MSc Disaster Management

• Developing Policies and Plans: You will be introduced to the importance of sound disaster management plans and frameworks. Internationally, many nations still do not have developed disaster management plans, and this unit has been developed over several years and in multiple countries to assist national governments and their agencies to address this vital issue. The principles of this unit underpin each of the subsequent units.
• Management of Communications and Learning: This unit teaches you how to communicate learning in effective and attractive ways; gaining the interest of audiences, drawing upon audience experience and knowledge, winning audience cooperation for greater integrated activities, and creating relevant participatory exercises from academic and practical-based literature to help turn lessons identified into lessons learned. In this unit you will have the opportunity to write your own disaster management exercise.
• Dissertation: An opportunity to study a disaster management topic in-depth, showing your understanding of it. The dissertation is the conclusion of your learning experience, where you'll carry out a research project. You'll use appropriate research methodology to collect and analyse data and present your findings. Your dissertation will be 15,000 words, and you'll be taught about research methods.

• Management of Man-Made Disasters and Security Threats: This unit focuses on the nature and types of man-made (human instigated) hazards, including those on land, air and sea. You will cover issues such as crowd safety and industrial accidents. The unit also investigates disaster management response to emerging security threats like cyber-attacks and terrorism. Taking a case study approach, you will evaluate the lessons learned from recent reports and complete a strategic level multi-stakeholder planning and response exercise as part of a group.
• Management of Natural Hazards: You will examine the complexities of natural hazards which affect countries all over the globe. This includes natural hazards such as tsunamis, floods, droughts and earthquakes. You will learn to evaluate the management issues associated with such hazards, and how these can be applied to major incident management, risk reduction and recovery and national planning.
• Humanitarian Operations and External Assistance: This unit introduces you to the challenges that arise when external assistance is offered to another country. You will discuss the differences between humanitarian operations or assistance and humanitarian intervention. Using a developing set of scenarios, you will engage in simulation exercises as a deployed team offering external assistance to a country faced with a number of natural hazards. The unit concludes by then applying those lessons identified to the home national plan.
• Management of Wider Stakeholders: In this unit, you will explore the role of wider stakeholders that include: NGOs, businesses, media, academia, local communities, individuals and disaster volunteers. As a result, you will develop an understanding of the management issues associated with integrating wider stakeholders from both the public and private sector into a national disaster management framework including risk reduction, response and recovery.
• Public Health Preparedness, Resilience and Response: Throughout this unit you will examine public health resilience and response strategies, within the context of disaster management. Looking at current national and international best practice drawn from a combination of academic and professional practitioner approaches to healthcare resilience, you will learn methods for establishing effective healthcare emergency preparedness, resilience and response systems. In this unit, you will investigate contemporary public health issues like the national and international response to Covid-19.
• Foreign Policy Analysis & Crisis Management: This unit focuses on the concepts and theories of foreign policy analysis relevant to disaster management. You will consider the diplomatic dimensions of international disaster and crisis management and evaluate key issues and challenges shaping the formulation and implementation of foreign policy in relation to crises and disasters. You will explore case-studies that include complex emergencies like War in Yemen, as well as investigating the international dimensions of responses to major disasters like the DeepWater Horizon Oil Spill, the NASA Space Challenger disaster and Hurricane Katrina.
• Disaster Management for Business Professionals (not available for 2023 and 2024 entry): You will gain a detailed appreciation of the concepts, theories, challenges and practices of the private sector when preparing for, responding to and recovering from crises and disasters. The unit has a particular focus on how international disaster management contributes to business resilience in both theory and practice.  

Programme specifications provide definitive records of the university’s taught degrees in line with Quality Assurance Agency requirements. Every taught course leading to a BU Award has a programme specification which describes its aims, structure, content and learning outcomes, plus the teaching, learning and assessment methods used.

Whilst every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of the programme specification, the information is liable to change to take advantage of exciting new approaches to teaching and learning as well as developments in industry. If you have been unable to locate the programme specification for the course you are interested in, it will be available as soon as the latest version is ready. Alternatively please contact us for assistance.

The normal requirements for embarking upon a postgraduate taught degree are:

• A Bachelors Honours degree with 2:2 in any subject, or equivalent.

If you lack the formal academic qualifications needed to enter a postgraduate or post-experience degree, there are several alternative routes to follow - some based on experience. Contact the Future Students Enquiry Team for more information.

You can find details of the international qualifications we accept, and what level of study they apply to, on our entry requirements for non-UK students' page.

Please see below some examples of the qualifications for entry:

• India: Bachelor’s degree (4 years) from a recognised HE institution with a minimum overall result of 55%
• Nigeria:  Bachelor's degree from a recognised institution with a minimum classification of 2:2
• China:  Chinese Bachelor's (Honours) degree from a recognised higher education institution with 65% or above
• Turkey: Bachelor’s degree (Lisans Diplomasi - four years) with a minimum overall GPA of 2.3/4.0
• Vietnam:  Bachelor's degree/Bang tot nghiep dai hoc with an average score of 6.5/10, or 2.25/4, or a Master’s degree/Thac si.

All applications will be subject to a minimum grade and your degree may need to be in a relevant subject area.

English language requirements

If English is not your first language, you will need to provide evidence that you understand English to a satisfactory level. English language requirements for this course are normally:

If English is not your first language you'll need IELTS (Academic) 6.5 with a minimum of 6.5 in writing and 6.0 in all other components (speaking, listening and reading) or equivalent. For more information see our full entry requirements.

View further information about our English language requirements.

Bournemouth University International College offers a number of pre-sessional English and preparatory programmes to prepare international students for postgraduate study at BU. Admission to the degree is guaranteed on successful completion of your course to the required level. 

We expect our students to be hard working and enthusiastic, open to new ideas and prepared to work with others to achieve the high standard of industry professionals that BU is renowned for.

You should have a strong interest and passion for extending your skills and knowledge, especially during the final stage of the course when you must research one topic of interest and write a dissertation on this subject.

This course selects candidates by looking at their applications. There are no interviews or additional selection activities and therefore we suggest that you make your application stand out from the crowd. For more information take a look at our how to apply pages.

Please see our website for the application deadlines. You should apply as early as possible to be considered for your course of choice. If you require a student visa, apply for the visa as soon as you have an unconditional offer and receive your CAS. There may be delays in visa processing in your country and you need to be in Bournemouth ready to study for the start of term.

Click the green ‘Apply now’ button to submit your application free of charge online through myHub, our application portal. You will create your own myHub account so that you can track the progress of your application. Don’t forget to save your application as you go; you can return to it at as many times as you want before you submit it. For more information visit our How to apply section.

Our MSc Disaster Management graduates are now working as:

• Operations Manager
• Operations Supervisor
• Civil Protection
• Covid-19 Response Liaison Officer 
• Intelligence Risk Analyst 
• Covid-19 Lead, Programme Management & Support Officer

MSc Disaster Management graduate, Virginia Contratto, Operations Manager at Solace Global, said:

"This course taught me how to recognise risks and develop global awareness of all hazards. Consequently, I have developed the ability to assess the potential to cause harm and provide situational awareness and advice to clients. It has taught me how to communicate effectively, both verbally and in writing, including an ability to translate disaster management concepts to a wider audience. 

Most importantly, it gave me the tools and confidence to manage crisis situations." 

If you want to continue your studies after achieving your Master’s, you can look into our range of doctoral programmes.

What's included in your tuition fee?

Your tuition fee covers expenses associated with your course including tuition materials, access to facilities, mandatory field trips and the following:

• Materials for any mandatory field-based teaching activity.
• A range of student services – advisors, help desks, counsellors, placement support and careers service.
• Access to Brightspace, our virtual learning environment, which offers a responsive and personalised learning experience with powerful learning analytics capabilities, integrated social media and advanced video features.
• The Library – access to a wide range of electronic resources (databases, e-journals and e-books), print and multimedia collections, subject librarians and study spaces.
• IT labs (some open 24/7), wireless network, AV equipment to borrow.
• Disability and additional learning support, according to individual circumstances. 
• The BU Language Centre to help you develop/improve foreign or English language skills.
• 24 hours a day, 365 days a year security team.

Additional costs

We are committed to offering you value for money and ensuring there are no hidden costs while you are studying with us, therefore we have listed below any additional costs you may incur that are not covered by your tuition fee:

• Laptops, tablets and mobile devices devices and any software used on personal devices. Access to a personal computer is strongly recommended for your study. If you are experiencing financial difficulty, visit our website for information regarding hardship funds.
• Text books, general stationery and other supplies. Our award-winning library is stocked with a large range of text books and online resources, free of charge. The Students’ Union shops stock a wide range of stationery supplies.
• Accommodation and living costs. Our accommodation price guide can be found on our website.
• Travel costs for optional field trips, outdoor wear and footwear for mandatory and optional field trips (if applicable).
• SportBU membership.

While all aspects of the programme, including required field trips, are included in the fee, additional, optional or extra curricula activities may be available for which a student contribution is required.

If you need to repeat one or more units during the course of your studies (with or without attendance) the pricing will be pro-rata of the full time fee.

We offer a range of scholarships and bursaries to eligible students who are beginning their studies at BU. Please visit www.bournemouth.ac.uk/funding for details on living costs, budgeting and paying your tuition fees.

International (not Rep. of Ireland) students need to pay a non-refundable deposit to secure their place on a postgraduate course. For September 2024 and January 2025 entry, a £5,000 deposit is required. You will need to pay your deposit by the date stated in your offer letter. The remainder of your fee will be payable on registration/enrolment. There are two exceptions to the non-refundable rule on the deposit:

• You fail to meet the academic or English requirements of your offer
• You are refused a visa to enter the UK, provided the reason for the refusal is not a fraudulent application.

Chris is an International Relations and European Studies scholar. Chris was awarded an MA in International Relations from Nottingham Trent University in 2006 and gained his PhD from Loughborough University in 2011. 

Chris has worked for various universities in the UK higher education sector during his career, including Loughborough University, the University of Leicester, the University of Birmingham and Nottingham Trent University (NTU). Chris has taught many different subject areas in the broad fields of Politics, International Relations and European Studies. Chris also has extensive experience of developing and running online distance learning university programmes having acted as the Course Leader for the NTU Distance Learning Programme in International Relations.  

Chris is a distinguished scholar who has published work widely in the field of International Relations, Terrorism Studies and Crisis and Disaster Management. From November 2011 to January 2015, Chris was a co-convenor of the BISA Critical Terrorism Studies Working Group (CTSWG). Chris has guest-edited the journal Critical Studies on Terrorism on two occasions. He regularly attends international conferences and has presented his work at the annual conferences of the ISA, EISA and BISA. 

Richard Gordon has been Director of Bournemouth University Disaster Management Centre (BUDMC) since May 2005. 

Through BUDMC Richard provides world-class disaster management research, education, and technical expertise and training to government ministries, national security forces, media, industry, emergency services and non-governmental organisations. 

Richard’s work spans the full spectrum of disaster management, is delivered both in the UK and overseas, and fuses UK best practice with global experience and innovation. 

Richard’s current focus is upon the Middle East, West Africa, South and East Asia, Eastern Europe and South America. He regularly delivers executive disaster management seminars to senior government ministers and their representatives, including key military appointments and overseas delegations. 

Working closely with Professor John Fletcher and Dr Yeganeh Morakabati of Bournemouth University, Richard has pioneered new research and education into the integration of travel and tourism with disaster management. 

In 1997, Richard was awarded an MBE for his work in the development of a UK capability in information projection during crises. 

Lee is an international relations scholar, educated at the Universities of Lancaster, Birmingham and Hull, receiving his PhD in Politics from the University of Hull (1999), and awarded a Docent in Political Science by Karlstad University in Sweden (2004). 

Lee has enjoyed an extensive career working in departments of politics and international relations (Hull and Karlstad universities), politics and communication studies (University of Liverpool), and business school settings (Lincoln and Loughborough universities) in the UK and Sweden. 

Professor Miles is a distinguished scholar, holding Professorships at the universities of Liverpool (2006-2009), Karlstad (2009 - 2017), Loughborough (2011-2015) and now Bournemouth (2015 - ) as well as holding honorary professorial positions at Lancaster and University College London (UCL). Lee has also twice been awarded the prestigious title of Jean Monnet Professor by the European Union (in 2003 (Hull) and 2004 (Liverpool)) in recognition of his expertise in European foreign policy and crisis management. He has been editor of prestigious peer-reviewed academic journals, including Cooperation and Conflict (2010-2014) and the Journal of Common Market Studies (JCMS) Annual Review (2001-2004). He presently is a member of editorial boards of prominent journals, such as Foreign Policy Analysis. 

Lee is an award-winning commentator on disasters in the national/ international media. He featured on Hurricanes Irma and Maria (2017) on premier media outlets, such as (radio): BBC R4 Today Programme, BBC Radio 5 Live, BBC World Service News Hour Programme, Good Morning Scotland Programme, Radio Scotland, R4 Austria, BBC Radio London and BBC regional stations, and Talk Radio as well as (TV): BBC News Channel, CNN International, Good Morning Britain (ITV) and STV.  

The table below indicates the latest changes to this course.

The table below indicates the latest changes to this course.

The table below indicates the latest changes to this course.