PhD in Biochemistry

Students are based in a research group and undertake a research project agreed with the principal investigator (supervisor). Each student also has additional mentorship support from an advisor and a Postgraduate Thesis Panel.  Although there is no formal, examined coursework, the student's progress is assessed at various stages. The most important of these is the First-Year Assessment which comprises the submission of a thesis report and an oral examination, assessed by two examiners. Registration for a PhD is only possible following a satisfactory outcome from the First-Year Assessment. In their second year, students present their research work in poster form. In the third year, students present their work in a talk given to the whole Department.
The PhD degree in Biochemistry is designed to train students to be effective research scientists.  In addition to developing deep knowledge of a subject area and a broader understanding of the relevant field, students will develop skills in:

• identifying experimentally answerable scientific questions and assessing the value of these questions to both science and society
• designing and executing experiments that test these scientific questions
• analysing and interpreting experimental data
• presenting the aims and outcomes of scientific research in both written and oral form
• sourcing, assessing and critically evaluating scientific literature
• time, data and resource management
• collaborative and interpersonal professional behaviour

Many of these skills will be acquired within the student’s research group. Other skills will be developed outside their research group: at the beginning of their first year, students attend an in-house training course of lectures and workshops, and can subsequently continue their training in many areas, choosing from the wide range of courses available within the Postgraduate School of Life Sciences and the University.  Students will also belong to a Peer Research Group, composed of other postgraduate students, within which workshops, student research projects, and scientific literature are presented and discussed.