BSc Cognitive Neuroscience and Psychology with Industrial/Professional Experience / Course details

Our BSc Cognitive Neuroscience and Psychology with Industrial/Professional Experience course will enable you to gain experience of the workplace on a year-long placement during your degree, making you more attractive to potential employers after graduation.

The course combines major topics in experimental psychology and neuroscience to offer a broad grounding in this exciting field of behavioural science.

The psychology component covers topics such as:

• how humans and animals think (cognitive processes);
• how the world is sensed (perception);
• comparative and developmental studies;
• abnormal psychology.

The neuroscience component of the course covers topics such as:

• animal behaviour;
• learning and memory;
• the action of drugs on the nervous system;
• how humans and animals sense and respond to their environment.

In Year 3, you will have the opportunity to go on a placement with one of our `trusted partner' organisations in the UK or abroad.  Alternatively, you can choose to arrange your own placement (subject to approval from the School of Biological Sciences).

Placements range from research project work to roles in education, the biotechnology industry and science communication.

Our degree is  accredited by the British Psychological Society  (BPS), which means as well as providing a solid foundation for a career in biological sciences, it constitutes your first step towards professional chartered psychologist status.

The course also has Advanced Accreditation from the  Royal Society of Biology , which recognises academic excellence in the biosciences and highlights degrees that educate the research and development leaders and innovators of the future.

BPS and RSB accreditation

This degree is accredited by the British Psychological Society and the Royal Society of Biology.

A range of study options available

You can extend your degree by a year to undertake an  integrated master's  or gain  industrial/professional experience .

Foundation year available

You can prepare for the full degree course if you do not have the appropriate qualifications for direct entry by undertaking our  foundation course  first.

You will benefit from a wide range of teaching and learning methods that suit the content and aims of each course unit.

These range from lectures and tutorials to practicals and research projects, including the  final year project .

Find out more about how you will learn and see a typical Year 1 timetable on our  teaching and learning  page.

Assessment methods vary widely to suit the nature of the course unit and each level of study.

• Lecture units are usually assessed by written exam (multiple choice or essay-based), which are held at the end of an academic semester in either January or May/June.
• Field courses are usually assessed via oral and written presentations, group work and/or projects.
• Practical units are usually assessed by experimental report and/or short written assignment and/or written exam.
• The proportion of independent study assignments increases during each year of study.

Year 1

Lecture units are usually assessed by e-learning activities during the unit and multiple choice exams at the end of the semester. Year 1 contributes 10% to your overall degree mark.

Year 2

Lecture units are usually assessed by essay-based exam.Year 2 contributes 30% to your overall degree mark.

Placement year

You will write a scientific placement report, which is submitted and assessed when you return to University in your final year. The mark for the report, and the associated viva voce oral examination, contribute approximately 10% towards your overall degree mark.

Final year

Lecture units are usually assessed by essay-based exam. Students also take an honours paper: this is a degree programme-specific examination comprising data-handling and interpretation.

A significant part of the year (accounting for one-quarter of the overall degree mark) is the project, which is assessed by literature review and a written report.

The final year contributes 60% to your overall degree mark.

Find out more about what it's like to study at Manchester on the  Biology, Medicine and Health Student Blog .

Learning facilities

Our modern teaching labs are equipped for a range of biological and biomedical techniques. The following are just a few of the techniques you could undertake during your degree:

• polymerase chain reaction (PCR);
• DNA sequencing;
• gel electrophoresis;
• spectrophotometry;
• dissection and histology;
• electroencephalography (EEG) and electrocardiography (ECG);
• galvanic skin response (GSR);
• virtual reality;
• transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS);
• eye-tracking during scene perception and reading.

Our computing facilities include access to over 200 PCs in dedicated clusters and e-learning tools including online lecture notes, discussion boards, lecture podcasts and quizzes.

You will also have access to the University's other facilities for undergraduate students.

Research facilities

As a final year student, you have the opportunity to undertake a project in the labs of our world-class bioscience researchers.To support our research, we have extensive research facilities equipped with high-quality technology.