Cranfield University

School of Water, Energy and Environment

Water

Communities around the world face a range of threats to the sustainability and resilience of the water systems which support their lives and livelihoods. Cranfield graduates are at the forefront of developing innovative solutions to problems caused by pollution, climate change, urbanisation, the effects of poverty, and the need to deliver net zero water services and transition to a circular economy. For more than 40 years now, Cranfield has been delivering high-impact research which advances society’s ability to provide water for people, for food, for the environment, and for business. Our expertise is award-winning, and our innovations are making water services and natural water bodies more resilient and sustainable.

Our three Water MSc courses, together with our world-class learning environment, play a key role in providing the skills and know-how to address fundamental global changes. You will be provided with the applied skills to make a meaningful contribution – whether this is with government, industry, NGOs or pursuing your own vision as an innovator or consultant.

Energy and Sustainability

We inform the energy and sustainability industry and government because our expertise is world-renowned for both the engineering and management of energy solutions. Our research is making a difference in the sector: from increasingly efficient oil platforms to the cutting edge of renewable energy technologies.

Our postgraduate community includes around 200 MSc students from around the globe and 150 full-time doctoral students. Our graduates are working in engineering and management roles across the energy industry and putting their learning into practice.

Our expertise is supported by unique industrial scale experimental facilities across many different kinds of energy systems. These include an ocean systems laboratory, gas turbines, an anaerobic digestion plant, and high temperature coating test facilities. These make our site a wholly unique and unparalleled centre for energy research and learning.

Environment and Agrifood

For 50 years, Cranfield has been contributing to societal challenges such as sustainability, enhancing natural capital and ensuring that global food systems are more resilient for the future. We are recognised worldwide by industry, government and academe for our research and teaching in plants, soil, water, and air.

Our postgraduate Environment and Agrifood programmes, including national doctoral programmes and specialist masters’ courses, give the leaders of the future the skills and vocational experience with industry they need to make a difference.

Our near-industrial scale research facilities are unparalleled. These are combined with continual and substantive investment in our students, staff, and infrastructure.

Design

We believe that Design Thinking is a powerful process that when mastered will empower our professional learners to unlock their creative potential to generate novel ideas and to translate these ideas into tangible and impactful outputs for innovation. Studying at Cranfield's Centre for Design Engineering provides you with the opportunity to apply Design Thinking in practice with our partners in industry, Government or the NGO sector.

Commercially relevant, our postgraduate courses are directed through an Industry Advisory Panel that ensures the content is relevant to employer requirements. The Centre collaborates with international best practice organisations such as Procter and Gamble, Cisco, Oxfam, Whirlpool, SAB Miller and IBM to develop new cutting-edge tools and innovative product and service solutions.

This course has been carefully designed to advance your knowledge of Design Thinking and you will benefit from working alongside leading academics with confidence to generate convincing ideas in Cranfield’s world-class facilities. You will enhance your professional skills and innovation design portfolio, and this will provide you with the ‘know how’ to develop your long-term career as a creative professional working towards a more sustainable future.

Cranfield University is a truly unique learning environment. The only wholly postgraduate University in the UK, our world-class programmes, unrivalled facilities, close links with business, industry and governments and an international outlook all combine to attract students and teaching staff from around the globe.

The result is a long track record of creating leaders and innovators in our specialist areas of science, technology, engineering, and management. Our graduates are in demand and their association with Cranfield brings benefits throughout their careers.

Thriving in a mature and stimulating environment, students develop as professionals and learn how to apply their expert knowledge and skills in the global economy. 

A unique learning environment

Our staff-to-student ratio – 8:1 – is one of the best of any university in the world. Our students tell us that our hands-on, practical approach, our professional focus and the depth and excellence of our education, research and industry links are what attracts them here.

A mature, postgraduate environment, world-class, industry-scale facilities, our passionate teams of academics and a community of like-minded students from more than 100 countries, combine to make Cranfield a unique place to learn.

Many of our teaching staff have industry backgrounds and are leading academic experts in their fields, providing real-life learning challenges that you will encounter in your career. Our teaching quality has been independently assessed and received the highest recommendation possible from the Quality Assurance Agency.

Explore the campus and browse our industry-scale facilities and purpose-built resources via our virtual tour.

Unrivalled links with business, industry and government and our global impact

Cranfield has the closest links with business and industry of any university in the UK. Our programmes are designed with industry partners to ensure they are relevant and up-to-date, and we are equipping our graduates with the knowledge and skills to meet the latest challenges facing both public and private sector organisations.

Through our many partnerships, applied research projects, executive education, and professional development programmes, we have mutually beneficial relationships with around 1,500 companies and organisations. These include many of the largest and most successful global businesses including Airbus, Jaguar Land Rover, Rolls-Royce, Unilever, easyJet, Coca-Cola, and the UK Civil Aviation Authority.

Research carried out at Cranfield turns ideas and innovation into reality, delivering practical, life-changing benefits around the world, for businesses, governments, and citizens alike. Three of the five Queen's Anniversary prizes Cranfield has received are for work in making the world a safer, better place.

Our distinctive learning environment allows you to develop as a professional and apply your knowledge and skills in the global economy. Our work informs policy and brings new technologies and products to the market.

Our students and academics have developed solutions to real world problems - for example in water and sanitation - that have improved the lives of millions of people worldwide.

Flexible learning

Our programmes are structured to offer many choices for students, from which qualification you would like to achieve, to options for full and part-time study, including short courses. On some courses, you can choose to start your studies at different times of the year. Our taught programmes can deliver an MSc, MBA, MRes, MDes, PgDip or PgCert. 

“While I was considering a master’s, I came across Cranfield where I realised it was one of the only schools, if not the only school that actually integrated design and engineering and business and other variety of fields.” Desmond Adusah, Design Thinking MDes, 2020

“I would say, overall, I really like the content of the course. I think it is very unique and gives you a holistic overview of the food industry. I think in each module you get to know what the challenges are that the industry is facing right now and how you can actually be an active part of improving the industry.” Magdalena Saavedra, Food Systems and Management MSc, 2022

‘’I love the variety of the modules in my Environmental Engineering MSc at Cranfield. I believe that the course provides state-of-the-art topics, that discuss the most critical environmental challenges in the world.’’ Mohammed Islam, Environmental Engineering MSc, 2021

“I chose Cranfield because of the practical approach it takes in learning, and this is because of the strong industry links and because of the very strong reputation of the Water Science Institute in terms of research.” Chukwuzuruoke Nwachukwu, Advanced Water Management MSc, 2021

“My group project was actually with an industry, one of the leading industries in the renewable energy investment sector. So we worked with them as a consultant – so it was like working in industry, not just purely academic.” Toba Awe, Advanced Digital Energy Systems MSc, 2022

General overview

Cranfield's dynamic, research intensive position means our research students are able to study exciting projects that have an impact globally and make a practical difference to the world.

Our passion for the areas we operate in and our long-standing relationships with some of the most prestigious companies in industry mean that studying at Cranfield will open doors for you.

In 2022, 88% of research at Cranfield was rated as world-leading or internationally excellent in the Research Excellence Framework (REF 2021). We are also ranked 7th in the UK for Engineering research power, 7th in the UK for research impact in Agriculture, Food and Veterinary Science and 7th in the UK for research impact in Business and Management.

Cranfield is a significant contributor to global innovation. Our influence on specific sectors including Energy and Sustainability, Environment and Agrifood, Water and Design - has changed the way that society thinks, works and learns.

Case studies

The Nano Membrane Toilet

Funded by The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Nano Membrane Toilet is being developed to enable those without plumbing to have access to safe and hygienic facilities. The innovative solution uses nanotechnology to convert human waste to water and ash.

Some two and a half billion people worldwide do not have access to safe and affordable sanitation. In cities, 497 million people use a shared toilet outside of their home, and every day two million tonnes of human waste is disposed in water courses. This project has the potential to solve these issues.

We have long-standing expertise in water and sanitation research, including being a founding member of Water and Sanitation for Urban Poor (WSUP). For the Nano Membrane Toilet project, we have brought together researchers from a variety of disciplines to meet the challenge of reinventing the toilet.

Take a look at these examples of how our work has made a real difference:

• How to turn plastic waste into energy
• Using agroforestry to advance rural development

For more information on our courses and admissions process, call us on +44(0)1234 758082 or fill out an online enquiry form and we will come back to you.

How to find us

School of Water, Energy and Environment

College Road

Cranfield University

MK43 0AL

Bedfordshire

Milton Keynes and Bedford train stations are a 15 – 20 minute taxi journey from Cranfield.