSc (Hons) undergraduate first degree to comply with full CEng registration requirements. The accredited MSc will meet, in part, the exemplifying academic benchmark requirements for registration as a Chartered Engineer. Accredited MSc graduates who also have a BEng (Hons) accredited for CEng will be able to show that they have satisfied the educational base for CEng registration

Teaching and learning

This MSc course is delivered through a mix of tutorials, lectures, laboratory work, projects and practicals, which draw upon real-life manufacturing challenges. 

Assessment is through examinations, presentations, coursework, and your group research project. A practical manufacturing challenge is issued by each module, which has been formulated in collaboration with industry.

Full-time students on this programme can expect approximately 12-16 hours of contact hours a week. Outside these sessions, students are expected to engage in significant self directed study and complete assessments of around 20-25 hours per week. Contact time takes various forms, including workshops, design studios and practical classes and hands-on lab work (practical and computational), email, and student feedback sessions. This is supplemented by self-directed learning to build up knowledge and skills. A full-time weekly schedule will amount to 35-40 hours a week, which comprises contact time, self-directed study, and preparing for assessments.

You will also have ongoing contact with teaching staff in each module’s online discussion forum, where you can clarify concepts or assessment matters, and access additional support where required.

Your project module (60 credits) will see you conduct research, write up your final report, and engage in regular contact with your project supervisor(s), who will guide and support you throughout your project.

Modules

This one-year course is highly experiential. There is both a focus on ‘learning by doing’, and significant laboratory components (physical and computational) in all modules. We emphasise effective group work within diverse teams, to prepare you for the importance of this work in a professional setting.

In Term 1, you will study the fundamental concepts of nanoengineering, and the experimental tools of characterising, measuring, and testing materials and structures in the nano and micro scales.

In Term 2, you will study modules with specialist content, on nano and micro architected materials, designing materials for manufacturing, and precision manufacturing. In both Term 1 and Term 2, theory will be put into practice in the Group Manufacturing Challenges module.

During Term 3, you will work on an advanced research project in a small group, which will be directly supervised by an industry expert.

Compulsory modules









Optional modules

East London Lab











Exploring Power, Inclusion and Exclusion with Local Communities


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 Future Manufacturing and Nanoscale Engineering.

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.

Fees and funding

Fees for this course

UK students International students
Fee description Full-time
Tuition fees (2026/27) £21,500
Tuition fees (2026/27) £42,700

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.

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

UCL has computing facilities available but you may prefer to purchase your own laptop, which will require additional costs. For some project work and training activities, you might incur minor expenses, which can be reimbursed by the department if an approved expenses claim is submitted.  

Optional industry visits (field trips) are offered that may incur additional costs. The exact cost of each fieldtrip will be dependent on the location and the mode of travel.

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

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

UCL East London Scholarship

Deadline: 25 June 2026
Value: Tuition fees plus £17,096 stipend ()
Criteria Based on financial need
Eligibility: UK

Next steps

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 future manufacturing and nanoscale engineering at graduate level
  • why you want to study future manufacturing and nanoscale engineering at UCL
  • what particularly attracts you to this Future Manufacturing and Nanoscale Engineering MSc programme
  • how your personal, academic and professional background has prepared and qualified you for the demands of this challenging academic environment and the Future Manufacturing and Nanoscale Engineering MSc programme
  • where you would like to go professionally following this programme of study.

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 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

Mechanical Engineering
Mechanical Engineering

graduate-info@meng.ucl.ac.uk

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