Programme Structure

The MSc comprises a taught component over two semesters, from September to May, plus a research project leading to a Dissertation, over the summer. The taught component of the programme has two elements. The first consists of two Compulsory Courses and a selection of Standard Courses, which bring all the students to an advanced level in subjects such as statistical physics, general relativity, cosmology, condensed matter physics, quantum field theory and the standard model of particle physics. These courses are delivered by the School of Physics and Astronomy and the School of Mathematics. The second element allows each student to choose from a wider pool of optional courses, including specialist courses in mathematics, informatics, geosciences, machine learning and high performance computing.

Both MSc programmes are full-time, 180-point taught Masters programmes, and are fully compliant with the University's Curriculum Framework and Scottish Qualification Framework. The Dissertation is 60 credits. Progression to the Dissertation requires 120 credits of taught courses, with an overall average of 50%, including 80 credits of courses above 50% (the Postgraduate Diploma is available as exit award on completion of taught courses).

Taught Courses

Taught courses must consist of a total of 120 credits taken over two semesters (S1 and S2).

Mathematical Physics and Theoretical Physics MSc students take:

• 30 credits of Compulsory Courses;
• At least 50 credits of Standard Courses in Theoretical & Mathematical Physics;
• Up to 40 credits chosen freely from the lists of Optional Courses;
• Up to 20 credits of further courses chosen from the Schools of Physics & Astronomy, Mathematics and Informatics.

The Mathematical Physics MSc course choices must include:

• At least 20 credits of Courses from the School of Mathematics.

Compulsory Courses

• Problem Solving in Theoretical Physics (10 credits, S1)
• Research Skills for Theoretical Physics (20 credits, S2)
• Dissertation in Theoretical/Mathematical Physics (60 credits, during the summer)

Full details of the degree structures, together with details of the Compulsory Courses, the Standard Theoretical/Mathematical Physics Standard Courses, and all the Optional Courses can be found in the Degree Programme Tables (DPTs):

Mathematical Physics Degree Programme Table 2026/2027

Theoretical Physics Degree Programme Table 2026/2027

Dissertation

Following the taught component of the programme, students undertake a 3-month summer research project, which leads to a dissertation, drawn from the Higgs Centre for Theoretical Physics.

Dissertation titles

Dissertations completed in previous academic years include:

• Exploring Dark Energy and Modified Gravity with Effective Field Theories
• Sequestering in dark energy and modified gravity scenarios
• The Einstein-Higgs beta function
• Squaring relations between Yang-Mills theory and general relativity
• Scattering amplitudes in Lee-Wick theory
• Diagram generation for colour-kinematics duality
• The quantum nature of self-dual Yang-Mills theory
• Classical Space-times from the S Matrix
• Supersymmetric field theory in Nappi-Witten Superspace
• N=1 Supergravity in 4 dimensions
• Inflationary dynamics
• Coupling perturbations in warm inflation
• Exploring branes in five dimensional gauge theory
• Higgs and triviality
• A lattice QCD determination of the strong coupling constant
• Fitting hadron masses in lattice QCD
• Confining potential and effective string in 3D U(1) gauge theory
• Hybrid Monte Carlo simulations of lattice field theory with a variable step size
• Dynamical critical exponent for Kramers/second-order-Langevin Monte Carlo
• Transition to turbulence in fluid mechanics
• Small-scale random forcing in magnetohydrodynamic turbulence
• Study on the onset of dynamo action
• Schrödinger-Newton "collapse" of the wave function
• Unitarity cuts, differential equations and the coproduct of Feynman integrals
• New jet predictions at the LHC
• Colliding partons at the LHC
• QCD predictions in search for new physics in dijet events
• Fundamentals of conformal invariance
• Logic and quantum theory
• Deriving complex amplitudes and special relativity from consistency
• Quantum Hamiltonian reduction of D_q(GL_3)
• Computational group theory
• Applications of the blow-up technique in control theory
• Strange particle production and correlation in Pythia 8 with ALICE
• Top squark physics at the compact linear collider
• Relativistic corrections in simulations of cosmological structure formation
• Testing the spherical evolution model of cosmic voids
• The Influence of the First Stars on Dark Matter Halos at High Redshift
• The Host Galaxies of High-Luminosity Obscured Quasars at redshift z~2.5
• The missing baryons in large-scale structure
• The statistical physics of genomic looping in interphase DNA-protein compounds
• Analysis of DNA clustering driven by bridging-induced attraction
• Pattern formation and clustering in autophoretic colloids
• Control of epidemics on a network via individual-level behavioural changes
• Statistical physics in machine learning
• Helicon waves in U6 Fe
• First principles structure prediction [density functional theory]
• One-sided device-independent certification of random numbers
• Potential impact of regional aerosol emissions on northern hemisphere climate
• Genetic algorithms in building design
• Approximation of a set of retinal image transformations

Over 90 different dissertation projects on a wide range of topics in theoretical and mathematical physics were available to our current MSc students during academic year 2025/26.