Clinical Animal Behaviour

The taught sessions for the MSc run on Mondays and Tuesdays throughout the academic year. If you are studying the course full-time, sessions will run on both Mondays and Tuesdays for full days (typically 9am-5pm) with time for a lunch break. Any off-site trips will occur within the typical day and on the same day as the module it relates to.

For students wishing to study part-time, in the first year taught sessions will take place on a Monday. In the second year, taught sessions will then take place on a Tuesday. After completion of the taught sessions in the second year, data collection for the thesis will usually occur. Therefore, the part-time course will take you just over 2 years to complete if you include the taught sessions and the thesis module.

The thesis module (data collection and write up) for full-time students typically takes place between the end of the taught sessions and September of the same year. For those on the part-time route the thesis module (data collection and write up) will run from the end of the taught sessions until January the following year. During the thesis module it is important for you to meet with your supervisor, however, meeting are usually booked at mutually convenient times.

Formal teaching is supported by a range of personally directed study and peer-to-peer activities, which aim to improve practical and cognitive problem-solving skills. Role play workshops are utilised in the delivery of this programme and peer-to-peer discussion is encouraged through the University's virtual learning environment.

Students who enrol on the full-time programme should expect to receive 12 hours of contact time per week for the duration of the taught element of this course. Part-time students should expect to receive six hours per week.

As a general rule we advise allocating at least 15 hours per week for additional study per day you attend taught sessions. Therefore, if you are taking the full-time route, we would advise allocating at least 30 hours of your time away from taught sessions to complete further study (includes reading around the subject and preparing for assignments).

The date of graduation from this course usually depends on the route of study. Typically, those on the full-time route usually go to a January graduation ceremony and those on the part-time route go to an autumn graduation ceremony.

Clinical Animal Behaviourists work on veterinary referral, helping the owners of companion animals resolve behavioural problems through diagnosis of the problem behaviour and application of individual behaviour modification programmes.

This Master's degree follows an evidence-based approach, which aims to develop students' theoretical knowledge and practical skills for the management of problem behaviour in companion animals. It is headed by a team of experts, including Europe's first veterinary behaviour professor, European and Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons specialist, Professor Daniel Mills.

Teaching is informed by research and practice, and students have the opportunity to gain experience through material used in teaching from real cases seen in the Department of Life Science's veterinary behaviour clinic. The curriculum is closely aligned to the research conducted in the Department's Animal Behaviour Cognition and Welfare Group. Students are encouraged to develop research skills and may have the opportunity to work alongside academics on high profile projects, many of which are funded by research councils, charities, and commercial bodies.