Biotechnology and Biodesign MRes

Please rest assured we make all reasonable efforts to provide you with the programmes, services and facilities described. However, it may be necessary to make changes due to significant disruption, for example in response to Covid-19.

View our Academic experience page, which gives information about your Newcastle University study experience for the academic year 2023-24.

See our terms and conditions and student complaints information, which gives details of circumstances that may lead to changes to programmes, modules or University services.

Module information is intended to provide an example of what you will study.

Our teaching is informed by research. Course content changes periodically to reflect developments in the discipline, the requirements of external bodies and partners, and student feedback.

Full details of the modules on offer will be published through the Programme Regulations and Specifications ahead of each academic year. This usually happens in May.

Optional modules availability

Some courses have optional modules. Student demand for optional modules may affect availability.

To find out more please see our terms and conditions.

The course is delivered through a variety of teaching methods including:

• lectures
• seminars
• computer workshops
• computer-based and problem-solving exercises

You'll complete the 12-month long course between September and August the following year. It consists of two strands:

• a taught component, which runs from late September until the end of March
• a project, for which a dissertation is submitted by the end of August

You'll develop and complete independent research within the framework of the Biodesign cycle of ‘Design, Build, Test, Learn’.

Depending on your modules, you'll be assessed through a combination of:

• Case study
• Dissertation
• Lab exercise
• Professional skills assessments
• Oral examination
• Oral presentation
• Practical lab report
• Problem-solving exercises
• Report
• Research proposal
• Written examination
• Written exercise

Our mission is to help you:

• stay healthy, positive and feeling well
• overcome any challenges you may face during your degree – academic or personal
• get the most out of your postgraduate research experience
• carry out admin and activities essential to progressing through your degree
• understand postgraduate research processes, standards and rules

We can offer you tailored wellbeing support, courses and activities.

You can also access a broad range of workshops covering:

• research and professional skills
• careers support
• wellbeing
• health and safety
• public engagement
• academic development

You'll be taught and mentored by academics from both the:

• Plant and Microbial Biology research group in the School of Natural and Environmental Sciences
• Experimental Architecture Group in the School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape

Our research interests range from:

• natural product and antimicrobial discovery
• cell-free synthetic biology
• molecular diagnostics
• protein and enzyme engineering
• bioinspired materials and living buildings
• plant productivity improvement

Our researchers regularly publish in high-impact general science and specialised journals. They also hold research funding from the main UK research councils, including:

• EPSRC
• BBSRC

Our research groups have strong industrial links and global research collaborations.

From 1 January 2021 there is an update to the way professional qualifications are recognised by countries outside of the UK

Check the government’s website for more information.

If your studies last longer than one year, your tuition fee may increase in line with inflation.

Depending on your residency history, if you’re a student from the EU, other EEA or a Swiss national, with settled or pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme, you’ll normally pay the ‘Home’ tuition fee rate and may be eligible for Student Finance England support.

EU students without settled or pre-settled status will normally be charged fees at the ‘International’ rate and will not be eligible for Student Finance England support.

If you are unsure of your fee status, check out the latest guidance here.

Scholarships

We support our EU and international students by providing a generous range of Vice-Chancellor's automatic and merit-based scholarships. See our searchable postgraduate funding page for more information. 

If you are an international student or a student from the EU, EEA or Switzerland and you need a visa to study in the UK, you may have to pay a deposit.

You can check this in the How to apply section.

If you're applying for funding, always check the funding application deadline. This deadline may be earlier than the application deadline for your course.

For some funding schemes, you need to have received an offer of a place on a course before you can apply for the funding.