Year One
Molecules Cells and Organisms
You'll study this module as the essential foundation for most other modules taught in the School of Life Sciences You'll gain the basic knowledge you need of molecular and cellular aspects of biology and also become familiar with whole-organism and developmental biology in the context of evolution

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Agents of Infectious Disease
You will start by gaining a thorough foundation in microbiology and virology using infectious diseases as a common link to promote your understanding Through your study of epidemiology you will learn to appreciate the way that diseases spread and the methods used to investigate this spread On completion you can expect to understand the role of various structures associated with the bacterial cell in causing a range of diseases and appreciate the structure of viruses and how this relates to their capacity to cause disease and the host response to viral challenge This will equip you with the necessary theoretical foundations to underpin your future studies

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Physiology and Metabolism
On this module you will learn how parts of the body function and work together in the whole organism You will study the physiology of the nervous system cardiovascular system respiratory system and special senses Your study of metabolism will help you to understand the generation of energy within the body anabolism the role of enzymes and specific functions such as glycolysis the citric acid cycle pentose phosphate pathway and photosynthesis You will then combine your learning to gain a thorough understanding of the way the body adapts to environmental conditions such as altitude depth cold and heat

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Physical Chemistry
On this module you will gain an understanding of the fundamental physical principles that underlie biochemical reactions and the functional properties of biomolecules In particular you will gain greater insight into the thermodynamics and kinetics of biological processes

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Quantitative Skills for Biology
All biological scientists need to understand and analyse quantitative data So this module will see you learning to use statistical methods for analysing and summarising experimental data (for example from your lab classes) and learning the basic principles for modelling biological populations

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Introduction to Organic Chemistry
You will start this module by developing a keen understanding of the structures properties and reactions of organic molecules You will expand your knowledge of different types of organic compounds discover methods for creating new molecules and be able to describe bonding in organic compounds to predict the reactivity of molecules You will apply your understanding to the synthesis and chemistry of key functional groups and to the structure properties and reactivities of biologically important molecules and organic macromolecules

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Tutorials and Laboratories

Year Two
Tutorials and Laboratories

Molecular Cell Biology
On this module you will gain a sound knowledge of the organisation complexity and essential processes that occur in the genomes and information-processing mechanisms in all three domains of life You will study the molecular biology that underlies fundamental cellular processes including the cytoskeleton in cellular structure function and motility the mechanisms that control cell proliferation and genome stability protein processing in secretory pathway organelles and programmed cell death in eukaryotic cells

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Enzymology
You will become familiar with the basic methods of studying enzymes understand the mechanisms whereby enzymes are able to catalyse reactions and appreciate how individual reactions are controlled and integrated into the metabolic pathways of the cell

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Tools for Biochemical Discovery
On this module you will examine the principles by which key techniques in the field of biochemical discovery provide biochemical information This will involve you studying structural techniques such as X-ray nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and cryo-electron microscopy As well as biophysical and analytical techniques such as circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy mass spectrometry and fluorescence In the second half of the course you will widen your studies to analyse biological interactions through case studies covering topics such as proteomics high-resolution light microscopy surface plasmon resonance isothermal titration calorimetry and immunoprecipitation

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Protein Structure and Function
Basic concepts of protein structure are built upon in order to understand the structure function relationships of proteins in terms of the chemistry of their component amino acid residues

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Neuropharmacology
Neuropharmacology is the study of how chemical agents influence bodily functions in both health and disease and indeed how the body deals with these chemicals The module will concentrate on the use of drug-based therapeutics in a range of human diseases and will bridge the gap between basic cell signalling biochemistry and the complex patho-physiology and treatment of the diseases

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Molecular Endocrinology
This module provides you with a foundation for the further study of endocrinology at the cellular and molecular level and a firm basis for understanding normal hormonal control

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Year Three
Tutorials and Research Project

Structural Molecular Biology
It is becoming ever more apparent that to completely understand a protein’s biological mechanism three-dimensional structural information is essential On this module you will have the opportunity to explore and apply modern approaches and practical techniques to the study of biological macromolecules building on your previous study of biophysical techniques and protein structures You will pay particular attention to the structural techniques used to elucidate fundamental aspects and problems in biology-specific fields of interest in structural biology including protein-nucleic acid interactions protein–ligand interactions protein folding and structure macromolecular structures and biophysics

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Year Four
Research Skills Training
You will develop a skills portfolio of experience gained as part of your placement You will also receive training in research proposal writing and evaluation

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Extended Research Project in Industry
You will carry out a research project in industry based on ongoing research programmes within the host company

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Optional modules
Optional modules can vary from to Example optional modules may include

Science Communication
Immunology
Genetics and Genomics
Oncology
Principles of Development
Integrative Neuroscience
Synthetic Biology
Introduction to Secondary Teaching in Biology
Interdisciplinary and Business modules