A UK 2:1 honours degree or its international equivalent.
To find international equivalent qualifications, select where you studied from the country or region list.
Science and technology have built the modern world, shaping how we live, work, and govern. Engaging with today’s complex issues – from novel therapeutics and artificial intelligence to energy transitions and environmental protection – requires close attention to how science and technology shape, and are shaped by, the societies in which they operate.
The MSc Science and Technology in Society will equip you with the critical tools and perspectives needed to explore these relationships. You will examine how scientific knowledge and technologies emerge and develop, how they interact with social, political, and economic contexts, and why understanding these dynamics is essential for navigating many of our most pressing challenges.
Drawing on ideas and methods from science, technology, and innovation studies (STIS), social science, and history, you will analyse real-world case studies of how scientific knowledge and technologies are produced, used, governed, commercialised, and contested.
You will ask the difficult and important questions:
Our aim is to develop your capacity to engage carefully and critically with technical developments and their societal implications. These are skills increasingly important for careers in science and technology policy, innovation strategy, science communication, public engagement, and analyst roles across the public, private, and third sectors – as well as for those pursuing academic research.
We welcome students from all disciplinary backgrounds. While many of our students have graduated with degrees in the social sciences or humanities, we greatly value the diverse perspectives offered by students from the natural sciences, engineering, and other professional fields. For them, exploring the social, economic, political, and cultural dimensions provides a new way of understanding their own fields, leading them into a broader range of career choices.
This MSc will teach you the fundamentals of scholarship in this interdisciplinary field.
You will develop skills in how to systematically find and evaluate information, critical analysis, authoritative presentation, and clear and concise communication, as well as the opportunity to strength your qualitative, quantitative, or computational research skills.
You will engage critically with complex texts on a weekly basis, contribute thoughtfully to seminar discussions, and produce written work that demonstrates analytical depth, clarity, and critical reflection.