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Bioscience - MRes

Engage in a major bioscience research project through our Bioscience MRes programme, designed to provide you with essential subject knowledge, versatile research skills, and the dedicated time and hands-on experience in state-of-the-art laboratories to prepare you for a career in research or industry. Specialise in one of four core research themes; glycobiology, infectious disease, neuroscience, or structural biology.

Month of entry

  • September

Mode of study

  • Full time

Location

Subject area

  • Life Sciences

Fees for 2025/26 academic year

  • UK - Full time £11,400 per year.
    International - £17,700 per year.

Duration of study

  • 1 year

Apply

Why study Bioscience at Keele University?

Develop diverse research skills in state-of-the-art laboratories
Opportunity to undertake a substantial independent research project 
Potential to undertake a national or international placement at an external organisation for your independent research project 
Benefit from expert, world-leading researchers from the School of Life Sciences

Course summary

Bioscience research plays a vital role in advancing the health of humans, animals, plants, and the environment; from uncovering the three-dimensional structures of proteins to addressing global pandemics. Our Bioscience MRes provides the opportunity to immerse yourself in a research environment, whether as a standalone degree, preparation for PhD study, or to pursue diverse career paths. 

The core part of the programme is a significant piece of independent research in one of the following research areas: 

Your project can be undertaken at an external institution, nationally or internationally, to increase your experience of working in a laboratory related to your area of research. This is dependent on the type of project and the research links of the lead project supervisor. We encourage you to explore the above pages and reach out to potential supervisors whose work you find interesting and who you may consider working with on your project.

Taught modules in semester one will establish the key skills and knowledge you will need to complete your independent research. Topics include critical literature searching, advanced research techniques, grant writing and experimental design.  

Your research project will advance your individual research skills, with support from expert academics who will deepen your understanding of various theoretical perspectives, methodological approaches, and practical applications in biosciences 

You will formulate a research strategy, carry out thorough investigations, analyse and critically evaluate data in the context of current literature in your field. You’ll present this data in various scientific formats, including your dissertation, viva, poster, and presentations at our postgraduate student research conferences. Overall, the programme equips you with transferable skills in practical research, problem-solving, organisation, time management, collaboration, and scientific communication. 

The project will culminate in your dissertation, where you’ll demonstrate your ability to identify problems, formulate hypotheses, design and conduct experiments, extract, analyse, and interpret data, critically evaluate findings, relate them to current literature, and present complex research in scientific writing. 

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Course structure

Modules

The module details given below are indicative, they are intended to provide you with an idea of the range of subjects that are taught to our current students. The modules that will be available for you to study in future years are prone to change as we regularly review our teaching to ensure that it is up-to-date and informed by the latest research and teaching methods, as well as student voice. The information presented is therefore not intended to be construed and/or relied upon as a definitive list of the modules available in any given year.

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Entry requirements

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Entry requirements

The following section details our typical entry requirements for this course for a range of UK and international qualifications. If you don't see your qualifications listed, please contact us to find out if we can accept your qualifications.

Typical offer

Please ensure that you read the full entry requirements by selecting your qualifications from the dropdown menu below. This will include any subject specific, GCSE/Level 2 Maths, and English language requirements you may need.

Typical offer: 2:2 degree in a bioscience, medical, or pharmacology related subject Additional criteria apply

Please select your country from the drop-down list below for the full entry requirement information

UK

2:2 degree in a bioscience, medical, or pharmacology related subject
or
demonstrated professional or relevant qualifications or experience

You will also need: an English language qualification (see below)

Bangladesh

60% in a 4-year degree or 3-year degree with a 2-year Master's in a bioscience, medical, or pharmacology related subject from a public university 
or 
CGPA 2.8 in a 4-year degree or 3-year degree with a 2-year Master's in a bioscience, medical, or pharmacology related subject from a private university
or
demonstrated professional or relevant qualifications or experience

We don’t accept degrees from certain universities, please see our Bangladesh Country Page for more information

You will also need: an English language qualification (see below)

Canada

70% or C or a GPA of 2.5 in a degree (Ordinary or Honours) in a biomedical, pharmacology or bioscience related subject
or
demonstrated relevant professional qualifications or experience

You will also need: an English language qualification (see below)

China

70% in a degree in a bioscience, medical, or pharmacology related subject 
or 
65% in a degree in a bioscience, medical, or pharmacology related subject from a '211' university
or
demonstrated professional or relevant qualifications or experience

You will also need: an English language qualification (see below)

Ghana

Second class degree in a bioscience, medical, or pharmacology related subject
or
demonstrated professional or relevant qualifications or experience

You will also need: an English language qualification (see below)

India

55% or CGPA 6/10 in a degree of at least 3 years in a bioscience, medical, or pharmacology related subject 
or
demonstrated professional or relevant qualifications or experience

You will also need: an English language qualification (see below)

Kenya

Second class degree in a bioscience, medical, or pharmacology related subject
or
demonstrated professional or relevant qualifications or experience

You will also need: an English language qualification (see below)

Nepal

60% / 2.4 in a 4-year Bachelor's degree in a bioscience, medical, or pharmacology related subject
or
65% / CGPA 2.8 in a 3-year Bachelor's degree in a bioscience, medical, or pharmacology related subject
or
demonstrated professional or relevant qualifications or experience

You will also need: an English language qualification (see below)

Nigeria

Second class degree in a bioscience, medical, or pharmacology related subject
or
demonstrated professional or relevant qualifications or experience

You will also need: an English language qualification (see below)

Pakistan

We accept a range of qualifications from Pakistan. Please visit our Pakistan Country Page for more information

or we will consider demonstrated relevant professional qualifications or experience

You will also need an English language qualification (see below)

South Africa

Second class division 2 / 60% in a Bachelor's degree with Honours in a bioscience, medical, or pharmacology related subject
or
Second class division 1 / 70% in an Ordinary Bachelor's degree in a bioscience, medical, or pharmacology related subject
or
demonstrated professional or relevant qualifications or experience

You will also need: an English language qualification (see below)

Sri Lanka

55% in a Special Bachelor's degree in a bioscience, medical, or pharmacology related subject
or
demonstrated professional or relevant qualifications or experience

You will also need: an English language qualification (see below)

Uganda

Second class degree in a bioscience, medical, or pharmacology related subject
or
demonstrated professional or relevant qualifications or experience

You will also need: an English language qualification (see below)

Zimbabwe

Second class degree in a bioscience, medical, or pharmacology related subject
or
demonstrated professional or relevant qualifications or experience

You will also need: an English language qualification (see below)

English language requirements

All of our courses require an English language qualification or test. For most students, this requirement can be met with a 4 or C in GCSE English. Please see our English Language guidance pages for further details, including English language test information for international students. For those students who require an English language test, this course requires a test from Group C.

References

Normally, you will need to provide at least one academic reference to support your application unless you have been out of study longer than two years. If it has been more than two years since you last studied on a degree-level programme, you will normally need to provide an employment reference instead. For more information about Academic References, please see our Postgraduate how to apply web pages.

Personal Statement/Statement of Purpose

Please see our Postgraduate how to apply web pages for guidance on what to include in your personal statement.

Recognition of Prior Learning

The Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) is a process which enables applicants to receive recognition and formal credit for learning acquired in the past through formal study or work and life experiences.

RPL can also be requested for admission onto the start of a programme in lieu of the admission requirements. For more information, see our Recognition of Prior Learning web pages.

Professional qualifications and work experience

The majority of our courses will consider relevant work experience and/or professional qualifications at the appropriate level, as an alternative to an undergraduate degree for entry. The work experience should be for a sustained period and at a suitable level, based within a relevant sector to your chosen course.

Admissions staff will review your work experience and/or professional qualifications during the assessment of your application to ensure suitability in terms of relevancy, level and appropriate learning outcomes.

General information

The entry grades outlined in this section indicate the typical offer which would be made to candidates, along with any subject specific requirements. This is for general information only. Keele University reserves the right to vary offer conditions depending upon a candidate's application.

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Funding

Please note, if your course offers a January start date, the January 2025 start date falls in the 2024/25 academic year. Please see the January 2025 fees for the relevant fees for starting this course in January 2025

Planning your funding

It's important to plan carefully for your funding before you start your course. Please be aware that not all postgraduate courses and not all students are eligible for the UK government postgraduate loans and, in some cases, you would be expected to source alternative funding yourself. If you need support researching your funding options, please contact our Financial Support Team.

For continuing students, fees will increase annually by RPIX, with a maximum cap of 5% per year.

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Your career

The Bioscience MRes pathways provide you with the opportunity to develop high-level research skills that could enable you to pursue a variety of paths if you successfully complete the programme. This could include progressing on study at PhD level or employment in industry. 

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Teaching, learning and assessment

How you'll be taught

Our programme is delivered through a variety of activities including tutorials and workshops that will deepen your understanding of core methodologies, allow you to reflect on your own learning and have discussions with other students and tutors.

Seminars and journal clubs will develop your research skills particularly in the Advanced Research Techniques module. We also run weekly seminars with internal and external speakers currently working across the Bioscience discipline.

Independent study will further improve your subject understanding as you gather knowledge of core material from text books, research papers and research reviews.

The extended research project, which is the main focus of this MRes programme, will see you undertake an in-depth research project with the the support and supervision of academic staff from the School of Life Sciences.

How you'll be assessed

We have an assessment strategy that aims to evidence your abilities. The work you undertake in the extended research project module will assess your skills in designing hypotheses-led investigations, plus demonstrate that you can perform research at an independent level, conduct reliable experiments and evaluate outcomes.

Your research project along with the literature review and grant proposal modules will highlight your abilities in contextualising and critically analysing data. You will also be required to present your scientific findings at an advanced level. Again, your project and the literature review module will give you the opportunity to create a research topics portfolio and journal club-style presentation which will focus on the critical evaluation of recent articles in your chosen specialism. The outcomes of your research project will also be presented as research posters and/or an oral presentation at our postgraduate research conference and through a professional discussion to an academic panel.

We will assess the range of professional skills you will develop undertaking your individual project including leadership, innovation, timekeeping, communication, experimental design and the ability to work safely and ethically - all essential qualities in developing greater autonomy in the conduct of authentic research studies.

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Keele Postgraduate Association

Keele University is one of a handful of universities in the UK to have a dedicated students' union for postgraduate students. A fully registered charity, Keele Postgraduate Association serves as a focal point for the social life and welfare needs of all postgraduate students during their time at Keele.

KPA interior

Hugely popular, the KPA Clubhouse (near Horwood Hall) provides a dedicated postgraduate social space and bar on campus, where you can grab a bite to eat and drink, sit quietly and read a book, or switch off from academic life at one of the many regular events organised throughout the year. The KPA also helps to host a variety of conferences, as well as other academic and career sessions, to give you and your fellow postgraduates the opportunities to come together to discuss your research, and develop your skills and networks.

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Our expertise

University life is not just about the content of your programme, it is also an opportunity to network with people working in fields that excite you.

At the School of Life Sciences you will meet a diverse range of staff including world-leading researchers, clinical practitioners and experts in learning and teaching from across the School’s research themes, which means that you will benefit from being embedded into an environment of expertise.  

Teaching Team

Key staff whose specialism is glycobiology include:

You can find out more by visiting the Keele Centre for Glycoscience Research and Training.

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Facilities

David Attenborough Laboratories

The David Attenborough Laboratories have significantly expanded the School of Life Sciences’ teaching and research areas, and provide two additional state-of-the-art teaching laboratories with space for 120 students between them and two additional research laboratories.

Central Science Laboratories (CSL)

You will benefit from access to the Central Science Laboratories, with state-of-the-art facilities and high specification equipment. This environment mirrors the multi-faceted nature of working life and the shared space will allow group working and collaboration between disciplines, building the skills and experience much valued by employers.

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