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UK Courses - Units header

How are the taught courses structured?
What are the four Pathways?
What will I study?

The UNIGIS Postgraduate programme is a modular study programme, each module being called a 'unit'. A unit is a block of learning materials which focus upon a particular topic and which is designed to take you approximately ten weeks of study to complete.  Each unit consists of a study text written by a member of the UNIGIS Team, supplementary readings, exercises and assignments. The units can be studied online or downloaded for conventional study.

The PgCert consists of three compulsory units and can be completed in one year. 

The PgDip consists of seven units with a target completion period of two years. There are four named Pathways :

GIS If you want to follow a broadly-based, balanced programme of GIS study, this may be an appropriate Pathway for you. The second year of the Pathway allows you a choice of Elective units, so that you can design your own programme of study.
GIScience This pathway is appropriate for student who wish to develop careers in the technical and scientific areas of GIS. Experience in the use of software products, and of applications development, forms an important part of this pathway.
GIS and Management This pathway is primarily for managers who have gained responsibilities for GI projects and also for students seeking to develop careers within GI management.
GIS and Environment If you  wish to specialize in environmental applications of GISystems, this Pathway should be attractive to you.

Each of our pathways is designed to support career development or career change

The MSc is completed by undertaking an independent research project and writing a dissertation.

Pathway Summaries

The first three units, which are studied during the first year, are common to all the Pathways and it is also these core units which comprise the PgCert qualification. The units which you will study during the second year will vary according to the Pathway you chose to follow. Each of the Pathways allows you to make at least one Elective choice in the second year.

The third year is allocated to researching and writing your MSc dissertation.

Year 1:

     
GIS GIScience GIS and Management GIS and Environment
Fundamentals
of GIS		 Fundamentals
of GIS		 Fundamentals
of GIS		 Fundamentals
of GIS
Database Theory Database Theory Database Theory Database Theory
GeoData Capture, Standards & Quality GeoData Capture, Standards & Quality GeoData Capture, Standards & Quality GeoData Capture, Standards & Quality

Year 2:

     
GIS in Organisations Programming & Modelling for GIS GIS in Organisations Environmental Impact Assessment
& GIS
Elective Unit Databases for Enterprise GIS GIS Project Management Remote Sensing for GIS Applications
Research Methods Research Methods Research Methods Research Methods
Elective Unit Elective Unit Elective Unit Elective Unit

Year 3:

     
MSc Project and Dissertation MSc Project and Dissertation MSc Project and Dissertation MSc Project and Dissertation

Unit Outlines

The units available within the Pathways are briefly listed below. Please note that the range and content of the Units are reviewed periodically.

Fundamentals of GIS
This unit aims to provide students with an understanding of the concepts and principles of GIS and enables them to be able to employ GIS techniques in real world contexts. Topics within the unit include: GIS as a field of study; Spatial Data Modelling; Spatial Operations and practical experience with GIS.

Database Theory
This unit aims to provide students with the practical skills to design, implement and interrogate relational databases together with the requisite knowledge critically to assess both current database models and developments of these models for geospatial data .Topics within the unit include: the Database Approach; the Relational Model; Implementing a database and GIS and RDBMS.

GeoData Capture, Standards and Quality
This unit aims to provide students with the requisite knowledge and practical skills to source and evaluate data for use in Geographical Information-based projects and to assess the quality of information output from these projects. Topics within the unit include: Sourcing Spatial Data; Data Standards; Data Quality and Evaluating Fitness for Purpose.

GIS in Organisations
This unit aims to provide students with a critical understanding of the issues which arise when deploying GIS within organisations and the practical methodologies used to address these issues .Topics within the unit include: Organisational issues and GIS; ISDMs; Peopleware and GIS beyond organisations.

GIS Project Management
This unit aims to develop project management skills through a critical understanding of the concepts, principles and use of project management tools. Topics within the unit include: Issues in GIS project management; Running a GIS project; People issues and methodologies.

Programming and Modelling for GIS
This unit aims to provide students with a critical understanding of the issues involved in designing and implementing software and GI-based models. In addition, it aims to enable students to write small scale GIS applications and design GIS-based models. Topics within the unit include: Programming and Quality; Programming Tutorial; Models and Modelling and the GIS-Model interaction.

Databases for EnterpriseGIS
This unit aims to provide students with a critical understanding of the issues in building GIS databases for EnterpriseGIS, together with the necessary skills to implement a small geo-database using current standards/technologies. Topics within the unit include: the move from Desk-top to EnterpriseGIS; the standards and technologies that underpin EnterpriseGIS and a Spatial Database tutorial.

Environmental Impact Assessment and GIS
This unit aims to provide a historic and contemporary planning background to EIA, a knowledge of the concepts and techniques utilised in the EIA process, and assessment as related to specific environmental parameters. It considers the need for EIA, history, planning background, concepts and definitions for EIA, EIA procedure versus EIA process, critical parameters, integration of elements and recent trends.

Remote Sensing for GIS Applications
This unit aims to provide students with a broad insight into the sources, applications and future potential of remote sensing data for GIS applications. Topics within the unit include: Principles of remote sensing; Satellite Systems; quantitative data and GIS integrations.

Research Methods
This unit aims to develop critical awareness of research design, data interpretation and presentation. It aims to achieve this through an understanding of the research methods of the natural and social sciences and the interactions between them in GIS applications. Topics within the unit include: Research Design and Qualitative and Quantitative Techniques.

Spatial Analysis Workshop
This unit provides students with the knowledge and skills necessary to investigate the spatial patterns which result from social and physical processes operating in geographical space. Topics within the unit include: the Theory of spatial statistical analysis and GIS for Spatial Analysis.

Internet GIS
This unit aims to provide students with the knowledge and practical skills to design and implement distributed GIS services according to current industry standards, building in concepts such as OpenGIS standards to future proof such implementations. Topics within the unit include: Desk-top to Distributed Web Services; Building the GeoWeb and a GML tutorial.

GIS for Society
This unit aims to provide students with the appropriate skills to employ GIS effectively in social science applications. It considers GIS in the social sciences; how GIS is used to investigate spatial processes and working with Census, geodemographic and other socio-economic data.

Spatial Anaysis of Health
This unit provides a broad range of theory, ideas, techniques and knowledge. The central aim is to help students to help students to understand the role of geographical and spatial thinking in an epidemiological and medical context. To understand how GIS and remote sensing provide valuable tools for problem solving by example.

Spatial Health in Practice
The aim of this unit is to evaluate which spatial theories and GIS methods are appropriate, and can be used effectively, to investigate real-world health problems.  Students will be introduced to how real-world health and disease problems are addressed from organisational, management, spatial GIS, emerging technologies, environmental information and modelling perspectives.

Visualisation and GIS
This unit aims to provide students with a critical understanding of issues in visual perception, the influence of these on design for GIS visualisation and possibilities for the future. Topics within the unit include: Human Perception and Mapping and GIS and Visualisation.

MSc Project and Dissertation
This unit aims to enable students to design and execute an original/independent study in their field of GIS and in doing so, to develop an in-depth knowledge of the relevant GIS literature and research activities in that field.

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