MRes Biosciences and Social Justice
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Medical Sciences
Start date
September 2023
Attendance
Full time 1 year, part time 2 years
Learning mode
On campus
Course Summary
Do you want to make a difference in clinical research? Challenge inequalities and injustice linked to our current knowledge of biology, race and ethnicity? Find solutions that make life better for everyone?
Do you want to develop high-level research skills relevant to bioscience? Are you considering a career in a clinical research role?
This programme brings together specialist research skills with training in research advocacy and using research for social justice aims. The course is designed to build strategies and structures to challenge and survive the structural inequalities in society, including in universities research environments.
What makes this course different
Change the world
Learn how to change the world through research.
Widen your career opportunities
Your skills will open doors to working in industry, public services and community settings.
Work with experts
Work with world-class researchers in Social Sciences, Biosciences, Creative Arts and Business.
How you'll learn
You will be taught by a range of staff, all leading researchers in their fields.
Guided independent study
When not attending timetabled classes, you will be expected to pursue your learning independently through self-directed study, including through guided reading, construction of research briefings, planning social media and mainstream media campaigns, review reports.
Academic support
Our academic support team is there to support you in every aspect of your course, from training in advanced academic writing to support with your wellbeing and assessments and support for additional needs.
Dedicated personal tutor
You will be assigned an academic adviser who will be your point of contact throughout the programme.
Workload
Across the programme, you will spend around 135 hours of scheduled contact time with an academic member of staff. This will include lectures, workshops, seminars and individual and group tutorials. Contact hours may vary for each module. As a full-time research student, the MRes demands considerable independent study and research, amounting to around 1600 hours. Much of your timetable will be shaped by your own research project. You will be required to attend a four-hour core module session each week in terms one, two and three. In addition, you will have regular meetings and workshops with tutors and your research supervisor. Timetables for part-time students will reflect modules selected in each year. Modules will take place sometime between the hours of 9am-6pm.
Your timetable
As a full-time research student, much of your timetable will be shaped by your own research project. You will be required to attend a four-hour core module session each week in terms one, two and three. In addition, you will have regular meetings and workshops with tutors and your research supervisor. Timetables for part-time students will reflect modules selected in each year.
Class sizes
To give you an indication of class sizes, this course normally attracts 20 students a year. Some activities such as lectures will include the whole cohort of students, in addition to one-to-one supervision for research project work.
What you'll learn
This programme will offer a high level and distinctive training experience for excellent researchers wishing to leverage their research talents to create impact and positive social change. All students will undertake:
- A cross-disciplinary course embedding research advocacy in research training, developing tools to navigate higher education institutions;
- A collective reading group to develop a broad-ranging understanding of the histories and impacts of how and why there are so many inequalities in clinical research and health outcomes;
- Specialist research training in a relevant area of bioscience;
- Independent research project addressing a real-world problem.
All students will have access to:
- a world-class research training in their disciplinary area
- an interdisciplinary programme of additional enhancement, including master-classes with high-profile influencers from the broader research landscape, guest speakers reflecting on the political and cultural significance of creating an anti-racist research community, one-to-one career planning
- an opportunity to contribute to an outreach programme building awareness of the potential real-world impact of research careers with undergraduate cohorts.
How you'll be assessed
The approximate percentages for this course are:
- 100% coursework
This will include briefings, social media campaigns, research overviews, original research projects.
You will receive detailed feedback on coursework, including one-to-one meetings to discuss drafts and identify strengths and areas for improvement.
We aim to provide feedback on coursework within 20 working days.
Fees and funding
- UK full time £10,800
- UK part-time £5,400
- International full time £15,340
- International part-time £7,670 (up to £4,000 for bench fees dependent on research project)
UEL offers a number of partial and complete fee waivers for this programme. Waivers will be allocated on a competitive basis.
Modules
- Core 1 - Research advocacy and social justice (30 credits)
- Core 2 - Experimental Techniques and Laboratory Practice (30 credits)
- Core 3 - MRes Social Justice research project (120 credits)
Your future career
The programme is designed to prepare students to undertake high-level research in their area of disciplinary specialism, and to tailor research to relevant research audiences including co-production with research users. Programme graduates will have compiled a portfolio of work that demonstrates their ability to tailor research to organisational needs and communicate research processes and outcomes effectively to a wide range of audiences.
Explore the different career options you can pursue with this degree and see the median salaries of the sector on our Career Coach portal.
Who teaches on this course
What we're researching
Students will be attached to one of our active research groups. The Medicines Research Group has grown significantly over the years with multidisciplinary research expertise in drug discovery and development, chemistry, phytochemistry, pharmacology, toxicology, microbiology and biopharmaceuticals. The group has developed strong collaborative links with many universities and research institutes within the UK and also internationally in China, India, Bangladesh, Brazil, Mexico, Nigeria and Ghana. In collaboration with our partners, we regularly host research meetings and symposiums and also have organised several international research workshops.
The Infection and Immunity Research Group provides a forum supporting a broad range of related research areas recognised both nationally and internationally. This in turn has resulted in several fruitful collaborative links with prestigious institutions around the globe. Through working as a research-oriented group, we provide a scientifically stimulating environment to enhance and benefit the experience of our post-graduate research students.
Our focus is primarily elucidation of the mechanisms that underpin the development of the immune system and the function of the immune response at both cellular and acellular levels. Investigation of potential virulence factors and other mechanisms utilised by pathogens compared to their less virulent environmental counterparts. Assessment of interactions between host and pathogens that might influence clinical consequences or likelihood of infection.