Microbiology

Credit Points

10

Course Coordinator

Prof Andy Porter

Pre-requisites

Degree at 2II or above from an appropriate academic institution in a science discipline. Appropriate level of written and spoken English. Appropriate level of funding

Overview

This 12 week course will include lectures, tutorials and practicals. The curriculum provides a range of molecular technologies for the study of genetic phenomena including the cloning and expression of genes using vector systems; the application of molecular information and genetic linkage analysis to locate genes; the utilisation transgenic mice as disease models; practical experience in the cloning and analysis of a gene; searching for gene; searching for genetic variants using DNA technologies.

Structure

Five 1 hour lectures per week, 1 tutorial and 7 two hour practicals

Assessment

One 1.5 hour written examination (70%) and continuous assessment (30%)

Credit Points

25

Course Coordinator

Prof Andy Porter

Pre-requisites

Degree at 2II or above from an appropriate academic institution in a science discipline. Appropriate level of written and spoken English. Appropriate level of funding

Overview

Introductory lectures covering background to Drug Discovery followed by a series of more detailed lectures and research tutorials in the areas of lead candidate identification, drug development and molecular toxicology. Assessment 1: Preparation of 15 min presentation followed by 15 min viva. The subject area will be either a “drug class”, or drugs that treat a particular “disease area or type”. The final selection of presentation title/subject will be chosen by the students (with guidance from staff). The presentation will be delivered to the MSc class and questions can come from both students and academic staff. Assessment will be 65% by two academic staff and 35% by class of peers. Assessment 2: Preparing a promotional flyer that explains and “sells” the benefits of our society’s reliance on drugs and medicines. The target audience should be imagined as non-scientists. Assessment will be 65% by two academic staff and 35% by class of peers (if possible this may include non-scientists). Assessment 3: Two 1500 word essays. Titles will be made available to the students in the second week of the course. Essays will be prepared under exam conditions in the final week of the course.

Structure

Daily one hour lectures (typically 10 or 11 am - four out of five days per week), 10 hours of research tutorials (1 per week – to be arranged) and 10 hours of extended tutorials (research lectorials) during weeks 18 and 19.

Assessment

Continuous assessment 100% - Assessment 1 – Presentation and viva – 20% of final mark
Assessment 2 – Flyer communicating applied science to non-scientist – 10% final mark
Assessment 3 – 2 x 1500 word essays under exam conditions – 35 % per essay
1 three hour written examination (100%)

Credit Points

10

Course Coordinator

Prof Andy Porter

Pre-requisites

Degree at 2II or above from an appropriate academic institution in a science discipline. Appropriate level of written and spoken English. Appropriate level of funding

Overview

A series of lectures and tutorials which will cover the “language” of bio-business using a number of real case studies. Assessment 1: following appropriate guidance through tutorials the students will prepare a presentation that describes a biotechnology of their choice. The emphasis within the presentation will be to “sell” the commercial opportunity offered by the chosen technology rather than simply a delivery of the science. Assessment 2: following appropriate guidance through tutorials the students will prepare a presentation that describes a biotechnology company of their choice. The emphasis within the presentation will be to “sell” the commercial entity concentrating on explaining the business model of the chosen business. Assessment 3: One 2000 word essay. Title will be in the area of competitor analysis of a particular clinical area e.g. cancer therapy

Structure

7 x 1 hour lectures, 5 x 1 hour tutorials during the course

Assessment

Continuous assessment 100% - Two presentations (20% each) and one essay 60%

Credit Points

25

Course Coordinator

Prof Andy Porter

Pre-requisites

Degree at 2II or above from an appropriate academic institution in a science discipline. Appropriate level of written and spoken English. Appropriate level of funding

Overview

Introductory lectures covering background to Immunology followed by a series of further more detailed lectures and research tutorials in immuno-technology, antibody therapeutics and immuno-peptide therapeutics. Assessment 1: Individual viva examination format: Following a research tutorial on recombinant protein expression students will each given a viva examining both their understand of the science and ethics of GM technologies. Assessment will be by 2 x staff. Assessment 2: Preparing a promotional flyer that explains and “sells” the benefits of antibody therapeutics or peptide therapeutics to a non-scientist. Assessment by 2 x staff. Assessment 3: Two 1500 word essays. Titles will be made available to the students in the second week of the course. Essay will be prepared under exam conditions in the final week before Easter break.

Structure

20 x 1 hour lectures (typically 1 lecture am or 1 lecture pm daily) , 10 hours of research tutorials

Assessment

Continuous assessment 100% - Two 1500 word essays (prepared under exam conditions) (35/35) and two further assessments (1 presentation and one piece of additional work) both prepared following tutorials and problem setting (15/15)

Credit Points

10

Course Coordinator

Prof Ian R. Booth

Pre-requisites

Degree at 2II or above from an appropriate academic institution in a science discipline. Appropriate level of written and spoken English. Appropriate level of funding

Overview

The course is split into a series of “wet” (in the laboratory) and “dry” tutorials. Some parts of the course will combine both wet and dry skills. In the wet practical classes the students will begin with the basics of making solutions, buffers etc and will progress to more complex quantitative assays requiring data generation, interpretations and presentation of results. At all stages in this process the emphasis will be maintained on good and safe laboratory practice to build the skills and confidence of individuals. The dry tutorials will complement the wet practicals and will again begin with the basics of solution preparation and move swiftly through to more complex data interpretation including both data presented as sets of numbers but also as images from DNA based research studies etc.

Structure

e.g. 3 one hour lectures (Tue, Wed, Thur at 11) and 1 one hour tutorial (to be arranged) per week
2-3 h wet practical and 1 h dry tutorial daily

Assessment

Exam consists of an exam paper (50%) exercise (40%) and Lab book (10%)

Credit Points

10

Course Coordinator

Prof Andy Porter

Pre-requisites

IM5002, IM5003, BT5002, BT5003, BT5005, BT5502

Overview

A series of lectures and tutorials that will challenge the students to apply what they know (on their own or as part of a business team) to a “real” biotechnology company. Assessment 1: Prior to the start of this course the students are given their long-project titles. The students will be asked to prepare a 1000 word essay describing the potential commercial opportunities (as they view them) of the scientific project they will be involved with from April. Assessment 2: following appropriate guidance through lectures and tutorials the students will prepare, together, a presentation that describes a “virtual” biotechnology company of which they are the founders and directors (each student will take on the role of a different director). The emphasis within the presentation will be to “sell” the commercial concern to a panel of potential investors. Assessment 3: Prepare a 1000 word executive summary of their virtual business.

Structure

5 x 1 hour lectures, 7 x 1 hour tutorials during the course

Assessment

Continuous assessment 100% - Two essays (35% each) and one presentation (30%)

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Prof Andy Porter

Pre-requisites

Degree at 2II or above from an appropriate academic institution in a science discipline. Appropriate level of written and spoken English. Appropriate level of funding

Overview

The majority of the work carried out will be student directed. Guidance will be given via project supervisors and a series of informal tutorial sessions. Much of the early work will require library research. The students will be provided with a few key references to enable them to begin this task. The early part of the MSc programme will have already equipped the students will all the necessary skills required to tackle hard copy and on-line data and literature retrieval.

Structure

4 x 1 h tutorial

Assessment

100% continuous. A 6500 word extended essay will be marked by the project supervisors and second marked by either Prof Shaw or Porter.

Credit Points

60

Course Coordinator

Prof Andy Porter

Pre-requisites

Degree at 2II or above from an appropriate academic institution in a science discipline. Appropriate level of written and spoken English. Appropriate level of funding

Overview

The majority of the work carried out will be student directed. Guidance will be given via project supervisors and a series of informal tutorial and laboratory meetings. To allow the maximum benefit to be gained by students taking this course, the MSc programme has been designed to have already equipped students with the required scientific background (extended essay) and practical skills to make rapid progress from day one in the laboratory.

Structure

Laboratory meetings and tutorial meetings with supervisor. On average 1 h face to face a week plus additional access when required. This will increase to several hours per week as the project laboratory bench time finishes, thesis write up begins together with the preparation of presentation etc.

Assessment

100% continuous. The assessment will be broken down into three parts:
Assessment of laboratory work including laboratory note book etc (10%)
Assessment of a scientific presentation followed by question and answer session on the project carried out (25%)
Preparation of approx 20 000 word thesis describing methods used, results obtained, and discussion/conclusions drawn from these results. This must be prepared following a defined scientific format (65%)

Credit Points

20

Course Coordinator

Prof Ian R. Booth

Pre-requisites

N/A

Co-requisites

GS5001, SK5003, MC5001, MC5003

Overview

In depth study and reportage on the special topic.

Structure

3 one hour lectures (Tue, Wed, Thur at 11) and 1 one hour tutorial (to be arranged) per week

Assessment

Examination (50%); 2 essays under exam conditions (50%)

Credit Points

20

Course Coordinator

Prof Ian R. Booth

Pre-requisites

N/A

Co-requisites

GS5001, SK5003, MC5001, MC50032

Overview

Analysis of the methods and data in 3-4 research papers as examples of the way microbial research is conducted. Special emphasis will be on papers published from medical molecular microbiology. Each tutorial 2 h for groups of 3-4 students and with a requirement for ~ 20 private study/paper. Students will be expected to prepare written scripts of their answers and to hand this in for formative assessment.

Structure

8-10 contact hours over the duration of the course to include tutorials

Assessment

Examination (100 %)

Credit Points

20

Course Coordinator

Prof Ian R. Booth

Pre-requisites

MC5001, MC5002, MC5003

Co-requisites

MC5502, MC5701

Overview

Students will study a series of related research papers and will analyse the strategy that has been developed to analyse the question, determine what key elements form part of the experimental design and will provide a commentary on how the methods used match the results obtained and allow definitive conclusions to be drawn. By studying a series of papers the students will be able to show how the subject has been developed by the application of different strategies and experimental modalities.

Structure

3 tutorials plus a short symposium

Assessment

Examination (100%)

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

Prof Ian R. Booth

Pre-requisites

MC5001, MC5002, MC5003

Co-requisites

MC5501, MS5501, MC5701

Overview

Students will also develop practical skills in data interpretation, communication as well as interpersonal and team-working skills. These represent transferable skills that will benefit students across a range of disciplines.

Structure

7 one-hour lectures per week, 3 two-hour tuturials and 1 sixty hour practical during the course

Assessment

Examination (65%); Practical (25%); Essay (10%)

Credit Points

60

Course Coordinator

Prof Ian R. Booth

Pre-requisites

N/A

Overview

The majority of the work carried out will be student directed. Guidance will be given via project supervisors and a series of informal tutorial and laboratory meetings. To allow the maximum benefit to be gained by students taking this course, the MSc programme has been designed to have already equipped students with the required scientific background (extended essay) and practical skills to make rapid progress from day one in the laboratory.

Structure

Laboratory meetings and tutorial meetings with supervisor. On average 1 h face to face a week plus additional access when required. This will increase to several hours per week as the project laboratory bench time finishes, thesis write up begins together with the preparation of presentation etc.

Assessment

100% continuous. The assessment will be broken down into three parts:
Assessment of laboratory work including laboratory note book etc (10%)
Assessment of a scientific presentation followed by question and answer session on the project carried out (25%)
Preparation of approx 20 000 word thesis describing methods used, results obtained, and discussion/conclusions drawn from these results. This must be prepared following a defined scientific format(65%)

Credit Points

10

Course Coordinator

Prof Ian R. Booth

Pre-requisites

Attainment at the appropriate (Diploma) level in the taught courses of the Diploma/MSc Medical Molecular Microbiology common programme

Notes

Overview

Each dissertation is distinct and dependent on the student’s interests and the work being pursued by research groups within the School at the time. All proposed dissertations are reviewed by the course co-ordinators before being offered to the students.

Structure

No formal teaching during the research period. Attendance at School seminars (1 – 2 hours per week)

Assessment

Essay 100%