Welcome to the ICCS group’s webpages for the MSc in Conservation Science, a unique 1 year full-time MSc course which will give you the skills required for success in the highly competitive field of international conservation. The site contains information about the key features of the MSc, what sort of person the course is suitable for, what past students have gone on to do and an archive of theses produced by alumni of the course.

Key features | Who should apply? | Download the application guidelines (pdf)

You might also like to consult the course brochure and if you have any further queries please contact the course directors or the course administrators.

Key features

The course is taught by a partnership including one of the world’s leading scientific universities, Imperial College London, and three of the highest profile international conservation practitioner organisations in the UK – the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, the Institute of Zoology of the Zoological Society of London, and the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust, each bringing their own expertise and perspectives to the course.

You will be immersed in the ongoing conservation work of these organisations, and will be able to choose 6 month research project titles linked to their conservation programmes, ensuring that your project contributes to real-world conservation.

The course has particular focus on:

• Interactive learning, so that you learn actively as a group, and focus on current issues and research.

• Developing the skills needed to make it as a conservation professional; writing proposals, managing projects, facilitating stakeholder engagement, presenting posters and talks at scientific forums.

• A strong quantitative basis for conservation work, including decision theory, conservation planning, statistical computing and modelling.

• Learning to collect, analyse and use both socio-economic and biological information, to give a truly interdisciplinary understanding of the theory and practice of conservation.

• Not just an ability to analyse conservation issues, but how to put this understanding into action - implementing successful conservation projects.

Who should apply?

The course is suitable for:

• Conservation professionals wishing to update their skills
• Professionals in other fields wishing to enter conservation
• Recent graduates who want to make their career in conservation
• Those interested in carrying on to do further academic research
• Those wishing to improve their field or analytical skills and work with leading conservation professionals before deciding where to put these skills to use

Academic requirements

We don’t ask for specific academic qualifications in particular subjects, beyond Imperial College’s minimum academic standards for an MSc – instead we are looking for highly motivated and committed people who can show either substantial field experience in a relevant area or evidence of academic ability (or both).

In practice this means that you should have a good 2.1 plus at least 6 months of relevant work experience for the academic route, and very substantial relevant experience otherwise.