About the course
With an uncertain future climate, there's a national demand for a new generation of professionals who'll maintain the UK’s world-leading expertise in managing flood risks.
The global flood risk is set to double by 2050 and key organisations including the Environment Agency, local authorities and leading consultancies are experiencing a shortage of talented people with the skills required to build resilience into flood event preparation, response and recovery.
This pioneering new MSc programme from the Energy and Environment Institute builds on the University of Hull’s expertise around the drivers and impacts of flood hazards to understand the application of innovative new approaches to flood risk management and equip you for a career in the expanding flood risk sector.
You will gain practical and academic experience in flood dynamics and catchment management, taught by leading academics and industry experts. You'll learn about different types of flood risk reduction through site visits to pioneering flood protection and management schemes, like ‘Slowing the Flow’ in Pickering and urban water basins protecting the city of Hull. You'll gain experience of flood adaptation and control methods, and learn how flood incidents are managed by multi-agency response units
The Humber region is pioneering the development of resilient communities through internationally recognised initiatives like ‘Living With Water', which has helped Hull become one of the Rockefeller Foundation’s five global cities that demonstrate future water resilience. Your learning will be informed by the Energy and Environment Institute’s research activities and strong links with regional and national flood risk agencies, helping you start a career that contributes to innovative solutions to help our society live with future flood risks.
Join our webinar for more information
Sign up for our free webinar on 28 March 2023 at 1pm, to find out more about our Masters in Flood Risk Management. Join us to hear from programme leaders, students and researchers, and raise any queries in the Q&A. Book your place
Hull and the Humber - Driving Flood Resilience
Find out more about the key role of the University of Hull and the Humber Region against climate change and in driving flood resilience in the UK and beyond in this short film.
What you'll study
The Programme Leader for the MSc Flood Risk Management is Dr Steven Forrest. The teaching programme runs over two semesters. All the modules detailed below are compulsory. Each module is worth 20 credits; students take 60 credits in each of the two semesters and then 60 credits for the dissertation.
All modules are subject to availability and this list may change at any time.
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Water in the Environment
This module will introduce you to the physical processes- both hydrological and hydraulic-that govern how water moves through the landscape. Understanding the flow paths that water follows and the speed of its movement are key to identifying the causes of flooding and, further, to managing flood risk through adaptation and building resilience when flooding cannot be avoided. You will be introduced to practical skills for measuring hydrology and hydraulics to understand how data are collected for flood estimation and prediction.
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Flood Impacts: Living with Floods
Flood hazards have many different causes from rivers and coasts through to groundwater and sewers. These hazards vary by place and will change in the future as a result of climate change. In this module, we use field-based case studies to look at flood alleviation schemes and SUstainable Drainage Schemes (SUDS) to understand how we can reduce different types of flood risk.
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Flood Resilience: Living with Water
Floods cannot be prevented and climate change means that flood risk is likely to increase. Economic and practical limitations mean that we cannot just build higher and higher walls to hold back floodwaters and therefore we have to introduce innovative approaches to building local, regional and national flood resilience. Living with Water is essential for flood risk management in the 21st Century and this module will build on local expertise to show why Hull was chosen as one of five cities in the Global City Water Resilience Framework.
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Modelling Flood Events
Numerical models are essential tools for Flood Risk Managers. They can be used to model innovative solutions to flood risk and enable prediction of flood events. However, they are also limited by the modelled processes they represent, and the data used to configure a model. This module will give students the understanding to use numerical models effectively and rigorously interpret the outputs from numerical models. It will be taught practically to ensure it is accessible to students with different levels of experience.
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Flood Adaptation and Mitigation
Using real world case studies, we will study different approaches to managing flood risk - from concrete walls through to the various Natural Flood Management techniques. You will see how flood risks can be reduced by slowing the flow or building walls to hold back the water. Experts will explain how different schemes are designed and implemented to show how different approaches can be used in different situations.
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Managing Flood Incidents
The impact of flooding on society can be significant. Effective responses can reduce the negative impacts when flood defences are breached. This module examines flood events and the response of agencies to flood events. Ultimately, floods cannot be prevented and all those involved in flood risk management need to understand how to respond to flood events and minimise their impact, including communicating with the general public before, during and after flood events.
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Flood Risk Management Dissertation Project
The dissertation project provides the opportunity for every student to focus on a topic that interests them. It is a unique opportunity to develop a deeper understanding of flood risk management and potentially to build links with future employers by working on projects relevant to flood risk management organisations, such as government agencies or Local Authorities.