In this module we study the working of imperfectly competitive markets, the behaviour of firms in these markets, welfare implications and competition policy.
The module will provide an introduction to the field of Industrial Organisation at a graduate level.
During the Industrial Placement Year (expected to be of at least 30 weeks in duration), you will apply the knowledge you have gained from the taught elements of the programme, develop a deeper understanding of technical issues from work-related projects, understand the commercial and technical aspects of the sector, and reflect on your developing professional knowledge and skills. You will undertake the IPY after either Part II or after Part III of your studies. Pre-requisite: If IPY taken after Part II then must pass Part II of all programmes before IPY is possible. If IPY taken after Part III then must pass Part III of all programmes before IPY is possible. Students are expected to take responsibility for securing their placement. Support and guidance will be provided by the module staff. Students must register their placement with the University Placement Management System - details available at the Engineering Pre-Placement blackboard module and @ https://placements.soton.ac.uk Comprehensive information about the IPY can be found at: https://sotonac.sharepoint.com/teams/EngineeringIndustrialPlacementYearStudent
This Industrial Studies module is part of our MEng and MComp programmes with “Industrial Studies” in the title. It allows students to go on to a 1 year placement in industry after finishing Part 3 of their programme. It is a great way to give our students a competitive edge among graduate recruiters by showing they can relate their academic skills and knowledge to contemporary industrial practice. It can help them to connect with future employers, add value to their CV or launch their career in a new-found direction, as well enabling them to develop business and team-working skills in their chosen industry. To be eligible for the one year placement, students are required to meet specified progression criteria. We require students to reach a Part 3 average mark of no less than 58%. They are also required to meet the criteria at the first time of asking. We would anticipate that the majority of our placement students would achieve at a significantly higher level than this criteria. Overall, this module helps improve students' appreciation of their degree programme and make them more attractive to future employers. On top of this, they get to earn a salary to pay back some of their tuition fees.
This Industrial Studies module is part of our MEng programmes with “Industrial Studies” in the title, and allows students to go on to a one-year placement in industry in Part III of their programme. Students are normally expected start their placement from July/August after the Semester 2 and come back the following year to continue their degree. They may need to relocate for that period. This module gives our students a competitive edge among graduate recruiters by showing they can relate their academic skills and knowledge to contemporary industrial practice. It can help them to connect with future employers, add value to their CV or launch their career in a new-found direction, as well enabling them to develop business and team-working skills in their chosen industry. To be eligible for the one year placement, students are required to meet specified progression criteria. We require students to reach an average mark of at least 58% in their preceding Part, which they must achieve at the first time of asking (i.e. not after referral); we anticipate that the majority of our placement students would achieve at a significantly higher level than this criteria.
During the Industrial Training period (expected to be 10 weeks in duration), you will apply the knowledge you have gained from the taught elements of the programme, develop a deeper understanding of technical issues from work-related projects, understand the commercial and technical aspects of the sector, and reflect on your developing professional knowledge and skills. You will undertake the Industrial Training after Part III of your studies. As the Industrial Training is a compulsory part of the programme, students will be provided support to secure their placement. Students must either apply to the list of companies provided to them or discuss alternative placement options with the university coordinators. All confirmed placements will be recorded and registered for evaluation purposes.
In this industry project module, you will collaborate with arts and cultural organisations and practitioners from the programme partnership network to co-design and undertake a project. The programme’s partner network brings together a diverse range of organisations with specialisms relating to different art and cultural sectors. Building on the relationships established through the programme, you will be supported in exchanging ideas with a programme partner to co-design a project brief with shared questions and aims. This co-designed project will connect with and contribute to both the priorities of the partner and your own professional development. Undertaking a project in partnership requires you to shape and maintain a collaborative relationship. This will then enable you to gain direct insights into the different aims, values, operational processes and decision-making practices employed within arts and cultural sectors. Through the assessment, the emphasis is on employing and evaluating a range of ideas, debates, methods, skills and resources to collaboratively create new insights. These insights can be shared with arts and cultural organisations and practitioners to continue the conversations and your continued sector engagement.
The module offers a firmly intersectional approach to inequality offering, week-on-week, multiple frames by which to consider experiences and meanings of inequality. By the end of the module, students will have been introduced to 8 key topics for understanding inequality and will be able to speak about the ways in which these co-construct one another and contribute to the structuring of society, and the impacts of and for social policy responses to these issues. Explored through a range of cultural and social texts, the module will be firmly situated in the contemporary moment, offering a ‘live sociology’ (Back, 2012) encouraging students to look around them at their social world and global position, empowering them to understand and critique their everyday, international worlds. The module builds on the theoretical introductions to key social theories offered in semester 1 and provides a foundation for students to move into the second and third year by introducing key areas of study explored in detail in other modules
The module will start with an introductory session on common research techniques used in Biomedical Science. This will be followed by sessions covering the following topics: 1. Immune responses to infection at the epithelial surface (2 sessions) 2. Tuberculosis and the host-pathogen interaction 3. T cells on Patrol: Antigen Presentation Pathways in the context of Infection (2 sessions) 4. Sexually transmitted infections 5. Complex infections and novel therapies (2 sessions) The sessions will combine a seminar and general discussion to clarify any points and to frame any questions arising from the lecture that the students find interesting. Prior to each topic, a relevant primary research publication and supporting documentation that exemplifies research in the subject area will be provided. Students should read the paper prior to attending the session and pay particular attention to the methods section to ensure they are familiar with the basic principles of the techniques and/or any confusing abbreviations used. Methodological queries will be discussed at the session. For topics 1, 3 and 5, one or more students, depending on class numbers, will be designated to prepare an oral presentation on the selected paper for the following week. The presentation will comprise the paper and background questions arising from the article or from the seminar. All students will be expected to join in the discussion of the paper during and after the presentation, although only those students who are presenting will be assessed. Presenting students will be expected to research other articles to introduce concepts in the paper. All students will be expected to research other articles to bring to the general discussion of the selected paper. For topics 2 and 4, all students will write a critical appraisal of a selected paper stating the hypothesis and summarising the background, results and conclusions with comment on strengths, weaknesses and any new questions arising as a consequence of the paper. There will be no oral presentation for these topics.
This module develops the theory of groups beyond the finite setting studied in MATH2003. While many familiar results in algebra concern finite structures, a large part of modern mathematics studies infinite groups, whose behaviour is richer and often governed by geometry rather than counting. We begin with structural examples, including finitely generated abelian groups and their classification, before introducing free groups and the combinatorial viewpoint of group theory via words and relations. This leads to geometric and graphical methods, including Cayley graphs and Stallings graphs, which allow algebraic problems to be studied using topology and geometry. The module then explores how groups arise as symmetry groups of spaces. In particular, we study isometry groups of Euclidean, spherical and hyperbolic geometries, illustrating how algebra encodes geometric structure and how geometry constrains algebra. Throughout the course, the emphasis is on developing intuition for infinite groups and on techniques that appear across modern areas of mathematics such as geometric group theory, topology and algebra.
Tomorrow’s healthcare professionals will work in a context characterised by continual change, challenging environments, rapidly evolving technologies and the need for innovation. To operate successfully in this context, these professionals must be able to influence the delivery of high quality, safe healthcare. They must be able to lead themselves, working autonomously, or as an equal partner with a range of other professionals, and be able to operate in interdisciplinary teams. This module is concerned with the application of leadership and management to deliver and improve these complex health care systems. Rather than examining leadership in a vacuum, we will instead critically evaluate what leadership is and how it is applied to influence change in healthcare settings. We will discuss and analyse concepts, theories, characteristics, tools, and practices across the five broad themes of (1) leadership, (2) teamwork, (3) change and innovation, (4) service improvement and (5) risk, error and quality management. Much of the class time will be spent in critical discussions and analyses of case studies that illustrate the five central domains of the module.
The module aims to introduce you to the fields of information systems and the digital aspects of management in contemporary organisations. You will be introduced to the key definitions and conceptualisations of information systems. The distinction between data, information and knowledge will be outlined, and new trends such as big data will be discussed and put into context. The components of an information system, information quality dimensions, and different perspectives on digital practices and business processes will be considered. Information systems and related research fields are then examined and you will reflect on how research themes in these subject areas have over time varied from the study of the development, use and management of these systems within their traditional organisational boundaries to the wider societal impact of information and communication technologies or their role in globalisation, development, etc. The module addresses business applications of information technology, managing and evaluating information systems, systems development, and aspects of working with information systems in an organisational or societal setting. By the end of the module, you will have a background understanding of the areas studied in the Digital Strategy and Information Systems (DSIS) MSc programme and be able to position specific work in this area against its broader context.
The purpose of this module is to equip students with a useful grounding in digital strategy and information systems (IS) management. After introducing the characteristics and concepts of systems and IS, the module will provide an overview of strategic planning for IS, and also the important issue of the integration of digital strategies with business objectives. Particular attention will then be paid to the digital frameworks that are available to assist managers in IS strategic analysis and help them understand the strategic impact of digital trends ranging from social media to cloud computing and big data. Issues surrounding the management of information technology (IT) projects, process improvement, organisational change, and IT outsourcing or offshoring are examined. The principles of digital privacy and data security are also considered.
• The process of globalisation and international competition looking at the role of companies and markets in the United States, Germany, Japan, the Tiger economies and China. This provides context for developing an analysis of the response from British institutions. • The organisational challenge – from the firm level to governmental response – within the British economy to increasing globalisation and associated restructuring associated with technological change. • The evolution and conceptualisation of business models by business and the associated policy approaches. • This module will also use archival documents to illustrate the decision making process associated with restructuring, financial analysis and strategy.
In this module, you will engage with global discourses on design-led innovation and entrepreneurial leadership, developing the skills and mindset to become a confident, responsible change-maker in an increasingly complex world. Through a unique blend of workshops led by inspirational thought-leaders, case studies, and real-world project briefs, you will build capability in strategic planning, design thinking, opportunity identification, and responsible innovation. You will critically assess the role of design in shaping organisations, products, services, and systems at both local and global levels. Key themes include branding, marketing, technology, finance and emerging business models - from platform-based enterprises and the circular economy to regenerative practices and design-driven start-ups - that frame modern entrepreneurial opportunities. Collaboration and communication are core to this experience. You will sharpen your ability to co-create and pitch ideas persuasively to a range of stakeholders - from grassroots charities to Fortune 500 corporations. The module culminates in the creation and delivery of a professional-grade innovation proposal or venture concept, underpinned by research, business modelling, and a live or simulated pitch.
The UK government has recognised the importance of innovation and technology transfer in sustaining competitive advantage in the global knowledge economy. If successful innovation management is to take place, it is necessary to recognise when technology has commercial potential and evaluate how economic value might be captured.
The module will look at innovation in learning and teaching in the context of educational practice.
This module explores the opportunities and challenges presented by the growing importance of the environmental agenda in the political, social economic and technological context. With increasing environmental awareness comes a need for commercially sustainable solutions to energy and resource conservation. The challenge lies in translating environmentally sound technologies into viable market solutions and business ventures - just because it is the right thing to do does not mean that customers will buy! Emergent new sectors present exciting opportunities, yet the very dynamism of such sectors, a nexus of new technologies, new markets, new networks, new regulatory practices presents risk too.
