BSc Medical Biochemistry / Course details

Our BSc Medical Biochemistry course looks at the functioning of normal and diseased organisms from a biochemical point of view.

You will receive a fundamental grounding in the principles of biochemistry, such as protein structure and function.

As you progress, optional course units may show you how biochemistry allows us to understand and treat diseases. Subject areas include the molecular biology of cancer, cell cycle control and genetic diseases.

This course is designed for biochemists considering a career in research into the biochemical basis of disease and therapeutic medicine.

Excellent career prospects

90% of our graduates go into work or further study within six months of achieving their BSc.

A range of study options

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

It may also be possible to broaden your degree by taking units from the University College , Business and Management for all Programmes or the University Centre for Academic English in exchange for a few units from your degree.

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.

Flexibility to transfer between courses

You can transfer between most of our bioscience degree courses at the end of your first year or, in some cases, later. You can only transfer onto this course if you have completed the required chemistry units in Year 1.

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 practical 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.
• 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, and some units also include a coursework element. Year 2 contributes 30% to your overall degree mark.

Final year

Lecture units are usually assessed by essay-based exam. Students also take two honours papers: degree programme-specific examinations comprising essays and data-handling problems.

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

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

The choice of units we get is astounding. These units all tend to have some sort of applicability towards a clinical setting and allow you to get a degree which is really finely honed in a certain field of biology.

I'm looking forward to taking the Molecular Biology of Cancer lecture unit, as I wrote my dissertation on this subject and found it interesting. I never thought I'd be able to enjoy writing a ten-page essay!

Dom Trewartha

I enjoyed the variety of modules we were able to take in Year 1, as it gave us a broad understanding in different fields of biology.

The tutorials were my favourite part of the course because the topic of discussion was very specific to my course and I enjoyed how it challenged me to think and learn in different ways.

Courtney Thwaites

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)
• immunofluorescence microscopy.

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.