MSc Electronic & Electrical Engineering
ApplyKey facts
- Start date: January & September
- Accreditation: fully accredited by the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET)
- Study mode and duration: 12 months full-time
Study with us
- advanced subject options across the entire electronic and electrical engineering discipline
- tailor the course to match your career interests
- benefit from purpose-built study and learning facilities, and the chance to engage with industry partners
- specifically designed for students who wish to pursue advanced studies across the broad range of subjects relevant to electronic and electrical engineering
Why this course?
You can select classes from the extensive range of postgraduate taught courses delivered by our Department of Electronic & Electrical Engineering. This unique flexible structure allows you to build a personalised Masters programme that meets your academic interests and career aspirations.
The course can lead to a wide range of career opportunities. Recent graduates have gained well paid positions in:
- electrical supply industries
- telecommunications and IT
- consulting and design companies
- healthcare and aerospace
What you’ll study
You'll have two semesters of compulsory and optional classes, followed by a three-month research project in your chosen area. There’s the opportunity to carry this out through the department's competitive MSc industrial internships.
The internships are offered in collaboration with selected department industry partners, including ScottishPower, Smarter Grid Solutions and SSE. You'll address engineering challenges facing the partner, with site visits, access and provision of relevant technical data and/or facilities provided, along with an industry mentor and academic supervisor.
What do our students say?
Find out what Thai student Vasitpol thinks about his MSc experience here at Strathclyde:
Visit PNDC
MSc students from the University of Strathclyde's Department of Electronic & Electrical Engineering visit Wardpark for a tour of our PNDC's innovative power and energy testing infrastructure and an overview of the whole energy systems innovation programme. Watch the video on YouTube.
Facilities
You'll have exclusive access to our extensive computing network and purpose-built teaching spaces, including our outdoor test facility for photovoltaics high voltage laboratory, equipped with the latest technologies including:
- LDS 6-digital partial discharge test & measurement system
- Marx impulse generators & GIS test rigs
- £1M distribution network and protection laboratory comprising a 100kVA microgrid, induction machines and programme load banks
You'll have access to the UK’s only high-fidelity control room simulation suite and the PNDC. This is Europe’s first centre dedicated to the development and demonstration of “smart-grid” technologies.
Accreditation
The Institution of Engineering & Technology (IET) – this programme is CEng accredited and fulfils the educational requirements for registration as a Chartered Engineer when presented with a CEng-accredited Bachelors programme.
Course content
A typical selection of classes offered on the programme are outlined below. Please note that these classes may be subject to change.
(September to May)
Assignment & Professional Studies (20 credits)
The aim of this class is to provide you with support for your general academic and professional development.
You'll undertake an advanced investigation of an electronic or electrical engineering topic of your choice, to enhance your learning, and develop presentation and communication skills.
Power Electronics, Machines & Applications
You'll develop an understanding of the principles of common power electronic systems. You'll gain familiarity with the techniques required to analyse common power electronic circuits and learn about the basic principles behind the design of rotating electrical machines. The techniques required to analyse basic DC and AC machines will also be investigated.
You'll learn to recognise that disturbances exist within a power system substation, appreciate that these disturbances may affect electromagnetic compatibility and become competent in dealing with the implications of those disturbances.
You'll gain an understanding of the use of power electronic devices, drives and machines for given applications, specifically for electric vehicles. You'll examine the range of energy sources capable of powering ‘independent’ EVs, how these sources work, their performance and degradation issues and how to charge/fuel them.
Power System Design, Operation & Protection
The objective of this class is to enable you to appreciate the principles of analysis, design and protection of electrical power systems including:
- the design and operational approaches in power systems including electricity generation, transmission and distribution
- the analysis and design of transmission and distribution networks
- power flow, fault and stability calculations
- power system control including load frequency control and economic dispatch
- generation technology implications on power system design and operation.
You'll also study the main concepts related to the requirements, functions, design and operation of protection schemes for power system transmission and distribution systems. You'll gain an advanced understanding of selected protection schemes used in transmission and distribution networks.
Digital Signal Processing Principles (20 credits)
This class covers the fundamentals of discrete time convolution, correlation, transform methods, time frequency signal representation, downsampling/upsampling and digital filters that are core to state of the art machine learning and deep learning architectures. The class has an integral Matlab based laboratory set of tasks that students are required to undertake.
Information Transmission & Security (20 credits)
The aim of this class is to develop an understanding of the principles by which information can transmitted with varying levels of security and the techniques by which communication systems can be analysed and designed.
Communications Networks
This class will provide you with an understanding of the principles and key transport technologies which underpin high-speed heterogeneous broadband communications networks and architectures while giving an insight to the technical and strategic challenges associated with the provision of a Quality of Service (QoS)-based integrated future-network platform.
Control Principles (20 credits)
This module aims to introduce the basic concepts, mathematical tools and design methods of classical control theory. It also introduces students to advanced control methods and provides a basic understanding of a time-domain approach to control analysis and the design of industrial processes.
The module covers: First and second order systems, delay process, simple saturation models; Simulation tools such as GUI, SIMULINK, MATLAB; Control system performance, transient and steady-state figures of merit, time domain step response, reference tracking and disturbance rejection in time domain; Simple control principles; State space representation of linear systems; Continuous time and discrete-time system fundamentals: eigen-values & eigen-vectors, stability, controllability & observability, canonical forms for systems; State-space control methods: pole placement state feedback control with/without observer design and linear quadratic optimal control.
At the end of this module students will be able to:
- model simple systems with transfer function and state space representation, create simulations using MATLAB and Simulink
- analyse linear open loop and closed loop systems both in frequency and time domain
- understand the theoretical and practical implications of feedback control systems, design control systems using simple PID tuning methods
- assess control performance, make analytical calculations and critical evaluation of control performance-related metrics
- apply and understand the advanced control methods, principles and applications in an industrial context
Assessment and feedback is in the form of a coursework and class test in Semester 1 (15%), a project report (15%) and exam (70%) in Semester 2.
Advanced Power & Energy Systems (20 credits)
This class will allow you to understand, critically analyse and assess technical requirements for power system operation, management and planning. It will enable you to carry out advanced types of power system analysis as well as understand and use results from these analyses in power system operation and planning. You'll also develop an advanced knowledge of the main concepts related to the function, design and operation of protection schemes for distribution, transmission and generation applications.
High Voltage Technology & Electromagnetic Compatibility (20 credits)
This class will introduce you to the fundamentals of high voltage electrical insulating systems and the principles, mechanisms and characteristics of high voltage discharges in vacuum and condensed media. It will also provide you with a basic understanding of the behaviour of dielectric materials stressed with electric fields and their use in high voltage systems. You'll also gain an understanding of the principles of high voltage generation and impulse testing of the high voltage systems.
Power Electronics for Energy & Drive Control (20 credits)
Modern energy conversion systems rely on the integration of range of technologies including power electronics, electromechanical actuators and energy storage elements. This class will build knowledge of the building block technologies and show their application to modern energy conversion systems.
Power System Economics, Markets & Asset Management (20 credits)
This class will present and give an understanding of the economics, trading and pricing of electricity supply and how it is shaped by technical, commercial and regulatory considerations.
It will give you an understanding of power system economics under an environment of multiple suppliers and users, and present the challenges, technologies and value of asset management within an electricity supply industry context. You'll gain a deep appreciation of factors affecting security of supply and how it might be quantified.
Wind Energy & Distributed Energy Resources (20 credits)
This class will provide an understanding of the principles of wind turbine power generation with attention to the wind resource, rotor aerodynamics, structural design, power conversion and control.
It will also examine the socio-economic issues relating to wind power and provide an underpinning in distributed energy resources including small scale generation, energy storage and demand management and their integration and management within power networks.
Advanced Digital Signal Processing Principles
The objective of this class is to ensure you develop the necessary skills that will allow you to analyse, design, implement and simulate advanced DSP techniques and algorithms for a variety of communications and general engineering problems.
Embedded Systems Design
This class provides hands-on experience in translating Digital Signal Processing concepts into real-time embedded systems applications.
Through a combination of lectures, up-to-date technical discussions and hardware programming, you'll learn to design and implement real-time embedded systems through familiarisation with Digital Signal Processors and FPGAs.
Image & Video Processing
This class will provide an introduction to the techniques relevant to digital images and video. This includes techniques both to process images and video and also to efficiently compress and communicate them.
The class will give you a comprehensive understanding of various image and video processing and coding standards. You'll also study some key applications of these standards.
Control Techniques
Through an introduction to the concepts and tools of modelling, simulation for control of dynamical systems, and computer control engineering, you'll develop the skills required to understand and analyse digital control systems for real time engineering applications. You'll also appreciate the design of estimation and its use in control design.
Software Engineering (20 credits)
This class will introduce you to the software engineering process through the development and application of C++ programming skills. You'll become competent in specifying, designing and developing software and in writing and testing programs of moderate complexity.
MSc Research Project / Internship
The aim of the research project is to provide you with an opportunity to bring your knowledge and skills together and deploy them in a significant practical investigation, using relevant engineering literature, and where relevant, initial experiments or simulations.
Students progressing from University strategic partner Silesian University of Technology (SUT) will complete the MSc research project and three classes* from the following:
Students progressing from MSc Electronics at SUT
- Digital Signal Processing Principles
- Information Transmission and Security
- Communications Networks
- 5G Communications Networks
- Control Principles
- Advanced Digital Signal Processing
- Embedded System Design
- Image and Video Processing
- Sensor Technologies
Students progressing from MSc Automatic Control at SUT
- Digital Signal Processing Principles
- Information Transmission and Security
- Advanced Digital Signal Processing
- Embedded System Design
- Sensor Technologies
*For class descriptors please see the previous tabs.
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Learning & teaching
We use a blend of teaching and learning methods including interactive lectures, problem-solving tutorials and practical project-based laboratories. Our technical and experimental officers are available to support and guide you on individual subject material.
Each module comprises of approximately five hours of direct teaching per week. To enhance your understanding of the technical and theoretical topics covered in these, you're expected to undertake a further five to six hours of self-study, using our web-based virtual learning environment (Myplace), research journals and library facilities.
The teaching and learning methods used ensure you'll develop not only technical engineering expertise but also communications, project management and leadership skills.
You'll undertake group projects. These will help to develop your interpersonal, communication and transferable skills essential to a career in industry.
Industry engagement
Interaction with industry is provided through our internships, teaching seminars and networking events. The department delivers monthly seminars to support students’ learning and career development. Siemens, Rolls-Royce, Xilinx, Selex ES and Mott MacDonald are just a few examples of the industry partners you can engage with during your course.
Assessment
A variety of assessment techniques are used throughout the course. You'll complete at least six modules. Each module has a combination of written assignments, individual and group reports, oral presentations, practical lab work and, where appropriate, an end-of-term exam.
Assessment of the summer research project/internship consists of four elements, with individual criteria:
- Interim report (10%, 1,500 to 3,000 words) – the purpose of the report is to provide a mechanism for supervisors to provide valuable feedback on the project’s objectives and direction
- Poster Presentation (15%) – a vital skill of an engineer is the ability to describe their work to others and respond to requests for information; the poster presentation is designed to give you an opportunity to practise that
- Final report (55%) – this assesses the communication of project objectives and context, accuracy and relevant of background material, description of practical work and results, depth and soundness of discussion and conclusions, level of engineering achievement and the quality of the report’s presentation
- Conduct (20%) – independent study, project and time management are key features of university learning; the level of your initiative, and independent thinking and technical understanding are assessed through project meetings with your supervisor and your written logbooks
Entry requirements
| Academic requirements | Normally a first-class or second-class honours degree (or international equivalent) in electronic, electrical or communications engineering, or a related subject. |
|---|---|
| English language requirements | If English is not your first language, please visit our English language requirements page for full details of the requirements in place before making your application. |
Pre-Masters preparation course
The Pre-Masters Programme is a preparation course held at the University of Strathclyde International Study Centre, for international students (non-UK/Ireland) who do not meet the academic entry requirements for a Masters degree at University of Strathclyde.
Upon successful completion, you'll be able to progress to this degree course at the University of Strathclyde.
I would recommend Strathclyde to other people, especially to anyone who is thinking about studying my course, as the facilities and resources are top class. The staff at Strathclyde are sound in knowledge and strive to help you achieve your goals in the best way possible.
International students
We've a thriving international community with students coming here to study from over 140 countries across the world. Find out all you need to know about studying in Glasgow at Strathclyde and hear from students about their experiences.
Fees & funding
All fees quoted are for full-time courses and per academic year unless stated otherwise.
Please note, for courses that have a January 2025 start date, 2024/25 academic year fees will apply. For courses that have a September 2025 start date, 2025/26 academic year fees will apply.
Fees may be subject to updates to maintain accuracy. Tuition fees will be notified in your offer letter.
All fees are in £ sterling, unless otherwise stated, and may be subject to revision.
Annual revision of fees
Students on programmes of study of more than one year (or studying standalone modules) should be aware that the majority of fees will increase annually. The University will take a range of factors into account, including, but not limited to, UK inflation, changes in delivery costs and changes in Scottish and/or UK Government funding. Changes in fees will be published on the University website in October each year for the following year of study and any annual increase will be capped at a maximum of 10% per year.
| Scotland | £10,800 |
|---|---|
| England, Wales & Northern Ireland | £10,800 |
| Republic of Ireland |
If you are an Irish citizen and have been ordinary resident in the Republic of Ireland for the three years prior to the relevant date, and will be coming to Scotland for Educational purposes only, you will meet the criteria of England, Wales & Northern Ireland fee status. For more information and advice on tuition fee status, you can visit the UKCISA - International student advice and guidance - Scotland: fee status webpage. Find out more about the University of Strathclyde's fee assessments process. |
| International | £28,250 |
| Additional costs | Course materials & costsThe department provides a service whereby printed notes are available to the students subject to a small charge to cover copying costs. Students are recommended/required to have copies of such notes but we provide access to both printed copies and e-copies. The latter are provided without charge – in accordance with University policy. Any printed material that is mandatory (in that form) is provided with no additional charge to the students. Expect that students pay around £100 for additional course materials and books. Placements & field tripsThe department and student societies support a number of industrial visits throughout the year. These trips are not mandatory for specific programmes and modules and any incurred charge to cover transport is either met by the students or by the department. Other costsStudents are not required to purchase any specific software licenses – all software used is available on campus machines, either locally or remotely. All students are provided for the duration of their course with student-membership of IET (Professional Body) paid for by the department. Some hardware (micro controllers, design boards) may be made available to students for loan subject to appropriate refundable deposit. Students may consider purchase of low cost microcontroller boards for project work - cost from £10-£30. Access to EEE Computer labs out of working hours is via card access - card cost is £20 - refundable on return of card. Students are provided with an additional print-quota for use in EEE labs for EEE classes conducted in EEE computer labs. Paid top-ups possible via University IT services. Expected printing and report binding costs are around £10-£15 a year - will depend upon exact programme and class assignments. Binding is provided at cost (50p to £1.00) by EEE Resource Centre in R4.01. |
| Available scholarships | Take a look at our scholarships search for funding opportunities. |
Please note: the fees shown are annual and may be subject to an increase each year. Find out more about fees.
Fees & funding
All fees quoted are for full-time courses and per academic year unless stated otherwise.
Please note, for courses that have a January 2025 start date, 2024/25 academic year fees will apply. For courses that have a September 2025 start date, 2025/26 academic year fees will apply.
Fees may be subject to updates to maintain accuracy. Tuition fees will be notified in your offer letter.
All fees are in £ sterling, unless otherwise stated, and may be subject to revision.
Annual revision of fees
Students on programmes of study of more than one year (or studying standalone modules) should be aware that the majority of fees will increase annually. The University will take a range of factors into account, including, but not limited to, UK inflation, changes in delivery costs and changes in Scottish and/or UK Government funding. Changes in fees will be published on the University website in October each year for the following year of study and any annual increase will be capped at a maximum of 10% per year.
| Scotland | £11,900 |
|---|---|
| England, Wales & Northern Ireland | £11,900 |
| Republic of Ireland |
If you are an Irish citizen and have been ordinary resident in the Republic of Ireland for the three years prior to the relevant date, and will be coming to Scotland for Educational purposes only, you will meet the criteria of England, Wales & Northern Ireland fee status. For more information and advice on tuition fee status, you can visit the UKCISA - International student advice and guidance - Scotland: fee status webpage. Find out more about the University of Strathclyde's fee assessments process. |
| International | £31,100 |
| Additional costs | Course materials & costsThe department provides a service whereby printed notes are available to the students subject to a small charge to cover copying costs. Students are recommended/required to have copies of such notes but we provide access to both printed copies and e-copies. The latter are provided without charge – in accordance with University policy. Any printed material that is mandatory (in that form) is provided with no additional charge to the students. Expect that students pay around £100 for additional course materials and books. Placements & field tripsThe department and student societies support a number of industrial visits throughout the year. These trips are not mandatory for specific programmes and modules and any incurred charge to cover transport is either met by the students or by the department. Other costsStudents are not required to purchase any specific software licenses – all software used is available on campus machines, either locally or remotely. All students are provided for the duration of their course with student-membership of IET (Professional Body) paid for by the department. Some hardware (micro controllers, design boards) may be made available to students for loan subject to appropriate refundable deposit. Students may consider purchase of low cost microcontroller boards for project work - cost from £10-£30. Access to EEE Computer labs out of working hours is via card access - card cost is £20 - refundable on return of card. Students are provided with an additional print-quota for use in EEE labs for EEE classes conducted in EEE computer labs. Paid top-ups possible via University IT services. Expected printing and report binding costs are around £10-£15 a year - will depend upon exact programme and class assignments. Binding is provided at cost (50p to £1.00) by EEE Resource Centre in R4.01. |
| Available scholarships | Take a look at our scholarships search for funding opportunities. |
Please note: the fees shown are annual and may be subject to an increase each year. Find out more about fees.
How can I fund my course?
Scottish postgraduate students
Scottish postgraduate students may be able to apply for support from the Student Awards Agency Scotland (SAAS). The support is in the form of a tuition fee loan and for eligible students, a living cost loan. Find out more about the support and how to apply.
Don’t forget to check our scholarship search for more help with fees and funding.
Students coming from England
Students ordinarily resident in England may be to apply for postgraduate support from Student Finance England. The support is a loan of up to £10,280 which can be used for both tuition fees and living costs. Find out more about the support and how to apply.
Don’t forget to check our scholarship search for more help with fees and funding.
Students coming from Wales
Students ordinarily resident in Wales may be to apply for postgraduate support from Student Finance Wales. The support is a loan of up to £10,280 which can be used for both tuition fees and living costs. Find out more about the support and how to apply.
Don’t forget to check our scholarship search for more help with fees and funding.
Students coming from Northern Ireland
Postgraduate students who are ordinarily resident in Northern Ireland may be able to apply for support from Student Finance Northern Ireland. The support is a tuition fee loan of up to £5,500. Find out more about the support and how to apply.
Don’t forget to check our scholarship search for more help with fees and funding.
International students
We've a large range of scholarships available to help you fund your studies. Check our scholarship search for more help with fees and funding.
Careers
The flexible structure of the course means Electronic & Electrical Engineering graduates are able to design their own personalised programme to suit individual interests. Career opportunities are vast and include industries such as:
- electrical supply
- oil and gas
- telecommunications
- IT
- banking and finance
- consulting and design companies
- healthcare
- aerospace
Recent graduates have secured technical positions such as control engineers, design engineers and electronics engineers with organisations including GE, Jaguar LandRover and BP. They've also taken up managerial roles such as technology analysts, project managers and risk assessors with Morgan Stanley, Mott MacDonald and Atkins Global.
The Masters in Electronic & Electrical Engineering is also a great starting point for research within the department.
How much will I earn?*
- Graduate starting salaries are around £20,000 to £25,000
- With some experience, salaries can range from £28,000 to £40,000
- Average salaries for experienced senior engineers, or those with chartered status, can exceed £60,000
*information is intended only as a guide and figures are taken from Prospects (accessed July 2024).
Glasgow is Scotland's biggest & most cosmopolitan city
Our campus is based right in the very heart of Glasgow. We're in the city centre, next to the Merchant City, both of which are great locations for sightseeing, shopping and socialising alongside your studies.
Apply
During the application process, you're required to upload the following supporting documents. If these are not provided, we'll not be able to process your application:
- certified individual semester mark sheets/academic transcript showing subjects taken and grades achieved for all qualifications
- if still studying, provide individual semester mark sheets to date
- certified degree certificate for all qualifications
- if still studying, provide this after completing the qualification
- provide evidence of suitable English language proficiency if English is not your first language, or you're not from a “UKVI recognised "Majority English Speaking" country”; check the University’s language requirements
- if you have been out of full-time education for over two years, provide a CV, detailing employment history, organisations worked for and a brief description of roles and responsibilities
- a copy of your passport containing your photo and passport number
- a copy of your sponsor letter/scholarship award (if appropriate)
- names, job titles and email addresses for two nominated referees
Start date: Sep 2025
Electronic and Electrical Engineering
Start date: Jan 2026
Electronic and Electrical Engineering (January intake)
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Have you considered?
We've a range of postgraduate taught and Masters courses similar to this one which may also be of interest.