A course to provide students with the molecular laboratory and computational skills relevant to their chosen Masters degree.

Lectures, lab classes, computer sessions and tutorials throughout the first semester.

None

None

Exam (2 hours) (40%)

Reflective lab diary (20%)

Lab report (40%)

The aim of the course is to equip students with an understanding of, and practical skills in a broad range of molecular techniques and to equip them with the tools for understanding and analysing current literature in molecular based research for the relevant Masters specification.

By the end of this course students will be able to:

■ Critically discuss and perform techniques that are commonly used in molecular biology research.

■ Reflect critically on performance in lab and on understanding of personal lab skills.

■ Critically explain the theory of the molecular biology techniques used in the lab classes.

■ Relate these molecular techniques to a relevant research area of interest and critically evaluate the use of specific molecular biology techniques within relevant research literature.

■ Critically analyse and perform calculations relevant to molecular biology research techniques covered in the course.

■ Critically analyse results from experimental data and write a concise laboratory report using these results.

■ Critically evaluate relevant bioinformatics.

Students must submit at least 75% by weight of the components (including examinations) of the course's summative assessment.