MPhil in Polar Studies (Scott Polar Research Institute)

The outcomes of the course are achieved in two ways. First, through general study of important themes essential for a broad knowledge and understanding of the physical and human characteristics of polar regions, and how these interact. Second, through more focused study of specialised aspects of research on the Arctic and Antarctic, either in terms of Social Sciences and Humanities or the Natural Sciences, and through the development of research skills and methods.

By the end of the programme, students will have:

Knowledge and Understanding

1. Acquired knowledge of important contemporary polar research questions in a range of contexts and to various degrees. Students gain understanding of natural processes at work in the Arctic and Antarctic, and of the histories, cultural transformation and governance in these regions. Depending on their specialism, students will then gain a detailed understanding of some of these aspects in more depth, learn how these have changed in the past and are changing currently, and the methods and techniques for investigating them.

2. Gained familiarity with an appropriate range of intellectual, theoretical and methodological traditions relevant to the study of the Arctic and Antarctic. For those following the Social Sciences and Humanities strand, students draw on material from disciplines such as geography, anthropology, political science and history, and understand the significance of different epistemological positions that provide the context for research. For the Natural Sciences strand, students will become familiar with theories and empirical work from, amongst other areas, the fields of glaciology, oceanography, atmospheric science and ecology as well as with field-based, remote sensing and modelling techniques used in polar research.

3. Developed specialised knowledge of selected aspects of the polar regions through their own dissertation research.

Skills and other attributes

Critical Skills

4. Become skilled and critical readers of Arctic and Antarctic publications and data sets. This is achieved through structured reading associated with the core module in addition to each specialist module, as well as via direct guidance for the essay / exercise assignments and direct supervision for the dissertation.

5. Learnt to evaluate evidence and develop arguments about a range of themes and dynamics concerning the polar regions. This is achieved by students contributing to discussions in the taught courses, as well as taking an active role in research seminars offered in SPRI, the Department of Geography and across Cambridge.

Research Skills

6. Developed their capacity to frame research questions, to design research appropriately, and develop awareness of different epistemological approaches. This is achieved through the taught and research components of the course.

7. Gained competence in using a range of qualitative and/or quantitative methods for gathering, analysing and interpreting data. This is achieved through the taught and research components of the course.

8. Gained skills in managing a research project, and its execution (including elements of data management, understanding ethics and codes of good practice in research, understanding uncertainty, and disseminating research). Several of these elements are taught and then are extended and applied via dissertation research, which has individual supervision from an experienced researcher.

Presentation skills

• Gained experience and skills in the presentation of research-based evidence and argument. This is achieved through class discussions, and through formal assessment of a presentation at a student forum of dissertation aims, methods, preliminary results, and plans for future work.