The world of higher education is quick to respond to new trends and developments. Therefore, it is not surprising that new Masters programmes are constantly emerging to address the needs of learners in a changing world.

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We live in a time of constant change. The advances in technology and medicine are startling. In fact, some say that technology is now moving too fast for people to keep up. At the same time, statistics show that the current era has more financial crises than preceding ones. The consequences of the last major one, the meltdown of 2007-2008, are still being felt nearly two decades later.

Universities are keen observers of the world we live in, evidenced by their efforts to adapt and offer new solutions to students. Here are five Masters programmes that reflect today’s changing times.

Masters in Systemic Risk – Yale School of Management (US)


The global financial crisis of 2007-2008 reshaped the regulatory landscape for a generation. The credit shocks and bank crashes led to the deepest world recession in living memory, followed by years of slow growth and efforts to fix the system. This Masters programme offered by the Yale School of Management is a response to the global financial crisis and is based on the school’s expertise developed in the wake of the crisis.

This programme targets early- and mid-career employees of central banks and other major regulatory agencies seeking to explore and better understand financial crises and risk. There is a strong emphasis on macroprudential policy, financial crisis management, global financial regulation, and central banking.

The school’s finance faculty has deep knowledge of capital markets and has produced influential academic work about the origins of the crisis. The programme is intentionally kept small and selective. Students should plan on a budget of around USD 91,400 in tuition and fees for the 2026-27 academic year, with additional living expenses on top of that.

Requirements

Aspirants should submit a nomination letter from a qualified institution. The letter will include a statement verifying the prospective student’s employment status with the qualified institution; a comment on their qualifications for the programme; and a guarantee that they will be able to return to the institution after the completion of the programme. In addition, there is a video interview, a requirement for a GRE or GMAT score, and a statement of interest. Candidates should also have an undergraduate degree in economics, finance, statistics, or a related field.

MicroMasters in Data, Economics, and Design of Policy – MIT (US)


This MicroMasters degree programme has the potential to change the way graduate students are admitted and how much they pay. Learners who successfully complete five MicroMasters courses and their corresponding proctored exams can apply to MIT’s Master of Applied Science in Data, Economics, and Design of Policy – an accelerated eight-month on-campus programme. Those who get into the actual on-campus Masters programme will earn MIT credit for the MicroMasters courses.

The courses are designed for those interested in tackling, through the use of data, some of the most pressing challenges facing the world’s poor and developing countries, as well as policy challenges in high-income countries. The MicroMasters programme consists of eight online courses organised into two tracks: an International Development track and a Public Policy track, which was added in 2023. Learners will dive into microeconomics, development economics, probability and statistics, and engage with cutting-edge research in the field.

The programme is co-designed and run by MIT’s Department of Economics and the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL), which specialises in improving the effectiveness of programmes aimed at reducing poverty. Faculty directors include Nobel Prize-winning economists Esther Duflo and Abhijit Banerjee.

The cost of the courses in this programme varies depending on learners’ ability to pay, ranging from USD 250 to USD 1,000 per course. All courses can be audited for free.

Requirements

All MITx MicroMasters courses are now delivered on MITx Online (previously edX). To sign up you need to create a free MITx Online account.

Masters in Machine Learning for Visual Data Analytics – Queen Mary University of London (UK)


How can we design smartphones that sense your mood by reading your facial expressions or recognise hand gestures as a way to make a call? How do we develop systems that quickly and reliably analyse medical scans to assist with cancerous tumour diagnosis or improve the safety of self-driving cars with in-vehicle technology able to detect and modify a vehicle’s behaviour in any environment?

These are just some of the questions that participants in the programme at Queen Mary University of London try to answer.

The goal of this programme is to address the growing skills shortage in research and industry for engineers capable of analysing and interpreting images and video. In addition to low-level image processing, the programme also covers high-level interpretation using the latest and most sophisticated machine-learning methodologies. The programme is accredited by BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT, and students can choose between two streams: Vision and Language, or Computer Vision and Image Processing.

Tuition fees for the 2026 entry year are GBP 13,250 for home students and GBP 31,450 for overseas students for the full-time one-year programme.

Requirements

Applicants should have a 2:1 or above at undergraduate level, usually in electronic engineering, computer science, software engineering, information technology, maths or a related discipline. Those with a good 2:2 degree (55% or above) may be considered on an individual basis. A 2:2 with less than 55% will not be considered. International students need to provide an IELTS score of at least 6.5 overall, with no sub-score below 6.0.

Masters in Biofabrication – University of Bayreuth (Germany)


The rather peculiar news broke out a while ago that liquefied spider silk turned into a gel via a three-dimensional printer could be used to regenerate damaged human heart muscle and nerve cells. This breakthrough was achieved by biomaterial experts from Germany’s Bayreuth and Wuerzburg universities. They mixed spider silk with connective fibroblast cells from mice to generate a “bio ink” or gel.

When the University of Bayreuth launched a Masters in Biofabrication, it claimed that things like 3D-printed ears based on spider silk are not science fiction. Researchers at the university are fascinated with the properties of spider silk, which has five times the tensile strength of steel, yet is just as elastic as rubber. It is also biocompatible, hypoallergenic, and has been shown to help heal wounds.

The Masters programme in Biofabrication aims to prepare students for a successful, ethically responsible career as engineers, working at the intersection of medicine and technology. The programme is taught in English, runs over four semesters, and can begin in either the winter or summer semester. The University of Bayreuth does not charge tuition fees, though students are required to pay a semester fee.

Requirements

Applicants need to have a Bachelor’s degree in Materials Science and Engineering, Engineering Science, or an equivalent degree. B2-level English and basic A1-level German language skills are required. The A1-level German requirement can be fulfilled during the first year of the programme at the university’s language centre. Applicants also need to provide evidence of an industrial internship lasting at least twelve weeks and successfully complete the aptitude assessment process.

Masters in Artificial Intelligence – University of Manchester (UK)


You must have noticed the current boom in all things AI. Since the emergence of large language models and tools like ChatGPT, artificial intelligence has moved from a specialist field to one reshaping every industry on the planet.

Will algorithms take all our jobs? Can machines take over the world? The Manchester MSc in Artificial Intelligence provides answers to such questions. It allows students to follow three specialised themes, each combining two related course units, and choose a fourth theme from a wide range of optional units that not only cover core computer science topics, but that draw on the university’s interdisciplinary research strengths in areas such as cognitive robotics, natural language processing, machine learning, and knowledge representation.

Students can count on many lectures and seminars supported by practical exercises, as well as an individual Masters project applying advanced AI techniques to real-world problems.

The programme costs GBP 15,300 per year for UK students and GBP 39,400 per year for international students (including EU).

Requirements

Applicants typically need a First-class honours degree (70% average) from a UK university, or the overseas equivalent, in computer science, or a degree with a minimum of 50% computer science content. A strong background in programming and software development is required. The programme operates a competitive staged admissions process, and places are limited. Applicants with extensive computer science industrial experience and a good honours degree, or its overseas equivalent, may also be considered for admission.

The world is indeed changing and is bound to change even faster. You can bet on universities and business schools coming up with ever more interesting programmes to respond to the latest creative destruction caused by technology or a new crisis. Brace yourselves for interesting times ahead and new Masters opportunities.

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Originally published: 15 February 2018

Updated: 5 June 2026