Postgraduate Students
Welcome Week January 2024
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Start date
Teaching begins for most courses on Monday 22 January 2024.
Your course team will schedule activities for you to find out more about your course, meet your lecturers and other students and find your way around campus, which will be available on your timetable.
You will be able to see your timetable on iCity or the iBCU App as soon as it is available. You will receive an email when timetables are released.
In addition, all students should attend campus for the Students’ Union Welcome Week, which takes place between Monday 29 January and Friday 2 February 2024.
In the meantime, you can also visit our Moodle site for an overview of your Welcome Week arrangements
You can also download the University Assistant app and sign up with your course details for updates on Welcome Week.
Course leader
Welcome message
A warm welcome from the team is extended to you for your forthcoming postgraduate studies in MSc Logistics and Supply Chain Management program. We wish you very success in your study and hope you have a really good experience here at Birmingham City University and a successful career following your graduation.
As a logistics and supply chain manager, you will have highly developed strategic abilities that ensure your business runs smoothly to maintain a competitive advantage. Our team of qualified tutors has extensive industry and research experience, helping support and guide you throughout your course and professional career. Employability is a core theme throughout the course – not only will you have acquired the managerial, digital and analytical skills necessary for logistics and supply chain professions but also you will have a chance of improving your critical thinking skills, enriching your knowledge and expanding your network with our diverse population of students from all around the world and from various backgrounds. Our MSc program is accredited by the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT), which is a well known professional body in the UK and will ensure you graduate with the skills the industry demands you need to excel in global management positions.
You will study modules that develop essential management techniques including supply chain planning and analytics, procurement, logistics operations management, project management, and strategic and finance management. You will also study enterprise systems with an industry-recognised software such as SAP to develop your digital skills and help you stand out to future employers.
Doing a postgraduate course is indeed a very challenging and demanding journey. But we are here to support you all the way through. We hope you find this journey very rewarding.
Besides the hard work, we also hope you can enjoy your time with us. As the UK's second largest city and a powerhouse of the Industrial Revolution in Britain, Birmingham has a lot to offer due to its rich history and diverse culture. You may also make some life-long friends on this course.
On behalf of the course team, welcome on board! We look forward to meeting you at induction where you will meet your tutors and learn more about your course.
Preparing for Welcome Week
Before you arrive on campus, please take a look at your course Moodle page where you will find lots of useful information to prepare you for Welcome Week, including your required pre-arrival activity.
Moodle - MSc Logistics and Supply Chain ManagementStart date
Teaching begins for most courses on Monday 22 January 2024.
Your course team will schedule activities for you to find out more about your course, meet your lecturers and other students and find your way around campus, which will be available on your timetable.
You will be able to see your timetable on iCity or the iBCU App as soon as it is available. You will receive an email when timetables are released.
In addition, all students should attend campus for the Students’ Union Welcome Week, which takes place between Monday 29 January and Friday 2 February 2024.
In the meantime, you can also visit our Moodle site for an overview of your Welcome Week arrangements
You can also download the University Assistant app and sign up with your course details for updates on Welcome Week.
Course leader
Welcome message
Welcome to the MSc Automotive Engineering at Birmingham City University. We hope that you will have a challenging, stimulating and enjoyable time studying with us this academic year leading to successful and fruitful results.
Automotive Engineering offers an exciting course of study which is critical, challenging and forward-looking. The course also seeks to promote excellent reputation within industry for providing the appropriate knowledge and skills to match its needs. Using real-life projects (particularly in relation to project modules), case studies, scenarios and laboratory sessions in addition to the appropriate theoretical principles and analytical tools will empower you to gain all these skills. The course is also aimed to strike an equitable balance between the technological aspects, the principle skills and techniques necessary for a successful career within your discipline, and the demands of employers and professional bodies for this discipline-specific course.
You will be given every opportunity to discuss the programme with the programme and module leaders, and the teaching team are prepared to give assistance to you as necessary. The teaching team has an excellent reputation with existing students in terms of communication and availability. You are able to contact members of the teaching team throughout your study on the programme.
In terms of formal opportunities for offering your feedback, there will be student representation from the Automotive Engineering at the appropriate programme committee. Your feedback will also take place through using standard Module and Programme Evaluation Questionnaires. This feedback is analysed in team meetings and responses are fed into Annual Monitoring and back to you at the appropriate committee.
In this Programme Handbook, we hope to give you all the essential information you will need in order to successfully complete your qualification. This handbook should be read in conjunction with individual module handbooks and guides, learning resources found on Course Resources and website information.
In addition to the help, information and advice available in this Programme Handbook, each module has its own handbook. Module Handbooks should normally include:
- Details of module content, including a week-by-week schedule of sessions
- An outline of teaching and learning methods
- An explanation of the assessment process and assessment criteria
- Health and safety information
- A bibliography and list of relevant non-book resources
As part of the Quality Assurance arrangements for your programme, your work is firstly internally moderated and then externally moderated by an External Examiner to ensure that the standards of your programme are comparable with other Universities in this country.
Preparing for Welcome Week
Before you arrive on campus, please take a look at your course Moodle page where you will find lots of useful information to prepare you for Welcome Week, including your required pre-arrival activity.
Moodle - MSc Automotive Engineering
Essential equipment: You will be required to wear appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) consisting of safety shoes and a lab coat during your practical laboratory and workshop sessions. At enrolment you will be provided with a John Smiths voucher to the value of £150 which should be used to purchase this equipment.
Purchase your Engineering safety equipment: You can purchase all of your Engineering safety equipment - lab coat, goggles, and shoes through our BCU online store at great prices.
It is important that you purchase these items before and during Welcome Week so that you can start practical activities in our workshops as soon as you arrive.
This year, all new first-year and foundation Engineering students will have colour-coded lab coats to represent the course you are studying, and these will be BCU branded and embroidered.
If you have already purchased a lab coat ready for Welcome Week (proof of purchase will be required), please contact the technical team at EBE_Technical_Services@bcu.ac.uk and we can look into this on a case by case basis. Safety boots and safety goggles are the same from our store as you will find elsewhere so if you have already purchased these in advance of starting the course that is fine and hang on to them.
Start date
Teaching begins for most courses on Monday 22 January 2024.
Your course team will schedule activities for you to find out more about your course, meet your lecturers and other students and find your way around campus, which will be available on your timetable.
You will be able to see your timetable on iCity or the iBCU App as soon as it is available. You will receive an email when timetables are released.
In addition, all students should attend campus for the Students’ Union Welcome Week, which takes place between Monday 29 January and Friday 2 February 2024.
In the meantime, you can also visit our Moodle site for an overview of your Welcome Week arrangements
You can also download the University Assistant app and sign up with your course details for updates on Welcome Week.
Course leader
Welcome message
Project Management is taught by active researchers and practitioners who ensure that your curriculum is innovative in terms of content, assessment and delivery. A particular characteristic of Project Management is its established tradition of research-informed teaching. Project Management has also been designed in alignment with appropriate professional accreditation requirements and seamless progression themes that reflect the Quality Assurance Agency Subject Benchmark Statements and the Programme Learning Outcomes. Consistent to the academic requirements, the learning experience of the programme reflects the nature of your career discipline, both in its content and skills provision. This culminates in the use of real life projects (particularly in relation to project modules), case studies, scenarios and laboratory sessions in addition to the appropriate theoretical principles and analytical tools.
Your Programme Leader has overall responsibility for ensuring that quality and standards are maintained for the delivery of your programme. Module leaders will look after your interests at the modular level. They report to the Programme Leader and oversee the teaching of the module for which they have responsibility. They devise the teaching programme, produce module handbooks and contribute to Annual Monitoring.
You will be given every opportunity to discuss the programme with the programme and module leaders, and the teaching team are prepared to give assistance to you as necessary. The teaching team has an excellent reputation with existing students in terms of communication and availability. You are able to contact members of the teaching team throughout your study on the programme.
In terms of formal opportunities for offering your feedback, there will be student representation from the Project Management at the appropriate programme committee. Your feedback will also take place through using standard Module and Programme Evaluation Questionnaires. This feedback is analysed in team meetings and responses are fed into Annual Monitoring and back to you at the appropriate committee.
Preparing for Welcome Week
Before you arrive on campus, please take a look at your course Moodle page where you will find lots of useful information to prepare you for Welcome Week.
Start date
Teaching begins for most courses on Monday 22 January 2024.
Your course team will schedule activities for you to find out more about your course, meet your lecturers and other students and find your way around campus, which will be available on your timetable.
You will be able to see your timetable on iCity or the iBCU App as soon as it is available. You will receive an email when timetables are released.
In addition, all students should attend campus for the Students’ Union Welcome Week, which takes place between Monday 29 January and Friday 2 February 2024.
In the meantime, you can also visit our Moodle site for an overview of your Welcome Week arrangements
You can also download the University Assistant app and sign up with your course details for updates on Welcome Week.
Course leader
Welcome message
Welcome to our MSc Construction Project Management course! We are very honoured to be your choice of postgraduate study.
Our students in this course come from various background. You may come from different disciplines of construction industry such as civil engineering, architecture, quantity surveying, real estate and construction management. Some of you have years’ construction working experience and know the industry inside out while some of you may just came out of your undergraduate study. And you may come from overseas with very different culture, tradition and religion. But you have the same aspiration, that is to become a competent construction project manager and have a long-lasting career in the construction industry. The diversity of our students on this course will enrich your learning experience tremendously by sharing ideas and experience.
Doing a postgraduate study is indeed a very challenging and demanding journey. But we are here to support you all the way through. By the end of this course, we hope you find this journey is also very rewarding. You will not only learn knowledge about construction project management to become a competent practitioner, but more importantly, develop your intellectual capability to become a reflective, life-long learner with critical thinking so you can continuously develop your career in whatever the direction you choose. When reflecting on the experience on this course, a previous graduate who successfully completed the course with Distinction said that this course had changed his way of thinking and how he viewed the construction industry and its practice. This is the biggest compliment we could wish for, and we hope we can achieve the same with you this time.
Besides the hard work, we also hope you can enjoy your time with us. As the 2nd city of Britain, Birmingham has a lot to offer due to its rich history and diverse culture. You may also make some life-long friends on this course.
On behalf of the course team, welcome on board! We are looking forward to working with you and helping you to achieve your goals.
Preparing for Welcome Week
Before you arrive on campus, please take a look at your course Moodle page where you will find lots of useful information to prepare you for Welcome Week.
Moodle - MSc Construction Project ManagementEssential equipment: There is no any particular equipment that students should have prior to starting the course. But if you would like to buy a laptop for your study, when possible, please buy a non iMac one as it is not compatible with a software we are going to use in this course.
Start date
Teaching begins for most courses on Monday 22 January 2024.
Your course team will schedule activities for you to find out more about your course, meet your lecturers and other students and find your way around campus, which will be available on your timetable.
You will be able to see your timetable on iCity or the iBCU App as soon as it is available. You will receive an email when timetables are released.
In addition, all students should attend campus for the Students’ Union Welcome Week, which takes place between Monday 29 January and Friday 2 February 2024.
In the meantime, you can also visit our Moodle site for an overview of your Welcome Week arrangements
You can also download the University Assistant app and sign up with your course details for updates on Welcome Week.
Course leader
Welcome message
Welcome to BCU and the MSc Advanced Computer Networks course! I hope you are excited to join us for the induction week! We have a range of activities planned to help you find your way around the campus as well giving you an opportunity to meet your peers and tutors. Come ready to participate, learn and enjoy your postgraduate study with us. We are looking forward to meeting you.
Preparing for Welcome Week
Before you arrive on campus, please take a look at your course Moodle page where you will find lots of useful information to prepare you for Welcome Week.
Moodle - MSc Advanced Computer NetworksStart date
Teaching begins for most courses on Monday 22 January 2024.
Your course team will schedule activities for you to find out more about your course, meet your lecturers and other students and find your way around campus, which will be available on your timetable.
You will be able to see your timetable on iCity or the iBCU App as soon as it is available. You will receive an email when timetables are released.
In addition, all students should attend campus for the Students’ Union Welcome Week, which takes place between Monday 29 January and Friday 2 February 2024.
In the meantime, you can also visit our Moodle site for an overview of your Welcome Week arrangements
You can also download the University Assistant app and sign up with your course details for updates on Welcome Week.
Course leader
Welcome message
Welcome to your MSc Advanced Computer Science! We have planned a range of activities for you to enjoy and to have fun meeting new people and engaging with our talks, workshops and union activities. These activities will help you find your way around the campus and also to enable you to meet your peers and tutors. The Advanced Computer Science MSc course provides its graduates with practical experience with models, techniques and tools from the forefront of the discipline that drive innovation in the design of software-based systems within this domain.
On the course, academic members of staff will teach topics and supervise projects according to their personal research interests. This gives students a cutting-edge experience, one that opens up new opportunities for career advancement in industry. For students who show aptitude for research, there is also the possibility of continuing their studies on a PhD course.
The philosophy of the course is to promote lifelong self-learning by providing a curriculum that promotes a variety of approaches to study. The curriculum is designed to develop not only the academic knowledge, but also the engineering ethos and practical skills required by the modern Computer Science professional.
To successfully complete the MSc Advanced Computer Science, students will need to demonstrate that they can:
- Discriminate and interpret the underlying principles on which computer systems are based and apply these principles to current and emerging technological trends.
- Apply relevant Computer Science theory and mathematical techniques.
- Compare and evaluate principles of Web engineering that support the development of mobile and Web systems.
- Collect, analyse and critique existing research materials in a systematic and comprehensive manner.
- Gather and evaluate qualitative and quantitative data using modern Computer Science research methodologies.
- Design and develop usable systems that exploit machine-to-machine connectivity.
- Document work in a professional manner, demonstrating ethical awareness and inter-personal skills.
Preparing for Welcome Week
Before you arrive on campus, please take a look at your course Moodle page where you will find lots of useful information to prepare you for Welcome Week.
Moodle - MSc Advanced Computer ScienceStart date
Teaching begins for most courses on Monday 22 January 2024.
Your course team will schedule activities for you to find out more about your course, meet your lecturers and other students and find your way around campus, which will be available on your timetable.
You will be able to see your timetable on iCity or the iBCU App as soon as it is available. You will receive an email when timetables are released.
In addition, all students should attend campus for the Students’ Union Welcome Week, which takes place between Monday 29 January and Friday 2 February 2024.
In the meantime, you can also visit our Moodle site for an overview of your Welcome Week arrangements
You can also download the University Assistant app and sign up with your course details for updates on Welcome Week.
Course leader
Welcome message
Welcome to Birmingham City University and the MSc User Experience Design course! I hope you are excited to join us for induction week – we have a range of activities planned to help you find your way around the campus (as well as opportunities to meet your peers and tutors).
Preparing for Welcome Week
Before you arrive on campus, please take a look at your course Moodle page where you will find lots of useful information to prepare you for Welcome Week, including your required pre-arrival activity.
Moodle - MSc User Experience DesignStart date
Teaching begins for most courses on Monday 22 January 2024.
Your course team will schedule activities for you to find out more about your course, meet your lecturers and other students and find your way around campus, which will be available on your timetable.
You will be able to see your timetable on iCity or the iBCU App as soon as it is available. You will receive an email when timetables are released.
In addition, all students should attend campus for the Students’ Union Welcome Week, which takes place between Monday 29 January and Friday 2 February 2024.
In the meantime, you can also visit our Moodle site for an overview of your Welcome Week arrangements
You can also download the University Assistant app and sign up with your course details for updates on Welcome Week.
Course leader
Welcome message
Welcome to Birmingham City University. I am delighted that you are joining the Digital Transformation course. During Welcome Week you will have many interesting activities that will help you find your way around the University, and allow you to meet key people in the Faculty. I look forward to finding out more about you as a person and exploring your career aspirations to ensure you get the most out of your time whilst studying with us.
Preparing for Welcome Week
Before you arrive on campus, please take a look at your course Moodle page where you will find lots of useful information to prepare you for Welcome Week, including your required pre-arrival activity.
Moodle - MSc Digital TransformationStart date
Teaching begins for most courses on Monday 22 January 2024.
Your course team will schedule activities for you to find out more about your course, meet your lecturers and other students and find your way around campus, which will be available on your timetable.
You will be able to see your timetable on iCity or the iBCU App as soon as it is available. You will receive an email when timetables are released.
In addition, all students should attend campus for the Students’ Union Welcome Week, which takes place between Monday 29 January and Friday 2 February 2024.
In the meantime, you can also visit our Moodle site for an overview of your Welcome Week arrangements
You can also download the University Assistant app and sign up with your course details for updates on Welcome Week.
Course leader
Welcome message
Welcome to BCU on MSc Big Data Analytics course. During Welcome Week you will have many interesting activities that will help you find your way around the University, allow you to meet key people and essentially set you up for your start towards an exciting future.
Preparing for Welcome Week
Before you arrive on campus, please take a look at your course Moodle page where you will find lots of useful information to prepare you for Welcome Week.
Moodle - MSc Big Data AnalyticsStart date
Teaching begins for most courses on Monday 22 January 2024.
Your course team will schedule activities for you to find out more about your course, meet your lecturers and other students and find your way around campus, which will be available on your timetable.
You will be able to see your timetable on iCity or the iBCU App as soon as it is available. You will receive an email when timetables are released.
In addition, all students should attend campus for the Students’ Union Welcome Week, which takes place between Monday 29 January and Friday 2 February 2024.
In the meantime, you can also visit our Moodle site for an overview of your Welcome Week arrangements
You can also download the University Assistant app and sign up with your course details for updates on Welcome Week.
Course leader
Welcome message
Hello and warm welcome to the MSc Computer Science Course. You are now part of academic community of students and staffs involved in education, research, and practice in Computing within BCU.
The MSc in Computer Science is a conversion course that provides you a broad and balanced introduction to computer science. The course aims to prepare you for technical roles in the IT industry by introducing the key technologies and skills needed for employment.
The course has been designed to provide you with practical experience with models, techniques and tools from the forefront of the discipline that drive innovation in the design of software-based systems within this domain. The key topics taught on the course include Software Development (using the programming language in demand in the industry), Software Analysis and Design (techniques for designing large and complex software), Database Design and Development (backend storage for almost every IT installation in the world), Web Application Development (full stack web application development) and Artificial Intelligence (foundation of machine learning and the future of all contextual decision making). You will also learn the key skills of research, academic writing and project management required for study at masters’ level. These skills are further developed and placed in the context of the dissertation.
The development of transferable skills is core to the learning strategy of the programme and is incorporated into work units and assessments: for example; team-working skills are fostered through the use of group, task-based practical projects. Keeping lab-books and submitting self-assessment documentation in support of personal performance fosters self-management and personal development. You are required to meet strict deadlines, which will help you to plan your overall workload and develop time management skills.
Preparing for Welcome Week
Before you arrive on campus, please take a look at your course Moodle page where you will find lots of useful information to prepare you for Welcome Week.
Moodle - MSc Computer ScienceEssential Equipment / IT recommendations
- Getting started with IT (Essential reading)
- Office 365: The Office 365 suite of applications is free to all BCU students – just sign in here with your BCU password and email address. You can also download a free copy of Office 2016 on up to 5 personal devices (which includes Teams, Word, Excel, PowerPoint and more).
Start date
Teaching begins for most courses on Monday 22 January 2024.
Your course team will schedule activities for you to find out more about your course, meet your lecturers and other students and find your way around campus, which will be available on your timetable.
You will be able to see your timetable on iCity or the iBCU App as soon as it is available. You will receive an email when timetables are released.
In addition, all students should attend campus for the Students’ Union Welcome Week, which takes place between Monday 29 January and Friday 2 February 2024.
In the meantime, you can also visit our Moodle site for an overview of your Welcome Week arrangements
You can also download the University Assistant app and sign up with your course details for updates on Welcome Week.
Course leader
Welcome message
On behalf of the programme team, I warmly welcome you to the MSc Cyber Security course at Birmingham City University. I hope you are excited to join us for induction week! We have many fun and engaging activities planned to help you find your way around the campus and to enable you to meet your peers, tutors, and some alumni.
Preparing for Welcome Week
Before you arrive on campus, please take a look at your course Moodle page where you will find lots of useful information to prepare you for Welcome Week, including your required pre-arrival activity.
Moodle - MSc Cyber SecurityCourse location
Your course will mainly be taught in:
Curzon Building, City Centre Campus (Room numbers start with C)
Course location
Your course will mainly be taught in:
Millennium Point, City Centre Campus (Room numbers start with MP)
Course location
Your course will mainly be taught in:
Moreton Street in the Jewellery Quarter, within the Assay Office Birmingham building
Course location
Your course will mainly be taught in:
Parkside Building, City Centre Campus (Room numbers start with P)
Course location
Your course will mainly be taught in:
Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, City Centre Campus (Room numbers start with RBC)
Course location
Your course will mainly be taught in:
Ruskin Hall, Bournville (Room numbers start with SRU)
Course location
Your course will mainly be taught in:
School of Art (Room numbers start with MAR)
Course location
Your course will mainly be taught in:
School of Jewellery (Room numbers start with CSJ)
Course location
Your course will mainly be taught in:
Seacole Building, City South Campus (Room numbers start with SCT)
Course location
Your course will mainly be taught out of Villa Park and associated BCU facilities including:
City South Campus B15 3TN
Aston Villa City Academy, Brookvale B6 6HE
Course location
Your course will mainly be taught in:
STEAMhouse, City Centre Campus (Room numbers start with CST)
Course location
Your course will mainly be taught in:
Unit 3B Heneage Street
Course location
Your course will mainly be taught in:
Birmingham Metropolitan College at its James Watt Campus
Course location
Your course will mainly be taught in:
South and City College Birmingham's Digbeth Campus
Course location
Your course will mainly be taught in:
Matthew Boulton Campus, Birmingham Metropolitan College
Your Faculty
Your course is part of the Faculty of Art, Design and Media.
Your Faculty Student Centre is your first point of enquiry during your time with us. You can find them at:
Faculty of Arts, Design and Media: Parkside PS304-306
Your Faculty
Your course is part of the Faculty of Business, Law and Social Sciences.
Your Faculty Student Centre is your first point of enquiry during your time with us. You can find them at:
Faculty of Business, Law and Social Sciences: Curzon C335
Your Faculty
Your course is part of the Faculty of Computing, Engineering and The Built Environment.
Your Faculty Student Centre is your first point of enquiry during your time with us. You can find them at:
Faculty of Computing, Engineering and the Built Environment: STEAMhouse CST318
Your Faculty
Your course is part of the Faculty of Health, Education and Life Sciences.
Your Faculty Student Centre is your first point of enquiry during your time with us. You can find them at:
Faculty of Health, Education and Life Sciences: Seacole SCT002
Your Faculty
As a student on the FdSc Sports Coaching and Development degree course with the Aston Villa Foundation, your course is part of the Faculty of Health, Education and Life Sciences within City South Campus.
Your first point of enquiry during your time with us will be your course teaching team who are situated at The Aston Villa Football Club, Villa Park B6 6HE. If you have any queries or need support then please contact your Course Leader Gary McLean.
What should I bring on my first day?
We look forward to welcoming you to Birmingham City University!
You must have your ID card visible at all times when on campus, so if you have received yours before your first day, ensure you bring this with you. If you enrolled late you will need to collect one on campus during your first few days.
To complete your enrolment, you will need the following:
- Passport (or other form of photo ID if you are a UK/EU student)
- Original qualification documents if applicable (you will be emailed a list of the documents we need to see once you have completed your online enrolment)
- Visa (international students only)
What else? The rest is up to you! You will find a shop, café, pub, computer access and water fountains on campus, but we do recommend you bring the following on the first day:
- Notepad and pen
- Reusable water bottle
- Snack
- Money
And remember, the weather in Birmingham can be changeable!
Your Student Success Advisor team
The Student Success Advisors are BCU graduates here to advise and support you on your journey through university. They will be in contact to ensure you are settling in your course, point you in the right direction for any type of help you may need and push your success further from an academic and employability perspective.
To achieve all that, they run a series of projects, events, campaigns, and talks customised to each Faculty's need.
You can see what your Student Success Advisors are doing to help you, and connect with the team on Moodle or Instagram or contact admssa.team@bcu.ac.uk.
Your Student Success Advisor team
The Student Success Advisors are BCU graduates here to advise and support you on your journey through university. They will be in contact to ensure you are settling in your course, point you in the right direction for any type of help you may need and push your success further from an academic and employability perspective.
To achieve all that, they run a series of projects, events, campaigns, and talks customised to each Faculty's need.
You can see what your Student Success Advisors are doing to help you and find out more about them on iCity. You can also connect with them on Twitter or contact them on BLSSSSATEAM@bcu.ac.uk.
Your Student Success Advisor team
The Student Success Advisors are BCU graduates here to advise and support you on your journey through university. They will be in contact to ensure you are settling in your course, point you in the right direction for any type of help you may need and push your success further from an academic and employability perspective.
To achieve all that, they run a series of projects, events, campaigns, and talks customised to each Faculty's need.
You can see what your Student Success Advisors are doing to help you on the team’s iCity page which has your welcome guide, more info, array of activities, news and contact, or get in touch with them on cebesuccess@bcu.ac.uk. You can also follow the team on TikTok @cebe_ssa.
Your Student Success Advisor team
The Student Success Advisors are BCU graduates here to advise and support you on your journey through university. They will be in contact to ensure you are settling in your course, point you in the right direction for any type of help you may need and push your success further from an academic and employability perspective.
To achieve all that, they run a series of projects, events, campaigns, and talks customised to each Faculty's need.
You can see what your Student Success Advisors are doing to help you and find out more about them on iCity. You can also contact HELSSuccess@bcu.ac.uk or connect with them on Moodle, Twitter or Instagram.
Supporting your transition
During Welcome Week, you’ll get to meet our Student Ambassadors as soon as you walk onto campus. They’ll be there to support you with finding your Faculty Student Centre, collecting your ID card and guiding you in the right direction, and for a friendly hello!
Supporting your transition
During Welcome Week, you’ll get to meet our Student Ambassadors as soon as you walk onto campus. They’ll be there to support you with finding your Faculty Student Centre, collecting your ID card and guiding you in the right direction, and for a friendly hello!
Supporting your transition
During Welcome Week, you’ll get to meet our Student Ambassadors as soon as you walk onto campus. They’ll be there to support you with finding your Faculty Student Centre, collecting your ID card and guiding you in the right direction, and for a friendly hello!
Supporting your transition
During Welcome Week, you’ll get to meet our Student Ambassadors as soon as you walk onto campus. They’ll be there to support you with finding your Faculty Student Centre, collecting your ID card and guiding you in the right direction, and for a friendly hello!
International students
We expect all international students to engage with their studies in person from week 1 (w/c 22 January 2024).
The deadline to arrive in the UK to complete enrolment will be week 4 (w/c 12 February 2024).
Please check the guidelines on entering the UK from your country or territory before planning your journey.
Start date
Welcome Week takes place between Monday 11 September and Friday 15 September 2023.
The Doctoral Research College (DRC) Team will contact you with further information regarding the induction information for your course. Once your programme has commenced, we expect you to engage with your studies in person.
Course leadership
Your research degree programme will be supported by a number of people and departments across the University.
As a postgraduate research degree student at Birmingham City University, you will be a student of the Faculty in which your research study is focused, and your supervisory team is the primary point of contact for all academic issues. Academic and progression processes will be overseen and authorised by the Faculty Research Degrees and Environment Committee (FRDEC).
Welcome message
Welcome to Birmingham City University and the start of your life as a postgraduate research student, a valued member of our vibrant research community. We recognise fully the commitment that you have made by choosing to study with us for a research degree, and we understand the support that you will need from our academic staff in faculties, our wider research community and our professional services teams to enable your success.
At BCU, we are committed to distinctive, original and rigorous research which discovers new knowledge and which delivers real-world benefits to society. Through your research and advanced practice you will discover new insights and know-how. By sharing your research outcomes effectively through publication, conference attendance and public and business engagement, your research has the potential to deliver meaningful societal, cultural and economic benefits on a local, national or even global scale. Increasingly, our research findings are being applied by others to address national and global challenges, through interdisciplinary research teams and international collaborations.
In the last UK-wide exercise to measure research quality, REF2021, 93% of our research was recognised internationally for originality, significance and rigour, of which 19% was judged world-leading. Our submission to REF2021 demonstrated how our research has been growing in volume and quality, and included 310 staff submitted to 14 subject areas. This is more than double the number of staff assessed by REF2014, as more of our academic staff engage in impactful research of internationally recognised quality.
We are continuing our journey to further improve the quality and impact of our research; to grow our research community and enhance our research culture. We look forward to the valuable contributions that you will make.
We hope that you will enjoy being a part of our diverse and expanding research community and find your research degree programme to be a rewarding and challenging experience. In addition to gaining a much deeper understanding of your chosen subject area and discovering new knowledge, you will also develop a wide range of transferable skills that will set you up for your professional life beyond your PhD.
Please take the time to read the information in these Welcome pages, and the links therein, as it will help you settle into the University.
We wish you the very best of luck with your studies.
Dr Jenny Harding
Director, Doctoral Research College
The Postgraduate Certificate in Research Practice
As you will be aware from your application and offer letter, all new research degree students are expected to attend and complete the Postgraduate Certificate in Research Practice during their first year of the PhD, DHealth or DBA programme (or during the second year of your EdD programme).
This course lasts one semester and aims to support you in developing the skills and competences required to successfully complete higher degree research. It is intended to complement the guidance and support you will receive from your research degree supervisory team, who will be the key part of your development as a researcher.
The course aims to:
- Assist you in developing your individual research project through a structured programme
- Prepare you to carry out academic work for your research degree
- Introduce you to the research skills, practices and procedures that are essential for your postgraduate research study
- Provide an opportunity for you to explore a range of theoretical and practical research issues and their application
- Foster a supportive environment in which you can develop a specific area of research interest into a viable research proposal
The course serves to develop the wider research student community at Birmingham City University and enable participants to share any concerns that they may have and mutually support one another. It is important that you attend the programme both to gain the knowledge required to carry out your research degree, but also to make contacts with researchers in other faculties.
Successful completion of this programme is required in order to progress on the degree and attendance is compulsory for all new research students.
The Postgraduate Certificate in Research Practice is delivered via faculty and subject specific sessions as well as common sessions (involving the wider research student community).
More details on the Postgraduate Certificate in Research Practice will be provided at your induction.
International students
We expect all international students to engage with their studies in person from week 1 (w/c 22 January 2024).
The deadline to arrive in the UK to complete enrolment will be week 4 (w/c 12 February 2024).
Please check the guidelines on entering the UK from your country or territory before planning your journey.