A new MSc in Citizen Science at University College London will enable a new generation of socially engaged scholars and practitioners to meet the needs of industry, government and public sectors which are seeing a rapid growth of the interest and participation of the general public in collecting and processing data to answer critical environmental questions.
This new MSc, the first of its kind in the world, provides students with theoretical and practical experience in creating and managing citizen science projects across a range of disciplines from astronomy to zoology.
The growth of citizen science
Participation of the general public in scientific projects has experienced rapid growth over the past decade, covering a huge range of disciplinary areas including astronomy, history, arts, cell biology, engineering, climate science, epidemiology, and public health (see https://www.zooniverse.org for a wide range of examples). For ecology in particular, citizen science is a long-established and vital tool for assessing the status of wildlife populations across the world, providing critical evidence for the health status of ecosystems (e.g. data from public-powered monitoring programmes made up the majority of the evidence for the UK’s State of Nature Report in 2019).
From policy makers and funders, to city councils and governments, interest and investment in citizen science projects is global. But how are such projects designed, implemented, and managed to be successful? What are the best methods to collect and evaluate the data? Which privacy and data sharing agreements need to be considered?
The professionalisation of citizen science requires the development of expertise in designing, implementing, and managing citizen science projects and activities, illustrating the urgent need for an academic programme that offers the necessary support and training for emerging citizen science practitioners.
This new MSc programme is the first of its kind, and will meet the need for recognised skills development and support in this exciting area, providing students with unique skills in an area of ever-increasing demand that can be applied across a number of different industries.
Find out more
Information sessions are due to take place in November and December. If you click to “Register your interest”, further details will be provided in due course. The first session is on 11 November.