Funded places available
This one-year, full-time, taught course is designed to equip students with the scientific knowledge and cutting edge technical skills to become scholars, teachers and researchers for the next generation and consists of:
• a core theoretical course covering the emerging areas of fundamental biology for oncology and its treatment by radiotherapy (October to February)
• a high-quality basic and clinically-applied research project (March to August)
Fundamental radiation biological science, laboratory methods and practical skills are taught over a series of 12 modules. Each module is delivered over a period of up to two weeks and together comprises the ‘core content’ of the course:
1. Physics and Chemistry of Radiation Action
2. Molecular Radiation Biology
3. Cellular Radiation Biology
4. Whole Body Exposure and Carcinogenesis
5. Radiation Epidemiology
6. Radiation Protection
7. Imaging Technologies
8. Tumour Microenvironment
9. Normal Tissue and Applied Radiation Biology
10. Applications of Radiation Therapy
11. Translational Radiation Biology
12. Clinical Radiation Biology
Lectures are delivered by local, national and international experts, with additional tutorials and practical sessions given by staff in the Oxford Institute/Department of Oncology.
The CRUK/MRC Oxford Institute is offering up to two fully funded places. This will include payment of university and college fees (home/EU rate) and a stipend of not less than £12,000 for one year. All applicants are automatically considered for this funding (including applications already received).
Please refer to Fees and Funding for further details.
This course will close to applications for graduate study beginning October 2018 on Friday 9th March 2018. If places remain available then admissions may re-open on Tuesday 1st May 2018.
Please refer to MSc in Radiation Biology for details of entry requirements and how to apply.
Our programme will give you a thorough grounding in the radiation and environmental protection aspects of nuclear physics.
This includes in-depth knowledge of radiation protection and showing you how the technical and organisational procedures of the discipline may be applied to the broader concept of environmental protection.
The substantial practical element of this programme enables you to relate taught material to real-world applications. Formal lectures are complemented with work in specialist radiation laboratories that were recently refurbished as part of a £1m upgrade to our facilities.
Here you will work with a wide range of radioactive sources and radiation detectors. There is also an extended project in the spring and an eleven-week MSc dissertation project in the summer.
This programme is studied full-time over one academic year and part-time students must study at least two taught technical modules per academic year. It consists of eight taught modules and a dissertation.
Example module listing
The following modules are indicative, reflecting the information available at the time of publication. Please note that not all modules described are compulsory and may be subject to teaching availability and/or student demand.
The programme material is taught by a combination of academics from the Department of Physics at Surrey and specialists provided by industrial partners. The Surrey academics are part of the Centre for Nuclear and Radiation Physics which houses the largest academic nuclear physics research group in the UK.
In addition to the formal lectures for taught modules, the programme provides a wide range of experimental hands-on training. This includes a nine-week radiation physics laboratory which takes place in the specialist radiation laboratories within the Department of Physics at the University of Surrey.
These were recently refurbished as part of a £1 million upgrade to the departmental teaching infrastructure. Within the Department, we also have a common room and a departmental library, which contains copies of earlier MSc dissertations.
As well as the laboratory training, you will also undertake a research project at the beginning of the Spring semester as a precursor to the eleven-week research dissertation project which makes up the final part of the MSc.
There are many opportunities for both the spring research project and summer dissertation project to be taken in an external industrial environment.
The programme has produced over 500 UK and overseas graduates, many of whom have gone on to well-paid positions in companies in the nuclear and radiation sectors. In the UK we need to decommission old reactors and build new ones to provide a low-carbon source of energy.
This, together with, for example, the importance of radioisotopes in fields such as medicine, means that the career prospects of our graduates are excellent.
The programme integrates the acquisition of core scientific knowledge with the development of key practical skills with a focus on professional career development within medical physics and radiation detection, and related industries.
The principle educational aims and outcomes of learning are to provide participants with advanced knowledge, practical skills and understanding applied to medical physics, radiation detection instrumentation, radiation and environmental practice in an industrial or medical context.
This is achieved by the development of the participants’ understanding of the underlying science and technology and by the participants gaining an understanding of the legal basis, practical implementation and organisational basis of medical physics and radiation measurement.
Knowledge and understanding
Intellectual / cognitive skills
Professional practical skills
Key / transferable skills
We often give our students the opportunity to acquire international experience during their degrees by taking advantage of our exchange agreements with overseas universities.
In addition to the hugely enjoyable and satisfying experience, time spent abroad adds a distinctive element to your CV.
Medical imaging is a rapidly-growing discipline within the healthcare sector, involving clinicians, physicists, computer scientists and those in IT industries.
This programme delivers the expertise you'll need to forge a career in medical imaging, including radiation physics, image processing, biology, computer vision, pattern recognition, artificial intelligence and machine learning.
This programme is studied full-time over 12 months and part-time over 48 months. It consists of eight taught modules and an extended project.
Example module listing
The following modules are indicative, reflecting the information available at the time of publication. Please note that not all modules described are compulsory and may be subject to teaching availability and/or student demand.
To support your learning, we hold regular MSc group meetings where any aspect of the programme, technical or non-technical, can be discussed in an informal atmosphere. This allows you to raise any problems that you would like to have addressed and encourages peer-based learning and general group discussion.
We provide computing support with any specialised software required during the programme, for example, Matlab.
The Department’s student common room is also covered by the university’s open-access wireless network, which makes it a very popular location for individual and group work using laptops and mobile devices. There is also a Faculty quiet room for individual study.
We pride ourselves on the many opportunities that we provide to visit collaborating hospitals. These enable you to see first-hand demonstrations of medical imaging facilities and to benefit from lectures by professional practitioners.
To support material presented during the programme, you will also undertake a selection of ultrasound and radiation detection experiments, hosted by our sister MSc programme in Medical Physics.
The taught postgraduate Degree Programmes of the Department are intended both to assist with professional career development within the relevant industry and, for a small number of students, to serve as a precursor to academic research.
Our philosophy is to integrate the acquisition of core engineering and scientific knowledge with the development of key practical skills (where relevant).
To fulfil these objectives, the programme aims to:
Medical Imaging is a rapidly growing discipline within the healthcare sector, incorporating engineers, physicists, computer scientists and clinicians. It is driven by the recent rapid development of 3-D Medical Imaging Systems, fuelled by an exponential rise in computing power.
New methods have been developed for the acquisition, reconstruction, processing and display of digital medical-image data with unprecedented speed, resolution and contrast.
This programme in Medical Imaging is aimed at training graduates for careers in this exciting multi-disciplinary area, and our graduates can expect to find employment in the medical imaging industry or the public health care sector.
It represents a blend of fundamental medical physics topics concerned with image acquisition and reconstruction coupled with imaging science and image engineering topics such that graduates understand how images are formed and how advanced machine-based methods can be bought to bare to provide new diagnostic information.
We often give our students the opportunity to acquire international experience during their degrees by taking advantage of our exchange agreements with overseas universities.
In addition to the hugely enjoyable and satisfying experience, time spent abroad adds a distinctive element to your CV.
At the University of Surrey, our MSc in Nuclear Science and Applications is a new and innovative programme, taught by a combination of world-leading nuclear physics academics and leading experts from the UK’s nuclear industries.
Drawing upon our existing expertise and supported by our MSc in Radiation and Environmental Protection, one of UK’s longest running programmes in its field, our programme will give you a thorough grounding in nuclear science and its applications. This new programmes differs from our existing MSc in Radiation and Environmental Protection as both the group project and the summer dissertation project will be on nuclear science and application topics.
The substantial practical element of this programme enables you to relate taught material to real-world applications. Formal lectures are complemented with work in specialist radiation laboratories that were recently refurbished as part of a £1m upgrade to our facilities.
Here you will work with a wide range of radioactive sources and radiation detectors. There is also an extended project in the spring and an eleven-week MSc dissertation project in the summer and students will have the opportunity to complete their dissertation on a topic specialising in nuclear research.
This programme is studied full-time over one academic year. Part-time students study over two academic years, within which the workload is evenly distributed.
The course consists of eight taught modules and a dissertation.
Example module listing
The following modules are indicative, reflecting the information available at the time of publication. Please note that modules may be subject to teaching availability and/or student demand.
The programme material is taught by a combination of academics from the Department of Physics at Surrey and specialists provided by industrial partners. The Surrey academics are part of the Centre for Nuclear and Radiation Physics which houses the largest academic nuclear physics research group in the UK.
In addition to the formal lectures for taught modules, the programme provides a wide range of experimental hands-on training. This includes an eight-week radiation physics laboratory which takes place in the specialist radiation laboratories within the Department of Physics at the University of Surrey.
These were recently refurbished as part of a £1 million upgrade to the departmental teaching infrastructure. Within the Department, we also have a common room and a departmental library, which contains copies of earlier MSc dissertations.
As well as the laboratory training, you will also undertake a research group project at the beginning of the Spring semester as a precursor to the eleven-week research dissertation project which makes up the final part of the MSc.
There are many opportunities for the summer dissertation project to be taken in an external industrial environment.
Completion of this programme will result in strong job opportunities in the nuclear industry, a growing international industry.
The programme will also naturally lead into further study, such as completion of a PhD.
The programme integrates the acquisition of core scientific knowledge with the development of key practical skills with a focus on professional career development within medical physics and radiation detection, and related industries.
The principle educational aims and outcomes of learning are to provide participants with advanced knowledge, practical skills and understanding applied to medical physics, radiation detection instrumentation, radiation and environmental practice in an industrial or medical context.
This is achieved by the development of the participants’ understanding of the underlying science and technology and by the participants gaining an understanding of the legal basis, practical implementation and organisational basis of medical physics and radiation measurement.
Knowledge and understanding
Intellectual / cognitive skills
Professional practical skills
Key / transferable skills
Life on Earth depends on solar energy captured by plants - they are the base of most food webs and underpin the functioning of all major ecosystems. Plants release the oxygen we breath. They convert solar energy into chemical energy, providing us with food, fibres, renewable energy sources, and raw materials for many industries. Plants do not carry out these processes in isolation. They interact with other organisms and the physical and chemical environment, communicate and actively adjust to their circumstances. How do they do these things and how can we profit from understanding them? When you have graduated from the Master’s Program in Plant Biology you will have the answers to these big questions, and more, such as:
You will also be able to:
After earning your degree, you can continue towards a PhD or move directly into a career. If you have a Bachelor’s degree in a field of biology from another Finnish university or from a foreign university anywhere in the world, you are welcome to apply for the Master’s programme in Plant Biology. Based on your previous studies we will evaluate the possible need for supplementary studies, which will be included in your degree.
Further information about the studies on the Master's programme website.
The Master’s Programme in Plant Biology is a joint programme of the Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences and the Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry, which ensures an exceptionally comprehensive curriculum. You will be able to study the diversity of wild and cultivated plants from the Arctic to the Tropics, as well as plant functions from the molecular to the ecosystem level.
The teaching is diverse, consisting of modern laboratory and computer courses, field courses, seminars and excursions. The curriculum is intertwined with research. You will be introduced to the research groups from the beginning of your studies, so you will become familiar with research methods as your studies progress. Much of the study material is in various learning platforms (such as Moodle), which allow distance learning. You will have a personal tutor who will help you tailor an individual study plan according to your requirements.
Within the programme you can choose among several optional study modules and focus on, for example:
All modules are worth at least 15 credits. They are interlinked to ensure a coherent and balanced degree that allows you to obtain a broad perspective. Alternatively, you can focus on your primary research interest while acquiring the skills needed to follow your career goals on completion of your degree.
A translational perspective is emphasised in courses in which it is relevant. That will allow you to apply the acquired basic knowledge in problem-based research, bridging the gap between basic and applied research.
Our Medical Physics MSc programme is well-established and internationally renowned. We are accredited by IPEM (Institute of Physics and Engineering in Medicine) and we have trained some 1,000 medical physicists, so you can look forward to high-quality teaching during your time at Surrey.
The syllabus for the MSc in Medical Physics is designed to provide the knowledge, skills and experience required for a modern graduate medical physicist, placing more emphasis than many other courses on topics beyond ionising radiation (X-rays and radiotherapy).
Examples of other topics include magnetic resonance imaging and the use of lasers in medicine.
You will learn the theoretical foundations underpinning modern imaging and treatment modalities, and will gain a set of experimental skills essential in a modern medical physicist’s job.
These skills are gained through experimental sessions in the physics department and practical experiences at collaborating hospitals using state-of-the-art clinical facilities.
Why not discover more about our programme in our video?
This programme is studied full-time over one academic year. It consists of eight taught modules and a dissertation project. Part-time studemts study the same content over 2 academic years.
Example module listing
The following modules are indicative, reflecting the information available at the time of publication. Please note that all modules are compulsory, there are no optional modules, and may be subject to change.
Common room
A student common room is available for the use of all Physics students.
Computers
The University has an extensive range of PC and UNIX machines, full internet access and email. The University has invested in resources to allow students to develop their IT skills. It also has an online learning environment, SurreyLearn. Computers are located in dedicated computer rooms. Access to these rooms is available 24 hours per day.
Hounsfield Prize
A prize of £200 is awarded annually for the best dissertation on the Medical Physics programme. Sir Hounsfield was jointly awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1979 for his work on Computed Tomography.
Mayneord Prize
A prize of £200 in memory of Professor Valentine Mayneord will be awarded to the student with the best overall performance on the Medical Physics course. Professor Mayneord was one of the pioneers of medical physics, who had a long association with the Department and encouraged the growth of teaching and research in the field.
Knoll Prize
A prize of £300 in memory of Professor Glenn Knoll is awarded annually to the student with outstanding performance in Radiation Physics and Radiation Measurement on any of the department's MSc programmes. Professor Knoll was a world-leading authority in radiation detection, with a long association with the department
IPEM Student Prize (MSc Medical Physics)
A prize of £250 is awarded annually to a student with outstanding performance in their dissertation.
The programme integrates the acquisition of core scientific knowledge with the development of key practical skills with a focus on professional career development within medical physics and related industries. The principle educational aims and outcomes of learning are to provide participants with advanced knowledge, practical skills and understanding applied to medical physics, radiation detection instrumentation, radiation and environmental practice in an industrial or medical context. This is achieved by the development of the participants’ understanding of the underlying science and technology and by the participants gaining an understanding of the legal basis, practical implementation and organisational basis of medical physics and radiation measurement.
We give our students the opportunity to acquire international experience during their degrees by taking advantage of our exchange agreements with overseas universities and through our international research collaboration. Hence, it may be possible to carry out the dissertation project abroad.
In addition to the hugely enjoyable and satisfying experience, time spent abroad adds a distinctive element to your CV.
The MSc in Cancer Medicine will provide students with new knowledge of how precision medicine can improve and shape future healthcare. Students will gain hands-on experience of molecular techniques and the equipment/devices used in a modern molecular laboratory; the course will provide training in laboratory and research skills that are applicable across multiple scientific disciplines in a supportive learning environment. Students will be able to evaluate how novel therapeutic approaches can be used to stratify patients into treatment groups for better clinical management (stratified / precision medicine). They will observe the delivery of precision medicine through tours of the Northern Ireland Cancer Centre.
There are optional modules in the second semester allowing students to explore.the fundamental principles of Carcinogenesis and the translational approaches (including cutting edge technologies) which allow cancer scientists and clinicians to advance our understanding and treatment of cancers. The Precision Cancer Medicine stream provides a comprehensive overview of the current understanding of the Hallmarks of Cancer from the role of genetic/epigenetic alterations, cell cycle control and metastases/angiogenesis to the development of applications to help diagnose cancers earlier, improve treatments, rationally design clinical trials and reduce chemotherapy drug resistance.
The Radiation Oncology stream will develop skills in understanding the biological principles of radiotherapy and its clinical applications in the treatment of cancer. This will include the physical and chemical basis of radiation interactions and the biological consequences of radiation exposures. Clinical aspects of Radiation Oncology will be covered including principle of advanced radiotherapy delivery, cancer imaging techniques and biomarker discovery.
Importantly, both streams show how our improved understanding of the molecular processes driving cancer growth and spread can be ‘translated’ through research-intensive MSc projects to improve the treatment and survival of cancer patients.
For further information email [email protected] or send us a message on WhatsApp
The strong links between us and the biotech and biopharmaceutical sectors provides a stimulating translational environment, while also expanding your career opportunities.
GLOBAL OPPORTUNITIES
INDUSTRY LINKS
WORLD CLASS FACILITIES
INTERNATIONALLY RENOWNED EXPERTS
Semester 1
Research Translational: from Concept to Commercialisation (Full Year)
Diagnosis and Treatment (Semester 1)
Cancer Biology (Semester 1)
Students will make a selection from the following modules:
OR
Clinical Radiation
Building on the biological basis of radiotherapy, this module will develop knowledge and skills in understanding clinical radiotherapy and medical imaging. Through the delivery of a multidisciplinary taught programme, students will cover clinical tumour and normal tissue biology, radiological imaging and the design of radiotherapy treatment plans. This will develop the clinical rationale for radiotherapy in the treatment of cancer and highlight emerging treatment combinations and techniques for biomarker discovery in radiation oncology.Biology and Imaging
Research Project
You will undertake a project in the Centre for Cancer Research and Cell Biology.
Dissertation
This module comprises the write-up contribution to the overall research element of the programme, with the Research Project (SCM 8067). The Dissertation will represent the student’s personal studies in the literature, a description of their experimental execution of their project, data presentation, analysis and interpretation, followed by critical discussion and conclusions.
For further information email [email protected] or send us a message on WhatsApp
Our MSc in Cancer Biology and Radiotherapy Physics is ideal if you wish to pursue a career in cancer research and/or cancer therapy involving ionising radiation.
With around 40% of all cancer cure cases involving radiotherapy and the UK soon to have a proton therapy service, the need for multidisciplinary scientists in this field has never been greater.
We aim to develop multidisciplinary scientists to create the necessary skill base that will drive radiotherapy forward in the UK.
This course will enable you to train as a multidisciplinary scientist in this area by covering a variety of subjects in content that is delivered by staff with a range of expertise, including physicists, biologists, engineers, clinicians and oncologists.
Our collaboration with The Christie will allow you to undertake unique research projects in its radiotherapy facilities that cannot be carried out anywhere else in the UK or most of Europe.
This course aims to help you develop:
You will be taught by academics from the University and clinical scientists at The Christie, meaning both fundamental science and its clinical application will be covered equally.
Units are delivered in one-week blocks with a mix of face-to-face content delivery and hands-on practical sessions.
There will be a number of assessed and non-assessed activities to develop your key skills and expand your knowledge base.
There is an also online pre-course element, which will be the beginning of your multidisciplinary scientific journey.
After the taught units, there is an supervised research project that will put into practice the key skills and knowledge acquired in the taught component.
The taught units will be assessed through multiple choice exams and practical assessments.
The research project will be assessed through the submission of a short report and oral presentation.
The taught component, which includes the five core and three optional units, will amount to 120 credits of the 180 credits required for an MSc qualification.
The remaining 60 credits will be obtained through a supervised research project.
Core units
Optional units
Much of the course content is delivered through a collaboration with The Christie .
Our collaboration with The Christie means you will have access to an MRI image guided radiotherapy linear accelerator and a proton therapy centre incorporating a dedicated research room for your research project.
You will also be able to access a range of library and IT facilities throughout the University.
Practical support and advice for current students and applicants is available from the Disability Advisory and Support Service .
Individual taught units from this MSc can be offered to industry and healthcare professionals as part of a career and professional development programme. Please contact us for further information.
This course will help you gain the knowledge and skills to become a leading healthcare scientist in the public or private sector.
It may also be of interest if you are a healthcare worker in the field of radiotherapy who wishes to advance your career.
The master's qualification gained could act as a stepping stone to further academic qualifications or careers involving medical science research.
The MSc Physics offers you the flexibility to tailor your studies according to your interests, building on the research strengths of our friendly Department, and the supportive environment that we provide for our students.
We collaborate with a variety of partners across the academic, public and industry communities, including the National Physical Laboratory.
You will select modules from a wide range of fundamental and applied physics topics. The application-focused modules are co-taught by practitioners in public service and industry to ensure that students gain real-world insight.
A module in research skills will prepare you to apply your new knowledge and skills in an eleven-week research project undertaken during the summer.
Your chosen research projects can open the door to many careers, not just further research. They will give you tangible experience of working independently and communicating your work effectively and efficiently in written form: key requirements in many professions.
Why not discover more about the subject in our video?
This programme is studied full-time over one academic year. It consists of eight taught modules and a dissertation. Part-time students take the same content over 2 academic years.
Example module listing
The following modules are indicative, reflecting the information available at the time of publication. Please note that not all modules described are compulsory and may be subject to teaching availability and/or student demand.
The primary aim of the programme is to provide a flexible high quality postgraduate level qualification in physics. It integrates the acquisition of core scientific knowledge with the development of key practical skills in the student’s chosen area of specialisation.
We often give our students the opportunity to acquire international experience during their degrees by taking advantage of our exchange agreements with overseas universities.
In addition to the hugely enjoyable and satisfying experience, time spent abroad adds a distinctive element to your CV.
We invite postgraduate research proposals in a number of disease areas that impact significantly on patient care. We focus on exploring the mechanisms of disease, understanding the ways disease impacts patients’ lives, utilising new diagnostic and therapeutic techniques and developing new treatments.
As a student you will be registered with a University research institute, for many this is the Institute for Cellular Medicine (ICM). You will be supported in your studies through a structured programme of supervision and training via our Faculty of Medical Sciences Graduate School.
We undertake the following areas of research and offer MPhil, PhD and MD supervision in:
Newcastle hosts one of the most comprehensive organ transplant programmes in the world. This clinical expertise has developed in parallel with the applied immunobiology and transplantation research group. We are investigating aspects of the immunology of autoimmune diseases and cancer therapy, in addition to transplant rejection. We have themes to understand the interplay of the inflammatory and anti-inflammatory responses by a variety of pathways, and how these can be manipulated for therapeutic purposes. Further research theme focusses on primary immunodeficiency diseases.
There is strong emphasis on the integration of clinical investigation with basic science. Our research include:
We also research the effects of UVR on the skin including mitochondrial DNA damage as a UV biomarker.
This area emphasises on translational research, linking clinical- and laboratory-based science. Key research include:
Focus is on applied research and aims to underpin future clinical applications. Technology-oriented and demand-driven research is conducted which relates directly to health priority areas such as:
This research is sustained through extensive internal and external collaborations with leading UK and European academic and industrial groups, and has the ultimate goal of deploying next-generation diagnostic and therapeutic systems in the hospital and health-care environment.
There is a number of research programmes into the genetics, immunology and physiology of kidney disease and kidney transplantation. We maintain close links between basic scientists and clinicians with many translational programmes of work, from the laboratory to first-in-man and phase III clinical trials. Specific areas:
We have particular interests in:
Novel non-invasive methodologies using magnetic resonance are developed and applied to clinical research. Our research falls into two categories:
Our studies cover a broad range of topics (including diabetes, dementia, neuroscience, hepatology, cardiovascular, neuromuscular disease, metabolism, and respiratory research projects), but have a common theme of MR technical development and its application to clinical research.
We focus on connective tissue diseases in three, overlapping research programmes. These programmes aim to understand:
This research theme links with other local, national and international centres of excellence and has close integration of basic and clinical researchers and hosts the only immunotherapy centre in the UK.
Genetic approaches to the individualisation of drug therapy, including anticoagulants and anti-cancer drugs, and in the genetics of diverse non-Mendelian diseases, from diabetes to periodontal disease, are a focus. A wide range of knowledge and experience in both genetics and clinical sciences is utilised, with access to high-throughput genotyping platforms.
Our scientists and clinicians use in situ cellular technologies and large-scale gene expression profiling to study the normal and pathophysiological remodelling of vascular and uteroplacental tissues. Novel approaches to cellular interactions have been developed using a unique human tissue resource. Our research themes include:
We also have preclinical molecular biology projects in breast cancer research.
We conduct a broad range of research activities into acute and chronic lung diseases. As well as scientific studies into disease mechanisms, there is particular interest in translational medicine approaches to lung disease, studying human lung tissue and cells to explore potential for new treatments. Our current areas of research include:
Our research projects are concerned with the harmful effects of chemicals, including prescribed drugs, and finding ways to prevent and minimise these effects. We are attempting to measure the effects of fairly small amounts of chemicals, to provide ways of giving early warning of the start of harmful effects. We also study the adverse side-effects of medicines, including how conditions such as liver disease and heart disease can develop in people taking medicines for completely different medical conditions. Our current interests include: environmental chemicals and organophosphate pesticides, warfarin, psychiatric drugs and anti-cancer drugs.
Our new School of Pharmacy has scientists and clinicians working together on all aspects of pharmaceutical sciences and clinical pharmacy.
This exciting, two year MSc programme is concerned with a wide range of biomedical imaging and sensing science and technology. Biomedical Imaging and Sensing is, in a broad sense, a set of competencies from engineering and sciences to support future quantitative biology and personalised medicine.
It will provide you with theoretical and practical knowledge to develop methods and systems for disease understanding, diagnosis, prognosis and therapeutics where imaging and sensing play a key role.
The programme allows you to explore some elective modules from interdisciplinary domains that relate to anatomy, physiology, cell biology, physics of the senses, and vision and neurosciences, among others.
Research-led teaching from our department, and various interdisciplinary modules from other departments from the Faculty of Engineering and the Faculty of Medicine, Health and Dentistry.
Individual support for your research project and dissertation.
Assessment is by examination, a project, and coursework in the first year with future examinations and dissertation in your second year.
Visit our course pages for more information about the next Open Day at NHM on Wednesday 28 February 2018. To register for a place, please email [email protected]
Taxonomy and systematics provide the foundation for studying the great diversity of the living world and its evolutionary history. These fields are rapidly changing through new digital and molecular technologies. There is ever greater urgency for species identification and monitoring in virtually all the environmental sciences, and evolutionary ‘tree thinking’ is now applied widely in most areas of the life sciences.
This course provides in-depth training in the study of biodiversity based on the principles of phylogenetics, evolutionary biology, palaeobiology and taxonomy. The emphasis is on quantitative approaches and current methods in DNA-based phylogenetics, bioinformatics, and the use of digital collections.
This course is a collaboration of Imperial College London (South Kensington and Silwood Park campuses) with the Natural History Museum. This provides an exciting scientific environment of two institutions at the forefront of taxonomic and evolutionary research.
The MSc in Taxonomy, Biodiversity and Evolution comprises two terms of taught modules, mostly based at the Natural History Museum, and covers core areas in biodiversity, palaeobiology, phylogenetics, molecular systematics, phylogenomics and taxonomic principles. This is followed by a 16-week laboratory or field-based research project at the NHM or Imperial College’s Silwood Park or South Kensington campuses.
• Taxonomy of major groups and the Tree-of-Life: An introduction of major branches of the Tree, including identification exercises, presented by NHM experts
• Statistics and Computing: A two-week intensive course at Silwood Park
• Field course: trapping and collecting techniques for terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems
• Phylogenetic Reconstruction: the principles of building phylogenetic trees
• Molecular Systematics: generating and analysing molecular data; model-based phylogenetics
• Phylogenomics: Genomic techniques for studying evolutionary processes and biodiversity
• Biodiversity (Concepts): speciation, radiation, macroevolution, mechanics of evolution
•Biodiversity (Applied): Measuring biodiversity, geospatial analysis, collection management and biodiversity informatics
• Palaeobiology: Studying the fossil record and what we can learn about biodiversity.
Students on the course will become the new generation of taxonomists in the broadest sense. They will be familiar with these new tools, as well as the wider concepts of biodiversity science, evolutionary biology and genomics. Most importantly, students gain the abilities to work as an independent scientist and researcher, to be able to solve questions about the future of biodiversity and to communicate them to peers and the public.
Students have many options for future employment in evolutionary and ecological research labs in industry, government and non-governmental organisations, conservation, and scientific publishing and the media. The courses are an excellent starting point for PhD level careers, feeding into various Doctoral Training Programmes available at NHM and Imperial, or elsewhere.
Department of Life Sciences – a leading international centre for research and training in ecology, evolution, conservation and the environment
