BSc Immunology with a Modern Language / 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 a Modern Language 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, alongside development of your modern language skills.

During your studies you will establish how the immune system can distinguish between healthy and damaged self and identify dangerous non-self targets, 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.

The flexible, modular nature of our course means you can follow special interests within this broad topic at the same time as you build your core subject-specific knowledge.

We are a core centre for immunology research in the UK and, as such, a range of world-leading lab options are available for you to explore for project work.

We offer French, German, Italian, Spanish, Japanese and Mandarin for the language component of the course, which includes a year abroad on a research placement.

Our course has provisional 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.

Connect with other languages students

Learn alongside other students taking a variety of language degrees at the University, giving you the opportunity to practise your skills with your fellow students and make new friends.

Study abroad

Placements are available at 20 universities throughout Europe and in China and Japan.

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 language units in Year 1.

The course consists of two-thirds of biological sciences learning and one-third modern language learning. You will learn your modern language alongside other students taking a variety of language degrees at the University.

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 complete a scientific report and undergo an oral examination on your research that contributes approximately 10% to your overall degree mark.

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

Year 4

Lecture units are usually assessed by essay-based exam. You will also take two degree 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.

Year 4 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;
• 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.