Ecology, Evolution and Conservation Research
Obtain the interdisciplinary research skills required to succeed in the fields of ecology, evolution and conservation.
Apply detailed understanding of the essential facts, concepts, principles, and theories relevant to your project specialisation and harness this knowledge to tackle outstanding issues.
Gain industry expertise working alongside international experts from leading conservation organisations and research institutes
Apply your knowledge across two extended research projects
Course key facts
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Qualification
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MRes
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Duration
1 year, 2 years
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Start date
October 2023
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Study mode
Full-time, Part-time
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Fees
Full-time: £14,300 Part-time: £7,150 per year Home
Full-time: £28,300 Part-time: £14,150 per year Overseas
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Delivered by
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Location
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Silwood Park
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Course overview
Gain broad and interdisciplinary research training in ecology, evolution and conservation on this Master's course.
Offered full-time or part-time and taught by internationally recognised experts, this programme provides you with first-hand experience in conducting high-quality research.
You'll be taught by active researchers throughout the department and have the opportunity to join research groups as you develop your expertise in areas, such as iecological and evolution theoryy, biological computing and genomics, meta-analyses, modelling and statistics, experimental biology and evolution, microbiology, field ecology, and more.
You'll build interdisciplinary skills and benefit from international connections and collaborations with leading institutions and organisations . Your science will have relevance to practical conservation.
The course begins with six weeks of taught modules to develop core skills.
You can then apply these techniques to two five-month research projects on topics of your choice.
Structure
This page is updated regularly to reflect the latest version of the curriculum. However, this information is subject to change.
Find out more about potential course changes.
Prior to starting your research projects, you’ll start with six weeks of modules that provide core skills.
You’ll build the skills required to successfully complete your research project.
Modules may vary, but an example programme could look like this:
- Week 1: Ecology, Evolution and Conservation Induction
- Week 2: Field ecology skills
- Week 3: Biological computing in R
- Week 4: Statistics in R
- Week 5: Spatial Analysis and GIS
- Week 6: Genomics and bioinformatics
You'll undertake your first five-month project starting mid-November.
Research is carried out either in the group of an Imperial Research Leader, or can be with another institution in the UK or abroad.
The project concludes in the spring with the submission of a report in the format of a journal manuscript, as well as a oral presentation and viva defending your work.
Your second project starts around mid-April.
It also involves the submission of a project report in the format of a journal manuscript in late summer/early autumn.
Your work will be assessed by an oral presentation and viva given in the following weeks, with the presentation part of the annual Frontiers in Ecology, Evolution & Conservation Symposium (FrEECS; a conference style meeting) held at Silwood Park.
This project should be conducted with a different supervisor to the winter project.
Teaching and assessment
Teaching and learning methods
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Research seminars
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Independent research projects
Balance of assessment
Key
- Winter research project
- Summer research project
- 50% Winter research project
- 50% Summer research project
Assessment methods
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Individual research project reports
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Practical assessments
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Oral presentations
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Oral exams
Entry requirements
We consider all applicants on an individual basis, welcoming students from all over the world.
How to apply
Apply online
You can submit one application form per year of entry. You can choose up to two courses.
Application deadlines – Round 3 closes on Friday 31 March 2023
We operate a staged admissions process with several application rounds throughout the year.
Apply by midnight (UK time) on the relevant application round deadline to ensure that you receive the outcome of your application by the decision date.
We recommend applying as early as you can – we cannot guarantee that places will be available, or that courses will remain open, in later rounds.
Application rounds
Round 1
- Apply by 4 November 2022
- Decision by 19 December 2022
Round 2
- Apply by 20 January 2023
- Decision by 10 March 2023
Round 3
- Apply by 31 March 2023
- Decision by 12 May 2023
Round 4
- Apply by 26 May 2023
- Decision by 27 July 2023
Round 5
- Apply by 7 July 2023
- Decision by 4 August 2023
If you are applying for a taught Master’s course, you will need to pay an application fee before submitting your application.
The fee applies per application and not per course:
- £80 for all taught Master's applications excluding those to the Imperial College Business School
- £100 for all MSc applications to the Imperial College Business School
- £150 for MBA applications to the Imperial College Business School
There is no application fee for MRes courses, Postgraduate Certificates, Postgraduate Diplomas or research courses, such as PhDs and EngDs.
If you are facing financial hardship and are unable to pay the application fee, we encourage you to apply for our application fee waiver.
Find out more about how to apply for a Master's course, including references and personal statements.
Unless you are from an exempt nationality, you will need an ATAS certificate to obtain your visa and study this course.
Nationals from the following countries are exempt: Switzerland, Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea, USA and EEA members.
Use this information when applying for an ATAS certificate to study this course:
- CAH code: CAH03-01-03
- Descriptor: ecology and environmental biology
- Supervisor name: Professor Daniel Davis
Get guidance and support for obtaining an ATAS certificate.
Tuition fees
Home fee
2023 entry
£14,300
You should expect and budget for your fees to increase each year.
Your fee is based on the year you enter the College, not your year of study. This means that if you repeat a year or resume your studies after an interruption, your fees will only increase by the amount linked to inflation.
Find out more about our tuition fees payment terms, including how inflationary increases are applied to your tuition fees in subsequent years of study.
Whether you pay the Home or Overseas fee depends on your fee status. This is assessed based on UK Government legislation and includes things like where you live and your nationality or residency status. Find out how we assess your fee status.
If you're a UK national, or EU national with settled or pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme, you may be able to apply for a Postgraduate Master’s Loan from the UK government, if you meet certain criteria.
For 2022-23 entry, the maximum amount is £11,836. The loan is not means-tested and you can choose whether to put it towards your tuition fees or living costs.
Overseas fee
2023 entry
£28,300
You should expect and budget for your fees to increase each year.
Your fee is based on the year you enter the College, not your year of study. This means that if you repeat a year or resume your studies after an interruption, your fees will only increase by the amount linked to inflation.
Find out more about our tuition fees payment terms, including how inflationary increases are applied to your tuition fees in subsequent years of study.
Whether you pay the Home or Overseas fee depends on your fee status. This is assessed based on UK Government legislation and includes things like where you live and your nationality or residency status. Find out how we assess your fee status.
If you're a UK national, or EU national with settled or pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme, you may be able to apply for a Postgraduate Master’s Loan from the UK government, if you meet certain criteria.
For 2022-23 entry, the maximum amount is £11,836. The loan is not means-tested and you can choose whether to put it towards your tuition fees or living costs.
Your future career
Be equipped with the necessary skills to proceed to a PhD and establish a career in academia.
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You will be well placed to pursue a research position with government and non-governmental organisations that seek to protect biodiversity.
Life Sciences graduates from Imperial are also highly sought after in a variety of employment sectors outside of academia.
Further links
Contact the department
- Email: c.scott@imperial.ac.uk
Course directors: Dr Richard Gill.
Visit the Department of Life Sciences website.
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Terms and conditions
There are some important pieces of information you should be aware of when applying to Imperial. These include key information about your tuition fees, funding, visas, accommodation and more.
You can find further information about your course, including degree classifications, regulations, progression and awards in the programme specification for your course.
Programme specifications