Microbiology, _MSc

15 Credit Points

This course will provide students with microbiology knowledge for further advanced studies and will provide training in microbiological laboratory techniques. At the end of this course students will have an understanding of microbes associated with health and disease (including bacteria, fungi and viruses), academic and practical understanding of laboratory techniques required for the culture, identification and characterisation of microbes, and increased confidence in reading and critiquing primary research literature.

Please note that some of the material on this course may describe animal research and/or may discuss disease outbreaks.

15 Credit Points

This course in Applied Statistics focuses on the application of statistical techniques in postgraduate research for health professionals, with a particular emphasis on the correct interpretation of statistical analyses results. The course will NOT focus on the statistical theory underlying the subject. An important component of the course is the use of a statistical package (IBM SPSS), which can be used to implement all the methods taught on this course.

This course, which is prescribed for all taught postgraduate students, is studied entirely online, takes approximately 5-6 hours to complete and can be taken in one sitting, or spread across a number of weeks.

Topics include orientation overview, equality and diversity, health, safety and cyber security and how to make the most of your time at university in relation to careers and employability.

Successful completion of this course will be recorded on your Enhanced Transcript as ‘Achieved’.

15 Credit Points

Modern biotechnology is absolutely dependent upon our increasingly sophisticated ability to use microbial and mammalian host cells as factories to produce high quantities of protein pharmaceuticals, e.g. insulin. Increasingly, cells engineered with multiple foreign genes are also being used to drive small molecule drug production. This course will explore how such heterologous protein expression processes can be engineered and optimised to drive efficient synthesis of the next generation medicines on which healthcare systems are increasingly depending.

15 Credit Points

A course containing a series of lectures describing 'latest-methods and discoveries' in areas of bioinformatics and functional genomics including transcriptomics, proteomics, and DNA sequence analysis.Contains a series of in-depth workshops that teach the principles and practice of next generation sequence analysis, transcriptomics, proteomics and sequence similarity analysis.

15 Credit Points

The course provides a detailed exploration of the structure and function of genes at the molecular and biochemical level. It covers the analysis of genome activity from the 3D structure of chromosomes through to RNA and DNA-protein interactions. The course will provide you with a thorough understanding of the approaches and molecular biology techniques used in modern molecular genetics research and its applications in gene editing and gene therapies.

15 Credit Points

Today, the profound influence of novel immunotherapies to treat cancers, autoimmune disease, infection and even to maintain transplant survival strategies means that a good understanding of basic immunology is valuable in many aspects of Biomedical Science. This course provides background knowledge of the innate and adaptive immune system and how that understanding is being used in a range of disease scenarios to provide new therapeutic options for patients.

15 Credit Points

The aim of this course is to develop understanding of hypothesis-led research and to provide an opportunity to study advanced science concepts and critically evaluate research led by an experienced member of academic staff.

15 Credit Points

Why do some microorganisms cause disease, yet others don’t? This course explores host-pathogen interactions from bacterial, fungal, parasite, viral and host perspectives in a lecture series, examining virulence factors, host defences and immune responses.

Students develop a detailed knowledge of one specific host-pathogen interaction through self-directed study and working as a group to review a specific disease selected by the students. In addition, students will enhance their ability to work within teams and will develop their skill in academic writing, creating a group-written review article.

Course workshops discuss experimental design for analysis of host-pathogen interactions, virulence and evaluation of novel drug treatments.

The course materials will enable students to develop and refine their understanding of the roles of host and pathogen in infectious disease.

Please note that some of the material on this course may describe animal research and/or may discuss disease outbreaks.

15 Credit Points

An exciting course that brings a student right up to date with bioinformatics, genome assembly and annotation technology. You, the student, will analyse the genome of an unknown bacterium from the environment. The genome of this isolate has been extracted and whole genome sequenced. You will assemble your own bacterial genome and functionally annotate it, taught by expert bioinformaticians from our Centre for Genome-Enabled Biology and Medicine. Your analysis will enable you to identify the species you have isolated, produce a full inventory of genes and their presumptive functions, allowing an exploration of the antibiotic resistance potential of the bacteria. Overall, the course prepares a student for future employment in a biosciences' workplace, where genome sequencing, assembly and annotation is becoming an everyday tool of modern biotechnology.

15 Credit Points

This course will take the student through in-depth study of how synthetic biology, systems biology and computation are transforming the principles and practice of modern biotechnology. The course will teach modern methods of biotechnology including host cell design and optimisation using modern modelling techniques, leading to an understanding of how multiple genes under precise regulatory control can be introduced into a species to endow it with new biotechnologically valuable properties. The course will demonstrate the application of computer programming to bioinformatic analysis with direct relevance to modern biotechnology.

Through hands on study of synthetic biological processes in a series of workshops, students will learn how advanced genetic engineering of host expression systems can transform production of pharmaceuticals, chemical feedstocks and biofuels. Through workshop study of computer programming, students will gain hands-on knowledge of introductory programming skills relevant to genomic analysis and modern biotechnology. The course will equip students with a range of knowledge and skills directly relevant to modern biosciences, including the biotechnology industry.

15 Credit Points

Biologic therapies represent one of the most important and novel areas of drug discovery in the 21st century. The aim of this course is to provide an insight into the success of protein, peptide or antibody based biologic therapies and to examine how this exciting new area will develop over the next decade.

15 Credit Points

A course describing the wide range of ways in which genome sequencing has transformed biomedical research and our understanding of human disease.

Contains material detailing a range of examples of advanced genomic tools and technologies and their applications in biomedical science.

A course that makes wide use of the literature, allowing you to read about and understand the latest genomics-based methods.

A course placing a high value on its teaching and learning; lecture material supported by workshops – your chance to put knowledge into practice, ask questions and enjoy the science.

60 Credit Points

This course offers students the opportunity to complete a substantial piece of data-driven, empirical work within their field of study under the supervision of an experienced researcher.

Topics available will be varied but within the domain of their field of study. Alongside supervisors, students will identify a suitable topic area, describe an appropriate study design and implement an empirical study to be completed within a laboratory setting. Students will be involved alongside the supervisors in the process of defining the research question, and developing the research plan and, where appropriate, obtaining regulatory approvals. This course is for laboratory-based projects (if you are intending to undertake a project in non-laboratory setting you should register on PU5913)

60 Credit Points

This course offers students the opportunity to complete a substantial piece of data-driven, empirical work within their field of study under the supervision of an experienced researcher.

Topics available will be varied but within the domain of their field of study. Alongside supervisors, students will identify a suitable topic area, describe an appropriate study design and implement an empirical study to be completed within a laboratory setting. Students will be involved alongside the supervisors in the process of defining the research question, and developing the research plan and, where appropriate, obtaining regulatory approvals. This course is for non-laboratory based projects (if you are intending to undertake a project in a scientific laboratory setting you should register on MB5913)

15 Credit Points

Why do some microorganisms cause disease, yet others don’t? This course explores host-pathogen interactions from bacterial, fungal, parasite, viral and host perspectives in a lecture series, examining virulence factors, host defences and immune responses.

Students develop a detailed knowledge of one specific host-pathogen interaction through self-directed study and working as a group to review a specific disease selected by the students. In addition, students will enhance their ability to work within teams and will develop their skill in academic writing, creating a group-written review article.

Course workshops discuss experimental design for analysis of host-pathogen interactions, virulence and evaluation of novel drug treatments.

The course materials will enable students to develop and refine their understanding of the roles of host and pathogen in infectious disease.

Please note that some of the material on this course may describe animal research and/or may discuss disease outbreaks.

15 Credit Points

This course in Applied Statistics intends to focus on the application of statistical techniques in postgraduate research for health professionals, with a particular emphasis on the correct interpretation of statistical analyses. The course will NOT concentrate on the statistical theory underlying the subject. An important component of the course is the use of a statistical package, IBM SPSS Statistics, which can be used to implement all the methods taught on the course.

This course, which is prescribed for all taught postgraduate students, is studied entirely online, takes approximately 5-6 hours to complete and can be taken in one sitting, or spread across a number of weeks.

Topics include orientation overview, equality and diversity, health, safety and cyber security and how to make the most of your time at university in relation to careers and employability.

Successful completion of this course will be recorded on your Enhanced Transcript as ‘Achieved’.

15 Credit Points

The aim of this course is to develop understanding of hypothesis-led research and to provide an opportunity to study advanced science concepts and critically evaluate research led by an experienced member of academic staff.

15 Credit Points

Biologic therapies represent one of the most important and novel areas of drug discovery in the 21st century. The aim of this course is to provide an insight into the success of protein, peptide or antibody based biologic therapies and to examine how this exciting new area will develop over the next decade.

15 Credit Points

A course describing the wide range of ways in which genome sequencing has transformed biomedical research and our understanding of human disease.

Contains material detailing a range of examples of advanced genomic tools and technologies and their applications in biomedical science.

A course that makes wide use of the literature, allowing you to read about and understand the latest genomics-based methods.

A course placing a high value on its teaching and learning; lecture material supported by workshops – your chance to put knowledge into practice, ask questions and enjoy the science.

60 Credit Points

This course offers students the opportunity to complete a substantial piece of data-driven, empirical work within their field of study under the supervision of an experienced researcher.

Topics available will be varied but within the domain of their field of study. Alongside supervisors, students will identify a suitable topic area, describe an appropriate study design and implement an empirical study to be completed within a laboratory setting. Students will be involved alongside the supervisors in the process of defining the research question, and developing the research plan and, where appropriate, obtaining regulatory approvals. This course is for laboratory-based projects (if you are intending to undertake a project in non-laboratory setting you should register on PU5913)

60 Credit Points

This course offers students the opportunity to complete a substantial piece of data-driven, empirical work within their field of study under the supervision of an experienced researcher.

Topics available will be varied but within the domain of their field of study. Alongside supervisors, students will identify a suitable topic area, describe an appropriate study design and implement an empirical study to be completed within a laboratory setting. Students will be involved alongside the supervisors in the process of defining the research question, and developing the research plan and, where appropriate, obtaining regulatory approvals. This course is for non-laboratory based projects (if you are intending to undertake a project in a scientific laboratory setting you should register on MB5913)

15 Credit Points

This course will provide students with microbiology knowledge for further advanced studies and will provide training in microbiological laboratory techniques. At the end of this course students will have an understanding of microbes associated with health and disease (including bacteria, fungi and viruses), academic and practical understanding of laboratory techniques required for the culture, identification and characterisation of microbes, and increased confidence in reading and critiquing primary research literature.

Please note that some of the material on this course may describe animal research and/or may discuss disease outbreaks.

15 Credit Points

Modern biotechnology is absolutely dependent upon our increasingly sophisticated ability to use microbial and mammalian host cells as factories to produce high quantities of protein pharmaceuticals, e.g. insulin. Increasingly, cells engineered with multiple foreign genes are also being used to drive small molecule drug production. This course will explore how such heterologous protein expression processes can be engineered and optimised to drive efficient synthesis of the next generation medicines on which healthcare systems are increasingly depending.

15 Credit Points

A course containing a series of lectures describing 'latest-methods and discoveries' in areas of bioinformatics and functional genomics including transcriptomics, proteomics, and DNA sequence analysis.Contains a series of in-depth workshops that teach the principles and practice of next generation sequence analysis, transcriptomics, proteomics and sequence similarity analysis.

15 Credit Points

The course provides a detailed exploration of the structure and function of genes at the molecular and biochemical level. It covers the analysis of genome activity from the 3D structure of chromosomes through to RNA and DNA-protein interactions. The course will provide you with a thorough understanding of the approaches and molecular biology techniques used in modern molecular genetics research and its applications in gene editing and gene therapies.

15 Credit Points

Today, the profound influence of novel immunotherapies to treat cancers, autoimmune disease, infection and even to maintain transplant survival strategies means that a good understanding of basic immunology is valuable in many aspects of Biomedical Science. This course provides background knowledge of the innate and adaptive immune system and how that understanding is being used in a range of disease scenarios to provide new therapeutic options for patients.