PET-MR Principles and Applications (Online Learning) PgCert (ICL), PgProfDev

Access world class teaching at the University of Edinburgh while maintaining your local professional and personal commitments where you live.

Our online students not only have access to Edinburgh’s excellent resources, but also become part of a supportive online community, bringing together students and tutors from around the world.

Students will be required to access materials, discussion boards, references, activities and other online learning tools, via the internet.

Studying online at Edinburgh

Find out more about the benefits and practicalities of studying for an online degree:

• Postgraduate online learning

You may take up to 30 credits per semester.

Core courses:

• Techniques and Physics (20 credits)
• Applications in Disease (Research) (10 credits)
• Practicalities and Safety (10 credits)
• Hybrid radionuclide imaging – PET-MR (10 credits)

Electives:

• Student-led individually-created course (10 credits)

Postgraduate Professional Development

Postgraduate Professional Development (PPD) is aimed at working professionals who want to advance their knowledge through a postgraduate-level course(s), without the time or financial commitment of a full Masters, Postgraduate Diploma or Postgraduate Certificate.

You may take a maximum of 50 credits worth of courses over two years through our PPD scheme. These lead to a University of Edinburgh postgraduate award of academic credit. Alternatively, after one year of taking courses you can choose to transfer your credits and continue on to studying towards a higher award on a Masters, Postgraduate Diploma or Postgraduate Certificate programme.

Although PPD courses have various start dates throughout a year you may only start a Masters, Postgraduate Diploma or Postgraduate Certificate programme in the month of September. Any time spent studying PPD will be deducted from the amount of time you will have left to complete a Masters, Postgraduate Diploma or Postgraduate Certificate programme.

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.

1. Demonstrate subject specific knowledge and understanding in both PET and MR individually, as well as in the unique issues which arise from combining the two techniques into a single imaging unit. Subject specific knowledge will encompass a number of specialist areas such as technical and physical principles, Applications in disease, plus practicalities relating to health, regulations and safety.
2. State and appropriately apply the practical health, regulation and safety issues pertaining to PET, MR and the combined techniques.
3. Communicate the principles and applications of PET-MR imaging to other operators and users, e.g. radiographers, researchers and clinicians, to ensure optimum study design and use of the technology.
4. Explain and justify the PET-MR patient pathway by integrating practical knowledge around patient management with constraints determined by the imaging technique.
5. Critically appraise current and recommend future applications of PET-MR, both in research and clinically.

PET-MR is an emerging imaging technology with research and clinical applications. PET-MR scanners have started to be deployed in clinical and research imaging centres, which creates a demand for operators and users with relevant skills and knowledge.

We anticipate the programme will enhance the career options and earning potential of PET-MR operators, particularly radiographers, for whom there currently is limited opportunity for training.

We also anticipate PET-MR users (research and clinical medics) will be better positioned to apply for research grants and other funding to allow their careers to evolve.

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 fields such as Medicine, Veterinary Medicine, Radiology, Radiography, Radiotherapy, Nursing, Biological Sciences, Biomedical Sciences, Pharmacology, Chemistry, Physics, Engineering, Image Analysis, Image Processing, Computer Science, Informatics, Neurology, Neurosurgery, Psychiatry, Psychology, Stroke Medicine, Geriatrics / Medicine of the Elderly or Neurosciences.

We may also consider your application if you have a minimum of 3 years work experience in a related scientific area, e.g. in hospital or research laboratories. Please contact the programme team to check before you apply.

Students from China

This degree is Band D.

• 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 6.5 with at least 6.0 in each component. We do not accept IELTS One Skill Retake to meet our English language requirements.
• TOEFL-iBT (including Home Edition): total 92 with at least 20 in each component. We do not accept TOEFL MyBest Score to meet our English language requirements.
• C1 Advanced (CAE) / C2 Proficiency (CPE): total 176 with at least 169 in each component.
• Trinity ISE: ISE II with distinctions in all four components.
• PTE Academic: total 65 with at least 59 in each component. We do not accept PTE Academic Online.
• Oxford ELLT: 7 overall with at least 6 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

Tuition fees

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

Search for scholarships and funding opportunities:

• Search for funding