Biology & Science in UK

This course provides you with broad research training and first-hand experience in conducting high-quality research in ecology, evolution and conservation.

You will be taught by active researchers throughout the department and, as part of your research projects, will have the opportunity to join the research groups of these internationally recognised experts.

We concentrate on using inter-disciplinary approaches and advancements in research tools to address your research project questions. The students can take advantage of the international connections and collaborations we have with other institutions and companies, as well as applying science to practical conservation through working with conservation organisations and research institutes.

The course will equip you with the necessary skills to proceed to a PhD and establish a career in academia, or to pursue a research position with government and non-governmental organisations that are engaged in research to protect biodiversity.

You will complete six weeks of taught modules to learn skills that can be used as part of the research projects, followed by two five-month research projects on topics of your choice.

The course offers a wider range of instructions across a large set of research areas, allowing you to gain a clear insight into your own research interests from among current research topics.

The Departments of Plant Sciences and Zoology are merging in 2022 to create a new Department of Biology, offering a broad range of research opportunities for graduate students. The departments maintain a large and interactive group of around 200 DPhil students.

As a doctoral student, your primary focus will be your research, which will usually be conducted within one or more of the existing research groups. You will be expected to develop an original research project under the guidance of your academic supervisor(s) and normally on a topic related to their areas of expertise. In addition, you will be encouraged to make the most of the doctoral training and research methods provision available across the Mathematical, Physical and Life Sciences Division. The department also provides training to all DPhil students that focuses on developing both research and professional skills

The Molecular Genetics BSc at King’s is a multidisciplinary degree programme focusing on the advances in the field of biology that investigate how the structure and functions of genes and the genome regulate the processes and mechanisms of life. Geneticists study how DNA is replicated, repaired, and decoded to make protein and other molecules within cells and tissues, which in turn impact the physiology, behaviour, and wellbeing of living things. The course covers the broad range of genetics from the molecular basis of genes and genomes to evolutionary and healthcare genetics. The understanding of how genes and genomes work provides insights into disease and avenues for developing new therapies within personalised medicine, As an expanding research area, Molecular Genetics contains many topics about our life, health and wellbeing and many issues of wide relevance for today’s society.

In this Biological Sciences with Management programme you will take a combination of courses from the School of Biological Sciences and the Business School.

In addition to the many skills developed through our biological sciences teaching, our Biological Sciences with Management programme provides you with a wide set of additional skills suitable for careers in management, commerce or communication. It will allow you to use your knowledge of biological sciences in a wide context.

Biochemistry is about understanding life on its smallest scale – the molecules and cells that make up organisms - and is one of four degree courses taught by the School of Life Sciences. This course will appeal to those who enjoy both biology and chemistry. You will study the structure and function of proteins and nucleic acids, how gene expression is controlled, how membranes, antibodies and hormones work, and how cells function within multicellular organisms.

One of the principal challenges that our society faces is the need for increased agricultural productivity via improved crop protection and plant biotechnology. The number of novel crop protection and biotech products registered in the EU has been decreasing over the last 10 years. This is, in part, due to a sector covered by a reduced number of companies, a difficult legislative environment, and the lack of profesionals with skills and specific knowledge. Given the quality of the UK Plant-science research and education system, the socio-economical context and the increase in global warming-associated natural catastrophes, there has never been a more important time to train new scientists in plant biotechnology, to underpin economic growth.

Most of the Biosciences graduates finish their degree with limited practical and experimental skills, and the practical knowledge required for translating their ideas into commercial products. Furthermore, due to the rapidly evolving nature of the biosciences field, employers seek graduates with transferable skills beyond those established in their first degree. In order to fulfill the curriculum gap and to improve the employability and business development know-how of home and overseas bioscientists, academics at the DU Bioscience department have designed a postgraduate taught course in Plant Biotechnology & Enterprise.

The programme consists of five compulsory taught modules (80 credits) and a research project (100 credits). Four of the five taught modules have been explicitly designed for this program and aim to provide exceptional theoretical subject-specific content and transferable knowledge and skills. The “Bioinformatics and Data science” module, shared with the PGT in Data Science, will provide fundamental knowledge and skills in for the computational and statistical analysis of big-data. The research project builds on material covered in the taught modules and will provide the practical and experimental knowledge and skills.

At Queen Mary, you’ll be taught by world-leading researchers in both biology and chemistry, together in one School. You’ll develop advanced scientific understanding of both disciplines, and improve your practical skills with high-level lab work.

You’ll learn about key biochemical processes and the chemistry that underpins them, as well as studying real-world applications in biotechnology and medicine. Option modules in the second and third years let you direct your studies to the areas that interest you most.

Choose your own pathway through this degree - you can add a year in industry or studying abroad, or carry out an additional year of advanced study to graduate with an MSci.

Our Biomedical Genetics MSci Honours degree focuses on developing your scientific and experimental skills and equips you with the advanced knowledge you'll need to ensure you graduate fully prepared for your rewarding career in science. 

We are a National Centre of Excellence in biomedical research and you will be taught by our world-leading and expert staff, so you will graduate with a cutting-edge knowledge of the industry.

You'll follow the same modules as students on our Biomedical Genetics BSc course, but in your additional fourth year, you'll undertake an extended laboratory-based research project and study modules offered by our research institutes. This allows you to work alongside world-leading experts in our specialist facilities.

Be inspired to help shape the future of clinical medicine. This course covers everything from human physiology and pharmacology, to molecular and cell biology. Biomedical science is the study of the human body in health and disease. You’ll study the basis of diseases such as coronavirus and cancer, and tackle challenges such as hearing loss. You’ll explore therapies that use stem cell technology and discover how we develop drug treatment for inflammatory disease. 

We're proud to be one of only a few universities in the UK to offer undergraduate students the opportunity to perform full body cadaveric dissection, providing you with an excellent foundation for understanding human physiology and developmental biology.

A great strength of LEC is its ability to share expertise and ideas from many disciplines in order to provide a flexible approach, which is so important in the dynamic, rapidly developing discipline of environmental science. Although the work is often organised within themes and research groups, there is much collaborative activity transcending these boundaries

In your first year, you’ll study topics that are fundamental to veterinary biosciences, including biochemistry, cell biology, evolutionary origins of biodiversity, genetics, microbiology, and veterinary anatomy and physiology, ensuring you have a solid foundation upon which to build the rest of your degree. 

During your second year, you’ll get the option to learn about the pathogenesis of major human diseases, gain an understanding of endocrinology, including the role of individual hormones, delve deeper into animal evolution and comparative biology, and study animal and plant ecology. 

In your third year, you’ll study animal infectious diseases, exploring the approaches to controlling these and the impact these have on human health and safety, in addition to veterinary immunology, unpicking the anatomy of various animal species and exploring their immune responses. You’ll also select four modules, exploring topics such as animal behaviour, animal diversity, epidemiology of infectious diseases and food security. 

You’ll also complete a research project, bringing together all the practical, analytical, and presentation skills you’ve developed. 

If you want to learn from scientists tackling some of the world’s most important challenges – such as conservation, cancer and dementia – this Foundation Year is perfect for you.

On our Foundation Year, you’ll have the opportunity to explore exciting subjects in Life Sciences before you choose your degree. You’ll gain knowledge and experience of the content of different courses.

To prepare you for whichever course you pick, you learn both practical and academic skills in:

• biology
• chemistry
• mathematics.

This gives you the perfect grounding for your studies.

Bioinformatics is a major growth area and qualified bioinformaticians are in high demand. The MSc in Bioinformatics is a one-year full-time course for biological sciences graduates which will equip you with the theoretical and practical skills in data analysis and computing for a career in this multidisciplinary field.

The course covers working in a Linux environment, programming in Python, “Big Data”, learning about Bioinformatics algorithms and cutting edge topics in genomics, transcriptomics and protein bioinformatics.

During the course you will work on a Linux laptop on which you install and develop your own Bioinformatics toolkit. This laptop is provided as a loan by the University of Leicester, but ownership of the laptop will be transferred free of charge to you on successful completion of the course.

This course comprises a core of biology with an additional emphasis on the study of topics central to human health and wellbeing such as nutrition, physiology, and psychology. These themes are developed together throughout the course, with some flexibility in course structure and design, according to your interests or career aspirations.