Short Courses at Shrivenham

Course Administration at Shrivenham is the single focal point for all the short and continued professional development courses delivered by the University at Cranfield Defence and Security.  Many of these courses are stand-alone modules of MSc courses for which certification of attendance may be issued.  We also offer a number of Masters level modules as Accredited Short Courses to suitably qualified applicants.  Essentially this means that you would be undertaking one or more of the modules of a related Masters degree as a short course.

 

A-Z Listing of Short Courses at Shrivenham

Distance Learning Courses

Accredited Short Courses

Order a Prospectus

 

Introduction

International defence and security sectors currently face some of the biggest management and technological challenges witnessed in the past decade. The threat of global terrorism and the incidence of armed conflict across the world have created a strong requirement for those operating within a defence and security context to keep up-to-date with the latest strategic and operational developments and doctrine. With this in mind, Cranfield University at the Defence College of Management and Technology, part of the Defence Academy of the United Kingdom at Shrivenham, has created a short course programme that meets today’s challenges and requirements, offering the maximum scope for personal development and refreshment of skills and practices. Recognising the pressure of time and resources, we have developed a short course programme that is flexible in terms of its delivery, allowing you to study without being absent from work for long periods, yet providing the necessary depth and breadth of knowledge that makes for effective and unique learning.

The courses vary in length from a day to several weeks and in academic challenge from awareness to detailed knowledge. Many of these courses are stand-alone modules of MSc courses for which credits may be earned or certification of attendance may be issued. The diverse short course programme is fluid and progressive, drawing on our extensive research and consultancy experience in areas such as resilience, ballistics, communications, environment, materials science, forensic computing, unmanned air vehicles, systems engineering and management. The programme of short courses is flexible and creative. Our academic staff are on hand to advise on how Cranfield can develop a bespoke training programme that can focus on your own training requirements. These courses can be held on site at Shrivenham or ‘in-company’. The courses detailed on this site are offered between September 2007 and July 2008. Information on our full-time and part-time MSc and other Masters programmes is contained in our Postgraduate Prospectus 2007.

We look forward to welcoming you to Shrivenham and to playing a successful part in your future career and personal development.

Our Culture

The culture of Cranfield University is rooted in defence. When the University was formed in 1946 it was created to take forward aerospace technology in the civil and defence sectors. Since then, it has steadily broadened its interests in defence so that now it has activities across most sectors and has been the academic partner to the Royal Military College of Science and its successor, the Defence College of Management and Technology, at Shrivenham since 1984. Shrivenham is unique. Its location on a military base, with access to military personnel and real hardware allows students to gain operational experience as well as top quality academic teaching. Postgraduates have access to real defence and security practice. They also learn how Government operates within the security sector. Our location means that students are able to debate very sensitive questions in a secure environment

Quality Assurance

All Masters degree programmes require the successful completion of modules comprising at least 200 credits at ‘M’ level. Each credit represents ten notional learning hours, where the ratio of class contact hours to total notional learning hours is usually in the range of 1:3 to 1:4. Most other UK higher education institutions require 180 credits for a Masters degree. The fact that our students are required to complete at least 200 credits reflects the greater intensity ofmour courses and the robust intellectual demands made on our students.

The Defence Academy

The Defence Academy of the United Kingdom, established at Shrivenham in April 2002, aims to be a national and international centre of excellence, providing civilian and military personnel with high quality education and conducting research in defence-related fields. The Royal Military College of Science, together with Joint Services Command and Staff College, also at Shrivenham, and the Royal College of Defence Studies in London comprised the main Colleges of the Defence Academy on its formation. Since its establishment, a number of other units focusing on defence and security education have been brought under the umbrella of the Defence Academy.

The Defence Academy announced in November 2004 the creation of the Defence College of Management and Technology (DCMT). DCMT would provide the education and training requirements of management, strategic leadership, technology and related aspects of security studies for all four Services – the Royal Navy, Army, Royal Air Force and the Ministry of Defence Civil Service. The new College builds on the foundations of RMCS, but takes a much broader view of defence business. The purpose of DCMT is to support and enhance the delivery of defence capability through its educational programmes and research.

Defence College of Management and Technology

DCMT comprises five main areas organised in a task-oriented structure to meet current and future requirements: the Defence Technical Group, including the Information Division; the Defence Sixth Form College and the Defence Technical Undergraduate Scheme; Defence Business Learning, which provides underpinning training and development for personnel working in the Ministry of Defence; the Defence Leadership and Management Centre including the Defence School of Finance and Management; and the Security Studies and Resilience Group. The College operates in partnership with a number of academic organisations and service providers, importantly including Cranfield University, to deliver its wide-ranging programmes.

While DCMT is already in being as a working organisation, full transformation of the College will not be complete for some time. Building the new identity, with appropriate facilities within the Defence Academy as the focus for education in technology and business-related activities across defence, and establishing relationships with external bodies is a progressive process. Most significant is the developing relationship with Cranfield University.

The new contract with Cranfield covers much of the academic work for the Defence Technology Group, the Defence Leadership and Management Centre, and the Security Studies and Resilience Group, concentrating on postgraduate education and research. The new contract took effect from August 2006.

The principles and ideas, which led to the formation of the College, can still be said to be true today. In an age of rapidly developing technology, it is inevitable that there will be a separation between the suppliers and users of equipment, but both sides must have an in-depth understanding of the needs and constraints within which the other must operate.

The teaching at the College is designed to satisfy this requirement through the unique combination of military, civilian and academic

About Cranfield University at Shrivenham

Throughout its history, the College has attracted civilian teaching of a high standard and the civilian input to the College, on both the academic and student sides, has increased steadily. In 1984, the contract for the provision of academic teaching was awarded to Cranfield University (then the Cranfield Institute of Technology).

Cranfield University was founded in 1946 as the College of Aeronautics, adjacent to the airfield at Cranfield, Bedfordshire. The objective of the College was to bring together and build on the developments and advances in aeronautical engineering that had been achieved during the Second World War. The College expanded in size and in the range of topics covered and it was awarded its Royal Charter, becoming a University in 1969. Cranfield University is now one of the leading universities in the UK, providing teaching at post-graduate level and research in science, engineering and management.

It is the partnership between the military and civilian staff and students at Shrivenham which creates the unique establishment in education and research for defence technology and management. This blend of cultures has delivered many new developments in the courses taught and the breadth of research studies undertaken, which can now be said to cover most of the technology and management topics of interest to security, defence and industry.

The success of military operations is increasingly dependent on the application of emerging science and technology to new generations of weapons and equipment. The UK will continue to need servicemen and women, and MOD civilians, who are able to make judgments about how these technology systems can be employed to best effect on operations.

The work of the College is concerned with imparting to its students a wider and deeper understanding of defence technology, acquisition and management, of how best to define the requirements for our new weapon and equipment systems and how to employ them most effectively on operations. Such understanding can only be based on a relevant educational foundation,  in science, engineering and management, rather than through shorter term training.

Officers completing courses leave with an ability to apply their technical understanding to solve complex problems in the defence domain, in terms of operations, equipment capability, acquisition and management in the defence business.