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Open Content

This guide brings together information about Open Access Resources and Open Educational Resources. It aims to make Open Access resources easier to find and use for study, teaching and research.

Finding open Theses and Dissertations

University of edinburgh and uk theses.

Edinburgh Research Archive - Full text electronic copies of most University of Edinburgh PhD theses can be found online in the Edinburgh Research Archive (ERA). The collection comprises 23,500 items and includes MD theses from the 1700s through to PhDs recently awarded in 2020.

EThoS: e-theses online service - This service from the British Library aims to provide a national aggregated record of all doctoral theses awarded by UK Higher Education institutions, and free access to the full text of as many theses as possible for use by researchers.

Google Scholar Search

If you know the details of the thesis you wish to consult then an effective way to find the full text is via  Google Scholar. Search for the full title in quotes, followed by the author last name, and/or date if known. 

International theses

DART-Europe is a searchable database of electronic research theses held in European repositories. It covers around 586 Universities in 29 European countries.

EBSCO Open Dissertations   is a free database with records for more than 1.4 million electronic theses and dissertations from more than 320 universities around the world. 

Global ETD Search  from the Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations (NDLTD) contains around 6 million records, the majority of which are open, but some may not be publicly available.

Open Access Theses & Dissertations  currently indexes around 5 million open access theses and dissertations from 1100 institutions worldwide.

Making your thesis open access

Theses and dissertations from the University of Edinburgh are published online in the Edinburgh Research Archive  (ERA). In 2020, UoE theses were downloaded 829,804 times from ERA (source IRUS-UK download report).  The University has an expectation that a PhD thesis is a document available for public consultation. As such, unless a legitimate reason for restricting access to the thesis exists, all PhD theses will be made publicly available on the internet. Masters dissertations are not routinely made available online, but exceptional dissertations can be made open access.

PhD and other doctoral theses

Masters dissertations.

Only Masters Dissertations from the School of Philosophy, Psychology & Language Sciences and the School of Geosciences are routinely deposited in the Edinburgh Research Archive (ERA). If you are from a different School you can make your master dissertation open access by depositing in ERA. You can do this by logging in with your EASE credentials, then selecting your Schools Thesis & Dissertation Collection and follow the prompts for submitting a new item to the collection.

School of Social and Political Science

Thesis submission and examination.

Thesis submission and examination is managed by the College Postgraduate Office. Please review the process in the Thesis submission guide.

Please see the Thesis Submission Workflow for an overview of the entire process.

To help you prepare for your viva, please see the following IAD guidance .

In SPS, PhD students have a choice of viva methods. Therefore, you will need to advise your preference to the SPS PGR Support team ( [email protected] ) when you submit your Notice of Intention to Submit (NITS). Please note the final viva arrangement depends on facility availability and agreement of all parties.

Viva methods:

• In-person (facility availability and location of examiners permitting)
• Hybrid (PhD student and Internal Examiner together in a room – facilities permitting, External Examiner online)
• Remote (all parties online). It is recommended that you have a support person available following the viva due to the somewhat isolated nature of the remote viva eg a friend or family member

Note that remote participation by External Examiners may broaden the choice of experts available to you and can avoid visa or COVID complications that may arise from international travel.

The PGR Support team will provide guidance on permissions required by all parties where applicable.

Please note that you are also required to email your pre-submission thesis to your Principal Supervisor to upload to Turnitin  and check the similarity report.

This should be done as early as possible prior to your Maximum End Date (required thesis submission date) in case any revisions are required before submitting your thesis for examination.

Note that when you submit your thesis, your student status in your EUCLID record will change from Fully Matriculated to Interrupted (Thesis Submitted).

If you have any queries, please email the College Postgraduate Office or the SPS PGR Support Team:

Email the College Postgraduate Office

Email the SPS PGR Support Team

Introduction to the Online MBA

Join Copil Yanez, MBA Relationship Manager, for a detailed look at what you can expect from an Online MBA at the Business School.

This will be followed by a live Q&A where you will have the chance to ask questions.

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Wasserstrom Prize for Graduate Teaching Presented to Physics Professor Christian Santangelo

Christian Santangelo , professor and director of graduate studies in the physics department in the College of Arts and Sciences (A&S) and member of the BioInspired Institute , is the 2024 recipient of the William Wasserstrom Prize in recognition of his exemplary mentorship of graduate students. A&S Dean Behzad Mortazavi conferred the award on Santangelo at the Graduate School doctoral hooding ceremony on May 10.

Christian Santangelo

The prize is awarded annually to a faculty member who exemplifies the qualities of William Wasserstrom, a professor of English who died in 1985. Wasserstrom was a scholar known for his broad interests and profound impact on learning, with a particular teaching interest in the graduate seminar. Since his death, Wasserstrom has been memorialized with this award by A&S for outstanding success as a graduate seminar leader, research and dissertation director, advisor and role model for graduate students.

Santangelo joined Syracuse University in 2019 and was named physics director of graduate studies in 2021. His research interests focus on soft condensed-matter physics and materials geometry, extreme mechanics, 4D printing and self-folding origami, design of mechanical metamaterials and topological effect in nonlinear systems. He teaches Physics 1, Introduction to Quantum Mechanics, Quantum Mechanics and Advanced Statistical Mechanics.

He has co-authored 75 peer-reviewed articles, been quoted in multiple publications related to his research, presented at dozens of conferences and symposia and has received nearly $4.5 million in external grant funding for his work.

Santangelo recently served as “March Meeting” program chair for the Division of Soft Matter (DSOFT) of the American Physical Society. He was also the co-lead of the Smart Materials focus group within the BioInspired Institute and a member of the College Level Liberal Arts Core Committee at A&S.

Santangelo has received several other awards and honors throughout his career, including the Glenn H. Brown Prize from the International Liquid Crystal Society, a CAREER Award from the National Science Foundation, the Early Career Award from the APS DSOFT and he was named a fellow of the American Physical Society.

“Professor Santangelo is certainly an example of the level of excellence Professor Wasserstrom represented, and a person whose extraordinary commitment to the mentorship of graduate students is deserving of recognition,” says Mortazavi. “His scholarship and the guidance and knowledge he has provided as a mentor in graduate education has positively impacted the physics department, its students and the entire college since he joined the University five years ago. It is an honor to present him with this award.“

Santangelo has mentored 20 graduate students and post-docs and has served as a research advisor for 12 undergraduates. Professor Mitchell Soderberg, associate chair of the Department of Physics, notes that a common theme heard about Santangelo is his “knack for helping students develop as scholars—not by knowing all the answers but by helping them to recognize the best questions to pursue.”

Former students and colleagues submitted enthusiastic nomination letters that spoke to Santangelo’s qualifications for this award.

“As a mentor, Chris struck a perfect balance of being available for guidance and allowing independence. By imparting principles explicitly and through action, I learned from Chris how to identify interesting scientific problems, find strategies for tackling them, and navigate uncertainty and communication results,” says former student Salem Mosleh, a research associate at Harvard’s School of Engineering and Applied Science. “He makes sure students get exposure to the scientific community, allowing me to attend conferences and meet collaborators—which helped me get my position at Harvard.”

“As his first Ph.D. student, I was fortunate to have Professor Santangelo as my mentor, and I can confidently say that he has a natural talent for selecting research problems that are interesting, challenging and relevant in the modern context of theoretical physics,” says Marcelo Dias, who is a senior lecturer in structural engineering at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. “Professor Santangelo’s extensive mathematical expertise and practical approach to research have contributed to my career development. His interest in interdisciplinary topics has led to collaboration with many researchers throughout my career.”

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• Wasserstrom Prize for Graduate Teaching Presented to Physics Professor Christian Santangelo Monday, May 13, 2024, By Caroline K. Reff
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Edinburgh Research Archive

•   ERA Home
• Physics, School of

Physics thesis and dissertation collection

By Issue Date Authors Titles Subjects Publication Type Sponsor Supervisors

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This material is presented to ensure timely dissemination of scholarly and technical work. Copyright and all rights therein are retained by authors or by other copyright holders. All persons copying this information are expected to adhere to the terms and constraints invoked by each author's copyright. In most cases, these works may not be reposted without the explicit permission of the copyright holder.

Recent Submissions

Astrobiological potential of putative aqueous microenvironments on mars , single-cell study of the biophysics of bacteriophage infection , studies of exotic hadron states at the lhcb experiment , developing methods to machine-learn potentials with application to nitrogen , lattice determination of semi-leptonic, heavy-light meson decay form factors , development and application of pulse echo techniques to the study of charge density waves and superconductivity in pressurized u₆fe , β-decay properties of r-process nuclei in the vicinity of the n=126 shell closure , constraining quenching mechanisms at high redshift: the sizes, masses and star-formation histories of massive galaxies , interacting active particles and cellular automata: microscopic models of stochastic nonequilibrium systems , collective motion in active matter , first-principles calculations of anharmonic phonons in diamond and silicon at high temperature and pressure , measurement of local and microscale behaviour in dense suspensions of silica , search for long lived particles decaying into the semi leptonic di-tau final state with the atlas detector at the lhc , towards improved logarithmic descriptions of high energy processes involving jets in hadron colliders , exact steady states of minimal models of nonequilibrium statistical mechanics , understanding cosmic reionization: the escape fraction of lyman-continuum and lyman-alpha photons in high-redshift galaxies , multi-epoch machine learning for galaxy formation , theoretical and computational modelling of growing bacteria and bacteriophage , shining light on the invisible: the faint structures around galaxies in the local volume , β-delayed proton emission from nuclei near doubly magic ¹⁰⁰sn .

• Schools & departments

Data Science for Health and Social Care (Online Learning) MSc, PgCert, PgDip, PgProfDev

Awards: MSc, PgCert, PgDip, PgProfDev

Study modes: Part-time, Part-time Intermittent Study

Online learning

Funding opportunities

Programme website: Data Science for Health and Social Care (Online Learning)

Postgraduate Online Learning Open Days

Join us on 22 and 23 May to learn about studying an online degree at Edinburgh.

Find out more and register for the Online Learning Open Days

Programme description

Data is revolutionising the way health and social care is delivered.

The demand for health and social care professionals with data science skills is unprecedented.

This flexible online programme is aimed at:

• people currently working in health and social care or computational roles who wish to develop expertise in the field of data science
• those interested in starting a career in data science in the context of health and social care
• graduates who are seeking to develop data science skills that can be applied in health, social and care services

What you will learn

By studying the degree you will:

• gain knowledge of the fundamentals of data science
• develop expertise in accessing, interpreting and integrating data-intensive research into practice
• build the knowledge and skills to engage effectively with data-driven approaches to health and social care
• learn a range of skills, tools and understanding to use the transformational power of data to improve health and wellbeing and the management of care systems locally and globally

Why Edinburgh

By choosing to study with us you will:

• be joining one of the top 25 universities in the world (QS World University Rankings 2024)
• benefit from our strong track-record of Data-Driven Innovation (DDI)
• become a student of the prestigious Usher Institute (part of the University), which is a world leader in DDI and one of five DDI hubs in Edinburgh and South East Scotland
• be able to customise your learning experience by selecting optional courses delivered by our world-renowned experts and leaders across the University
• have access to modern, intuitive fully accessible and responsive technology tools and systems
• join our vibrant, evidence-led cross-disciplinary community of academics and researchers
• be part of a cohort of international students focused on shaping the future of health and social care

About the Usher Institute and the DDI programme

At The Usher Institute public, private and third sectors collaborate to enable data-driven advances in health and social care.

Our DDI programme develops innovative and financially sustainable models of health and social care that improve lives, through the application of data science.

The Institute draws on:

• Scotland’s world-leading health data assets
• well-established governance and data-sharing protocols developed in partnership with the National Health Service and the Scottish Government

The Usher Institute has also become well-recognised for its contribution to the COVID-19 response, which includes:

• conducting research
• advising the Scottish and UK governments
• providing global public health advice and data

You can read more details on the Usher Institute and DDI programme websites.

• The Usher Institute
• DDI programme

Online learning is a way for you to study an internationally recognised qualification without needing to attend classes on campus.

This is an ideal option if you wish to study for a postgraduate qualification alongside work or other commitments.

Online programmes are of equal value to on-campus programmes. The only difference is that the programme is delivered online, rather than on campus.

As an online student you have access to the University's excellent resources. We use the latest in educational technology tools and systems.

Our online learning platform enables you to communicate with our highly qualified teaching staff from the comfort of your own home or workplace, making this an ideal option for our many international students.

The platform has a modern, intuitive, fully accessible and responsive interface. It delivers a powerful teaching and learning experience on any device with an internet connection, anytime, anywhere.

Studying online at Edinburgh

The programme is delivered fully online with a study commitment of 10-12 hours per week.

It has been designed to embrace the role that technology can play to enhance teaching, learning and assessment. We offer a flexible approach that caters to different ways of learning.

Each student will be supported as an active member of a vibrant global online community where the learning is facilitated by tutors, tasks and materials that foster active, relevant and collaborative learning.

Find out more about studying an online degree by visiting our Online Learning webpage.

Programme structure

The MSc in Data Science for Health and Social Care is a part-time, online programme taught over 3 years.

You can exit the programme after:

• Year 1 with a Certificate award
• Year 2 with a Diploma, or
• Year 3 with a MSc degree

Alternatively, you can also study stand-alone courses as postgraduate professional development (PPD).

All teaching is delivered online and you will be expected to use self-directed learning, peer-discussion boards, tutorials, peer presentations and other similar online learning activities to help engage with and get the most from the course materials.

This year you’ll study 60 credits worth of classes.

You will take one compulsory course: Introduction to Data Science in Health and Social Care. This is worth 20 credits and is taught over 10 weeks.

You will also take 40 credits worth of courses. See the table below for details of all compulsory and optional courses.

You will study for 60 credits of courses. See the table below for details of all compulsory and optional courses.

Please note Research Design in Data Science for Health and Social Care is a compulsory element if students wish to complete the dissertation year.

In order to complete the MSc programme, you must select and complete one of the following course options:

• Dissertation (60 credits)
• Work-based placement with industry or public sector organisation (60 credits)
• Student-Led Individually Created Course (20 credits) plus 40 credits of elective courses

See the table below for details of all compulsory and optional courses.

Postgraduate Professional Development (PPD) option

PPD is aimed at working professionals who want to advance their knowledge through a postgraduate-level course(s), without the time or financial commitment of a full Masters, Postgraduate Diploma or Postgraduate Certificate.

You may take a maximum of 50 credits worth of courses over two years through our PPD scheme. These lead to a University of Edinburgh postgraduate award of academic credit.

Alternatively, after one year of taking courses you can choose to transfer your credits and continue on to studying towards a higher award on a Masters, Postgraduate Diploma or Postgraduate Certificate programme.

Although PPD courses have various start dates throughout the year, you may only start a Masters, Postgraduate Diploma or Postgraduate Certificate programme in the month of September.

Any time spent studying PPD will be deducted from the amount of time you will have left to complete a Masters, Postgraduate Diploma or Postgraduate Certificate programme.

Contact us for more information about available courses and start dates.

Find out more about compulsory and optional courses

We link to the latest information available. Please note that this may be for a previous academic year and should be considered indicative.

Learning outcomes

After completing the MSc Data Science for Health and Social Care programme you will be able to:

• demonstrate a critical understanding of the principles and methods, governance and implications of data science in health and social care
• create, identify and evaluate data-driven solutions to solve complex problems in healthcare and social services contexts
• demonstrate the skills and capacity to analyse facts and situations and apply creative and inventive thinking to develop appropriate solutions
• articulate and effectively explain information and to adapt communication styles for different people, situations and audiences
• work collaboratively in a multi-disciplinary environment to deliver data-driven solutions

You will also develop:

• observational, analytical, evaluation and synthesis skills that will provide you with a critical understanding of the principles and methods, and governance and implications of data science in health and social care
• research and inquiry skills that will allow you to create, identify and evaluate data driven solutions in order to solve complex problems in health and social care contexts
• personal skills and intellectual autonomy that will give you the capacity to analyse facts and situations and apply creative and inventive thinking to develop appropriate solutions
• communication skills that will allow you to articulate and effectively explain information and to adapt their communication style for different people, situations and audiences
• leadership and time management skills, and emotional intelligence that will allow you to work collaboratively in a multi-disciplinary environment to deliver data driven solutions
• technical skills that will allow you to proactively extract knowledge and insights from data in new ways to drive innovation in health and social care

Career opportunities

Our suite of data-driven courses will:

• equip you with the data skills, capabilities, and competencies that will allow you to realise the value of data in your current role
• open opportunities new career paths and promotion opportunities as they arise across the health and social care sector

Graduates from health and social care backgrounds

If your background is in health and social care you will be highly competitive for post-graduate training schemes in health service research and practitioner training positions. You will also be highly competitive for leadership positions in your area of health or social care.

Graduates from computational backgrounds

If your background is computational work or study you will be highly competitive for post-graduate training schemes in data science, data scientist roles and advanced practitioner training positions within the health and social care sector.

Entrepreneurial opportunities

Entrepreneurial graduates will have the commercial awareness and venture creation skills needed to take up opportunities to work for or grow the next generation of data-driven health and social care companies.

Examples of job roles

Some examples of job roles include:

• health and social care data scientists and knowledge engineers
• health and social care data management
• management information system developer
• software developer
• information security manager
• data analysts
• senior clinical positions
• civil service, government
• social care, health policy and leadership
• health and social care positions
• data science in health and social care entrepreneurs
• health economists

Student Testimonial

Join our data driven health and social care community. View a recent testimonial from one of our current students.

Entry requirements

These entry requirements are for the 2024/25 academic year and requirements for future academic years may differ. Entry requirements for the 2025/26 academic year will be published on 1 Oct 2024.

A UK 2:1 honours degree, or its international equivalent, in a health-related degree or in a relevant subject appropriate to the programme of study such as life sciences, social sciences, mathematics, statistics, engineering, computer science or other related discipline.

We may also consider your application if you have a minimum of 3 years' relevant work experience; please contact the programme team to check before you apply. You may be admitted to certificate level only in the first instance.

Students from China

This degree is Band D.

• Postgraduate entry requirements for students from China

International qualifications

Check whether your international qualifications meet our general entry requirements:

• Entry requirements by country
• English language requirements

Regardless of your nationality or country of residence, you must demonstrate a level of English language competency at a level that will enable you to succeed in your studies.

English language tests

We accept the following English language qualifications at the grades specified:

• IELTS Academic: total 6.5 with at least 6.0 in each component. We do not accept IELTS One Skill Retake to meet our English language requirements.
• TOEFL-iBT (including Home Edition): total 92 with at least 20 in each component. We do not accept TOEFL MyBest Score to meet our English language requirements.
• C1 Advanced ( CAE ) / C2 Proficiency ( CPE ): total 176 with at least 169 in each component.
• Trinity ISE : ISE II with distinctions in all four components.
• PTE Academic: total 62 with at least 59 in each component.

Your English language qualification must be no more than three and a half years old from the start date of the programme you are applying to study, unless you are using IELTS , TOEFL, Trinity ISE or PTE , in which case it must be no more than two years old.

Degrees taught and assessed in English

We also accept an undergraduate or postgraduate degree that has been taught and assessed in English in a majority English speaking country, as defined by UK Visas and Immigration:

• UKVI list of majority English speaking countries

We also accept a degree that has been taught and assessed in English from a university on our list of approved universities in non-majority English speaking countries (non-MESC).

• Approved universities in non-MESC

If you are not a national of a majority English speaking country, then your degree must be no more than five years old* at the beginning of your programme of study. (*Revised 05 March 2024 to extend degree validity to five years.)

Find out more about our language requirements:

Fees and costs

Tuition fees, scholarships and funding, uk government postgraduate loans.

If you live in the UK, you may be able to apply for a postgraduate loan from one of the UK’s governments.

The type and amount of financial support you are eligible for will depend on:

• your programme
• the duration of your studies
• your tuition fee status

Programmes studied on a part-time intermittent basis are not eligible.

UK government and other external funding

(Revised 18 March 2024 to remove 'Commonwealth Distance Learning Scholarships' information) 

Search for scholarships and funding opportunities:

• Search for funding

Further information

• Programme Administrator
• Phone: +44 (0)131 651 7112
• Contact: [email protected]
• Programme Director, Michelle Evans
• Usher Institute of Molecular, Genetic and Population Health Sciences
• Old Medical School
• Teviot Place
• Central Campus
• Programme: Data Science for Health and Social Care (Online Learning)
• School: Edinburgh Medical School: Molecular, Genetic & Population Health Sciences
• College: Medicine & Veterinary Medicine

Select your programme and preferred start date to begin your application.

MSc Data Science for Health and Social Care (Online Learning) - 3 Years (Part-time)

Pgcert data science for health and social care (online learning) - 1 year (part-time), pgdip data science for health and social care (online learning) - 2 years (part-time), pg professional development in data science for health and social care (online learning) (icl) - 2 years (part-time intermittent study), application deadlines.

We strongly recommend you submit your completed application as early as possible, particularly if you are also applying for funding or will require a visa. We may consider late applications if we have places available.

• How to apply

You must submit one reference with your application.

Find out more about the general application process for postgraduate programmes: