Why study Energy, Society and Sustainability at Edinburgh?
- Our programme equips you with an understanding of how different societies can address the challenge of balancing energy with sustainability. It brings together a social, political, economic, and environmental understanding of low-carbon technologies.
- You'll benefit from learning in a country with direct relevance to the degree. Scotland is a world leader in renewable electricity generation. It has a history of hydroelectricity, North Sea oil, and a future in tide and wave energy. However, it also suffers from high levels of energy poverty, a challenge many people face.
- Our programme gives you access to insightful case studies, as well as the organisations and communities our lecturers work closely with. These range from local Scottish islands to international corporations.
- With this degree, you can work in fields that directly contribute to the UN's Sustainable Development Goals, including in the energy transition and climate change mitigation sectors.
- You'll be taught by experts and researchers, many of whom are leaders in their field.
- The MSc Energy, Society and Sustainability programme is associated with the Edinburgh Climate Change Institute (ECCI), bringing together law, business, social science, technology, and policy experts to help develop a low-carbon society.
Online Information Session
Watch the recording of our online Information Session (25th Feb), hosted by Programme Director Dr Adolfo Mejia Montero.
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Pre-arrival reading list
Your courses
This MSc programme comprises:
- compulsory and option courses
- dissertation
Courses are delivered by staff who are active researchers in each field.
Their expertise is supplemented by selected guest speakers, generally from industry or other research organisations.
You can find out more about compulsory and optional courses on the Degree Programme Tables (DPTs). Please note that the information on the current DPTs is for academic year 2024-25 and is subject to change in future years. The DPTs for academic year 2025-26 will be published in April 2025.
Read more about selecting optional courses on the applicant website.
Your dissertation
Our students work on dissertation topics that span social groups, technologies, and geographical and temporal contexts. Examples of previous topics include:
- ‘Punching a hole’ or ‘dirty air’: A Multi- Level perspective consideration of Formula 1 in relation to net zero in road transport
- The Overlooked – Student Fuel Poverty in the Face of the 2022 Energy Crisis
- Decommissioning the North: unheard narratives from a nuclear community
- Collaboration Without Consensus: Prospering From the Energy Revolution with Smart Local Energy Systems
- Towards Zero: An analysis of the UK’s net zero policy to test the explanatory power of a meta-theoretical framework synthesising RRI, social practice theory and energy justice
Where will you be taught?
The majority of our teaching on the MSc Energy, Society and Sustainability programme takes place in the Central Area of campus, including around Old College and High School Yards.
Occasionally, you may also have classes at the King's Buildings campus.
Students in this MSc will also have access to the Edinburgh Climate Change Institute (ECCI) Masters Hub.
Depending on the option courses you choose, you may study at various campus locations in Edinburgh.
Field trips/excursions
There is a week-long field course to the Orkney Islands, off the northeast coast of Scotland, in April of each year. This is a key part of the MSc as it allows the class to both witness and participate in a range of sustainable energy innovations which are being pioneered by communities and companies there. This includes the European Marine Energy Centre, onshore community wind generation, hydrogen fuel storage and integration of hydrogen into energy systems, smart grid management, community-based energy system innovation, and much more.
Our compulsory field trips or field courses are free, including travel and accommodation. We strive to deliver a low-carbon experience that also supports the local economy.
Scholarships
School of GeoSciences scholarships
Scholarships and student funding
You can find funding opportunities, tuition fees and costs of living for prospective UK and international postgraduate students on the University website.
You are also encouraged to undertake your own research into the range of potential scholarships and other funding outside the University for which you may be eligible.
Careers
Students have gone on to careers in energy and sustainability worldwide, including some who have continued their research interests into a PhD, or gone on to work for industry and consultancies.
Some who have developed their relationship with local energy companies in Orkney during the field trip have even gone on to work with the communities making the energy future in the islands.
Some examples of roles include:
- Consultancy
- Higher education
- Civil service
- Environmental and data analysis
- Project management
- Communications
- Stakeholder engagement
Alumni
We have a thriving global network of alumni living and working around the world. As well as individual MSc programme networks, the School of GeoSciences has a large alumni network, which you can join after graduation. You'll have the opportunity to engage with and learn from like minded individuals who can offer advice about shaping your career path.
You can read our alumni profiles to find out more about our graduates experiences throughout their studies and beyond on our website.
If you prefer to watch a video, you can watch our alumni interviews on YouTube.
Future of your subject
Perhaps the greatest challenge the world faces in the next few decades is to decarbonise the energy system. This challenge is going to shape the sector and demand new research to address the unknowns and to provide better intelligence to decision-makers. Our area of focus is fundamental to this, feeding in very necessary perspectives and ensuring, first and foremost, that the energy transformation is as much social as it is technical.
Study an MSc in Energy, Society and Sustainability
Our student Lauren on studying the MSc
Your programme director and cohort lead.
Find out more about your programme director and cohort lead.
Dr. Kirsten Jenkins
The programme director for our MSc in Energy, Society and Sustainability is Kirsten Jenkins. Kirsten's research interests focus on all things “energy” and particularly, on the social justice issues created by its production and use.
In the context of the energy transitions, she is interested in knowing how we can make ethically sound energy decisions that: (1) locate energy infrastructure equitably, where possible, (2) recognise the correct people and their needs, and (3) uses appropriate decision-making techniques. She believes that we should ask these questions across the energy system to ensure that no social groups are disadvantaged by our energy choices.
Kirsten has also worked on a variety of funded research projects, including “Fuel and transport poverty in the UK’s energy transition” (FAIR) (2020-2023), which through vulnerability and justice investigations, examines the intersections between fuel and transport poverty, and low carbon energy transitions, in the United Kingdom. The second is “INCLUsive Decarbonization and Energy transition (INCLUDE) (2020-2028)”, which aims to develop knowledge-based solutions that can facilitate a just and socially inclusive low-carbon energy transition, particularly at the municipal level. The third focuses on the just transition away from oil and gas in the UK and is funded alongside Danish and Norwegian colleagues with the support of Climate Strategies, The Laudes Foundation and the KR Foundation.
Kirsten has a money jar that she contributes to every month so that she can eventually buy herself her dream llama! He’ll be called “lichen the llama” (say it quickly). She is also a keen swimmer and has been known to jump into the odd loch or sea for a long-distance swim, including Loch Ness! Oh, and she has the best dogs in the world who double as our official programme mascots and have been known to attend cohort socials.
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