Sensor Systems Engineering
Develop the expertise to engineer sensor systems from end to end: from sensor physics, design and characterisation to instrumentation, signal processing, networks and data interpretation.
Course key facts
Qualification
MSc
Duration
1 year
Start date
October 2027
Study mode
Full-time
Delivered by
Location
-
South Kensington
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Minimum entry standard
First-Class Honours in Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Physics, or a related discipline.
Course overview
Prepare to build technologies that measure the world around us, supporting innovation in healthcare, robotics, industry, transport, space and intelligent connected systems.
This MSc gives you the skills to engineer sensor systems from the physical device to the intelligent connected network. You will study how sensors are designed, fabricated, characterised and measured, then follow the signal through instrumentation, processing, interpretation and system-level integration.
The course combines hardware, measurement science, electronics, signal processing, sensor networks and AI/ML applications, giving you a broader perspective than a programme focused only on electronics, instrumentation or applied physics. Through laboratory work, modelling and an individual research project, you will gain practical experience in developing, evaluating and using sensor technologies.
You will explore areas including electromagnetic, semiconductor, quantum and MEMS sensors, imaging systems, sensor instrumentation, networks, and machine-learning methods for extracting insight from sensor data. These skills are relevant to healthcare, robotics, automation, transport, aerospace, environmental monitoring and intelligent connected systems, as well as further research in sensing technologies.
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.
Please note: it may not always be possible to take specific combinations of modules due to timetabling conflicts. For confirmation, please check with the relevant department.
You'll take all of the following core modules.
Core modules
Design, fabricate, and characterise sensors.
Gain working knowledge of the capabilities and limitations of signal measurement strategies, and practical skills in applying them.
Learn how sensor systems are implemented and deployed to provide optimal information about the physical world.
Learn about the underlying physical principles, methods of fabrication and applications of a broad range of micro-scale devices that combine mechanical, electrical/electronic and optical functionalities.
Work in a team to develop, make, and validate a complete sensor system.
You will choose four optional modules in total: two in the Autumn term, and two in the Spring term.
Optional modules - Autumn term
Study the sources and detectors used in radio and optical communication links, and the behaviour of their signals as they propagate in various media.
Learn about the physical operation of different imaging systems, starting with acoustic imaging and rising in frequency through electromagnetic methods operating at radio, microwave, terahertz, thermal, optical and X-ray frequencies.
Understand analogue-integrated circuits and systems in CMOS and Bipolar technologies.
Familiarise yourself with how biomedical electronics can be used to create medical devices that interface with the human body.
Learn how to design computer algorithms for finding minima and maxima and discover how to interpret and modify algorithms found in standard computer packages.
Study a co-design approach that leverages the symbiotic relationship between hardware and algorithms.
Optional modules - Spring term
Analyse the design of digital filters and in multirate signal processing techniques.
Develop your insight into modern methods for adaptive learning and machine intelligence techniques, such as dimensionality reduction and neural and deep networks.
Discover the analogue signal processing techniques that can be used to perform computation.
Examine the design and implementation of high performance, analogue-integrated circuits and systems.
Examine the main concepts of information theory and its effect on communications.
Analyse the design of digital filters and in multirate signal processing techniques.
See how learning algorithms can be derived from risk minimisation and exploit these to derive distributed counterparts of the algorithms, both in federated and decentralised settings.
Broaden your understanding of the terminology, concepts and basic methods of radio frequency design.
The individual research project is your opportunity to investigate a specialist sensor-systems topic in depth, supported by academic supervision. You will apply analytical, computational, experimental or software methods to a substantial technical problem, developing the independence and rigour expected in advanced engineering research.
The project allows you to connect taught material with cutting-edge research, and to demonstrate your ability to define a problem, evaluate solutions, interpret results and communicate your findings through a dissertation and poster presentation.
Teaching and assessment
Balance of teaching and learning
This is a general guide to how teaching and learning are usually balanced across this course. The methods used may change based on the modules you take.
Key
- Lectures and classes
- Laboratory work and individual project
- Independent study
- 10% Title 1 goes here
- 60% Title 2 goes here
- 30% Title 3 goes here
Teaching and learning methods
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Lectures
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Seminars
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Small group coursework projects
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Quizzes
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Guided laboratory experiments
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Individual research project
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Independent study
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Problem-solving exercises
Balance of assessment
This is an example of how assessments are usually divided, based on a typical pathway through the course. The actual breakdown may be different depending on the modules you choose.
Key
- Coursework
- Examinations
- Practical
- 50% Title 1 goes here
- 40% Title 2 goes here
- 10% Title 3 goes here
Assessment methods
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Project reports
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Coursework
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Written exams
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Oral presentations
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Poster presentations
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Individual research project
Entry requirements
We consider all applicants on an individual basis, welcoming students from all over the world.
How to apply
Applications open on Wednesday 30 September 2026
We operate a staged admissions process with several application rounds throughout the year.
Apply by 23.59 (UK time) on the closing date of an application round, to ensure you receive a response on your application by the relevant decision date.
Round 1
Business School courses only.
Round 2
- Applications open on Wednesday 30 September 2026
- Applications close on Wednesday 6 January 2027
- Decision by Wednesday 3 March 2027
Round 3
- Applications open on Thursday 7 January 2027
- Applications close on Wednesday 10 March 2027
- Decision by Wednesday 5 May 2027
Round 4
- Applications open on Thursday 11 March 2027
- Applications close on Wednesday 28 April 2027
- Decision by Thursday 1 July 2027
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.
If you are applying for a Master’s course, you will need to pay an application fee before submitting your application.
The fee applies per application and not per course.
The application fees for postgraduate courses are:
- £90 for all Master's applications, excluding those to Imperial Business School
- £125 for MSc applications to Imperial Business School
- £150 for MBA applications to Imperial Business School
There is no application fee for Postgraduate Certificates, Postgraduate Diplomas, or courses such as PhDs and EngDs. This includes MRes and PhD combined (1+3) courses with the Centre for Doctoral Training.
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.
An ATAS certificate is not required for students applying for this course.
Fees and funding
Home fee
2027 entry
Not set
As a guide, the fee for 2026-27 was £19,400
You should expect and budget for your fees to increase each year.
Your fee is based on the year you enter the university, 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.
The maximum value of the loan is £13,206 if your course starts on or after 1 August 2026.
The loan is not means-tested and you can choose whether to put it towards your tuition fees or living costs.
Please note that the loan is only available if you’re studying a full Master’s course from the start. If you start on a Postgraduate Certificate (PG Cert) or Postgraduate Diploma (PG Dip) and later move on to the Master’s, you won’t be eligible for this loan.
Overseas fee
2027 entry
Not set
As a guide, the fee for 2026-27 was £45,000
You should expect and budget for your fees to increase each year.
Your fee is based on the year you enter the university, 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.
The maximum value of the loan is £13,206 if your course starts on or after 1 August 2026.
The loan is not means-tested and you can choose whether to put it towards your tuition fees or living costs.
Please note that the loan is only available if you’re studying a full Master’s course from the start. If you start on a Postgraduate Certificate (PG Cert) or Postgraduate Diploma (PG Dip) and later move on to the Master’s, you won’t be eligible for this loan.
Scholarships
View all scholarshipsHow will studying at Imperial help my career?
Electrical and electronic engineering graduates at Imperial are highly sought after in a wide range of sectors.
Gain essential skills in design and production of a wide range of sensor systems for diverse industries.
Other potential career paths include consultancy, finance, or management.
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Our graduates often pursue doctoral research.
Further links
Contact the department
Email: eee.pgadmissions@imperial.ac.uk
Course Director: Dr Oleksiy Sydoruk
Visit the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering 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