Geospatial and Mapping Sciences

Overview

The Geospatial and Mapping Sciences programme at the University of Glasgow draws on research and the latest developments in the field of geomatics, with a strong practical component. Key applications of geospatial skills support sustainable development, including measuring land and location of assets (e.g. transport routes, location of electric cables, forests), monitoring subsidence and sea level change, documenting heritage using laser scanning, and setting up and managing the coordinate system/mapping for a country. This programme is strongly endorsed by industry, accredited by both the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and the Chartered Institution of Civil Engineering Surveyors.

Why this programme

• Surveying and mapping are essential to a country’s development across industrial, agricultural, commercial and residential sectors, and geospatial information is now recognised as a crucial component of a country’s development.

• If you are seeking a career in geomatics: land and engineering surveying, hydrographic surveying, land registration/cadastre and LIS, photogrammetric and remote sensing engineering or management of geospatial information, then this programme is for you.

• This programme is accredited by the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) and the Chartered Institution of Civil Engineering Surveyors (CICES), when fully completed with the award of an MSc.

• The MSc in Geospatial and Mapping Sciences is an industry-sponsored programme and has been developed in close collaboration with industry to meet global demand for professionals in this field.

• You will benefit from access to the latest surveying equipment and software, including RTK GNSS and terrestrial laser scanners.

• You will attend a week long practical surveying course (included in fees).

Career prospects

Career opportunities include land surveyor, engineering surveyor, hydrographic surveyor, GIS specialist, environmental consulting. There is currently a very high demand for surveyors, especially in hydrographic survey, in support of offshore oil and renewable energy engineering and maintenance. Several of the key employers visit us each year to recruit students. In addition to the offshore energy industry, land surveyors are in demand in many parts of the world to support mining operations, major civil engineering projects and to provide surveying services for Land Registration. A strong background in data capture, datums and co-ordinate systems, and data processing can also be of value in the GIS and environmental management sectors.

Recent graduates have gone on to work for companies such as the Ordnance Survey, Glanville Consultants, Jacobs, Babcocks, KOREC, Malcolm Hughes Land Surveyors, Andrews Survey, Morgan Stanley, Fugro, AECOM, UTEC and Subsea 7. Positions include Land Surveyor, Offshore Surveyor, Analyst, Hydrographic Surveyor and Graduate Supervisor.