This Master's degree in Cell and Gene Therapy provides an in-depth education in this cutting-edge and rapidly developing field. It is delivered by scientists and clinicians researching, developing and testing new treatments for genetically inherited and acquired diseases using gene delivery technology, stem cell manipulation and DNA repair techniques.
The degree covers all aspects of the subject, including basic biomedical science, molecular basis of disease, current and developing technologies and clinical applications. Students also receive vocational training in research methodology and statistics, how to perform a research project and complete a practical laboratory-based project.
Students undertake modules to the value of 180 credits.
The programme consists of four core modules (60 credits), four optional modules (60 credits) and a research dissertation (60 credits).
A Postgraduate Diploma (120 credits, full-time nine months or flexible up to five years) is offered
A Postgraduate Certificate (60 credits, full-time 12 weeks, part-time nine months, or up to two years flexible) is offered.
Core modules
Research Methodology and Statistics is not a core module for the PG Certificate. Students of the PG Certificate can choose an optional module.
Optional modules
Dissertation/report
All MSc students undertake an independent research project which culminates in a dissertation.
Teaching and learning
Teaching includes lectures, seminars, problem classes and tutorials. Assessment varies depending on the module, but includes written coursework, multiple-choice questions, written examinations, a practical analysis examination and the dissertation of up to 10,000 words
Further information on modules and degree structure is available on the department website: Cell and Gene Therapy MSc
This programme aims to equip students for careers in research, education, medicine and business in academic, clinical and industrial settings. Examples of potential careers could include academic research and/or lecturing in a university or other higher education setting, conducting clinical trials as part of a team of clinicians, scientists and allied health professionals, monitoring and analysing the results of clinical trials as part of a clinical trials unit, developing new therapies or intellectual property in the pharmaceutical industry or other business ventures.
Several of our graduates have gone on to secure PhD places. You can read testimonials from past students which include their destinations following graduation.
Recent career destinations for this degree
Careers data is taken from the ‘Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education’ survey undertaken by HESA looking at the destinations of UK and EU students in the 2013–2015 graduating cohorts six months after graduation.
The UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health (UCL GOS ICH), and its clinical partner Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH), is the largest centre in Europe devoted to clinical, basic research and postgraduate education in children's health, including haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) and gene therapy.
The UCL School of Life & Medical Sciences (SLMS) has the largest concentration of clinicians and researchers active in cell and gene therapy research in Europe. This is reflected by the many groups conducting high-quality research and clinical trials in the field including researchers at UCL GOS ICH, the Division of Infection & Immunity, the Institute of Ophthalmology, the Institute for Women's Health, the Institute of Genetics and the Cancer Institute.
The Research Excellence Framework, or REF, is the system for assessing the quality of research in UK higher education institutions. The 2014 REF was carried out by the UK's higher education funding bodies, and the results used to allocate research funding from 2015/16.
The following REF score was awarded to the department: Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health
80%: Clinical Medicine subjects; 81%: Public Health, Health Services and Primary Care subjects rated 4* (‘world-leading’) or 3* (‘internationally excellent’)
Learn more about the scope of UCL's research, and browse case studies, on our Research Impact website.
This innovative degree offers a fascinating opportunity to study modern and topical research areas in Cell Biomedicine. You will gain the essential skills required to prepare for your career in either biomedical research, a clinical setting or within the health industry.
This postgraduate degree will provide you with advanced research training in medical aspects of cell biology and pathology and you will conduct your own lab based research project. With a focus on research methods, you will take you research methods to the next level in producing your own research design, understanding ethics in research projects and best practice in handling statistical data-sets. The programme includes a variety of subject-specific lectures, seminars, tutorials and practical work that will give keep you up-to-date with the current advances in the field. You will learn the theoretical and technological aspects of cellular biomedicine and their practical applications within industry.
You will be taught by enthusiastic, research active experts in the field who conduct research in a diverse range of topics that you can choose to study such as cellular and molecular mechanisms of cancer, microbial resistance to antibiotics, immune mechanisms of disease, stem cell research and molecular modelling in cell biology.
You will conduct your research project in our state-of-the-art laboratories equipped with microscopy analysers, autoradiography, flow cytometry, high sensitivity HPLC and LC-MS, and neural stem cell and tissue culture facilities.
You will automatically be a part of our Health Sciences Research Centre, a community of leading experts who are currently investigating a range of topical issues. You will participate in engaging discussions within research seminars on the latest developments within neuroscience and the health sciences.
In this postgraduate programme, you will be trained in medical aspects of cell biology and pathology with a focus on the lab based research project. The programme has a strong focus on research methods and will provide you with necessary skills in research design, ethics and statistical methods.
You will learn the most recent advances in cellular biomedicine by being part of engaging subject-specific lectures, seminars, tutorials and conducting your own research. You will study the theoretical and technological and their practical applications in cellular biomedicine.
Modules:
This postgraduate programme provides both a solid academic basis and practical hands-on experience in the area of cellular biomedical sciences. It will prepare you for careers in academia, clinical research, the health industry or within government organisations.
Our MSc Cell Biology course will enable you to consider the most exciting current problems in the field under the guidance of leading experts in cell biology.
Our understanding of cell biology will undoubtedly help in the quest for treatments for major diseases, including cancer. Our course will give you a unique opportunity to study the mechanisms that define and regulate the function of cells and organisms.
As this is a research-focused master's course, you will take an interactive approach to learning, rather than taking traditional lectures. Through seminars, workshops, small group tutorials and research placements, you will learn the concepts and techniques used in cutting-edge research in cell biology and how knowledge of the field can be applied to various fields of research.
You will be able to apply what you learn to your own research projects, which you can choose from a wide range of areas thanks to the large number of cell biology researchers at Manchester.
Extensive research experience
Gain significant laboratory experience through placements with leading cell biology researchers.
We use a range of teaching and learning methods, including tutorials, workshops, seminars and research placements.
Find out more by visiting the postgraduate teaching and learning page.
We will assess your progress using:
The course starts in September and runs for 12 months. You require 180 credits to complete the course, of which:
Research projects
Your projects each run for 18 weeks starting in October and April.
Transferable skills
45 credits are achieved through completion of activities that develop your transferable skills in essential areas such as experimental design, statistics, bioethics (included in the tutorial and workshop unit) and science communication. Experimental Design and Statistics runs at the start of the year to prepare you for your research projects. Elements of the other units run throughout the year alongside your research projects.
Disclaimer: Our units teach the current trends in life sciences. Consequently, details of our units may vary over time. The University therefore reserves the right to make such alterations to units as are found to be necessary. Before accepting your offer of a course, it is essential that you are aware of the current terms on which the offer is based. This includes the units available to you. If in doubt, please contact us.
"I thoroughly enjoyed my undergraduate degree at Manchester. It was during my final year that I realised how much I relished being a part of current scientific research while learning a myriad of new skills and techniques. I therefore decided that a research-based master's course was the next step for me.
It is the combination of a fantastic university with a global reputation in research and teaching, and a vibrant city that meant I chose to stay in Manchester for another year."
Sophie Mcentegart
You will be able to access a range of facilities throughout the University.
Practical support and advice for current students and applicants is available from the Disability Advisory and Support Service. Email: [email protected]
This course will provide training in both transferable and subject-specific skills. Your experience of group-based activities and presentations will be valuable in scientific and non-scientific careers.
Your general scientific training will provide you with invaluable skills for a career in academic research, further study (eg PhD study) or in industrial research.
The widespread impact of cell biology on diverse subject areas will provide you with experience in a range of fields and permit you to work within almost any area in the biological sciences.
Located within a European Centre of Excellence for Tissue engineering, and based on Keele’s University’s local hospital campus at the Guy Hilton Research Centre, the MSc in Cell and Tissue Engineering provides support and development to enhance your career within this rapidly expanding field. The research centre is also an EPSRC Doctoral Training Centre for Regenerative Medicine, an Arthritis UK Centre and a UK Regenerative Medicine Platform Research Hub. This multidisciplinary environment enables close interaction with leading academics and clinicians involved in cutting-edge, and clinically transformative research.
Course Director: Dr Adam Sharples ([email protected])
Our MSc Cell and Tissue Engineering programme has tracked alongside the strongly emergent global Regenerative Medicine industry and will prepare you for an exciting future within a range of medical engineering areas, be that in academic or industrial research, medical materials, devices, or therapeutics sectors, or in the clinical arena. The modular structure to the course enables flexibility and personalisation to suit your career aspirations, build upon strengths and interests and develop new understanding in key topics.
Graduate destinations for our students could include: undertaking further postgraduate study and research (PhD); pursuing a university-based, academic research career; providing technical consultancy for marketing and sales departments within industry; working within biomedical, biomaterials, therapeutic, life science and regenerative medicine industries or working for a governmental regulatory agency for healthcare services and products.
See the website https://www.keele.ac.uk/pgtcourses/cellandtissueengineering/
The course provides support from the basics of human anatomy and physiology, through to development of novel nanotechnologies for healthcare. Due to the teaching and research involvement of clinical and academic staff within the department, there are exciting opportunities to be exposed to current clinical challenges and state-of-the-art developments. Clinical visits and specialist seminars are offered and students will be able to select dissertation projects that span fundamental research to clinical translation of technologies – a truly ‘bench to bedside’ approach.
Learning and teaching methods include lectures and demonstrations from medical and engineering specialists, practical classes using state-of-the-art facilities and seminars with leading national and international researchers. Full-time study will see the course completed in 12 months; part-time study will allow you to complete it over two years.
Delivered through the Keele School of Medicine and the Research Institute for Science and Technology in Medicine (ISTM), the course dates as far back as 1999, when it was established in partnership with Biomedical Engineering and Medical Physics at the University Hospital. Most teaching now takes place in the Guy Hilton Research Centre, a dedicated research facility located on the hospital campus. The medical school is one of the top-ranked in the UK, and the research institute has an international reputation for world-leading research.
The centre was opened in 2006 and offers state-of-the-art equipment for translational research including newly-developed diagnostic instruments, advanced imaging modalities and additive manufacturing facilities. Its location adjacent to the university hospital ensures that students experience real-world patient care and the role that technology plays in that. Students also have access to advanced equipment for physiological measurement, motion analysis and functional assessment in other hospital and campus-based laboratories. The School embraces specialists working in UHNM and RJAH Orthopaedic Hospital Oswestry, covering key medical and surgical subspecialties.
The course runs alongside its sister course, the MSc in Biomedical Engineering, and an EPSRC-MRC funded Centre for Doctoral Training, ensuring a stimulating academic environment for students and many opportunities for engaging with further study and research.
The aim of the course is to provide multidisciplinary Masters level postgraduate training in Cell and Tissue Engineering to prepare students for future employment in healthcare, industrial and academic environments. This involves building on existing undergraduate knowledge in basic science or engineering and applying it to core principles and current issues in medicine and healthcare.
Specifically, the objectives of the course are to:
- provide postgraduate-level education leading to professional careers in Cell and Tissue Engineering in industry, academia and a wide range of healthcare establishments such as medical organisations, medical research institutions and hospitals;
- provide an opportunity for in-depth research into specialist and novel areas of Biomaterials, and Cell and Tissue Engineering;
- expose students to the clinically translational environment within an active medical research environment with hands-on practical ability and supporting knowledge of up-to-date technological developments at the forefront of the field;
- introduce students to exciting new fields such as regenerative medicine, nanotechnology and novel devices for physiological monitoring and diagnostics.
The course is taught through subject-centred lectures and seminars, supported by tutorials and practical exercises. Collaborative learning and student-centred learning are also adopted giving widespread opportunity for group work and individual assignments. Students are required to conduct extensive independent study, and this is supported by full access to two libraries, online journal access and a suite of dedicated computers for exclusive use by MSc students on the course. In addition, students are supported by the guidance of a personal tutor within the department, as well as having access to university-wide support services. This includes English language support where appropriate.
Modules will be assessed by a mixture of assessment methods, including lab reports, essays, and presentations, and final examination. This ensures the development of a range of transferrable employability skills such as time management and planning, written and verbal communication and numeracy as well as technical and subject-specific knowledge. The project dissertation forms a major component of the student’s assessed work.
Apart from additional costs for text books, inter-library loans and potential overdue library fines we do not anticipate any additional costs for this postgraduate programme.
Find information on Scholarships here - http://www.keele.ac.uk/studentfunding/bursariesscholarships/
This course is suitable if you
Most of your practical work is carried out in our teaching laboratories which contain industry standard equipment for cell culture, quantitative nucleic acid and protein analysis and a sophisticated suite of analytical equipment such as HPLC and gas chromatography. In addition many of our research facilities such as flow cytometry, confocal microscopy and mass spectrometry are used in taught modules and research projects and our tutors are experts in these techniques.
You gain
The teaching on the course is split between formal lectures and tutorials, and laboratory-based work. A third of the course is a laboratory-based research project, where students are assigned to a tutor who is an active researcher in the biomedical research centre. Typically, taught modules have a mixture of lectures and tutorials and involve a significant amount of laboratory time. Other modules are tutorial-led with considerable input from the course leader who acts as personal tutor.
Tutors complete research within the Biomolecular Sciences Research Centre into cancer, musculoskeletal diseases, human reproduction, neurological disease, medical microbiology and immunological basis of disease. Their work is regularly published in international peer-reviewed journals, showing that the course is underpinned by relevant quality research.
The masters (MSc) award is achieved by successfully completing 180 credits.
The postgraduate certificate (PgCert) is achieved by successfully completing 60 credits.
The postgraduate diploma (PgDip) is achieved by successfully completing 120 credits.
Core modules:
Optional modules:
Assessment methods include written examinations and coursework including
Research project assessment includes a written report and viva voce.
As a graduate you can find work in the expanding area of life sciences or enter a career in research. You can find careers in areas such as • medical research in universities hospital laboratories or research institutes • private industry.
The course also provides the skills and knowledge for those wishing to do research at PhD level.
Stem cells are utilised in various ways in modern biosciences. Especially in Neuroscience, use of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) from patients and genome engineered pluripotent stem cells (PSCs) has recently provided us with a new complimentary human brain disease model system. In addition, this provides researchers with the ability to follow human neural development in a dish, and possibilities of generating cell sources for regenerative therapies. The Master of Research (MRes) in Stem Cell Neurobiology is designed to provide you with greater knowledge, understanding, experience, and skills in this fast developing and innovative field.
Cardiff University has internationally recognised stem cell scientists and neuroscientists who will deliver lectures to this programme and will also offer research project opportunities. In addition, the programme includes advanced practical training in the Neuroscience and Mental Health Research Institute (NMHRI). Moreover, you will develop key skills such as scientific writing, research presentation, statistics and bioinformatics that are essential skills required by modern scientists.
The MRes in Stem Cell Neurobiology is suitable for those:
