Climate change affects diverse populations around the world. This programme will provide the skills necessary for students to be agents of change in the emerging interdisciplinary field of planetary health. It is primarily targeted at academics and professionals who want to gain knowledge of the complex systems that link the environment and human health.
Objectives
By the end of this programme students will be able to:
- Apply the concepts of planetary health, global environmental change and sustainable development to inform and advocate for a planetary health perspective in global public health.
- Assess key pathways and indicators by which changes to global environmental systems affect human health, including (but not limited to) heat stress, food systems, air pollution, infectious disease and biodiversity loss.
- Critically appraise tools and methods available from disciplines including epidemiology, biostatistics, social and behavioural sciences, and data science, and assess their strengths and limitations for different planetary health research problems
- Design and manage research projects in the fields of climate change and planetary health by using and combining tools from across disciplines
- Evaluate the implications of planetary health research for health policy and practice in different country and population contexts
- Assemble and communicate results of complex systems analyses in language appropriate for specialist and non-specialist audiences.
Duration: one year full-time; part-time or split-study over two years. Ways to study explained.
Climate Change & Planetary Health
Watch Programme Directors Pauline Scheelbeek and Priya Mondal talk about the programme.
The below structure outlines the proposed modules for this programme. Programme and module specifications provide full details about the aims and objectives of each module, what you will study and how the module is assessed.
- View programme specification
- View module specifications
- Structure of the year
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Term 1 (September - December) consists of ten teaching weeks for AB1 slot modules, plus one Reading Week* in the middle of the term. Followed by the Winter break.
Term 2 (January - March) consists of a further ten weeks of teaching for C and D slot modules, plus a Reading Week in the middle of the term. C modules are taught in five half-week blocks before Reading Week. D modules are taught in five half-week blocks after Reading Week. Followed by the Spring break.
Term 3 (April - September) consists of the project report.
*Reading Week is a week during term where no formal teaching takes place. It is a time for private study, preparing for assessments or attending study/computer skills workshops. There are two Reading Weeks at LSHTM: one in November and the other in February.
- Term 1
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All students take five compulsory AB1 modules:
- Basic Epidemiology
- Basic Statistics for Public Health & Policy
- Environment, Health and Sustainable Development
- Fundamentals of Climate Change & Planetary Health
- Methods in Climate Change & Planetary Health
- Term 2
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Students take a total of four study modules, one from each timetable slot (C1, C2, D1, D2).
C1 slot
- Research Design & Analysis
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Study Design: Writing a Study Proposal
C2 slot
- Health Systems
- Statistical Methods in Epidemiology
- Population, Poverty & Environment
D1 slot
- Planetary Health in Practice (compulsory)
D2 slot
- Environmental Epidemiology (compulsory)
- Term 3: Project report
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Students will start working on their summer project mid-April for submission by early September. The project will typically involve formulating strategies and concepts, deciding and acting on own initiative, planning, organising and time keeping, analysing critically, systems thinking, relating and networking, adapting and responding to change, expressive writing and scientific reporting and presenting and communicating information.
Changes to the programme
LSHTM will seek to deliver this programme in accordance with the description set out on this programme page. However, there may be situations in which it is desirable or necessary for LSHTM to make changes in course provision, either before or after registration. For further information, please see our page on changes to courses.
| Fees 2023/24 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Home | Full-time | £12,330 |
| Part-time | £6,165 | |
| EU/Overseas | Full-time | £28,540 |
| Part-time | £14,270 |
*Mobile users, scroll right to view fees
Sources of funding:
In order to be admitted to an LSHTM master's degree programme, an applicant must:
- hold either a first degree at Second Class Honours (2:2) standard in a relevant discipline, or a degree in medicine recognised by the UK General Medical Council (GMC) for the purposes of practising medicine in the UK, or another degree of equivalent standard awarded by an overseas institution recognised by UK ENIC or the GMC.
or
- hold a professional qualification appropriate to the programme of study to be followed obtained by written examinations and judged by LSHTM to be equivalent to a Second Class Honours (2:2) degree or above.
or
- have relevant professional experience or training which is judged by LSHTM to be equivalent to a Second Class Honours (2:2) degree or above.
If you have not previously studied in the UK, you can check our guide to international equivalent qualifications for our master's degrees.
Additional requirement: applicants for the MSc Climate Change and Planetary Health will need to provide some evidence of ability in mathematics, post-16 year education. This could include:
- A-level or a higher school certificate
- a module within an undergraduate degree (such as quantitative methods, epidemiology or statistics)
- mathematics (including statistics) studied as part of a general research methods course
Applicants who do not meet the minimum entry requirement, but who have relevant professional experience may still be eligible for admission. Qualifications and experience will be assessed from the application.
English language requirements
If English is not your first language, you will need to meet these requirements: Band B
Please see our English language requirements for more information.
Intercalating students
You will need the equivalent of a bachelor's degree to undertake an MSc. This will usually require you to have a BSc degree or have completed the first three years of your medical degree. More information on intercalating an MSc at LSHTM.
Access and widening participation
At LSHTM we are committed to ensuring that students from all backgrounds feel encouraged to apply to study with us. To that end, we have introduced an innovative contextual admissions system that is designed to consider any barriers applicants may have faced and take account of the circumstances in which their grades have been achieved, rather than relying on results alone. More information on widening participation at LSHTM.
Applications should be made online and will only be considered once you have provided all required information and supporting documentation.
Please also read LSHTM's Admissions policies prior to submitting your application.
You can apply for up to two master's programmes. Make sure to list them by order of preference as consideration will be given to your top choice first.
Application deadlines
All applicants are encouraged to apply as early as possible to ensure availability of a place and a timely decision on their application. This is particularly important for applicants with sponsorship deadlines.
We strongly advise that you apply early as popular programmes will close earlier than the stated deadline if they become full.
The final closing dates for all taught Master’s applications for entry in the 2023/24 academic year is:
- Sunday 23 July 2023 at 23:59 UK time for all students requiring a Student visa
- Thursday 31 August 2023 at 23:59 UK time for all UK, Irish and non-Student visa students
Applicants will be required to meet the conditions of their offer and provide all necessary documents by the date of their Offer of Admission.
Application fee
A standard non-refundable application fee of £50 applies to all taught Master’s degree programmes and is payable upon application submission. Income generated from the application fee is shared between scholarships and student hardship fund.
Tuition fee deposit
Applicants are required to respond to their Offer of Admission and pay the £500 deposit within 28 days of receipt, or their place will be released and the offer automatically declined. The deposit is deductible from tuition fees upon full registration with LSHTM.
Do you need a visa?
Please visit our Visa & Immigration pages for advice and guidance.