This course will help students develop the critical and systemic thinking needed to lead the shift towards sustainable energy in the public, private and third sectors. This MSc offers a broad-based, social science training in Energy Policy that incorporates ideas from economics and political science, with an emphasis on innovation throughout the course.
Building on the influential research of the Science Policy Research Unit (SPRU), modules are delivered by leading academics who are developing new thinking in Energy Policy and applying this to contemporary challenges around the world. Teaching is interdisciplinary, practical and applied. There is a focus on real-world policy problems as students learn to analyse them and propose viable policy solutions.
Applicants do not require any prior training or experience in the subject area, just a passion to drive change.
These will take place throughout each module and must be completed within the module teaching period for students to progress through the course and move on to the next module.
2.2 undergraduate honours degree or above from any UK university or international equivalent
Students who do not meet the entry requirements but demonstrate relevant professional experience will also be considered for this course.
These typical entry requirements apply to the current academic year of entry and may be subject to change. Please check back on the website for further details.
Applicants whose first language is not English (and whose first degree was not taught in English) are required to produce evidence of English language proficiency such as an IELTS (Academic) Standard level (6.5 overall, including at least 6.0 in each component).
Cost per module: £1,020 Total course fees: £12,240
Funding
Flexible options allow students or their employers to make payment as easy as possible. These options include paying unit by unit, or paying the full fees upfront or via a sponsor.
20% Alumni discount
If you have previously graduated from an undergraduate, postgraduate or PhD course with the University of Sussex you will be eligible† for a 20% discount on this online course.
With climate change and sustainable energy high on the agenda, it’s never been more important for organisations to take a planned, measured approach to policy making.
Whether operating in the public, private or third sector, a critical, informed and systemic approach to energy policy will help your business anticipate and meet tomorrow’s challenges
This online Energy Policy MSc brings together different academic disciplines to focus on real-world policy and its outcomes. Students will learn to analyse problems and put forward innovative policy solutions around energy sustainability and development. They’ll examine how to manage energy transitions, carry out quantitative research and learn about the policy process.
Your people will be taught by leading academics from the influential Science Policy Research Unit (SPRU) at Sussex University, one of the world’s pioneering centres of research on science, technology and innovation in policy and management.
Whether students are involved in business, represent a government department, work in consultancy or form part of an NGO, they’ll develop skills in a variety of social science research methods and learn how to apply their findings to analyse and evaluate today’s energy policy problems.
After completing 11 course modules, they will be ready to carry out a capstone project as part of their course work. Structured as a policy briefing paper, its learnings could directly benefit participating businesses and the specific energy policy issues they face.
To enrol in the course, applicants will need the following:
A 2.2 undergraduate honours degree or above from any UK university or an international equivalent
Students who do not meet the entry requirements but demonstrate relevant professional experience will also be considered for this course.
These typical entry requirements apply to the 2020/2021 academic year of entry (1 September 2020 to 31 August 2021) and may be subject to change for the 2021/2022 academic year (1 September 2021 to 31 August 2022). Please check back on the website for further details.
English language requirements
Applicants whose first language is not English (and whose first degree was not taught in English) are required to produce evidence of English language proficiency such as an IELTS (Academic) Standard level (6.5 overall, including at least 6.0 in each component).
Modules
Graduates of the programme will emerge with skills that cover an extensive range of disciplines. The course comprises of 11 modules plus a final capstone project:
Introduction to Energy Policy
Policy Analysis
Understanding the Policy Process
Science, Technology and Innovation
Energy Sustainability
Energy Justice
Perspectives, Methods & Skills
Quantitative Research Methods for Energy Policy
Governing Energy Transitions
Energy and Development
Energy and Economic Growth
Energy Policy Capstone Project
Each module lasts for seven weeks with the final module assessment deadline usually on the Monday of Week 8.
Assessments must be completed within the module teaching period for students to progress through the course and move on to the next module.
Students are free to plan the recommended 20 hours of study a week around existing commitments and earn as they learn. They can complete the 12 modules in two years to gain their MSc, or take longer if they need to.
Courses are designed using a carousel format, with modules starting every two months. If necessary, students can step off the course, take a break, and then re-join when their external commitments permit.
Why choose this course?
Sussex University has been ranked No.1 in the World for Development Studies three years running*. A research-intensive university, it attracts leading academics and students from over 100 countries worldwide.
The Science Policy Research Unit (SPRU) is internationally respected for the impact of its research, rated in the World’s top three for its focus on innovation by the 2017 Global Go To Think Tank Index Report.
Students have the flexibility of 100% part-time, online learning, with no need to travel to the campus. The university’s distance learning platform has been specifically designed for them. Known as the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE), it allows participants to study from wherever they are in the world.
They can view real time lectures and seminars, or watch them back on-demand at a time and place that suits them. All supporting materials are stored in the VLE: research papers, articles, podcasts, suggested readings and viewings, as well as additional learning tools and resources to help them throughout their studies.
Students are encouraged to collaborate, bringing their own experiences and knowledge together so they can share and enhance each other’s learning. As graduates, they will join a global network of alumni and academics who will support them throughout their career as fellow professionals and like-minded colleagues.
*QS World University Rankings by Subject 2017, 2018, 2019
Course fees will remain fixed for 24 months from your initial course start date. Thereafter, the course fee will rise at a rate of 2.5% per calendar year (subject to rounding for administration purposes).
Funding & Scholarships
Please discuss the various funding options with your Pearson Regional Development Manager.
Meet Your Faculty
Professor Tim Foxon
Professor of Sustainability Transitions – Science Policy Research Unit (SPRU)
Paul’s academic career to date has included spells at the University of Leeds, the University of Cambridge and Imperial College London.
His research explores technological and social factors relating to the innovation of new energy technologies, the co-evolution of technologies and institutions for a transition to a sustainable low carbon economy, and relations and interdependencies between energy use and economic growth. His current research focuses on energy demand in the digital society, low carbon industrial strategy, reorienting investments and divesting from fossil fuels, and the relations between energy use and economic growth. He is also the PhD Doctoral Programme Convenor for SPRU.
Paul’s previous research has looked at transition pathways to a UK low carbon electricity system and a low carbon economy, examining business models for local low carbon infrastructure, research on future energy decision making for cities, and an ESRC research seminar series on complexity economics for sustainability.
Dr Caitriona McLeish
Senior Research Fellow – Science Policy Research Unit (SPRU)
Caitríona McLeish became co-director of the Harvard Sussex Program (HSP) on Chemical and Biological Weapons (CBW) in 2010. Her research interests centre on the dual use problem in both the chemical and biological warfare environments and how to design effective mechanisms to prevent the misuse of legitimate science and technology. In 2013 she began a research project to collect data on allegations of chemical weapons use in Syria and latterly Iraq.
Caitriona also leads the Deep Transitions sub-project which examines the role of war in food, energy and transport systems. As well as supervising postgraduate dissertation writing, she leads on HSP’s external outreach and training programmes. This includes convening two of HSP’s seminar series which seek to promote communication between government and non-government specialists in CBW issues. She also acts as editor of the Harvard Sussex Program Occasional Paper Series and has primary responsibility for the Sussex Harvard Information Bank (SHIB).
Professor Paul Nightingale
Professor of Strategy – Science Policy Research Unit (SPRU)
Paul was originally trained as a chemist and worked in industry on analytical environmental toxicology in the R&D labs of a major blue chip firm. His PhD looked at the changing use of computer simulations in the pharmaceutical, aerospace, chemical and chemical engineering industries, including a pilot study of the LEP detector at CERN.
After his PhD, Paul worked for 10 years in the Complex Product Systems Innovation Centre, jointly run between SPRU and CENTRIM. While there, his interests included bioinformatic systems and risk management technology in investment banks.
Paul has carried out a substantial amount of policy work on innovation policy in the UK and led NESTA’s Innovation Gap research project. His main areas of work now relate to financial innovation, and its impact on the economy. His current research project explores venture capital policy, the funding and management of high impact ‘gazelle’ firms, and innovation in investment banking.
Dr Noam Bergman
Deputy Course Director & Lecturer in Energy Policy – Science Policy Research Unit (SPRU)
Noam’s background in research includes both natural and social science work. He has a BSc in Physics and an MSc in Environmental Sciences, both from the Hebrew University, Jerusalem. His PhD in environmental sciences at the University of East Anglia (UEA) constructed an Earth system model looking at changes over geological timescales (tens to hundreds of millions of years). He has studied chemical oceanography, researched sustainability and climate-change-related issues.
From 2005 to 2007, Noam worked on the EU project MATISSE studying transitions to sustainable development, researching case studies, and developing computer simulations of historical and potential future transitions. From 2008 to 2013, he undertook research at the University of Oxford’s Environmental Change Institute (ECI), looking at microgeneration from a socio-technical perspective, with policy implications and economic analysis. Other projects have included research on local, community-based action on climate change and climate activism.
Professor Benjamin Sovacool
Professor of Energy Policy – Science Policy Research Unit (SPRU)
Dr Benjamin K. Sovacool serves as Director of the Sussex Energy Group and works as a researcher and consultant on issues pertaining to global energy policy and politics, energy security, energy justice, climate change mitigation, and climate change adaptation. More specifically, his research focuses on renewable energy and energy efficiency, the politics of large-scale energy infrastructure, designing public policy to improve energy security and access to electricity, the ethics of energy, and building adaptive capacity to the consequences of climate change.
His research has been endorsed by U.S. President Bill Clinton, the Prime Minister of Norway Gro Harlem Brundtland, and the late Nobel Laureate Elinor Ostrom, among others. He is a Lead Author of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s Sixth Assessment Report (AR6), due to be published in 2022, and an Advisor on Energy to the European Commission’s Directorate General for Research and Innovation in Brussels.
Professor Steve Sorrell
Professor of Energy Policy – Science Policy Research Unit (SPRU)
Steve is an energy and climate policy specialist with 25 years’ experience in academic and consultancy research. He is a Co-Director of the Digital Society theme of the Centre for Research into Energy Demand Solutions, a member of the Sussex Energy Group (SEG) and Honorary Senior Fellow at the Centre for Environmental Policy, Imperial College.
Steve worked as an electrical engineer before joining SPRU in 1991. Since then he has undertaken applied, problem-oriented research on energy and climate policy, with particular focus on energy efficiency, emissions trading and resource depletion. He is listed in the 2018 and 2019 Highly Cited Researchers List compiled by Clarivate Analytics.
Steve has consulted for a variety of clients including international organisations (e.g. European Commission, UNIDO, WEC), UK government departments (e.g. BEIS, DEFRA, DfID), UK government agencies (e.g. Environment Agency), private sector organisations (e.g. EdF) and NGOs.
Dr Marie Claire Brisbois
Course Director & Lecturer in Energy Policy – Science Policy Research Unit (SPRU)
Marie Claire Brisbois’ work examines questions of power, politics and influence in energy, water and climate governance contexts, as well as broader issues of social change and public participation in low carbon transitions.
Marie Claire is a Co-Director of the Sussex Energy Group. She currently runs the Powershifts project, examining the potential of distributed renewable energy models to disrupt established political patterns. She also leads a work package for the H2020 CINTRAN project looking at the impact of coal phase-outs and how elite power plays out in these contexts. Her other research activities include participatory and collaborative environmental governance, the military and security implications of energy transitions, and science communications through both citizen science and open data.
Marie Claire has held a Mitacs Canadian Science Policy Fellowship and served as an Adjunct Professor in the School of Environment, Resources and Sustainability at the University of Waterloo in Canada. She has a masters degree in Biological Engineering from Dalhousie University and has consulted on technical and policy-level water and climate issues in Latin America and Canada.
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