University College London (UCL)

Bioscience (Research and Development) MSc

Teaching and learning

Module teaching is primarily in the form of attended lectures and seminars across terms 1 and 2. Face-to-face attended sessions form typically approx 18-20 hours per week in terms 1 and 2 and there is considerable independent reading and study expected through the module delivery period and in the periods of independent research.

Lectures allow for specific, in depth information to be provided while seminars allow for interrogation and discussions of material covered to develop understanding. Group tutorials allow for more detailed appraisal of the learning journey and further consideration of the material covered in lectures and seminars. Lab time and guided practical sessions allow for you to evolve hands on technical skills, facility and processes for lab based research activity

Module consolidation seminars involving problem or case based presentations relating to module content and informal quizzes allow for knowledge and understanding to be tested, and for formative feedback to be given, in advance of summative assessment, alongside focused revision sessions.

Research in practice seminars allow for investigative, analytical, synthesis and data interrogation skills to be developed, prior to being put into practice in the dissertation module. A considerable number of student-led journal club sessions will develop the crucial skills of scientific scrutiny, peer-reviewing and abstract writing.

Digital learning/VLE you can expect to engage in some online activities to support independent study, which may include guided learning activities (online quizzes, online laboratory simulations), attendance on digital platforms for tutorials, discussion and presentations; review video material such as lectures to consolidate understanding and supply written tasks via digital methods such as e-portfolios, and Turnitin. Some tutorials and research supervision may be conducted via online/distance methods.

Independent research and reflection forms a substantial proportion of the study hours, encompassing time spent preparing for taught module sessions and assessments, and planning, shaping and conducting the research for your projects, which may include self led lab time as well as library based research. You will systematically gather and analyse research data to draw conclusions, with the assistance of academic supervisors.

Term 3 encompasses the research project modules which are fundamentally reliant on you learning autonomously, but with academic supervision and pastoral support throughout.

Students take a wide variety of assessments on the programme.

Summative assessments are taken in the form of:

• Written exams – testing knowledge, and applying knowledge and understanding to case study/scenario analysis
• Coursework essays – organisation of knowledge and understanding in order to develop cohesive argument
• Written reports – demonstrating skills of reflection, evaluation, interpretation and conclusion
• Coursework Portfolio – arrangement of short form written analyses of practice, skills, research, needs, case, scenario, product and/or data sources, demonstrating breadth of engagement and understanding of principles
• Presentations – selection, synthesis and communication of information for varied audience/ purpose, media (oral/poster etc), precis/concision, including both group and individual projects. These may be online or in person
• Abstract /Grant Proposal writing - shaping theses and research into coherent summaries that demonstrate aim and purpose of research, convincing and evidenced argument and integrated contextual understanding of audience and objectives
• Independent research projects/dissertations – creating/modelling science based hypotheses and research design, interrogating current practice, literature reviews, practical analysis of planning, implementation, evaluation of results and conclusions.
• Research presentation and panel questions - communication, information, targeted, persuasive, professional interrogation of knowledge and understanding as demonstrated, capacity to take knowledge to new scenarios
• Reflective evaluation – appraisal of personal practice and experience, evaluate projects and outcomes, identify personal learning objectives

Some variation of assessment tasks will result from the optional modules selected.

Face-to-face attended sessions form typically approx 18-20 hours per week in terms one and two and there is considerable independent reading and study expected through the module delivery period and in the periods of independent research.

Modules

Full-time

The MSc Bioscience (Research and Development) programme is structured through a blend of compulsory and optional modules.

This allows a substantial base of key skills, knowledge and understanding to be developed intensively, while also following specialist lines of enquiry when developing individual areas of research.

The diet of the optional modules from across UCL departments ensures a genuine translational approach that is embedded and provides a focus on research driven identification of therapeutic problems to solve, using current and emerging treatment innovations.

Study moves from compulsory taught modules in term one with a core skills and knowledge focus, to a diet of options in term two which allow you to construct your learning according to your evolving areas of research interest. This research interest is then focused and interrogated through a lab based research project in term 3 which will consolidate and expand your practical bench skills.

The primary location of study provides a distinctive environment in which to learn. The institute’s strong record in innovating therapies through research to implementation is longstanding and globally recognised. The collaborative relationship between the institute and Moorfields Eye Hospital, not only provides a coherent microcosm of the direct application of research into clinical use, it also affords a particular insight into bench-to-bedside research in practice. The Institute of Ophthalmology's relationships with global partner institutions afford you contextual understanding of how research in this field is not only translational in application, but transnational in its engagement with global health challenges and solutions.

The Research Project, which forms the final assessment, develops your independent lab practice substantially; working from the science-based identification of need into shaping and realising research that may inform therapeutic innovations in the future and that could transform treatments and lives in the context of a global society.

Compulsory modules

• Research in Practice
• Science of Diseases
• Stem Cell and Genome Therapies
• Disease Models in Research
• Research Project and Lab Skills

Optional modules

• Molecular Aspects of Cell and Gene Therapy
• Novel Therapies: From Concept to Clinical Translation
• Immunodeficiency and Therapeutics
• Advanced Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics
• Pharmacology of Inflammation (Extended)
• Pharmacology of Inflammation
• Stem Cells and Their Applications in Surgery

Please note that the list of modules given here is indicative. This information is published a long time in advance of enrolment and module content and availability are subject to change.

Students undertake modules to the value of 180 credits. Upon successful completion of 180 credits, you will be awarded a in Bioscience (Research and Development).

What this course will give you

The programme will utilise the expertise available at the institute given that many of the staff are translational researchers in the biosciences.

The programme is also predicated on you being able to shape your own area of interest from a suite of optional modules delivered by other UCL departments. The location allows for students to place their learning on this programme in a context that explicitly consolidates research into translational practice and implementation.

The programme provides you with an intensive taught curriculum, which then feeds into periods of independent research activity, ensuring that you will leave with substantial lab-based skills and a research portfolio, maximising your capacity to develop your practice further through PhD study/institutional research or in workplace laboratory contexts.

The foundation of your career

Graduates from this programme will have:

• A systematic understanding of research and therapeutics, and a critical awareness of current problems and new insights informed by current research and practice at the forefront of the field.
• A comprehensive understanding of the techniques and processes which drive both research practice and the therapies themselves.
• A capacity to apply and generate new knowledge through their own research, with a practical integration of established techniques of research and enquiry in this area, and the potential to innovate new models for research in practice.

Employability
Graduates from this programme will also have:

• The capacity to critically appraise existing research, methodologies and processes for developing therapies
• The ability to formulate and evaluate complex decisions, solutions and communications of their findings
• The autonomy to initiate, plan and actualise effective research projects independently
• The potential to advance their learning and skillset, and to undertake further research and practice in both subsequent study and employment
• Effective written and verbal communication skills, which support information and data management
• A substantial individual research project, based on lab practice and experience

Networking
You will be invited to the annual Early Careers Researchers symposium which showcases PhD and post doctoral research projects within the department. You will be working in labs alongside PhD students and post doctoral researchers. You will be sharing modules from other MSc programmes across UCL and meeting other MSc students during those sessions.