BSc Biotechnology

Our BSc Biotechnology course will enable you to learn about the science behind biotechnology while also looking at how to succeed in a career in the industry.

You will learn how new start-up biotechnology companies are created, as well as about exploring the market potential of products and processes, creating business plans and raising money from venture capitalists.

Our group enterprise projects, which involve close collaboration with entrepreneurs, provide a great opportunity for you to stand out from other graduates.

This course is designed to produce graduates who have a comprehensive understanding of science, technology and business management, along with the entrepreneurial skills required to exploit technological advances within a competitive environment.

A range of study options

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

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 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 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 career options available with a Biotechnology course had a massive impact on helping me choose it. It's a new and modern course with lots of prospects for the future. I am planning to take a placement year next year and I hope to obtain new biological and life skills. Getting first-hand experience in a working environment will make me more employable and able to see if the sector I work in is the right one for me. 

Alex Palmer

Our lab modules are very helpful and stimulating. We have to design our own experiments instead of just following the lab manual. My course also has some interesting entrepreneurial units and my favourite assignment so far has been creating an invention and acting as an entrepreneur presenting it to a small audience.

Nida Asnida Baharin Md Daud

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.