Cancer Research and Molecular Biomedicine MSc

On this research-focused master's in Cancer Research and Molecular Biomedicine, you will undertake a half-year project in the laboratory of a leading biologist working in the fields of cancer research or molecular biomedicine. You will develop your skills in relevant lab techniques and receive training in data analysis, management and oral/written presentation, all in the context of your own original project in cancer research or molecular biomedicine. This will prepare you for future job or PhD interviews, allowing you to substantiate your achievements and demonstrate project ownership, understanding and professional standards.

To achieve this goal, you will take part in seminars, workshops, small group tutorials and units in statistics and laboratory skills. The learning methods and units are designed to prepare you for laboratory environments and for undertaking research. They will also give you key transferable skills, such as effectively extracting and understanding information from scientific literature and seminars.

You will also learn how to adapt to both scientific and public audiences, developing your science communication skills through oral presentations, poster presentations or written reports. This will prepare you for elevator pitches in job or PhD interviews and equip you for a career in academic research, the biosciences industry, as a science writer or in similar professional areas where experience in research will be valued. The skills you gain will help you make informed career choices about the professional area you may want to work in.

Information about projects in cancer research or molecular biomedicine

Please be aware that this course will not offer traditional lectures introducing you to biological sciences. Instead, it will focus on enhanced research-related training in this field. You should already have conceptual knowledge and understanding in the scientific area of your interest.

You will choose your own laboratory project from a list provided by your programme director after starting the course. We have over 300 research-active labs that give access to a wide selection of projects. The Cancer Research and Molecular Biomedicine MSc provides you with access to a broad range of topics. This includes different cancer contexts focusing on a variety of cell biological mechanisms including endocytic trafficking, migration, cell signalling including mechano-transduction, ROS metabolism and more. It is important to note that our projects are not of a clinical nature, but they concern fundamental cancer research, though often in collaboration with clinicians. Outside the cancer realm there are many different inherited disorders that are being studied at Manchester and might be of interest to you. For an idea of the breadth of available projects, browse our research pages.

This course is ideal if you aspire to a research-related career in cancer research and molecular biomedicine with its wide range of approaches and disease contexts. Once allocated to one of your chosen projects, you will contact your supervisor, who will guide you as you write a literature review and project outline. This will prepare you for your project experience in your supervisor’s laboratory, where you can take ownership of your hands-on experimental work for six months of the course.

PhD with integrated master's

If you're planning to undertake a PhD after your master's, our Integrated PhD programme will enable you to combine your postgraduate taught course with a related PhD project in biology, medicine or health.