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Engineering materials must perform safely and reliably throughout their service lives, often under extreme mechanical and environmental conditions. Understanding why materials fail is therefore essential for designing safer, longer-lasting engineering systems. This module examines the performance of structural materials and the mechanisms that govern their degradation and failure.

You will explore the behaviour of metals, ceramics and composite materials across a wide range of engineering applications, investigating how different loading conditions and service environments influence material performance. By studying micromechanical failure mechanisms and engineering failure assessment, you will develop the ability to diagnose material failures, interpret engineering evidence and make informed decisions about material selection and structural design. Real engineering case studies will demonstrate how these principles are applied to improve safety, reliability and performance.

By the end of the module, you will be able to evaluate material performance critically and understand the engineering principles that underpin failure analysis, supporting advanced design, materials selection and structural integrity assessment.

Engineering materials must perform safely and reliably throughout their service lives, often under extreme mechanical and environmental conditions. Understanding why materials fail is therefore essential for designing safer, longer-lasting engineering systems. This module examines the performance of structural materials and the mechanisms that govern their degradation and failure.

You will explore the behaviour of metals, ceramics and composite materials across a wide range of engineering applications, investigating how different loading conditions and service environments influence material performance. By studying micromechanical failure mechanisms and engineering failure assessment, you will develop the ability to diagnose material failures, interpret engineering evidence and make informed decisions about material selection and structural design. Real engineering case studies will demonstrate how these principles are applied to improve safety, reliability and performance.

By the end of the module, you will be able to evaluate material performance critically and understand the engineering principles that underpin failure analysis, supporting advanced design, materials selection and structural integrity assessment.

Engineering materials must perform safely and reliably throughout their service lives, often under extreme mechanical and environmental conditions. Understanding why materials fail is therefore essential for designing safer, longer-lasting engineering systems. This module examines the performance of structural materials and the mechanisms that govern their degradation and failure.

You will explore the behaviour of metals, ceramics and composite materials across a wide range of engineering applications, investigating how different loading conditions and service environments influence material performance. By studying micromechanical failure mechanisms and engineering failure assessment, you will develop the ability to diagnose material failures, interpret engineering evidence and make informed decisions about material selection and structural design. Real engineering case studies will demonstrate how these principles are applied to improve safety, reliability and performance.

By the end of the module, you will be able to evaluate material performance critically and understand the engineering principles that underpin failure analysis, supporting advanced design, materials selection and structural integrity assessment.

Debates between believers and non-believers are often fierce and can appear intractable, while the differences between them leads to social tension, conflict, and even war. Non-believers frequently charge believers with irrationality; in response, believers either try to show that faith has a rational basis or, more radically, deny that faith is a matter of reason at all. This module aims to introduce you to competing views concerning the nature of religious belief, and to give you the chance to explore critically some of the reasons given for and against it.

Debates between believers and non-believers are often fierce and can appear intractable, while the differences between them leads to social tension, conflict, and even war. Non-believers frequently charge believers with irrationality; in response, believers either try to show that faith has a rational basis or, more radically, deny that faith is a matter of reason at all. This module aims to introduce you to competing views concerning the nature of religious belief, and to give you the chance to explore critically some of the reasons given for and against it.

Debates between believers and non-believers are often fierce and can appear intractable, while the differences between them leads to social tension, conflict, and even war. Non-believers frequently charge believers with irrationality; in response, believers either try to show that faith has a rational basis or, more radically, deny that faith is a matter of reason at all. This module aims to introduce you to competing views concerning the nature of religious belief, and to give you the chance to explore critically some of the reasons given for and against it.

This module recognises the increasing importance of family businesses given their substantial contribution to the economy of each nation across the globe. It responds to the increasing need for scholars and practitioners of developing an awareness and understanding of family businesses’ peculiarities, which differentiate them from non-family businesses, and inherent issues, by adopting a multi-theoretical approach that draws on established theoretical perspectives of strategy, entrepreneurship and general management. Family firms are heterogeneous due to the variation of family and business goals and varying institutional contexts in which they are embedded. Such heterogeneity often requires scholars and practitioners to approach the ubiquitous phenomenon of family business through a comparative analysis of theoretical approaches and practical applications to strategic decision-making in family businesses.

Specifically, this module examines relevant strategic models of family firms’ competitive advantage to account for the influence of family-business interface and varying macro-institutional contexts across the globe. Particular attention will be given to family events that mark the family business’ life trajectory. For instance, inter-generational change is an opportunity for value-creation and renewal in family firms, yet at the same time, if not managed properly, it can undermine the socio-emotional wealth which is key to family firms’ longevity. Succession, equally, can lead to a leadership vacuum with the potential to undermine the future sustainability of family businesses. Choosing the right calibre of successor to lead and ensure continuity of the family firm is a complex task that every family firm, regardless their size and country of origin, has to face. It is increasingly recognised that such a task needs to be professionally managed. In order to survive, governance models need to untangle the issues of family members' involvement (and possibly non-family members depending on the context) in the decision-making, ownership and management of family businesses. Furthermore, the social structure of family businesses can represent a source of family conflicts that might threaten not only the family but also the business. The ability to detect potential conflicts before these arise and manage them is critical to the day-to-day management of family businesses and their sustainability in any country context and industry.

In summary, this module provides a holistic comprehension of family business, particularly of the family-business interface, at the intersection of strategy, entrepreneurship and management perspectives, by paying particular attention to the institutional context where family businesses are embedded. Practical applications will be drawn from leading examples of family businesses in the USA, Western Europe, China, India, and other emerging economies in Central and South America, Africa, and other Far-Eastern Asian countries where applicable.

This module recognises the increasing importance of family businesses given their substantial contribution to the economy of each nation across the globe. It responds to the increasing need for scholars and practitioners of developing an awareness and understanding of family businesses’ peculiarities, which differentiate them from non-family businesses, and inherent issues, by adopting a multi-theoretical approach that draws on established theoretical perspectives of strategy, entrepreneurship and general management. Family firms are heterogeneous due to the variation of family and business goals and varying institutional contexts in which they are embedded. Such heterogeneity often requires scholars and practitioners to approach the ubiquitous phenomenon of family business through a comparative analysis of theoretical approaches and practical applications to strategic decision-making in family businesses.

Specifically, this module examines relevant strategic models of family firms’ competitive advantage to account for the influence of family-business interface and varying macro-institutional contexts across the globe. Particular attention will be given to family events that mark the family business’ life trajectory. For instance, inter-generational change is an opportunity for value-creation and renewal in family firms, yet at the same time, if not managed properly, it can undermine the socio-emotional wealth which is key to family firms’ longevity. Succession, equally, can lead to a leadership vacuum with the potential to undermine the future sustainability of family businesses. Choosing the right calibre of successor to lead and ensure continuity of the family firm is a complex task that every family firm, regardless their size and country of origin, has to face. It is increasingly recognised that such a task needs to be professionally managed. In order to survive, governance models need to untangle the issues of family members' involvement (and possibly non-family members depending on the context) in the decision-making, ownership and management of family businesses. Furthermore, the social structure of family businesses can represent a source of family conflicts that might threaten not only the family but also the business. The ability to detect potential conflicts before these arise and manage them is critical to the day-to-day management of family businesses and their sustainability in any country context and industry.

In summary, this module provides a holistic comprehension of family business, particularly of the family-business interface, at the intersection of strategy, entrepreneurship and management perspectives, by paying particular attention to the institutional context where family businesses are embedded. Practical applications will be drawn from leading examples of family businesses in the USA, Western Europe, China, India, and other emerging economies in Central and South America, Africa, and other Far-Eastern Asian countries where applicable.

This module recognises the increasing importance of family businesses given their substantial contribution to the economy of each nation across the globe. It responds to the increasing need for scholars and practitioners of developing an awareness and understanding of family businesses’ peculiarities, which differentiate them from non-family businesses, and inherent issues, by adopting a multi-theoretical approach that draws on established theoretical perspectives of strategy, entrepreneurship and general management. Family firms are heterogeneous due to the variation of family and business goals and varying institutional contexts in which they are embedded. Such heterogeneity often requires scholars and practitioners to approach the ubiquitous phenomenon of family business through a comparative analysis of theoretical approaches and practical applications to strategic decision-making in family businesses.

Specifically, this module examines relevant strategic models of family firms’ competitive advantage to account for the influence of family-business interface and varying macro-institutional contexts across the globe. Particular attention will be given to family events that mark the family business’ life trajectory. For instance, inter-generational change is an opportunity for value-creation and renewal in family firms, yet at the same time, if not managed properly, it can undermine the socio-emotional wealth which is key to family firms’ longevity. Succession, equally, can lead to a leadership vacuum with the potential to undermine the future sustainability of family businesses. Choosing the right calibre of successor to lead and ensure continuity of the family firm is a complex task that every family firm, regardless their size and country of origin, has to face. It is increasingly recognised that such a task needs to be professionally managed. In order to survive, governance models need to untangle the issues of family members' involvement (and possibly non-family members depending on the context) in the decision-making, ownership and management of family businesses. Furthermore, the social structure of family businesses can represent a source of family conflicts that might threaten not only the family but also the business. The ability to detect potential conflicts before these arise and manage them is critical to the day-to-day management of family businesses and their sustainability in any country context and industry.

In summary, this module provides a holistic comprehension of family business, particularly of the family-business interface, at the intersection of strategy, entrepreneurship and management perspectives, by paying particular attention to the institutional context where family businesses are embedded. Practical applications will be drawn from leading examples of family businesses in the USA, Western Europe, China, India, and other emerging economies in Central and South America, Africa, and other Far-Eastern Asian countries where applicable.

Family law touches all of our lives at some point. This module considers the legal regulation of family life, in particular the extent to which relationships between parents and their children should be seen as a private matter free from State interference, and simultaneously reflects on the ways in which various types of family are treated differently, for example marital, civil partnered, non-marital, including same-sex relationships and families. It considers the extent to which English family law is based on the Judaeo-Christian tradition and how easily it accommodates family patterns and beliefs from different ethnic and faith traditions.

As well as examining the substantive rules governing the main aspects of family life, as they pertain to the regulation of relationships between parents and children, this module also examines the difficulties that the law has in balancing the need for clear and objective rules to govern behaviour, with the need to take the variety of individual circumstances into account. This has led to considerable use of judicial discretion and the strengths and weaknesses of this approach are considered during the module.