Cancer Biology and Therapeutics - MSc

Teaching

Teaching and assessment

The programme features a combination of examinations and practically focused continuous assessment, which gives you experience within a range of professional activities, eg, report writing, patent applications and public health information. The assessments have been designed to promote employability in a range of professional settings.

Programme aims

This programme aims to:

• provide an excellent quality of postgraduate-level education in the field of cancer, its biology and its treatment
• provide a research-led, inspiring learning environment
• provide a regional postgraduate progression route for the advanced study of a disease that affects a high proportion of the population
• promote engagement with biological research into cancer and inspire you to pursue a scientific career inside or outside of the laboratory
• develop subject specific and transferable skills to maximise employment prospects
• promote an understanding of the impact of scientific research on society and the role for scientists in a range of professions.

Learning outcomes

Knowledge and understanding

You gain knowledge and understanding of:

• principles and application of key techniques in modern molecular bioscience
• the molecular, cellular and physiological basis of cancer
• key contributors to the onset of carcinogenesis
• the interaction of genes and environment in the onset of cancer
• current therapeutic strategies and their application in the treatment of different cancers
• the basis for targeted treatment of specific cancer types
• the processes and procedures by which scientific knowledge is translated to patient care
• the way in which scientific knowledge is disseminated to different stakeholders: eg media, policymakers, and the public.

Intellectual skills

You develop intellectual skills in:

• research skills: how to formulate research questions and hypotheses to address scientific issues
• analytical skills: interpretation of data, marshalling information from published sources, critical evaluation of your own research and that of others
• information technology: use of appropriate technology to retrieve, analyse and present scientific information
• statistical evaluation: the use of appropriate statistical analysis methods in handling scientific data.

Subject-specific skills

You gain subject-specific skills in:

• experimental skills: how to design experiments to address specific research questions and hypotheses
• practical skills: key techniques in modern molecular biology and their application in molecular bioscience to solve research problems
• data handling: how to record experimental procedures and data appropriately using good laboratory practice
• presentation of scientific research: how to write research articles in an appropriate style in keeping with high-impact-factor scientific journals, and posters and oral presentation for conferences and symposia
• science writing: how to present scientific information to scientific and non-scientific audiences
• careers: a recognition of career opportunities for scientists outside the laboratory.

Transferable skills

You gain the following transferable skills:

• communication: the ability to organise information clearly, present information in oral and written form, adapt presentation for different audiences
• reflection: make use of constructive informal feedback from staff and your peers and assess your own progress to enhance your performance and personal skills
• self-motivation and independence: time and workload management in order to meet personal targets and imposed deadlines
• team work: the ability to work both independently and as part of a research group using peer support, diplomacy and collective responsibility.

Careers

A postgraduate degree in the School of Biosciences is designed to equip our graduates with transferable skills that are highly valued in the workplace. Our research-led ethos ensures that students explore the frontiers of scientific knowledge, and the intensive practical components provide rigorous training in cutting edge technical skills that are used in the modern biosciences while working in areas of world-leading expertise within the School.

Destinations for our graduates include the leading pharmaceutical and biotechnological companies within the UK and leading research institutes both at home and abroad.

To give you an idea of possible career destinations, recent graduates have gone on to the following roles: Research Assistant at the Institute of Cancer Research and at Illumina, as Scientific Copy Editor at Spandidos Publications, Lab assistant at Givaudan, Cancer Care Coordinator at Macmillan Cancer Research, Clinical Trial Administrator or Medical Lab Assistant at NHS Trusts and onto PhDs at BRIC Copenhagen, University of Kent, Institute of Cancer Research and University of Leeds.

Help finding a job

The School of Biosciences has a dedicated Placements and Employability Officer and your academic supervisor will be able to advise you and give you access to professionals in their network.

The University has a friendly Careers and Employability Service, which can give you advice on how to:

• apply for jobs
• write a good CV
• perform well in interviews.

These services are available to you for 3 years after completing your course.

Professional recognition

This programme has been accredited by the Royal Society of Biology. Masters Accreditation by the Society recognises programmes that support the development of specific skill sets, competencies and training, which will enhance life and health science research. Programmes submitted for accreditation must satisfy the general requirements for Advanced Accreditation, which includes a significant period of practice.

Study support

Postgraduate resources

The School is well equipped, with excellent general research laboratories, together with a range of specialised research resources including facilities for growing micro-organisms of all kinds, extensive laboratories for animal cell culture and monoclonal antibody production and an imaging suite providing high-resolution laser confocal and electron microscopy. Additionally, the macromolecular analysis facility provides resources for protein and mass spectrometry, CD and fluorescence spectroscopy, surface plasmon resonance, and HPLC and FPLC systems for all aspects of biochemical and microbiological research. Notably, the School has a new state-of-the-art Bruker Avance III four-channel 600 MHz NMR spectrometer equipped with a QCI cryoprobe. Our NMR spectrometer was upgraded to this status via an equipment research award from the Wellcome Trust.

Support

All research students are supervised closely and are regularly monitored online using the University progression and monitoring system. All postgraduate students have access to electronic and other resources providing information regarding technical issues relevant to their degrees, as well as subject-specific and transferable skills training. All research students are allocated a Postgraduate Supervisory Team, consisting of one or more day-to-day supervisors, and one or more members not involved in day-to-day supervision whose task it is to serve as independent monitors of progress.

Students on taught programmes are assigned a personal academic tutor to provide additional support in their postgraduate study. Throughout the course, you are fully embedded in the research culture of the School by attending research seminars and careers guidance sessions, and also participating in our vibrant outreach programme within the local community. In addition to taught modules, an in-depth research project takes place during the summer under the guidance of members of academic staff. These projects benefit from our outstanding research environment and first-class facilities.

An active school

Every week, Biosciences runs school seminars where external guest speakers or staff, talk about recent research. In addition, the department runs FIREBio (Forum for Innovation, Research and Enterprise in Biosciences), which is a weekly informal meeting for staff, postdocs and postgraduates involving short presentations and discussions. Postgraduates can use the opportunity to present unpublished research findings and discuss them in a supportive environment.

Worldwide partnerships

Staff in the School of Biosciences not only collaborate extensively with other universities in the UK (Cambridge, Cardiff, King’s College London, University College London, Newcastle, Oxford, Sussex, York, Manchester, Durham and Sheffield), but also have a wide-ranging network across the world with institutes including: the Boston Biomedical Research Institute; University of Hanover; Monash University Melbourne; Harvard; University of California, Davis; Université Claude Bernard – Lyon 1; Goethe-Universität Frankfurt; University of Queensland, Australia; University of Utah; Texas A&M University; and Braunschweig University of Technology. We also collaborate with organisations such as the Marie Curie Research Institute, Cancer Research UK, National Institute for Medical Research, MRC London, GlaxoSmithKline and the European Union Framework 5 CYTONET.

The School currently receives funding from: BBSRC; Biochemical Society; British Heart Foundation; E B Charitable Hutchinson Trust; the EC; EPSRC; Kent Cancer Trust;The Leverhulme Trust; National Institutes of Health (USA); Nuffield Foundation; Royal Society; Wellcome Trust. It also receives funding on specific projects from a number of industrial organisations and collaborators.

Dynamic publishing culture

Staff publish regularly and widely in journals, conference proceedings and books. Among others, they have recently contributed to: Nature Chemical Biology; Journal of Biological Chemistry; Cell; Molecular Cell; Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA; PLOS One; and Journal of Cell Science.

Global Skills Award

All students registered for a taught Master's programme are eligible to apply for a place on our Global Skills Award Programme. The programme is designed to broaden your understanding of global issues and current affairs as well as to develop personal skills which will enhance your employability.