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Come and study with us to be at the forefront of future design and governance in our contemporary built environments.
Interested in acquiring the skills and methods to change, design and govern our smart cities in the coming decades?
Our focus at CASA is on advancing the state of the science of cities through research complemented by taught graduate study and consultancy. Our researchers, students and alumni work at the cutting edge of this interdisciplinary science.
CASA is home to geographers, mathematicians, physicists, economists, urban planners, architects and artists. Our interests include smart cities, transport, computer science, programming, data science, visualisation, prototyping and Internet of Things.
The skills acquired on our courses open doors to job opportunities in fields such as urban planning, city governance, engineering and data science. These are the skills that are crucial to the effective running of our future cities.
Our Master’s degrees can all be studied full-time in twelve calendar months, or on a part-time flexible basis at the student’s own availability between two and five years.
MPhil/PhD
CASA’s thriving PhD programme has graduated more than 50 students to date, many of whom are now in academia and industry. The PhD takes a minimum of three years full-time to complete and is an intensive self-directed research study supported closely by two academic supervisors.
FAQs
Here are some frequently asked questions about our degree programmes at CASA.
- What skills do I require to start a course at CASA?
CASA offers a Foundation of Spatial Data Science module that introduces the key components of a data science workflow (including core Python libraries), so it is not essential that you have prior programming knowledge before starting. However, any basic experience you have in languages like Python, R or Java will make the course easier for you. Learning to code is like learning a language: it’s not about ‘cramming’, it’s about regular practice for short periods of time (e.g. 30 minutes/day 5 days a week is much, much better than 8 hours on one day).
In terms of resources, there are many free online ‘learn to code in Python’ courses: Software Carpentry, Coursera, EdX, etc. We also offer ‘Code Camp’ as a good jumping off point for complete novices: everything runs through your web browser and no software installation is required to complete the 15 self-paced lessons. We encourage you to complete Code Camp during the two months prior to the start of term.
- What is the significance of accreditation with Royal Geographic Society?
The Urban Spatial Science MSc programme has been accredited by the Royal Geographical Society (with Institute of British Geographers - IBG). Accredited degree programmes contain a solid academic foundation in geographical knowledge and skills and prepare graduates to address the needs of the world beyond higher education. The accreditation criteria require evidence that graduates from accredited programmes meet defined sets of learning outcomes, including subject knowledge, technical ability and transferable skills.
- What are the employment prospects for CASA graduates?
Our programmes are suitable for graduates or experienced practitioners from a whole range of backgrounds but with a common interest in cities. We have current students with professional and academic backgrounds as diverse as architecture, computer science, environmental science, geography, planning, physics, mathematics, remote sensing, geomatic engineering and transport studies.
You will graduate with an extremely broad range of new transferable practical skills including programming, database management, data mining and web visualisation, along with an understanding of mathematical and statistical analysis methods, geographic information science, spatial analysis and urban modelling. All of these skills are developed in parallel with a wider appreciation of the problems and challenges facing contemporary cities and how the latest data and analysis methods can help address them.
Our students go on to a variety of rewarding careers. Examples of job titles include: Graduate Cities Consultant, Data Scientist, Urban Planner, Data Quality Manager, GIS Specialist / Officer, Policy Consultant, Spatial Data Analyst, Systems Developer, Urban Designer, Project Manager, and Analytics Client Architect.
Contact
For any enquiries about our programmes, please contact casa-teaching@ucl.ac.uk.