MClin Res Clinical Research / Course details

Our MClin Res Clinical Research course is aimed at health professionals and others working in a health setting who want to develop careers in clinical research, clinical and academic practice, or academic research with a strong clinical/healthcare practice component.

You will develop in-depth knowledge of the theoretical underpinnings of research and skills in research methods relevant to applied research in a range of contemporary health and social care settings.

The course is mainly delivered online, but is complemented by two compulsory four-day campus-based introductory and winter study schools, and one mid-semester study day in Semesters 1 and 2.

Most of the units that make up this course are shared with other students on master's and PhD programmes at Manchester.

Please note this course is not designed to develop the knowledge and skills for a laboratory-based research career.

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.

Our course has been designed to provide health professionals and others working in a health setting with the skills needed to conduct and manage research in health and social care settings, and to develop careers in clinical research, clinical and academic practice, or academic research with a strong clinical/healthcare practice component.

The aims of the course are to:

• enable you to further develop systematic, in-depth knowledge and critical understanding of the nature, purposes, methods and application of research relevant to clinical/health care practice at an individual and/or organisational level;
• contribute to building capacity and capability for research and evidence-based practice by equipping you with in-depth knowledge and essential skills to critically appraise, apply, design and undertake high quality research in a range of clinical/health care settings;
• enhance the quality and evidence base for clinical research, practice and service development through the provision of robust research training in a stimulating, challenging and supportive learning environment that draws on outstanding resources and research and practice expertise;
• promote lifelong learning in students and enhance opportunities to pursue a variety of research careers and/or further research training which support and advance clinical knowledge, research and practice;
• equip you with key transferable skills in critical reasoning and reflection, effective communication, team and multi-disciplinary working, use of IT/health informatics, logical and systematic approaches to problem-solving and decision-making.

Interdisciplinary learning

You will learn from renowned lecturers and practitioners from various disciplines including nursing, midwifery, physiotherapy, social work, speech and language therapy, audiology, psychology, and medicine.

Strong collaborations

We have strong links with other courses at Manchester and with experts from Health Innovation Manchester .

Learn using real research projects

You will learn from academics who use their own research projects to demonstrate different approaches to research, with some studies being examined in depth to look at the different stages of the research process.

The course content is primarily delivered online, giving you more flexibility over how you learn. You will also attend two three-day introductory and winter study schools and one mid-semester study days, allowing you to learn face-to-face and meet other students and staff at Manchester.

We use digital technology to ensure our supervision of and communications with students meet the high standards required for the learning process to work. This includes:

• individual and group web-based audio-visual tutorials;
• web-based collaboration areas and discussion boards
• shared digital documents;
• online, phone and face-to-face support from supervisors and academic advisors;
• peer support through course-specific discussion boards and face-to-face meetings.

Find out more about postgraduate teaching and learning at Manchester.

We will assess your progress using a variety of summative assessment methods that enable the integration of theory and practice. They also build on the continuous formative assessment exercises that come with each individual unit, which include interactive, stimulating online exercises with regular self-assessment and feedback.

We are based in Jean McFarlane Building, which houses seminar rooms, IT facilities, clinical and interpersonal skills laboratories, and lecture theatres.

The University of Manchester also offers extensive library and online services to help you get the most out of your studies.