Hi im looking to apply for a masters next year in palaetonly, and thanks to this website i now have atleast 2 place to apply too, the difference is one is a taught MSc the other is reserch based.

i know the taught Msc still involves a disseration project plus class's and exams ect. But what dose the Msc by reserch mean? One massive reserch poject over a year? do you still have some class's/exams? is it more highly regarded then a taught Msc?

if anyone could tell me the difference i'd be really greatful! sorry for the ton of questions! :)
Cheers, Vicky x

It may vary from place to place, but in general:
-An MSc is usually 50-70% teaching, with the rest being a research project.
-An MRes is usually about 30% teaching, with the rest being one or more research projects (e.g. a major and a minor one, or 3 mini projects of about the same duration).

In terms of how they are regarded, that probably depends on the institute and course content. Probably the best way for you to choose which to pursue is to look at your current qualifications/experience and see what your existing strength/weaknesses are. Assuming you want to do a PhD then you will need research experience as well as knowledge, so if you feel that you're fairly clued up on your field but really lack experience, go for the MRes, or if you have plenty of research experience but want to get a deeper insight into a specialism, try the MSc.

Good luck :-)

I think it depends on what you are planning to do afterwards. If you want to get onto a PhD then probably the research MSc would be more appropriate, but I would still have a look at the taught one. I did a taught MSc but the research was a large part of it (40%) and I am now doing a PhD. Although the research component of my MSc has been extremely useful (I cannot overstate how important this was for my PhD) the taught part of the MSc has also been very helpful. As well as expanding my knowledge about the subject it also focussed on how to present research with respect to writing for publication, poster presentations, and orally (and gave us a chance to practice these skills). If you are not planning to stay in research then the taught MSc would probably be better for expanding your knowledge of the field more generally, rather than focussing on researching just one small aspect of it. KB.

Cheers, i was abit worried there would be no taught class's in a reserch MSc which i need as i didnt do a palaeontology degree (did zoology) , so i think the taught masters is a better idea, but i'll apply for both becuase i know places are limited on both and im pretty good at reserch, go an A for my reserch dissertaion project so fingers crossed ill be up to it!

Thank you, you were really helpul!

Vicky x :)