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Biology (Biomedical & Molecular) (Top-up) BSc(Hons)

2025-26

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Start date

22 September 2025

Duration

1 year full-time

Places available (subject to change)

10

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About the course

Reasons to study

  1. As a student you will be eligible for student undergraduate Associate Membership of the Biochemical Society.
  2. Plenty of support available to to help you get ahead in your studies and social life.
  3. You will have the ability to express relevant biological reactions in chemical terms.

This top-up year will build upon core skills and knowledge you will have acquired in your prior study including the ability to understand and manipulate numerical data and carry out field or laboratory investigations of living systems in a responsible, safe and ethical manner.you should have knowledge of the structure and function of various types of cells in unicellular and multicellular organisms, the structure and function of cell membranes and cell differentiation.

You will also have the ability to express relevant biological reactions in chemical terms along with being able to explain the chemistry and structure of the major biological macromolecules and how that determines their biological properties. You will also be able to describe cell metabolism, including the main anabolic and catabolic pathways, along with the ability to describe protein structures and functions and their control mechanisms.

Course detail

Applied Molecular Genetics

This module provides an in-depth description of many of the current applications of molecular genetics and will begin with a description of vectors and their uses in recombinant DNA technology. Practical considerations for cloning, PCR and site-directed mutagenesis techniques will then be covered. The application of modern molecular biological techniques for medical research, the production of pharmaceuticals, the generation of transgenic organisms, genome engineering (e.g. CRISPR), methods for silencing expression of genes and protein engineering will be described with illustrations of current research in these areas. This will be followed by a description of techniques to improve plants by genetic manipulation. Tutorials will reinforce salient points in lectures and develop problem solving and investigative skills, (e.g. characterisation of genetically modified organisms and designing strategies for cloning and mutagenising genes). The pitfalls will be discussed and the strategies which have been adopted to circumvent these.

Immunology and Infection

This module provides a comprehensive overview of adaptive and innate immunity. Detailed discussion is also provided for a broad range of parasites, bacterial pathogens and viruses and the dynamic interaction occurring after infection of a susceptible host: the host’s immune response; the evasion, inactivation, and/or manipulation strategies deployed by the microbial invader. Key experimental techniques commonly used in immunology research and in the diagnosis/monitoring of disease are also discussed.

Mechanisms and Pathology of Cancer and other Chronic Diseases

This module provides the opportunity for you to learn about a range of different chronic diseases that can affect human health and quality of life. The underlying biology associated with some of these chronic diseases will be studied, the mechanism(s) by which they arise or develop and current treatments. There will be a particular focus on cancer as an example of a complex chronic disease. Other chronic diseases to be studied will be chosen to reflect recent advances in knowledge or treatment of a disease.

Research Project

The aim of this module is to give you experience in conducting a piece of independent, hypothesis-driven, biological research, or research into biology education. Under the supervision of a member of academic staff, you'll have the opportunity to undertake practical experimentation in the laboratory/field. Supervisors outline the aims of the project and direct you to the most recent literature. Prior to experimentation, you'll be expected to undertake a comprehensive review of the literature related to your project and will be given guidance on appropriate experimental methods. The project is generally fluid in nature, with the direction of the investigation being dictated by results obtained, or problems encountered. Results are presented in a written report and through presentations to student peers and academic staff. Module-specific tutorials will run in conjunction with personal academic tutorials. Tutorials will be given on the use of animals in research, Health and Safety, Intellectual Property, research ethics and project planning and management.

Professional English As a Foreign Language: Applied

This advanced module provides those of you with university entry-level English with the opportunity to improve your range and accuracy in the language. It is designed to offer a comprehensive basis for fluency in oral and written work. A wide range of activities is undertaken, such as practical language exercises and translation into the foreign language. You will be assessed through reading/writing, speaking and listening activities carried out in tutorial.

The course delivers four 20 credit modules of advanced biological sciences materials across areas of genomics, immunology, infectious disease and cancer pathology and chronic disease.In addition, there is a 40 credit project module that will instil practical research skills through a supervised but independent significant piece of work.In addition to the scientific aspect the course enables you to take a module in Professional English and graduate as a well-rounded individual well prepared for a whole range of global scientific, technology and business environments.

THIS COURSE IS AVAILABLE FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS ONLY

Entry requirements

The admissions process will be in conjunction with other courses of the Chemical Sciences suite.

Entry will normally proceed through formal progression agreements with overseas partner institutions.

For entry student should have been performing at a 1st class level (exact qualifying grades to be determined through liaison with departmental admissions tutors, International Office and partner institution) in their prior undergraduate studies where credit equivalent to Diploma of Higher Education (DipHE) or Higher National Diploma (HND) (equivalent of 120 F-level and 120 I-level credits).

Other candidates may be considered requesting course transfer from other institutions on a similar basis with decisions made on an individual basis.

Candidates will be at least 18 years of age by 31st December of the year of entry.

If your first language is not English, you will need to meet the minimum requirements of an English Language qualification. The minimum for IELTS is 6.5 overall with no element lower than 6.0, iGCSE English at grade B, or equivalent. Read more about the University’s entry requirements for students outside of the UK on our International Entry Requirements page.

Student support

At the University of Huddersfield, you'll find support networks and services to help you get ahead in your studies and social life. Whether you study at undergraduate or postgraduate level, you'll soon discover that you're never far away from our dedicated staff and resources to help you to navigate through your personal student journey. Find out more about all our support services.

Important information

Although we always try and ensure we deliver our courses as described, sometimes we may have to make changes for the following reasons

When you enrol as a student of the University, your study and time with us will be governed by our terms and conditions, Handbook of Regulations and associated policies. It is important that you familiarise yourself with these as you will be asked to agree to them when you join us as a student. You will find a guide to the key terms here, along with the Student Protection Plan.

Although we always try and ensure we deliver our courses as described, sometimes we may have to make changes for the following reasons

Changes to a course you have applied for but are not yet enrolled on

If we propose to make a major change to a course that you are holding an offer for, then we will tell you as soon as possible so that you can decide whether to withdraw your application prior to enrolment. We may occasionally have to withdraw a course you have applied for or combine your programme with another programme if we consider this reasonably necessary to ensure a good student experience, for example if there are not enough applicants. Where this is the case we will notify you as soon as reasonably possible and we will discuss with you other suitable courses we can transfer your application to. If you do not wish to transfer to another course with us, you may cancel your application and we will refund you any deposits or fees you have paid to us.

Changes to your course after you enrol as a student

Changes to option modules:

Where your course allows you to choose modules from a range of options, we will review these each year and change them to reflect the expertise of our staff, current trends in research and as a result of student feedback or demand for certain modules. We will always ensure that you have an equivalent range of options to that advertised for the course. We will let you know in good time the options available for you to choose for the following year.

Major changes:

We will only make major changes to non-optional modules on a course if it is necessary for us to do so and provided such changes are reasonable. A major change is a change that substantially changes the outcomes, or a significant part of your course, such as the nature of the award or a substantial change to module content, teaching days (part time provision), type of delivery or assessment of the core curriculum. For example, it may be necessary to make a major change to reflect changes in the law or the requirements of the University’s regulators or a commissioning or accrediting body. We may also make changes to improve the course in response to student, examiners’ or other course evaluators’ feedback or to ensure you are being taught current best practice. Major changes may also be necessary because of circumstances outside our reasonable control, such as a key member of staff leaving the University or being unable to teach, where they have a particular specialism that can’t be adequately covered by other members of staff; or due to damage or interruption to buildings, facilities or equipment, or pandemics.

Major changes would usually be made with effect from the next academic year, but may happen sooner in an emergency. We will notify you as soon as possible should we need to make a major change and will carry out suitable consultation. If you reasonably believe that the proposed change will cause you detriment or hardship we will, if appropriate, work with you to try to reduce the adverse effect on you or find an appropriate solution. Where an appropriate solution cannot be found and you contact us in writing before the change takes effect you can cancel your registration and withdraw from the University without liability to the University for future tuition fees. We will provide reasonable support to assist you with transferring to another university if you wish to do so.

In exceptional circumstances, we may, for reasons outside of our control, be forced to discontinue or suspend your course. Where this is the case, a formal exit strategy will be followed in accordance with the student protection plan.

The Office for Students (OfS) is the principal regulator for the University.