Data and Artificial Intelligence Ethics (Online Learning) MSc, PgCert, PgDip

The Futures Institute model (which we call ‘fusion’ teaching) allows students to study on a fully online basis, or to combine online with on-campus study.

Since online and on-campus students study together, and we want to provide flexibility to move between on-campus and online study where visa rules allow you to do so, we charge the same tuition fee levels for online study as for on-campus study.

For more information, see section on Studying at Edinburgh Futures Institute.

Students on this MSc programme study a range of compulsory and optional courses to complete 180 credits:

• core courses specific to your programme
• Edinburgh Futures Institute core courses (40 credits) which teach:
  • the essential, critical and hands-on data skills
  • climate change understanding (only applicable for Sustainable Lands & Cities, Future Infrastructure, Circular Economy and Planetary Health MScs)
  • enquiry methods
  • the ethical and creative capacities needed to underpin your programme-based studies
• a choice of short optional courses (at least two of which must be on topics related to your programme, with scope to study across the entire portfolio)
• a project (taking the form of a 20-credit ‘knowledge integration and project planning’ course, and a 40-credit final project)

Core courses

In addition to the Edinburgh Futures Institute shared core courses, you will take courses compulsory to your programme covering:

• an exploration of the intersection of AI with law, ethics, policy and other modes of technology governance in a rapidly changing context
• case studies that explore the challenges of ethical data practice while providing methodologies to work with others to meet these challenges in a range of sectors

Edinburgh Futures Institute core courses

On our core courses you will work in cross-disciplinary teams with students from other Futures Institute programmes. You will learn:

• to collect, manage and analyse computational datasets
• to use emerging methodologies for mapping and designing possible futures
• the fundamentals of data ethics
• how to use creative skills in the analysis and representation of data-informed and qualitative inquiry

Optional courses

Edinburgh Futures Institute offers a wide range of optional courses taught by academic staff from many different discipline areas, including those associated with your programme. The exact courses offered vary from year to year. Optional courses from across the EFI postgraduate portfolio cover a range of themes and topics, such as:

• how the climate crisis is connected to health
• the inter-relationship of place, people and nature in urban regeneration
• critical perspectives on how new technologies are changing society
• data, programming and research skills that advance the skills taught in the EFI shared core
• how new and rapidly changing technologies and data sources are transforming the future of democracy
• what the future of education might look like
• how narratives drive the way we understand the world
• service design and service management in a data-driven society
• current challenges and futures for the creative industries

The project

In your final project, you will apply your learning in depth to a domain, issue or concern which drives you. Your final project can be:

• based on your own personal or professional interests
• defined by your employer
• sponsored by one of the Futures Institute’s industry, government, or community partners
• aligned to one of our research programmes

You will submit your final project as a written piece of work or combine text with other forms – for example:

• video
• visualisation
• a digital artefact
• performance
• code

You will begin to identify your project topic relatively early in the programme, and work on it in parallel with the taught courses. We expect you to take an interdisciplinary approach to your project to connect with the creative, data and future-orientated nature of the Futures Institute.

Part-time and full-time options

Full-time students on the programme complete their full credit requirements in one year. Part-time students take the same number of courses as full-time students, over two years:

• For two-year part-time study, you usually take 80 credits in Year 1 and 100 credits (including the project) in Year 2.

You can also study towards a Postgraduate Certificate or Postgraduate Diploma:

• You have two years to undertake the Postgraduate Diploma, taking the same taught courses as students on the MSc, but not the project. You will take a total of 120 credits of courses across the two years.
• You have one year to undertake the Postgraduate Certificate, taking 60 credits of courses, including:
  • a combination of the ‘shared core’ courses
  • at least 20 credits of programme-specific courses
  • the broader suite of Edinburgh Futures Institute optional courses

Find out more about compulsory and optional courses

We link to the latest information available. Please note that this may be for a previous academic year and should be considered indicative.

On successful completion of this programme, you will be able to demonstrate knowledge and critical understanding of:

• current challenges for the ethical design and use of data-intensive and artificial intelligence technologies
• common principles, practices and methods of applied ethics and how they relate to technology governance tools such as law, policy, and design
• how to identify, analyse, propose and evaluate a range of design and governance interventions that can align AI and data-intensive tools with ethical norms
• how to translate and clearly articulate ethical concepts and framings for multiple audiences and across different domains of data/AI application
• how to lead and work collaboratively with others to produce clear, accessible, and actionable guidance and tools for ethical design and governance of AI and data-intensive technologies

This programme has the potential to fill a substantial skills gap in the existing labour market that is increasingly recognised by institutions; namely, the need for skills of ethical design, development and governance of emerging AI and data-intensive technologies.

Many organisations struggle to manage the ethical risks associated with these technologies, which call for new expertise and skillsets beyond legal compliance or business risk management in the conventional sense.

Depending on your other skillsets (for example in data science, machine learning, health, finance, law, policy or business), completing this degree will lead to expanded career opportunities across the public, private and third sectors, in areas such as:

• policy
• compliance
• privacy
• trust and safety
• information services and security *responsible innovation
• product management
• regulatory oversight
• non-profit research and advocacy

What does interdisciplinary study mean?

Interdisciplinary study is at the heart of Edinburgh Futures Institute’s programmes. It means the ability to synthesise and apply knowledge and skills from across different disciplines and is crucial to addressing many current complex challenges and planetary-scale issues.

We support you to develop interdisciplinary perspectives in different ways. For example, our shared core courses draw on diverse disciplines to support you to work creatively and ethically with all kinds of data. Each programme develops interdisciplinary perspectives in the ways most appropriate to their specific domain and focus.

And finally – because you have such choice in the optional courses you choose to take with us – you will have the flexibility to design your own disciplinary pathway through your studies, integrating your insights and reflecting on their interdisciplinary power through your project-related work.

Study choices

You will have some flexibility in how you choose to study at the Edinburgh Futures Institute.

All the core and optional courses offered for this programme, and almost all the broader portfolio of optional courses, are taught in ‘fusion’ mode. This is our distinctive approach which allows some students to combine on-campus with online study. This approach brings on-campus and online students together as a single cohort employing a range of collaborative and creative teaching and learning activities.

Please note before you apply: while there is some self-directed work which students can complete in their own time, you should be aware of the requirement to join live classes between 9am and 5pm Edinburgh local time as a student on this programme.

Which mode of study should you apply for?

At Edinburgh Futures Institute you can choose to study full time or part time and with some flexibility between online learning and on-campus. However, this flexibility is dependent on your visa requirements. It is important to understand your situation and visa requirements before you apply.

Before applying for this programme please note the following:

• If you are an international student studying on campus at the University of Edinburgh for longer than six months, you may need a Student Visa. The University of Edinburgh only sponsor full-time, on-campus programmes that require in-person engagement. For Edinburgh Futures Institute, this means applying to the full-time, on-campus programme.
• Student Visa sponsorship is not available for part-time or online programmes and CAS (Confirmation of Acceptance to Study) requests for these modes of study will not be considered.
• As a full-time student on a study visa you are required to attend all teaching on-campus.
• As a full-time, on-campus student you will study all your courses on-campus: you will have some flexibility to choose to study some courses online if you do not require a Student Visa.
• Full-time or part-time online students may also request to come to Edinburgh for some courses, subject to course availability and your visa requirements. Please contact Edinburgh Futures Institute to confirm course availability before booking any travel to Edinburgh. Please note that we cannot guarantee an in-person course place for any course unless you are registered on an on-campus programme of study.
• All EFI courses require a combination of participation in the classroom, either physically or virtually, with a teacher in real time and independent study that you can fit in in your own time. Many courses require attendance at workshops that may be scheduled over two days from 9am-5pm Edinburgh local time, so full-time online study may be challenging for students based in significantly different time zones to the UK.
• You can choose to study on a full-time basis over one year, or part-time over two years.
• You can register for a full MSc, or for a Postgraduate Diploma or Postgraduate Certificate. Part-time students can choose to study either entirely on-campus, online or via a combination of the two.

How you will learn at the Futures Institute

Our approach to teaching connects global cohorts in new ways.

You will study in teaching spaces and digital learning environments designed to enable shared on-campus and online teaching and learning activity. Your classes and contributions will be recorded and livestreamed so that they can be shared – and so you can build a learning community – across modes and time-zones.

Students studying online have a presence in our on-campus classrooms (via video, audio and text), and students studying on-campus can work with diverse teams located across the globe. All students have a presence in the digital spaces where teaching happens, including:

• video-based classes
• real-time collaboration spaces
• live chats
• forums
• shared exhibition and blogging spaces

All your courses require significant engagement in the classroom in real time, often working with other students in groups, and significant independent engagement online in your own time.

Applicants to online programmes should be aware of the requirement to join live classes at particular times between 9am and 5pm Edinburgh local time before applying.

• Fusion Teaching Privacy Notice

Teaching methods include:

• group work
• expert lectures (both live and livestreamed)
• data skills and programming workshops (online and on-campus)
• on-campus and virtual drop-ins
• hybrid seminars
• interactive journal clubs
• external stakeholder challenges and code-alongs
• data visualisation exercises
• creative and collaborative whiteboard activities
• online discussion
• blogging

Edinburgh Futures Institute (EFI) uses a distinctive timetabling model in which the programme core and optional courses are delivered in short blocks, mostly over five weeks. Most of these weeks involve independent activities, interactions and tasks.

In the middle of the course, a short block of teaching activity is held in real time, building on the early weeks of the course and enabling the class to work together intensively to develop knowledge and skills that support the final weeks of course activity. Shared core courses are taught regularly throughout each semester.

These entry requirements are for the 2025/26 academic year and requirements for future academic years may differ. Entry requirements for the 2026/27 academic year will be published on 1 Oct 2025.

A UK 2:1 honours degree, or its international equivalent, in any discipline.

We will also consider your application if you have other professional qualifications or experience; please contact us to check before you apply. In particular, we welcome applications from professionals with experience (e.g. working in companies, government, or third sector organisations) designing or implementing projects, programmes, or policies that aim to diminish inequalities.

Students from China

This degree is Band C.

• Postgraduate entry requirements for students from China

International qualifications

Check whether your international qualifications meet our general entry requirements:

• Entry requirements by country

English language requirements

Regardless of your nationality or country of residence, you must demonstrate a level of English language competency which will enable you to succeed in your studies.

English language tests

We accept the following English language qualifications at the grades specified:

• IELTS Academic: total 7.0 with at least 6.5 in each component. We do not accept IELTS One Skill Retake to meet our English language requirements.
• TOEFL-iBT (including Home Edition): total 100 with at least 23 in each component. We do not accept TOEFL MyBest Score to meet our English language requirements.
• C1 Advanced (CAE) / C2 Proficiency (CPE): total 185 with at least 176 in each component.
• Trinity ISE: ISE III with passes in all four components.
• PTE Academic: total 73 with at least 65 in each component. We do not accept PTE Academic Online.
• Oxford ELLT: 8 overall with at least 7 in each component.

Your English language qualification must be no more than three and a half years old from the start date of the programme you are applying to study, unless you are using IELTS, TOEFL, Trinity ISE or PTE, in which case it must be no more than two years old.

Degrees taught and assessed in English

We also accept an undergraduate or postgraduate degree that has been taught and assessed in English in a majority English speaking country, as defined by UK Visas and Immigration:

• UKVI list of majority English speaking countries

We also accept a degree that has been taught and assessed in English from a university on our list of approved universities in non-majority English speaking countries (non-MESC).

• Approved universities in non-MESC

If you are not a national of a majority English speaking country, then your degree must be no more than five years old at the beginning of your programme of study.

Find out more about our language requirements:

• English language requirements

Funding for postgraduate study is different to undergraduate study, and many students need to combine funding sources to pay for their studies.

Most students use a combination of the following funding to pay their tuition fees and living costs:

• borrowing money
  • taking out a loan
  • family support
• personal savings
• income from work
• employer sponsorship
• scholarships

Explore sources of funding for postgraduate study

Scholarships and funding may be available to help you pursue your ambitions.

Search for postgraduate scholarships and funding opportunities:

• Search for funding

Search for scholarships and funding opportunities:

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