If you want to explore a particular field of scientific interest to broaden your knowledge or gain a competitive edge, consider postgraduate study.

Reasons to take a postgraduate science course

There are many reasons. A diploma or master’s course can increase your understanding of a specific subject such as genetics or engineering geology.

You can also use it to broaden your knowledge in an interdisciplinary area, for example robotics or environmental science.

You could also use it to change direction into a different field, such as computer science.

Postgraduate study might improve your job prospects in competitive fields such as geophysics. Certain professions demand postgraduate study as a route to entry – for instance, science teachers and clinical biochemists are required to undertake further study. If you want to become a professional researcher or university academic, a research degree, even a PhD, will definitely be an advantage.

Reasons to not take a postgraduate science course

For some, it is just a question of putting off making a decision to do something different or move from a position in which they feel comfortable.

Don’t undertake a postgraduate course to avoid making a choice or because you lack certainty about your career. Delaying decisions will hinder your progress.

What postgraduate science courses are available?

The courses divide into two types: advanced taught courses leading to a master’s degree or diploma, and research courses.

Advanced taught courses give you in-depth knowledge in a particular field and involve lectures, projects and laboratory work. Courses last one academic year (diploma) or one calendar year (master’s).

The academics involved usually have strong links with the relevant industry. Sometimes, as is the case with the Postgraduate Certificate in Education, they lead to a professional qualification.

Research degrees involve researching a project. Universities often insist that you initially register as a master’s student and then transfer to PhD status when you have proven that you can make progress.

A PhD often takes three years, sometimes a little more, but an MPhil can be given for two years of research and a master’s degree for one year.

Another type of course at master’s level is the MRes. These courses are designed to increase your skills in research, laboratory work, writing and presenting your findings.

Funding your postgraduate study

There are many sources of funding for science postgraduates. The research councils all offer some funding for further study.

Many charities sponsor research. The Wellcome Trust and Cancer Research UK are well-known for their sponsorship of research.

Employees are also often sponsored by their firms to take postgraduate courses, usually on a part-time basis, that will enhance their skills and make them more valuable employees. Research is often sponsored by commercial firms and the academics pursuing it are usually given funds to hire a research student to help them with their investigations.

Science employers’ views

Recruiters often need to recruit people with specialist skills and knowledge, and in these cases a master’s degree is often an advantage.

This is especially true if you are seeking a job in another European country where the degree studies are longer than those in the UK. Recruiters of researchers usually prefer graduates with research experience, and that often means a PhD.

’Employing people with higher-level degrees, such as MSc and PhDs, not only gives us people with more in-depth technical skills but people who have had to apply those skills to deliver research projects and innovative research,’ says Martin Keys, an Operations & Programmes Manager at the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory.

’In doing this, applicants have also developed their wider management skill-set as they take on the responsibility for delivering a significant piece of work.’