MSc Cell Biology

For entry in the academic year beginning September 2026, the tuition fees are as follows:

• MSc (full-time)
  UK students (per annum): £15,800
  International, including EU, students (per annum): £37,800

Further information for EU students can be found on our dedicated EU page.

The fees quoted above will be fully inclusive for the course tuition, administration and computational costs during your studies.

All fees for entry will be subject to yearly review and incremental rises per annum are also likely over the duration of courses lasting more than a year for UK students (fees are typically fixed for International students for the course duration at the year of entry). For general fees information please visit: postgraduate fees. Always contact the department if you are unsure which fee applies to your qualification award and method of attendance.

Self-funded international applicants for this course will be required to pay a deposit of £1000 towards their tuition fees before a Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS) is issued. This deposit will only be refunded if immigration permission is refused. We will notify you about how and when to make this payment.

All students should normally be able to complete their programme of study without incurring additional study costs over and above the tuition fee for that programme. Any unavoidable additional compulsory costs totalling more than 1% of the annual home undergraduate fee per annum, regardless of whether the programme in question is undergraduate or postgraduate taught, will be made clear to you at the point of application. Further information can be found in the University's Policy on additional costs incurred by students on undergraduate and postgraduate taught programmes (PDF document, 91KB).

For the latest scholarship and bursary information please visit the fees and funding page .

The Catherine Chisholm scholarship is applicable to students from selected countries for this course. Find out more on the scholarship page .

The initial part of Research project 1 is a supervised literature review on an important current research topic in the field. The second part of the unit will involve students formulating a research proposal that arises from their literature studies.

The aims of RP1 are to train students in strategies ..

• to identify relevant literature and data sources.
• of critical resource analysis and information filing.
• to identify important questions, formulate respective hypotheses and design experiments to address them.
• to plan and organise written reports.
• to plan and generate appropriate illustrations and their legends.
• of appropriate scientific referencing.
• of effective communication with other researchers (here your supervisor).
• of effective time management.

Students should be able to ..

• identify and isolate relevant aspects of research problems which, depending on the MSc programme and project, may concern basic, translational or clinical science, epidemiology, and even demographic or social matters.
• synthesise, analyse and store data and information including the application of statistics and the use of relevant software.
• demonstrate the ability of critical thinking, including abstraction, analysis, critical judgement and the ability to formulate testable hypotheses.
• report on the current status of research in a chosen area.
• pose a problem and frame it in a fashion that is amenable to solution.
• apply communication skills in written and spoken form, including the use of illustrations, electronic media and constructive dialogue with peers and supervisors.
• use software for word processing and to generate illustrations and manage references.
• make efficient use of library, electronic and online resources.
• plan time effectively, apportioning efforts to literature research and writing in a well-balanced way, while undertaking other essential course activities

• Teaching and learning methods

  • Regular (biweekly) consultations with supervisor starting with project orientation meeting  and starter references. Email exchanges with supervisor. 
  • Regular informal contacts with research staff with overlapping interests.
  • Training in critical evaluation of published work, and locating the edge of current  knowledge. 
  • How to distinguish 'I don't understand this' from ' the answer is not known',  leading to the identification of an important unsolved problem. 
  • Scientific writing: constructive feedback and improvement. 
  • Training in project design and formulation of hypothesis in close consultation with  supervisor - on-line guidelines. 

  Knowledge and understanding

  On completion of this Unit the student should be able to:

  • identify and isolate basic scientific, translational, clinical, (and where relevant) epidemiological, demographic and social elements of their research problem
  • undertake background work to provide themselves with the intellectual foundations for a full understanding of their chosen area, especially where interdisciplinarity demands a wider frame of reference than former training might have required
  • report on the current status of research in a chosen area 

  Intellectual skills

  On completion of this Unit the student should be able to:

  • identify and isolate basic scientific, translational, clinical, (and where relevant) epidemiological, demographic and social elements of their research problem
  • undertake background work to provide themselves with the intellectual foundations for a full understanding of their chosen area, especially where interdisciplinarity demands a wider frame of reference than former training might have required
  • report on the current status of research in a chosen area 

  Practical skills

  On completion of this Unit the student should be able to:

  • use effective word processing
  • use library, electronic and online resources
  • use reference manager software
  • develop appropriate illustrative materials for a report

  Transferable skills and personal qualities

  On completion of this Unit the student should be able to:

  • to improve their own learning through planning, monitoring, critical reflection, evaluation and altering strategies
  • to use word processing, database, spreadsheet and presentation software and the Internet
  • independently gather, sift, synthesise and organise material from various sources (including library, electronic and online resources), and critically evaluate its significance.
  • make a written presentation using language appropriate to a specialist readership
  • collect and integrate evidence to formulate and test a research hypothesis

  Employability skills

  Analytical skills

  Critical Evaluation

  Research

  Experience of devising and preparing research proposals

  Assessment methods

  Method	Weight
  Other	50%
  Dissertation	50%

  The literature review and research proposal are equally weighted and both contribute 50% towards the final mark for this unit.

  Feedback methods

  Formative feedback is provided by a supervisor for both the literature review and research  proposal on: 

  • a detailed plan 
  • a few-page excerpt of the report for academic writing style 

  Submitted reports will be annotated by assessors and detailed feedback given on the marksheet. 

  Recommended reading

  Students will receive starter references relevant to their research projects from their Supervisor(s).

  Study hours

  Independent study hours
  Independent study	300

  Teaching staff

  Staff member	Role
  Andreas Prokop	Unit coordinator
  Janine Lamb	Unit coordinator
  John Curtin	Unit coordinator
  Guoqing Xia	Unit coordinator
  Joe Swift	Unit coordinator