International Animal Welfare Ethics and Law MSc

The MSc consists of six taught modules, followed by a period of dissertation project work. Two modules are compulsory:

This course is designed to introduce the student to the following core concepts: history, culture and concepts of animal welfare; understanding animal behaviour science and animal welfare; animal suffering and animal welfare assessment.

This course is designed to introduce the student to the following core concepts: animal welfare and ethics; animal welfare recommendations and policy; animal welfare legislation, regulation and enforcement; and animal welfare science translation into policy and law, including education.

A further four modules are chosen from a range of options, including:

• Animal Welfare in Research, Testing and Education
• Production Animal Welfare
• Companion Animal Welfare
• Captive and Free Range Wild Animal Welfare
• Clinical Animal Behaviour
• Equine Behaviour and Welfare

The dissertation project must be written within a 12 month period. It will give students the opportunity to further develop the skills gained from the taught component of the programme. It is a chance to test newly improved scientific skills and utilise scientific theory in a less structured environment. Projects can be desk-based, utilising pre-existing data sets or collecting data remotely, or field-based with an appropriate academic partner.

This programme is taught entirely online via the University of Edinburgh’s Learn online environment. All learning materials are made available for the course duration, so students can access them regardless of geographical location. Students are also expected to spend a large proportion of time in ‘out of class’ study.

Each year of the taught element will consist of three 11-week terms structured into two blocks of five weeks of study with a week in between for independent study and reflection.

The programme can be taken by intermittent study (flexible progression route) with a maximum time limit of six years for the MSc, with the dissertation being submitted within 12 months of its start. A part-time student will typically study three modules per year and complete the taught element in two years. This would normally take and average of 12 to 15 hours study time a week during ‘term’ time. An intermittent student may take up to four years to completer the taught element.

Students wishing to complete the MSc, and who reach progression standard, will then go on to complete a research project following successful completion of all the taught modules.