How to Make a Brain - course unit details - BSc Biology with Industrial/Professional Experience - full details (2025 entry)

Duration: 4 years
Year of entry: 2025
UCAS course code: C101 / Institution code: M20

Key features:
Industrial experience
Field trips
Accredited course

Typical A-level offer: AAA-AAB including specific subjects
Typical contextual A-level offer: AAB-ABC including specific subjects
Refugee/care-experienced offer: ABB-ABC including specific subjects
Typical International Baccalaureate offer: 36-35 points overall with 6,6,6 to 6,6,5 at HL, including specific requirements

Full entry requirements How to apply

Meet us

Discover if Manchester is right for you with an online or in-person meeting.

Learn more

Manchester experience

We offer world-class teaching and exciting opportunities to shape your future.

Discover

Discover more about Biosciences at Manchester

Discover

Fees and funding

Fees

Tuition fees for home students commencing their studies in September 2025 will be £9,535 per annum (subject to Parliamentary approval). Tuition fees for international students will be £34,500 per annum. For general information please see the undergraduate finance pages.

Tuition fees are considerably lower for your placement year. Please see the fees page for full details.

Additional expenses

Additional expenses could include UK or foreign field trips. These are subsidised by the University but you still need to contribute to the cost of the field course if you choose to go. Costs vary depending on the destination. Free, UK-based field trip options are available. For more information, visit the course unit page.

Policy on additional costs

All students should normally be able to complete their programme of study without incurring additional study costs over and above the tuition fee for that programme. Any unavoidable additional compulsory costs totalling more than 1% of the annual home undergraduate fee per annum, regardless of whether the programme in question is undergraduate or postgraduate taught, will be made clear to you at the point of application. Further information can be found in the University's Policy on additional costs incurred by students on undergraduate and postgraduate taught programmes (PDF document, 91KB).

Scholarships/sponsorships

Students participating in placements outside the UK may be able to apply for funding from the UK's Turing scheme depending on eligibility. Priority will be given to students from low income households.

Course unit details:
How to Make a Brain

Course unit fact file
Unit code	BIOL21451
Credit rating	10
Unit level	Level 2
Teaching period(s)	Semester 1
Available as a free choice unit?	No

Overview

Initial lectures will cover comparative anatomy of nervous systems in model organisms before focussing on the human. The ascending (spinothalamic) and descending (corticospinal) pathways will be explained before moving on to anatomy of the brain. This will lead on to lectures that provide a step-by-step explanation as to how these structures are constructed from neural induction through to the formation of functional circuits. Later lectures will cover the importance of plasticity in relation to early sensory experience and the role of stress in epigenetic shaping of post-natal brain.

Pre/co-requisites

Unit title	Unit code	Requirement type	Description
Excitable Cells: the Foundations of Neuroscience	BIOL10832	Pre-Requisite	Compulsory

BIOL10832 Excitable Cells is mandatory pre-requisite for BIOL21451 How to Make a Brain

Aims

The unit aims to: teach students about basic neuroanatomy in model organisms and humans. The majority of lectures will focus on how the anatomy of the nervous system is established during development and will include the latest knowledge on neural stem cells and how they might be used to help fix the brain when it is broken. The unit will also explain the relationship between the central, peripheral and autonomic nervous systems and the many roles that astrocytes play in helping to maintain a healthy brain.

Learning outcomes

Category of outcome	Students should/will be able to:
Knowledge and understanding	Explain the main anatomical divisions of the brain. Understand how different regions of the brain are formed. Explain the main mechanisms that shape brain development. Describe the main steps involved in generating a functional human brain from initial induction through to the generation of functional circuits. Explain the role of glial cells in brain function and maintenance. Appreciate the role of stem cells during brain development and in brain research and therapy. Explain the role of perinatal environmental stimuli in shaping the developing brain.
Intellectual skills	The study of brain development led to the discovery of many of the basic cellular mechanisms known to operate throughout the body. This unit will therefore provide students with knowledge of key mechanisms that have wider application throughout biology and beyond. They should therefore be able to apply knowledge from this unit to other biological systems.
Practical skills	N/A
Transferable skills and personal qualities	Components of this unit are designed to test the student’s ability to quickly locate information and participate in group discussions to formulate a consensus opinion. Students will therefore gain confidence in using evidence to support self-constructed arguments: skills that are essential in any job setting.

Teaching and learning methods

This unit will consist of online modules and blended live sessions after each learning block.

Knowledge and understanding

Students should be able to:

- Explain the main anatomical divisions of the brain.

- Understand how the different regions of the brain develop.

- Explain the main mechanisms that shape the brain.

- Describe the main steps involved in generating a functional human brain from initial induction through to the generation of functional circuits.

- Explain the role of glial cells in brain function and maintenance.

- Appreciate the role of stem cells during brain development and in brain research and therapy.

- Explain the role of perinatal environmental stimuli in shaping the developing brain.

Intellectual skills

The study of brain development led to the discovery of many of the basic cellular mechanisms that are now known to operate throughout the body. This unit will therefore provide students with knowledge of mechanisms that have wider application throughout biology and beyond. They should therefore be able to apply knowledge from this unit to other biological systems.

Transferable skills and personal qualities

Components of this unit are designed to test a student’s ability to locate information and participate in group discussion to formulate a consensus opinion. Students will therefore gain confidence in using evidence to support self-directed learning.

Assessment methods

Method	Weight
Other	25%
Written exam	75%

Coursework 25%

MCQs, test in teaching week 12.

Examination 75%

Section A 25%- fill-in-the blanks

Section B 50%- (1 essay). Feedback provided after exam results are released.

Feedback methods

Feedback for the online tests is automated and will be provided after each test closes. The blackboard online discussion board will be used for specific questions so that all students and staff can view and comment on these. Alternatively, students can e-mail staff directly and the question will be transferred to the discussion board, anonymously, along with the answer. There will be a feedback session after the exam.

Study hours

Scheduled activity hours
Lectures	22

Independent study hours
Independent study	78

Teaching staff

Staff member	Role
Nicholas Glossop	Unit coordinator

Return to course details

BSc Biology with Industrial/Professional Experience