Our Master of Public Policy (MPP) is a one-year graduate degree. It is multi-disciplinary, reflecting the need for public leaders who can reach across specialist fields – from politics, economics and law, to history, philosophy and ethics, to the natural sciences and medicine – to find more innovative solutions to difficult policy challenges. It is practical, responding directly to the demand for policy experts who can also deploy their practical skills as negotiators, financial managers and communicators to deliver successful results. It is global in that Blavatnik students learn how policy is made, implemented and evaluated in governments around the world, and at local, regional and global levels.

Students begin with an intensive induction week module in which they are immersed in a major policy challenge, such as natural resource management, as they get to know their fellow students, faculty, and Oxford.

In the following terms, students complete four core courses grounded respectively in: history and philosophy; economics; science and medicine; and politics, international relations, and law. These courses equip them to:

• Resolve ethical dilemmas and understand the historical trajectory of government around the world;
• Understand the economic context of government, and how economists analyse policy;
• Be informed and critical consumers of scientific and medical advice; and
• Understand the organisations and institutions of government both nationally and globally

Students also complete intensive week-long practical modules taught by expert practitioners to develop the skills needed for a successful career in public policy, including strategy, communication, negotiation, delivery, budgeting and finance, and evaluation.  Throughout the year students also attend a suite of sessions that aim to equip them with the key transferrable skills that they will need to work successfully in public policy.

Having completed the compulsory courses, students then hone their acquired knowledge in two Policy Options. These cover contemporary policy problems and may be chosen from a diverse list including such issues as global public health, governing migration, humanitarian intervention, energy policy and climate change, urban development, environment and the public, fragile states and financial regulation after the crisis.

In the last component of the MPP, students apply their skills in a summer project, completing either a placement in a governmental or non-governmental organisation, or a field study conducted in association with a research institute.

Finally, at the Blavatnik School we will expect our students to return to Oxford and take part in the intensive induction week module in years after they graduate - a 'refresher' for them and an important link for the School's community.

To read about the curriculum in more detail click here.

Please note that the MPP is currently the only course offered by the Blavatnik School of Government. The doctorate in Public Policy programme will open for applications on 1st September 2013 for admission from September 2014. Prospective research students should register their interest here.