This module introduces key operational research (OR) techniques. It is split into two sections focusing on deterministic and stochastic OR techniques respectively. The methods taught on the module are useful tools for solving practical management and logistics problems. The deterministic OR section focuses on linear and integer programming. The process of modelling problems of a practical nature as a linear or integer program will be developed. Following an explanation of a standard version of the simplex method, some of its variants will be introduced. The main ideas of linear programming duality will also be explained. A computer workshop session trains students in the use of commercial linear programming software. The branch and bound approach for solving integer programming problems will also be developed. In the stochastic OR section, the main topics are decision theory and simulation modelling. Models and examples are given to demonstrate applications of the topics. Discrete event simulation is taught via lectures and computer workshops while Decision Theory is taught in lectures.
This module is based partially on lectures and partially on the study of existing scores, together with listening tasks. It is understood that practical experience of hearing your arrangements is the best teacher of all: therefore there is an expectation that you will write for existing and active ensembles. A prior knowledge of notation software e.g. Sibelius or Finale, is also important.
This module focuses on organisation development (OD) and facilitation and provides you with a core body of knowledge necessary to understand and practice organisation development within contemporary organisations. You will be introduced to the underpinning theories and tools that are associated with state of the art practice of OD.
Some of the key ethical challenges that arise in business stem from the fact that businesses are organisations, structured social arrangements of multiple individuals. For example, how can individuals hope to act ethically within an organisation, when their actions necessarily have consequences that are beyond their knowledge and control, and are bound by rules and roles which they often do not choose for themselves? Can organisations manage their workforce so as to make them behave morally? What then of the role of autonomy in moral action? And how do these issues affect businesses whose product cannot be measured in simple economic terms—such as information, health, and education? This module will explore some of these challenging issues that arise out of the fact that are our working lives are inevitably organised lives.
This module will explore how climate change and other anthropogenic activities are affecting life on earth. It will detail scientific research spanning disciplines and allow students to form arguments and interrogate the primary literature for evidence to back up their claims. The module begins by introducing how researchers detect biodiversity, from surveys and drones to sequencing environmental DNA. We then explore evidence that the climate is changing, and what the consequences are for animals and plants, both individually and as parts of networks and ecosystems. Building on this, we then investigate evidence that climate change and an increasing population are changing agriculture across the world, with implications for food security, a well as how researchers are trying to combat this challenge. We then wrap up the module thinking about how researchers have responsibilities to carry out ethical, inclusive and equitable research.
In this module you will explore and explain patterns of global biodiversity over space and time, affecting a wide variety of lineages. We will begin as 18th century natural historians, considering the impact of new discoveries, due to the invention of the microscope and a growing fossil record, which led Charles Darwin to propose a tree of life and evolution through natural selection as the mechanism for descent with modification. We will then consider the impact of the work of Mendel to explain the process of inheritance, followed by the discovery of the structure of DNA and the mechanism of genetic inheritance within the cell. This will allow us to consider biodiversity from the perspective of Neo-Darwinists, following the modern synthesis at the start of the twentieth century, with an appreciation of the effect of selection at different ecological levels, from cells to individuals to populations to communities to ecosystem level. We will end as 21st century biologists, applying what we have learned about evolution and ecology to investigating and understanding the world around us, using the present to explain the past and the future. We will apply our knowledge of population and ecosystem level effects to explain longer term evolutionary ecology trends, including predicting future changes.
This module will provide an insight into the engineering based problems faced in orthopaedic biomechanics, through a detailed study of intact lower limb and the lower limb pre- and post- total joint replacement. You will gain an understanding of the structure of bone from the micro scale through to the full construct level, the major bones and tissues in the lower limb, their structure property relationships, and their kinematics. This knowledge will underpin your understanding of the replaced joint and its function, from an engineering perspective and from a surgical perspective. Finally, you will learn about the modes of failure of the replaced joint, and what can be done to prevent failure based on clinical experience, materials selection and design.
For most of us, there is nothing more fundamental than our ability to interact with other people. We cooperate and compete in complex ways. Competing and cooperating in these complex ways requires that we understand and respond to many aspects of each other's mental lives. You can often tell whether your friend is happy or angry, or that they believe - perhaps falsely - that the milk is in the fridge. Yet it is hard to understand how we can secure this knowledge of other's mental lives. We cannot know about others' minds in the way that we know about our own. And there is no simple or universal connection between what is on people's minds and how they behave. Moreover we can often not trace our knowledge to any clear or continuous process of conscious reasoning. In this module we study various theories concerning our knowledge of others' minds. These may include theories as to the epistemology of how we know about others' minds, cognitive theories as to how we come to form the beliefs we do about them, and questions as to how answering the question of how we know about others' minds might relate to our concepts of mentality. Discussion is tied into broader epistemological, cognitive and conceptual questions.
For most of us, there is nothing more fundamental than our ability to interact with other people. We cooperate and compete in complex ways. Competing and cooperating in these complex ways requires that we understand and respond to many aspects of each other's mental lives. You can often tell whether your friend is happy or angry, or that they believe - perhaps falsely - that the milk is in the fridge. Yet it is hard to understand how we can secure this knowledge of other's mental lives. We cannot know about others' minds in the way that we know about our own. And there is no simple or universal connection between what is on people's minds and how they behave. Moreover we can often not trace our knowledge to any clear or continuous process of conscious reasoning. In this course we study various theories concerning our knowledge of others' minds. These may include theories as to the epistemology of how we know about others' minds, cognitive theories as to how we come to form the beliefs we do about them, and questions as to how answering the question of how we know about others' minds might relate to our concepts of mentality. Discussion is tied into broader epistemological, cognitive and conceptual questions.
This module introduces practical applications in Communication Design, offering the chance to actively participate in hands-on activities through workshops and discussions. You will explore various techniques and processes for showcasing your work, encompassing printmaking, creative coding, and communication systems involving both images and text. Expect to cultivate novel skills and insights in areas you may not have ventured into before. Additionally, this module serves as a platform for building critical and practical confidence, encouraging you to embrace fresh perspectives and innovative thinking through making.
The aim of this module is to develop your understanding of the specialism of paediatric audiology. This module includes problem-based learning, and will also provide you with learning opportunities in a range of generic skills relevant to clinical scientists.
This module will deliver a comprehensive analysis of the cutting-edge topics associated with the fields of Palaeobiology and Palaeontology. We will cover topics focusing on the role of the fossil record in understanding past, present, and future ecosystems, as well as understanding how information from the fossil record provides insight into the processes of evolution. Through a combination of lectures and practicals, students will gain both theoretical and hands-on expertise in interpreting and analysing palaeobiological data.
The module comprises 2 sections; the first considers the current theoretical and methodological developments within palaeopathology and bioarchaeology, whereas the second portion comprises development of detailed skeletal and palaeopathological methods, knowledge and understanding. The topics considered in the seminar portion of the module will vary depending upon the research interests and foci of the academic staff, and will always be fully linked to major current research topics in palaeopathology and bioarchaeology.
In this module you will gain the knowledge and skills that are necessary to effectively respond to those with palliative and end of life care needs to provide timely and sensitive nursing care. You will develop an in-depth knowledge and understanding so that you can debate the challenges in end-of-life decision making and demonstrate a sound knowledge of symptom management in palliative care. As a result of studying this module you will understand the challenges of delivering End of Life Care in all contexts including acute care, community and hospice settings. Your learning will focus on end-of-life care needs across the life course, encompassing the care of young adults with life threatening illness or injury, adults with long term conditions and to the care of older people with degenerative conditions and frailty. You will also learn the approaches that are necessary to ensure that all bereaved people are supported with compassionate care.
The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse – War, Famine, Plague and Death – were believed to presage the end of the world, and many Europeans living through the fourteenth century believed this was close at hand. The Great Famine (1315-22) and the arrival of the Black Death in 1347 decimated the continent’s population and the effects of these natural disasters were exacerbated by the destructive conflict waged between England and France known as the Hundred Years War (1337-1453). Challenges to the established social hierarchy and demands for improved living standards also sparked a wave of popular rebellions including the English Peasants’ Revolt of 1381. Furthermore, the century witnessed religious turbulence with the growth of heretical movements and a split in the leadership of the Catholic Church between rival popes during the ‘Great Schism’ (1378-1417). Hence famine, plague, war, popular unrest and religious crisis are the principal themes examined in this module.
This module explores the linked ideas of networking and distributed computing, looking at how one can scale up to large computational systems using channels that move between nodes and between hardware and software. The course covers the fundamentals of networking from the data-link layer up, and looks at the ideas and algorithms underlying the most common network protocols. It then explores how these can be used to create computational systems that process multiple parts in parallel, using a number of abstractions. The course is intended to provide students with useable skills for performing large compute in modern frameworks, while also understanding the technology underlying those frameworks.
