BSc Immunology with Industrial/Professional Experience / Course details

Immunology is a highly dynamic field that impacts topical and emerging issues within both the biomedical and biological science disciplines.

Our BSc Immunology with Industrial/Professional Experience course will see you learn about the components, principles and mechanisms of a healthy immune system, and how they co-ordinate to mount safe and appropriate protection against infection. The course will also 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.

During your studies you will establish how the immune system can distinguish between healthy and damaged self and identify dangerous non-self, how it can tune responses to protect against different types of infectious agents and how responses vary when these agents are encountered in different anatomical sites, such as in the skin, gut and lung.

In addition to establishing the workings of a healthy immune system, the course will also address what underlies situations of inappropriate or insufficient immunity, such as allergy, autoimmunity and immune deficiency. Other topics include the current and emerging use of immune molecules in diagnostic and clinical intervention strategies, including therapeutic manipulation of the immune system for cancer treatment, vaccine development and transplant tolerance.

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.

The flexible, modular nature of our course means you can follow special interests within the broader topic while you build your core subject-specific knowledge. 

Our course 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.

A range of study options

This course is available as an integrated master's , with industrial/professional experience , with entrepreneurship or with a modern language .

It is 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.

Study abroad

Industry placements are available at home and abroad where you can use your subject skills in a range of ways including innovation work, biotech and marketing.

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 courses at the end of your first year or, in some cases, later.

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.
• 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 a combination of coursework during the unit and essay-based exam at the end of the semester.

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.

You will be marked out of 110% for your whole degree. 

Final year

Lecture units are usually assessed by essay-based exam. You will also take two degree programme specific honours exam papers: a synoptic essay paper and a critical analysis problem paper.

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.

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, biomedical and immunological 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;
• enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA);
• histology;
• immunofluorescence microscopy;
• fluorescence activated cell separation (FACS).

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 immunology researchers. To support our research, we have extensive research facilities equipped with high-quality technology.