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FACULTY OF CREATIVE ARTS, TECHNOLOGY AND SCIENCE
School Of Arts And Creative Industries Art And Design
• We pride ourselves on running inspirational courses that keep pace with fast-developing technologies in the field and develop creative thinking as a key to the world of work.
• Our courses are designed with employability in mind, building in real-world projects; meeting and learning from industry professionals; and opportunities for professional practice and preparation.
• Our students work on live briefs, submit for national competitions and participate in collaborative projects with leading art and design practitioners.
• We hold weekly World of Work guest talks from creative-industry professionals, who share their insight and knowledge into working as an artist or designer.
• All three years of our courses include opportunities for visits to artist and design studios, galleries, museums and exhibitions.
• All our courses have a four-year option to include a Foundation Year.
• We work collaboratively across courses, encouraging wider creative thinking and ideas.
• All Arts course tutors are practising and exhibiting artists and photographers.
• Our BA (Hons) Photography students benefit from high-spec facilities and equipment including a professional darkroom and photo studio; a digital darkroom for industry-level post-production; excellent analogue and digital cameras; a wide range of camera formats; and large-scale inkjet printers.
• Students have the opportunity to gain real work experience projects for the University and local businesses as well as Guildford Street Press, our professional design studio.
• We are members of the British Fashion Council, The Association of Fashion and Textiles Courses, the Council for Higher Education in Art and Design, the Association of Illustrators and AA2A (Artists Access to Art Colleges), enhancing students’ opportunities to make creative industry connections and build employability.
• Interior Architecture and Interior Design students benefit from the courses’ professional connections with the British Institute of Interior Design (BIID) and BREEAM (the world-leading certification system for sustainably built environments).
• Students develop their practice using our spacious studios and facilities in Alexon House, the previous home of the Alexon and Eastex fashion company.
Media And Culture
• Learn your craft from an experienced team of industry professionals, with input from visiting experts currently working at high levels in their fields, using our high-spec, multi-camera television studios; industry-standard radio facilities; specialist make-up studios; newsroom; and a variety of quality equipment.
• Our courses give you the chance to develop your skills by making or contributing to your own programmes or events; working within the local community; contributing across courses to work in industry-style collaborations; and developing individual transferable skills.
• Graduates have gone on to work on or in top TV shows, films and stage productions such as The X Factor, Gogglebox, The Apprentice, Dr Who, The Graham Norton Show, Game of Thrones and My Fair Lady, and have won awards in different fields.
• We bring the creative industries to you, with regular, exciting opportunities to meet visiting, industry-active professionals, from TV producers and make-up artists to published writers and key performers.
• We run an award-winning community radio station and have award-winning lecturers - such as Terry Lee and his award-winning Fantastic Noise podcast.
• Our Ofcom-licensed local community radio service, RadioLaB, is run by students for students and the local community, and is available on FM as well as online.
• You have the opportunity to work on BedsTV, our in-house TV station, and can take a threemonth internship as station manager after the course has finished.
• Our Radio and Audio BA (Hons) expands with the medium, bringing in podcasts, social media and independent content producers.
• Our Creative Writing BA (Hons) course is open to a wide range of writing forms and genres, with specialist pathways in speculative genre writing (especially, though not exclusively, fantasy and horror); innovative writing; and scriptwriting for the screen.
• Students of our BA (Hons) Sports Journalism can work for our in-house sports TV channel Bulls TV and provide coverage for our Bedfordshire Bulls sports teams.
• Our BA (Hons) Media Performance equips you for screen and stage acting; voice artistry; presenting for TV and online; scriptwriting; directing; radio producing and podcasting; and production management for stage and screen.
• We have a strong track record in getting our MA Television Production students work in the industry. Our alumni have gone on to work for programmes such as Britain’s Got Talent, Married at First Sight, The Jonathan Ross Show, Strictly Come Dancing and Game of Thrones. They have also entered the film industry, including James Bond: No Time To Die and Mission: Impossible 7.
• On our FdA Media Make-up and Character Design course, you learn up-to-the-minute make-up and hair for all ethnicities and genders, producing multi-skilled, industry-ready professionals.
• Our BA (Hons) Make-up for Fashion and Media (top up) allows you to work towards professional briefs with experts in the fields of trauma, fashion, special effects, stage and media make-up and hair. Experts include former BBC directors, theatre company producers, London Fashion Week artists, and TV drama make-up artists.
Performing Arts
• The Performing Arts cluster at the University of Bedfordshire ranges across acting, dance and performing arts degrees at undergraduate level and dance, performance and choreography at postgraduate level.
• Be inspired and learn your craft with our highly experienced teaching team and visiting directors, artists, choreographers and performance companies.
• Develop your skills and creative practice while realising your performance work in our professional-standard performing arts spaces: four fully equipped, spacious dance studios; an 80-seat black-box theatre; and 280-seat professional theatre.
• Learn key employability skills, enabling you to navigate the performing arts industry and create your own opportunities as a freelance artist/practitioner.
• Our courses emphasise wellbeing in and through creative and performance practices, nurturing you to become a skilled, independent creative who shapes their own career.
• Our graduates run their own companies and work as performers, creatives, producers, teachers and community practitioners. They have also used the transferable skills they have gained to build careers in the fitness and wellbeing industry; in children’s entertainment; and as arts administrators, fundraisers and researchers.
• Our courses sustain high levels of satisfaction in the NSS, scoring over 90% in many areas, including 97% for teaching and 98% for learning opportunities (Dance NSS 2022)
• As a BA (Hons) Acting student, you work with visiting professional directors whose companies draw down substantial Arts Council funds - so they become the people who will form the backbone of your professional network.
• Students on our Dance and Professional Practice degree course have significant performance opportunities both within the course and as part of extracurricular projects with staff, partners and visiting artists.
• On our BA (Hons) Performing Arts, you work with industry professionals and learn entrepreneurial skills that will help you find, apply for and create your own opportunities in this exciting and diverse field.
• Our MA Dance Performance and Choreography has a unique emphasis on your development as a dance artist in the context of dance science, somatics and health.
• All MA students join the repertory performance company and learn works by leading choreographers; undertake a performance and teaching tour; and have the opportunity to develop their own choreographic practice.
• Master’s courses emphasise practice as research and the informed, reflective, curious and healthy dancer in action as a performing artist and teacher.
School Of Computer Science And Technology
• Our courses look to the future with use of artificial intelligence, automotive engineering and robotics equipment.
• Our computing courses are accredited to the British Computer Society (BCS).
• Our electronic engineering course is accredited to the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET).
• Our Construction courses score highly for teaching; academic support; organisation and management; and overall satisfaction (NSS, 2022), with a 100% satisfaction rating for academic support.
School Of Life Sciences
• Our academics are involved in real-world research, leading the way in areas such as COVID-19 testing technology, autoimmune disease, obesity, cancer pathways and global food security.
• Our staff’s research expertise feeds directly back into their teaching, creating a vibrant, practice-based learning environment.
• Our graduates are employed by leading-edge pharma-biotech, food and health companies such as Glaxo Smith Kline, AstraZeneca, MSD-Merck, Dettol, Cytiva-GE Healthcare, and the Medicines & Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency as well as NHS Trusts and universities in the UK and internationally.
• We work with leading employers including Glaxo Smith Kline, Medicines & Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency, Nelson’s Natural Healthcare and Cellmark Forensics to make sure our forward-thinking courses are aligned to both the needs of industry and society.
• We host an annual STEM Careers Expo, bringing together employers and students through presentations, workshops and networking sessions.
• Our academics are involved in real-world research, leading the way in areas such as enhanced robot technology; nano-robotics in cancer cell exploration; carbon emission reduction; and digital health initiatives.
• Our staff’s research expertise feeds back into their teaching, creating a supportive learning environment and practice-based training.
• Our specialist facilities include computer networking suites; games, animation and graphics studios; high-spec laboratories for engineering, IT security, telecommunications, robotics, and laser and optics; and a machine and product design workshop.
• By combining different disciplines, many of our postgraduate courses – such as Microbiology in Public Health, Pharmacology with Data Analytics and Biotechnology with Project Management – are designed to meet industry and employer needs.
• Our links with organisations and employers across a range of sectors ensure our postgraduate students develop practical workplace skills and opportunities to grow.
• Our students’ postgraduate study is led by teaching staff who are experts in their fields, actively involved at the cutting edge of research.
• Our BSc (Hons) Biomedical Science course is accredited to the Institute of Biomedical Science (IBMS).
• Our BSc (Hons) Biomedical Science students have won the Microbiology Society Award for ‘Scholarship in Microbiology’ four years in a row.
• Our students have won Best Performing Student by both the Institute of Biomedical Science (IBMS) and the Royal Society of Biology (RSB).
School Of Psychology
• Our science-focused undergraduate and postgraduate courses are accredited by the British Psychological Society.
• Our staff’s research and practice expertise directly informs their teaching, creating a vibrant, supportive learning environment focused on helping all our students thrive and flourish.
• To help support the journey into higher education, many of our psychology courses offer a Foundation Year which helps you develop academic skills and guarantees entry to the degree course.
• If you choose to include a Professional Practice Year in your course, our links with organisations across a range of sectors ensure you have the challenging and enjoyable prospect of applying your psychological knowledge and skills in practice while gaining valuable workplace experience.
• As an undergraduate student, you have numerous opportunities to develop your professional research skills throughout your course. These include working on cutting-edge research projects with our academic staff through our Junior Research Institute, and presenting your supervised research to your peers and psychology professionals at our annual Student Research Conference.
• We offer an accredited postgraduate conversion course for those who have achieved an undergraduate degree in a different subject but wish to pursue a career in psychology. The course provides the opportunity to gain an accredited qualification in psychology, enabling students to continue their professional psychology training.
• Our postgraduate taught courses equip you with the knowledge and skills needed to achieve the recognised first stage of training to become a practitioner psychologist.
• Our courses are reviewed and developed in conjunction with industry professionals from the NHS, mental health support and commercial organisations to ensure they are aligned with the needs of a range of employers, opening up a variety of career pathways.
• Our graduates have chosen a variety of career paths with some working in human resources; running their own coaching consultancies; or employed within the private and public sectors (including the NHS, police and probation service) in roles including health, counselling and forensic psychologist; assistant psychologist; research assistant; counsellor; psychotherapist; psychological well-being practitioner; mental health nurse; and academic.
• Our academics and postgraduate research students work on ground-breaking research including brain processes and memory; adolescent alcohol consumption; somatic pain and acupuncture; and fear of crime among parents with young children.
• We have high-spec, modern equipment to aid your learning such as eye-tracking software; a driving simulator; KAT Walk omnidirectional VR slide mills; EEG recording equipment; and a video-editing suite.