Undergraduate study - 2025 entry
Edinburgh: Extraordinary futures await.

Subject area: Interdisciplinary Studies

Why choose Interdisciplinary Studies at the University of Edinburgh?

  • Interdisciplinary study is designed to give you the confidence, knowledge, and skills to work, live, and make a difference in a rapidly changing world. It has a strong focus on developing key employability skills.

  • Experience active learning, engage with open questions, and dive into challenge-led teamwork at the Edinburgh Futures Institute. You will build the experience and the skills that employers value while gaining a degree that prepares you for the unpredictable.

  • Interdisciplinary study is designed for collaborative experiences with different communities and partners. You will focus on complex local or global challenges, with learning and teaching linked to cutting-edge research and the big future issues facing our planet and societies.

  • You will have access to the University of Edinburgh’s world-leading research and award-winning teaching across a wide range of disciplines and subjects and you will be able to study chosen areas in depth.

Students as Change Agents (an interdisciplinary elective from the core) has allowed me to be challenged academically but in an exciting and captivating way, it really felt as though I was helping and contributing to the lives of people, my community, and the world.

Daniel Hooper-Jones Politics student, elective undergraduate pilot course, Edinburgh Futures Institute, 2021-2022
Daniel Hooper-Jones Politics student, elective undergraduate pilot course, Edinburgh Futures Institute, 2021-2022

Introducing Interdisciplinary Studies

Interdisciplinary study means the ability to develop and apply knowledge and skills from across different disciplines and is crucial to addressing many current complex challenges and planetary-scale issues.

We offer unparalleled opportunities for interdisciplinary learning and are globally recognised for:

  • excellent teaching
  • research and development
  • innovation in diverse disciplines

We have designed an undergraduate programme to help students develop and apply knowledge and skills from across different disciplines to address complex social and global challenges. We give special importance to the skills and learning that employers and society value:

  • resilience
  • confidence
  • critical thinking
  • teamwork
  • reflection
  • self-development

Our world-class academics are leaders in their fields, conducting ground-breaking research that directly informs the teaching you receive.

The range of subjects and depth of knowledge available to our students means more career opportunities and greater control over your learning, with the option to tailor your degree to match your passion and ambitions.

How will you support me?

You will receive a high level of support and make tailored choices to enable creative and ethical study, working with all kinds of data and people, to address some big challenges.

An interdisciplinary degree helps graduates develop the personal and professional skills required to work across a range of roles in different fields and careers.

Interdisciplinary study at the University of Edinburgh means:

  • practical, hands-on learning
  • working with and across different academic disciplines
  • critically analysing data from diverse sources

You will develop core skills around:

  • teamwork
  • responding to complex challenges
  • using creative, collaborative, and analytical skill sets

You will have access to a range of disciplinary expertise from across the University and be supported in their choices by a dedicated Student Adviser.

Disclaimer

While every effort has been made to ensure that the information given here is accurate, we anticipate some of our programme details may be modified or changed. Please check individual programmes for the latest information.

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1 degree in Interdisciplinary Studies