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Postgraduate Study

The world faces major challenges in meeting the current and future demand for sustainable and secure energy supply and use. The one-year Energy Technologies MPhil programme is designed for graduates who want to help tackle these problems by developing practical engineering solutions, and who want to learn more about the fundamental science and the technologies involved in energy utilisation, electricity generation, energy efficiency, and alternative energy.

Energy is a huge topic, of very significant current scientific, technological, environmental, political and financial interest. The complexity and rapid change associated with energy technologies necessitate engineers with a very good grasp of the fundamentals, with exposure and a good understanding of all main energy sources and technologies, but also with specialisation in a few areas. This is the prevailing philosophy behind this MPhil programme, fully consistent with the prevailing philosophy and structure of the University of Cambridge Department of Engineering as a whole.

The educational target of the Energy Technologies MPhil programme is to communicate the breadth of energy technologies and the underpinning science. The objectives of the course are:

  • to teach the fundamental sciences behind technologies involved in energy utilisation, electricity generation, energy efficiency, and alternative energy;
  • to develop graduates with an overall view of energy engineering, while offering specialisation in a selected area through a research project;
  • to provide a unifying theme behind existing energy-related courses, hence increasing their impact;
  • to prepare students (if they so wish) for potential future PhD research.

Learning Outcomes

Students will be expected to have developed fundamental knowledge of primary and secondary energy sources, of energy transformation, and of energy utilisation technologies. They will also have developed proficiencies in project management, in research skills, in teamwork, and in advanced calculation methods concerning energy technologies.

Graduates from this MPhil programme will be excellent candidates for employment in a wide variety of jobs (for example, in industrial research and development departments, policy-making bodies, the utility industry, the manufacturing sector or energy equipment manufacturing); students who have taken the long dissertation option will also be excellent candidates for doctoral study (at Cambridge and elsewhere).


Continuing

Students wishing to apply for continuation to the PhD would normally be expected to attain an overall mark of 70 percent.


Open Days

The Postgraduate Virtual Open Days will be taking place in early November. These are great opportunities to ask questions to admissions staff and academics, explore the Colleges virtually, and to find out more about courses, the application process and funding opportunities. Visit the Postgraduate Open Day page for more details.

See further the Postgraduate Admissions Events pages for other events relating to Postgraduate study, including study fairs, visits and international events.

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Key Information


11 months full-time

Study Mode : Taught

Master of Philosophy

Department of Engineering

Course - related enquiries

Application - related enquiries

Course on Department Website

Dates and deadlines:

Michaelmas 2025

Applications open
Sept. 4, 2024
Application deadline
May 16, 2025
Course Starts
Oct. 1, 2025

Some courses can close early. See the Deadlines page for guidance on when to apply.

Course Funding Deadline
Dec. 3, 2024
Gates Cambridge US round only
Oct. 16, 2024

These deadlines apply to applications for courses starting in Michaelmas 2025, Lent 2026 and Easter 2026.


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