Infection Biology MSc

On this research-focused master's course in Infection Biology, you will undertake a half-year project in the laboratory of a leading infection biologist. 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 infection biology project. This will prepare you for future job or PhD interviews, allowing you to reference your achievements and demonstrate project ownership, understanding and professional standards in a substantiated way.

To achieve this, 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 on job or PhD interviews and equip you for a career in academic research, the biosciences industry, science writing 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.

About infection biology projects

Please be aware that this course does not offer traditional lectures introducing you to infection biology. Instead, it focuses on enhanced research-related training in this field. This means that you should have conceptual knowledge and an understanding of the scientific area you're interested in.

Early in the course, you'll choose your own laboratory project from a list provided by your programme director. We have over 200 research-active labs that give access to a wide selection of projects. The Infection Biology course provides you with access to a broad range of topics, including antimicrobial resistance, evolution, fungal/bacterial/viral pathogenicity, parasitology and immunology.

This MSc is ideal if you aspire to a research-related career in biology but are open to various areas of investigation. Once allocated to one of your chosen projects, you will contact your supervisor, who will guide you through writing 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 during the last 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.

You can also visit this page for examples of projects related to integrated master's courses.