Program Overview

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From cancer-screening to blood transfusions, from infections to genetic diseases, biomedical scientists research the causes and diagnosis of diseases and the effectiveness of the medicines that cure them. Our multidisciplinary approach means you learn skills that are at the forefront of advances in medical research. Our MSci Biomedical Science is an Integrated Masters course that will open the door to a broad range of international career opportunities in this rapidly growing field. We’ll equip you with an understanding of the molecular principles that underlie biochemical reactions and biomedical processes. You’ll explore methods and research techniques that will enable you to understand and analyse current real-world biomedical problems and suggest solutions as well as hands-on practical experience in modern research. Topics include:

• Structural biology
• Drug discovery
• Genomics
• Data analytics

At Essex, you’ll have the opportunity to handle and interpret quantitative data and carry out desk or laboratory-based research. You’ll be equipped with the key skills required for careers in biomedical science with an integrated understanding of biological, biochemical and molecular processes. We aim to provide you with an understanding of the multidisciplinary approaches to studying human disease and give advanced research skills that will enable a future career in the biomedical sciences sector. Your study areas include:

• The human immune system
• Pathogenic and non-pathogenic bacteria
• Haematology and blood transfusion
• Cell pathology
• Mechanisms of neurological diseases

With our Integrated Masters you’ll be able to fast track your degree and complete your final year in nine months compared to a regular MSc which usually takes twelve months. The course will cover key skills in biomedical science and provide you with the knowledge, understanding and hands-on experience required in this rapidly growing area of technology. When you combine your undergraduate and postgraduate study in one degree you’ll be equipped with a strong theoretical background, specialist expertise through independent research and practical insights into current commercial applications. These include structural biology, drug discovery, genomics and data analytics. This combination makes graduates from our course attractive candidates for many employers. Visit our biomedical science subject page for more information and content. Covid-19 vaccinations As you may be aware, the UK Government has revoked legislation that requires all health and social care staff working in sites regulated by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) in England to be fully vaccinated against Covid-19. Whilst vaccination is not essential, we encourage our applicants and students to be fully vaccinated. Find out more about what this means for applicants to this course. Why we're great.

• We are the top university in the country for providing NHS placements as part of our applied biomedical science course. Gain fast-track career progression within the NHS.
• Local NHS practitioners contribute to teaching, giving you real-world insight and experience.
• Take advantage of our ultramodern biomedical science facilities in our STEM Centre on campus.

Study abroad

Your education extends beyond the university campus. We support you in expanding your education through offering the opportunity to spend a year or a term studying abroad at one of our partner universities. The five-year version of our Integrated Masters allows you to spend the third year abroad or employed on a placement abroad, while otherwise remaining identical to the four-year Integrated Masters. Studying abroad allows you to experience other cultures and languages, to broaden your degree socially and academically, and to demonstrate to employers that you are mature, adaptable, and organised. If you spend a full year abroad you'll only pay 15% of your usual tuition fee to Essex for that year. You won't pay any tuition fees to your host university

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Placement year

You can spend your third year on a placement year with another external organisation. This is usually focused around your course, and enables you to learn about a particular sector, company or job role, apply your academic knowledge in a practical working environment, and receive inspiration for future career pathways. Organisations our students have recently been placed with include GlaxoSmithKline, Proctor & Gamble, Aquaterra, Astrazeneca, Genzyme, Reckitt Benckiser, Thermofisher, and Isogenica. If you complete a placement year you'll only pay 20% of your usual tuition fee to Essex for that year. Our first-year students will have the opportunity to participate in the Science Week at Public Health England (PHE) in Colindale. We have fantastic collaboration with several hospitals in the Eastern Region and beyond, and part of this collaboration is to send all of our second-year students to visit hospitals to have a clear picture about the biomedical science profession. Our final-year undergraduate students have the opportunity to participate in our Employability Day at Essex, and also contribute to the IBMS Congress. Many students choose to study biomedical science because they want to work in a biomedical sciences lab. Although there are plenty of private labs who can hire graduates, the NHS is by far the largest employer of biomedical scientists in the UK. To work full-time in an NHS lab, you will require both accreditation from the IBMS and NHS lab experience. Our biomedical sciences courses are accredited, and we will provide you with a huge range of placement options (at around 40 different partner labs). If you graduate without the addition of the placement year that we offer, you will need to make up that experience before you can work as a fully qualified biomedical scientist in the NHS. It is therefore a really important component and internationally recognised. There are 44 universities in the UK that offer work-based placements, including the University of Essex. Between 2020-2022, the number of students who went on placement from all of these universities was 181, 180 and 176 respectively. This means that Essex’s contribution was 18% (32/181) in 2020, 19% (34/180) in 2021 and 18% (31/176) in 2022 (IBMS 2023). As a result, we are the largest contributor of biomedical science students on placement in the country.

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Our expert staff

As one of the largest schools at our University, we offer a lively, friendly and supportive environment with research-led study and high quality teaching, where you will learn from and work alongside our expert staff. Our research covers a wide spectrum of biology – from the cell right through to communities and ecosystems. Key academic staff for this course includes Dr Selwa Alsam , the ‘Champion of Biomedical Science in East Anglia', who is researching hospital-related infections and human microbial diseases including MRSA, wound infections and infection control. Dr Alsam is also the course director for BSc Biomedical Science. The University of Essex has a Women's Network to support female staff and students, and our School was awarded the Athena Swan Silver Award in October 2020, which reflects the work carried out by staff in our School to continue to improve equality, including a mentorship scheme, support for postdoctoral research staff, and financial help towards childcare costs for academics who wish to attend conferences.

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Specialist facilities

Recent spending by our University has allowed for major refurbishment and expansion of our School of Life Sciences , including:

• Work in an open and friendly department, with shared staff-student social spaces
• State-of-the-art research facilities, from protein crystallisation robots, protein over-production facilities, to CO 2 incubators, to cell imaging microscopes
• Teaching facilities including new undergraduate laboratories
• Learn to use state-of-the-art equipment

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Your future

You graduate ready to move into a wide variety of industrial and public sector careers , from the NHS to pharmaceuticals, research, health and safety, teaching. Our students have gone on to work in a number of laboratory-based roles in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries, and in hospitals, clinics and healthcare companies. Others have gone on to work in sales, publishing and management, while others still have chosen to enhance their career opportunities by studying for PhD degrees. We also work with our University's Student Development Team to help you find out about further work experience, internships, placements, and voluntary opportunities.