General Information

Welcome to the University of Manchester and the School of Biological Sciences

Guide to Handbook:

This Handbook holds important programme specific information: (including staff details, degree programme structure information and links to regulations, aims and objectives of your degree programme, course unit details, teaching arrangements, outlines of communications within the school and subject area, work and attendance requirements etc.)

It will be assumed that you have read and understood the contents of this Handbook. Please talk to your Academic Advisor or Student Support Office if anything is not clear to you. My Manchester

My Manchester brings all your online university services together in one place. From My Manchester you can access the student self-service system, which allows you to view your timetable, select course units and access your grades for assessed work. My Manchester also allows you to access University services including Blackboard and your University library account.

You can login to My Manchester at: http://my.manchester.ac.uk

All the information in this handbook was accurate at the start of the 2022-2023 academic year.

Our future

The core goal under Teaching and Learning is as follows: As an institution built on world-class research, we want to share knowledge to challenge and transform our students, giving learners of all ages and backgrounds the chance to contribute to positive change, improving their lives and those of others.

We will inspire learners with challenging ideas, knowledge and wisdom, and help them develop the capabilities needed for a stellar career. Our teachers will be supported to deliver the highest levels of student satisfaction, embracing digital opportunities and placing personalisation at the heart of what we do.

https://www.manchester.ac.uk/discover/vision/

Also see: Your responsibilities as a Biological Sciences student

Sharing Information

The University may share appropriate information relating to your health and/or conduct with external organisations such as your professional employer(s) (for example, relevant NHS Trust, Professional and Statutory Regulatory Bodies (PSRB)), placement and training providers and/or regulator. This may occur where concerns in relation to your health and/or conduct arise and the University considers it necessary for them to be disclosed to one or more of the above organisations. The University’s Privacy Notice for Registered Students (which is accessible here) includes further information about how the University may use and process your personal data, including the legal basis and conditions which may be relevant to such processing (see section 6 of the Privacy Notice). The University will only disclose special category data (such as data relating to your health) to a third party organisation where one of the additional conditions are satisfied (see section 9 of the Privacy Notice), including where processing is necessary for reasons of substantial public interest.

Service level agreement for the Student Support Office

Communication

When fully staffed and for at least 95% of cases the following performance standards will be met:

Respond to all emails within 3 working days. Where this will not be possible, for example, Welcome Week, students and staff will be notified by an automatic reply of the estimated response time if it differs from the normal service level agreement.
Activate auto-replies when staff are out of the office providing an alternative contact for any urgent queries (this includes staff who work part-time)
Answer the telephone within 4 rings where possible
Pick up colleagues phones when they are away from their desk including when they are out of the office/on annual leave
Set up voicemail messages only when colleagues cannot answer telephones.
Reception will be manned continuously between the hours of 10:00 and 16:00

Key dates and deadlines:

Important dates in 2022 – 2023

First Semester:

Online induction (new students) – Monday 12^th September 2022

University and programme induction (new students) – Monday 19^th September 2022

Semester 1 teaching starts – Monday 26^th September 2022

Christmas Break:

Monday 19^th December 2022 – Sunday 15^th January 2023

Second Semester:
Monday 30^th January 2023 – Sunday 11^th June 2023
Easter Break:
Monday 27^th March 2023 – Sunday 16^th April 2023

Examination Periods:
Monday 16^th – Friday 27^th January 2023 (Semester 1)
Monday 15^th May – Friday 9^th June 2023 (Semester 2)

Examination Result publication dates:
Friday 3rd March 2023 – Semester 1 exam results
Monday 10th July 2023 – Semester 2 exam results

August/September examination period:
Monday 21^st August 2023 – Friday 1^st September 2023

August/September Examination Result publication date:
Week commencing Monday 11th September 2023

Extended essay submission- Thursday 23rd March 2023 – online submission via Blackboard no later than 16.00

Change of programme form submission – 4pm 28^th April 2023 (TBC)

Y2 RSM Preference Survey (for students on Biology/Biochemistry/Biomedical Sciences/Biotechnology/Medical Biochemistry/PharmPhys/Plant Science/Zoology programmes only) – 4pm on Friday 12^th May 2023 (TBC)

Academic Calendar

http://www.manchester.ac.uk/discover/key-dates/

Examination timetables

Exam timetables are produced well in advance of examination periods and should be available to you as a personalised timetable on the Student portal/My Manchester. This contains important details of when your exams are to be held. When this is available, please check it carefully against your unit enrolments.

The highest priority for the University examinations scheduling process is to ensure that there are no clashes in your exam time timetable. However, you should be aware that more than one of your exams might be scheduled on the same day.

Remember – if there are any problems with your exam timetable please contact the Student Support Office.

Examinations and religious observance

The University will make every effort to avoid timetabling assessments on religious days or festivals for those students whose commitment to the observance of their faith would otherwise cause them to miss the assessment. If this may affect you, you must fill in an ‘Examination and Religious Observance form’ from the Student Services Centre by the deadlines outlined on the form. More information is available here.

Aims and intended learning outcomes of the School with regards to undergraduate Teaching & Learning

Aims

The School’s general aims are to offer undergraduate students a broad and thorough education in biological sciences within an institutional culture of high quality research and scholarship. The School aims to:

deliver a range of broad and specialist degrees, informed by current research, which will equip students for careers within and outside science;
meet student requirements for diversity of provision and opportunity of transfer between disciplines within biological sciences by providing a structure of flexibility and choice within the undergraduate programmes;
provide students with subject-specific knowledge and practical skills linked to generic transferable skills which are integrated within the curriculum;
ensure students develop skills in independent learning;
employ a variety of teaching methods and assessment strategies to meet programme aims and needs of students with high entry qualifications;
provide students with effective induction information, and ongoing academic and pastoral support and advice in order to enhance their progress and academic development;
provide appropriate academic and support staff, laboratory, library and other facilities to ensure a high quality learning environment and experience;
operate a management structure which monitors the delivery and quality of teaching provision in order to ensure high standards across our wide range of programmes;
attract high quality students to undergraduate programmes;
endeavour to ensure that students’ progress through programmes and acquire qualifications, knowledge and skills appropriate to their academic abilities.
endeavour to ensure that students enhance their employability.

Intended Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of their programmes undergraduate students should have:

a detailed theoretical knowledge, based on a firm foundation, of the appropriate areas of biological sciences developed within an environment of excellent research and scholarship;
attained appropriate subject-specific and transferable skills in preparation for further study or employment either within or outside science;
acquired practical laboratory skills in well-equipped teaching laboratories under the instruction of appropriate staff;
the ability to evaluate biological scientific material and to answer questions through theoretical analysis, hypothesis, experimentation and data analysis;
developed skills, where appropriate, of fieldwork at sites away from the University in the UK and/or Continental Europe; learned to appreciate the influence of environmental factors on biological systems;
acquired additional training in mathematics at a level appropriate to the analysis of biological data;
where appropriate, acquired a suitable training in chemistry sufficient to enable them to study modern biological sciences;
either become actively involved in laboratory or field-based research in a research group within the School or associated institutions under the supervision of an expert in the relevant area OR have applied their theoretical and practical knowledge to one of a variety of situations ranging from: the development of computer-based teaching programmes for universities, to designing biology programmes for schools; to furthering the public understanding and communication of science; to preparing and presenting a business plan for an enterprising biotechnology project;
the ability to search the relevant literature both in written and electronic form and to assimilate and evaluate critically the information obtained;
developed the ability to write a substantial scientific report based on either a literature survey or results obtained from a research project;
developed skills in computer literacy, IT, oral and written communication, team work and problem solving;
developed skills in independent learning;
benefitted generally from an education which has been broadened by the School’s links with other institutions and the experience of working alongside international students.

In addition

On completing the four-year placement degrees with industrial/professional experience students will have:

gained experience of transferring their theoretical and practical skills developed within the University to the workplace;
developed high quality practical skills and specific knowledge relating to the practice of science in an applied setting;
developed interpersonal skills within the workplace.

On completing the four-year joint degrees with a language, students will have:

acquired a sound working knowledge of the target language including aspects specific to biological sciences;
acquired an appreciation of the culture and institutions of an appropriate country;
gained experience of research work in an overseas institution.

On completing the four-year MSci programmes, students will have:

gained experience in the planning and design of research addressing a timely research question;
developed high quality practical skills and the ability to analyse multiple lines of experimental evidence;
acquired skills in the presentation of research findings.

On completing the four-year with Entrepreneurship programmes, students will have:

acquired knowledge of business skills through research & development of business opportunities, financial planning, exploring the market potential of products and processes and creating business plans
gained experience of transferring their theoretical and practical skills developed within the University to the workplace;
acquired skills in applying entrepreneurial knowledge to a range of applications including the sciences.

Administration of the School of Biological Sciences

The School of Biological Sciences forms part of the Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health (FBMH)

Although your main contacts in the School will be your Academic Advisor (see Section Academic Advisors) and Programme Director (see Section Programme Directors and where to find them (Undergraduate), some aspects of your course will be dealt with by the Student Support Office (see below) within the School. Management of Teaching and Learning in the School is the responsibility of the Education Management Team.

Your official contacts in the School of Biological Sciences

Student Support Office – Opening hours: 10:00 – 16.00 Monday to Friday

Room G.483 Stopford Building

Email: studentsupportoffice.sbs@manchester.ac.uk

Telephone number: +44 (0)161 275 1487

Fax number: +44 (0)161 275 1488

By using the chat service (Monday – Friday, 10am – 4pm)

Director of Education – Professor Nicky High
Room G.554 Stopford Building
Email: nicky.high@manchester.ac.uk
Telephone number: +44 (0)161 2755749

Deputy Directors of Undergraduate Studies – School of Biological Sciences

Dr Donald Ward

Telephone number: +44 (0)161 275 5459

Email: donald.t.ward@manchester.ac.uk

Dr Lisa Swanton

Telephone number: +44 (0)161 275 1554

Email: Lisa.swanton@manchester.ac.uk

Senior Advisors –

Email: senioradvisors.sbs@manchester.ac.uk

In addition, the following academic roles support the School:

Head of School – Biological Sciences

Professor Judith Hoyland

Finally, the Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health has two ‘Writing Fellows’: Sarah Jasmon and Frances Byrne, who are funded by The Royal Literary Fund.

The Writing Fellows provide students with free and confidential one-to-one advice on effective writing, including writing essays, lab reports, literature reviews or other coursework. Students can sign up for a one-to-one tutorial (up to 50 minutes) to help you:

plan your study time
focus your reading for essay, dissertation or thesis writing
express your ideas more clearly
answer grammar and punctuation questions
discover reading to improve your writing and editing skills
increase your writing skills with the aim of improving your grades
improve any academic writing – essays, reports, dissertations, etc.

Students can make an appointment during term-time with one of the Fellows by emailing them directly. Their availability and contact details are listed below:

Writing Fellow	Availability	Contact details

Sarah Jasmon	Monday & Tuesdays	sarah.jasmon@rlfeducation.org.uk
Frances Byrne	Wednesday & Thursdays	frances.byrne@rlfeducation.org.uk

Programme Directors and where to find them

Degree Programme	Programme Director	Programme Director Email
Anatomical Sciences	Stefan Gabriel	Stefan.Gabriel@manchester.ac.uk
Biochemistry	Andrew Doig/Gino Poulin	andrew.doig@manchester.ac.uk
Biochemistry	Andrew Doig/Gino Poulin	gino.poulin@manchester.ac.uk
Biology	Thomas Nuhse	Thomas.Nuhse@manchester.ac.uk
Biology with Science & Society	Robert Naylor	robert.naylor@manchester.ac.uk
Biology with Science & Society	Matthew Cobb	matthew.cobb@manchester.ac.uk
Biomedical Sciences	Rebecca Dearman (L1)	rebecca.dearman@manchester.ac.uk
	Tristan Pocock (L2)	Tristan.pocock@manchester.ac.uk
	Michelle Keown (L3)	michelle.e.keown@manchester.ac.uk
Biotechnology	Dennis Linton	James.D.Linton@manchester.ac.uk
Cell Biology	Patrick Gallois	patrick.g.gallois@manchester.ac.uk
Cognitive Neuroscience & Psychology	Donna Lloyd	donna.lloyd@manchester.ac.uk
Developmental Biology	Matt Ronshaugen	matthew.ronshaugen@manchester.ac.uk
Genetics	Kimberly Mace	kimberly.mace@manchester.ac.uk
Immunology	Kathleen Nolan	kathleen.nolan@manchester.ac.uk
Life Sciences	Patrick Gallois	Patrick.G.Gallois@manchester.ac.uk
Medical Biochemistry	Tom Millard	tom.millard@manchester.ac.uk
Medical Physiology	Liz Sheader	elizabeth.a.sheader@manchester.ac.uk
Microbiology	Jen Cavet	jennifer.s.cavet@manchester.ac.uk
Molecular Biology	Susan Taylor	susan.h.taylor@manchester.ac.uk
MSci Programmes	Lisa Swanton	lisa.swanton@manchester.ac.uk
Neuroscience	Maria Canal	maria.canal@manchester.ac.uk
Pharmacology	Katherine Hinchliffe	Katherine.Hinchliffe@manchester.ac.uk
Pharmacology & Physiology	Katherine Hinchliffe	Katherine.Hinchliffe@manchester.ac.uk
Plant Science	Patrick Gallois	patrick.g.gallois@manchester.ac.uk
Zoology	Ben Chapman	ben.chapman-2@manchester.ac.uk

Where to find people and places

There are maps showing room numbers posted in various corridors around the buildings you are likely to use.

Finding rooms may be difficult at first and if time is short, it is usually quicker to ask the staff at the reception desks found at the front of most buildings. However, here are some guidelines:

In the Stopford Building

The first number or letter (G., 1., 2., 3.) indicates the floor. G = ground level.
The second shows how far back in the Stopford building you need to go with 0 being near the Oxford Road entrance.
Lecture theatres are listed as T or LT, followed by a number e.g., LT1 stands for Lecture Theatre 1.
Practical classes are held in the Stopford Undergraduate Teaching (SUGT) laboratories. SUGT1 laboratories are located on the first floor of the Stopford Building and SUGT2 are located on the second floor.
There are 3 computer clusters for student use on the ground floor: Stopford PC Clusters 1-3

Staff may have offices in the Michael Smith Building, the Core Technology Facility, the Manchester Institute of Biotechnology, the Stopford Building, AV Hill Building, Carys Bannister Building or Simon Building.

To gain access to these buildings, you must first report to the Reception desk in that building.

Sometimes you will find the room you want inside another one. You will discover which ones by experience! During the free time in Welcome Week, it would be wise to visit all of the locations for lectures, tutorials and practicals you are expecting to attend for the rest of the semester so that you feel confident about locating them in the short time between lectures (sometimes less than 10 minutes).

You can find campus maps here.

Communication – email/mail/announcements/texts

The Student Support Office is open 10:00 -16:00 Monday to Friday and should be your first stop for queries relating to your programme and general student support. Occasionally the opening times may vary, but we will inform you of this via the email announcement service (see below).

Effective communication between you, the staff of the School and the central administration of the University is vital. There will be many important official notices (including those on timetables, examinations and course assessment marks) for you to read and act upon during the year. There are three important channels of communication: electronic (email via your University email account, announcements, the intranet, text messages and Blackboard); paper (e.g. letters to your postal address); verbal (e.g. announcements in lectures and practicals).

Electronic communication: as part of registration, you will be provided with a University email address and will be given a username and password. You must not pass on your username or password to anyone else and must not divulge email addresses of fellow students or staff to anyone else without their permission.

Verbal communication: staff may occasionally make verbal announcements in lectures and practicals that do not appear in any other fashion, so if you are late, or unable to attend something, be sure to check with a fellow student or the staff member concerned that you did not miss an important announcement. This is especially important for practical work as if you are late you may miss health and safety announcements and may be denied entry to the lab.

Email and the Faculty Intranet Announcement Service are the standard methods used to communicate with students so you must ensure that you check your University email messages (including “Announcements” emails) on a regular and frequent basis – at least once a day. If you do not regularly check your email, your inbox may become full and important messages will not then get through to you.

Failure to respond to notices and mail means that you may miss lectures, tutorials or meetings, or it may even cost you money (e.g. library fines).

Email will be the main medium for communication with academic staff, including your Advisor. You will find their addresses in the email address books on the University network and on the Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health (FBMH) Intranet.

PLEASE NOTE: email communication will only occur via your University email address and staff will not use or respond to any other email address except in very exceptional circumstances. Furthermore, you should not autoforward University email to a personal email address. Once personal email folders are full, new messages are deleted.

Text Messages: The School will endeavour to send any urgent messages that require immediate notification (such as cancellation of a lecture) via SMS text message to your mobile phone. To ensure that you receive these messages you must ensure that your personal details held by the University are updated with any changes to your mobile phone number. If you do not wish to receive urgent messages in this format, please contact the Student Support Office.

MyManchester: My Manchester is a personalised online space for current students, which provides easy access to learning resources, services, student support and information, all in one place.

If your personal details change (term-time or home postal addresses, phone numbers, etc.) you must update your student record promptly or notify the Student Support Office if you are unable to make the changes via MyManchester. It is also your responsibility to ensure that your programme and unit information are correct and to notify the Student Support Office if changes are required. Any difficulties obtaining emails should be reported to IT Services – http://www.itservices.manchester.ac.uk/help/

Society of Biology accreditation

All four-year ‘with industrial/professional experience’ and ‘with language’ degrees have been accredited by the Society of Biology. Degree accreditation by the Society recognises academic excellence in the biosciences, and highlights degrees that educate the research and development leaders and innovators of the future (more information available here). The accreditation criteria require evidence that graduates from the programme meet defined sets of learning outcomes, including gaining a substantial period of research experience. Our School has been successful in demonstrating that these programmes meet these criteria.

In recognition of your time spent on industrial/professional, or with language placement, as a graduate of an accredited programme, you can apply for membership of the Society of Biology at Member (MSB) level after just one year of practice, rather than the usual three years. This will allow you to attain the qualifications of Chartered Biologist or Chartered Scientist two years sooner than graduates from other Degree Programmes. Further information is available from the Society of Biology .

The British Psychological Society (BPS) sets out accreditation requirements for Degree Programmes that provide eligibility for the Graduate Basis for Registration of the Society. These may be important if graduates wish to work as a Psychologist or practise Psychology in their future careers. The Cognitive Neuroscience & Psychology programmes at Manchester are all accredited by the BPS. The BPS requirements stipulate that – in order to be eligible to apply for graduate membership of the BPS – graduates must complete a minimum number of course units in Psychology, pass the empirical project (which must have a significant Psychology component), and graduate with a minimum of a lower second-class degree.

Health and Safety

The work that you do this year will require knowledge of and conformity with health and safety rules. It is consequently important for you to gain a wide understanding of the legal and practical requirements for working safely.

The University of Manchester is subject to British and European Community law on health and safety. The University has therefore, a duty to formulate health and safety policies and to promote these. From time to time the University issues its updated “Health and Safety Policy Statement”, as well as Codes of Practice and Guidance Notes. Following the requirements stipulated in the latter, the School of Biological Sciences is required to devise regulations that are suited to its work. These regulations apply to staff, students and visitors to the Faculty. Similar obligations and procedures apply to all employers in the UK, so that preparation and familiarity gained now could stand you in good stead for future employment. Please see the Health and Safety pages on the Faculty intranet.

Everyone is required by the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health regulations to make an assessment of the risks that might arise during the storage or use of the substances that they use in their work. You must ensure that no one will be adversely affected as a consequence of the decisions that you make. During first year undergraduate practicals you will find that all risks will have been assessed for you by the practical coordinators (for specific risks relating to individual practical classes) and by the Teaching Laboratory Technicians (for COSHH also known as single substance risk assessments). Bear in mind that the term substance covers a wide range in relation to risk – biological as well as chemical. This page links to the COSHH Single Substance Risk Assessment Library.

It should be understood that these rules are not designed to prevent potentially hazardous work from taking place, but that they are designed to make sure that the work is done safely. This means that substances that might be hazardous to health can continue to be used when due precautions are taken by those engaged in the work. You are thus obliged to take these things into account yourself. You are entitled to expect that due care has been taken by those responsible for supervising your work, but it is important to remember that your willing co-operation for the implementation of safety measures is required. It is thus reasonable to expect that, so far as is reasonably practicable, you prepare in advance for the work that you will undertake. You are required to take notice of the relevant safety information provided at the start of each practical laboratory class and to wear the appropriate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). In all cases this will consist of a white laboratory coat and goggles that must be worn for the full duration of all ‘wet’ practicals. Other items of PPE will be made available as appropriate e.g. gloves. You are required to keep the use of all personal items to a minimum in the laboratory in line with Good Laboratory Practice (GLP). This includes mobile phones and other electronic devices. If digital devices are required then iPads will be provided, which are fully disinfected between classes and do not get used outside of the laboratory to minimise the risk of contamination to other users.

The principles of risk assessment cover all forms of activity in the place of work, and every activity should be assessed before you start work. A person in authority will normally have carried out this assessment on your behalf, and it is important to adhere to the protocol you have been given. You must be familiar with the contents of the relevant Risk Assessment before you start any form of work, and you must not make any changes to work procedures without the permission of your supervisor. Risk Assessments for most common procedures can be found at on the Faculty intranet.

Finally, a decision has to be made by a person in authority, e.g. your supervisor; about who should do the work and in what circumstances should the work be done. You can expect to be informed about any particular hazards and methods that apply in a laboratory, so please take note during the safety briefing at the start of any practical class. Please note that if you are pregnant or breastfeeding you should inform the relevant member of academic staff (e.g. Practical Unit Coordinator or Supervisor) immediately, so that an individual risk assessment can be undertaken. Please be assured that your confidentiality will be maintained and the outcome of the risk assessment will be handled with discretion.

Your responsibilities as a Biological Sciences student

It is important that all students should have the best possible learning experience throughout their course and that this should not be disrupted by fellow students. To ensure this happens,

we expect you to:

Show consideration in your behaviour towards other students, and towards the University staff, including administrative, technical and academic staff and occasional lecturers.
Participate fully in all timetabled practical teaching/examining sessions.
Show respect for the professional team of Teaching Technicians who prepare your practical classes and support your learning experience. It is important for your own safety and the safety of your fellow students and other laboratory users that you adhere to laboratory safety rules and behave in a professional and respectful manner at all times. Any student found to be behaving in a way that it not deemed acceptable will be excluded from the laboratories immediately and further action will be taken by the Technical Manager.
Ensure that you do not commit yourself to other activities (e.g. part-time work) which interfere with your ability to devote sufficient time to your studies. The maximum amount of part-time work recommended by the University is 15 hours per week, but you should consider carefully whether this will interfere with your studies. If possible try to obtain work which is flexible such that you can reduce your hours near to examination periods.
Maintain good communications with the administration of your degree programme. This will be via the Student Support Office, your Academic advisor and your Programme Director. In addition, you should check your email account on a daily basis. You should make sure that any change of address is notified promptly.
Attend all labs, clinics and associated sessions; all are compulsory. If you are unable to attend, for instance because of illness, then you follow the appropriate notification procedures (See Section Guidelines on Ill Health). You should arrive on time and remain within each session until told that you can leave.
Attend lectures: this is the best way for you to understand the unit content and the context of the material you are expected to cover. Lecture notes only show a small part of the material, and the background explanations, being presented by the lecturer. Make use of the supplementary material available via Blackboard.
Behave in lectures, labs, clinics, and in the learning support areas of the University in an appropriate manner. e.g., arriving on time, not talking in lectures, not using mobile phones or tablets to make calls, send texts/email, and use social media sites.
Respect the general health and safety requirements that apply to all work in laboratories and clinics, and any additional advice given to you in relation to particular procedures. You should ensure that you wear clothing appropriate to the laboratory.

Basic rules for laboratory practical work

No personal items to be used in the laboratory
Use of mobile phones are prohibited
On entering the laboratory, laboratory coats must be worn at all times as a mandatory requirement
When carrying out laboratory work which handles bacterial material, a laboratory coat provided by the university instead of your personal laboratory coat must be worn as a mandatory requirement
No consuming food or drink this includes chewing gum
No open toe shoes or flip flops must be worn in the laboratory
Safety Spectacles must be worn at all times in wet practical classes
Long hair should be tied back.
No loose clothing that could present a hazard i.e. headscarves must be tucked down inside lab coat.
Avoid touching bare skin whilst wearing gloves.
Ensure you have read and understood the health and safety documentation associated with the practical and your aware of the risks
Don’t touch personal items such as coats and bags while wearing gloves
Always wash hands when exiting the laboratory

Human subjects and animal tissues

The life sciences are observational and experimental sciences concerned with living systems. It is therefore important that your education should be appropriate and that you should gain experience of working with tissues of living organisms. Some of the practicals may require the use of invertebrates or tissues or cell components from vertebrates, including humans.

In some units it is important that you gain experience in human experimentation. Some practical classes may require human volunteers and the only possible source is those students registered for the units. In the many years that similar practical classes have been held, students have found them interesting and worthwhile. None of the procedures which volunteers are asked to undergo are inherently dangerous. No volunteer has ever suffered serious ill effects and there is no compulsion for students to act as subjects. You will be given full information and asked to complete a Consent form if you volunteer. All practicals involving human volunteers have been approved by the University Committee on the Ethics of Research on Human Beings. Such practicals have been banded into Band 0, 1 and 2 according to an assessment of Health and Safety risk and medical ethical considerations. You will be given full information and asked to complete a Consent form for each Band 1 and 2 practical.

Your active participation is expected in all practical classes, and examinations will be based on all matters taught in your unit. If you have any reservations about participation in practicals using animals or their tissues, you should discuss them with your Programme Director before registration.

The life sciences are observational and experimental sciences concerned with living systems. Therefore, some of the projects may require the use of invertebrates or tissues or cell components from vertebrates, including humans. If you have any reservations about participation in projects using animals or their tissues, you should discuss them with you Programme Director before registration.

Bring Your Own Device (BYOD)

Within teaching sessions and tutorials there will be increasing use of interactive eLearning resources, therefore you should bring your own mobile device for use in these sessions. Help configuring your devices for use with the University applications will be available during Welcome Week for first year students and through the Library helpdesk for all years.

Podcasting

The university has an automatic lecture capture system, which allows you to re-visit your lectures as podcasts at a later date to supplement your learning and allow you to revise. For more detailed information on the service, you can see the podcasting home page here.

Important Points of Note

The podcast system allows any member of staff to “opt out”, hold back or remove recordings if they see fit. Additionally on rare occasions a podcast may fail to complete properly and therefore not become available at all. For these reasons, it is essential that you continue to attend all lectures and use the podcasts for revision or to assist you to catch up in the case of an unavoidable absence.
Should a podcast not be available for any of the above reasons, there will be no way for you to re-visit a missed lecture.
For students who are DASS registered, please remember to take a look at the information available to you here on the podcasting service.

Safeguarding your work

You must ensure that you back up your work on a regular basis to safeguard against loss, machine failure or theft. In addition to saving your work regularly to the secure University system in your ‘my documents/P: drive’ (for further information on P:drives please refer to the IT Services webpage., you should back up your work on an external hard drive, USB memory stick, cloud storage, etc. (which you are advised to keep secure and separate from your computer). Do not save your work on the hard disc of Stopford PC cluster or other networked computers. Loss of data (i.e. your work) will not be accepted as a valid reason for extension requests or for late submission of work as this is deemed to be a preventable occurrence.

Do you need more space to save your files?

As academic submission deadlines approach, you may find that you need additional space in your “My Documents” area. Should you find that this is the case then please contact the IT Service Desk.

NOTE: Access to “My Documents” will cease when you leave the University.

Student Societies

A number of societies run by students and covering a range of interests are affiliated with the Students’ Union and several of these concern the life sciences, in particular the School of Biological Sciences Society (SoBSSoc). These societies are open to students and staff of the University. They usually provide a series of lectures, social or sporting events. You are likely to be canvassed for a subscription, and invited to participate in social and sporting activities, during Welcome Week.

YOUR DEGREE PROGRAMME

Registration

The University of Manchester has a student record system which allows you to complete most of the registration process online from home. We strongly recommend that you complete the 10-step registration process online before you arrive in Manchester. Please refer to the University’s Student Services Webpage here. Registration help is available online via the Welcome Site · Student Services and Registration Helpline +44 (0)161 275 5000.

Course Unit selection is the next stage of registration and for more information on this process you should refer to the Course Unit Selection section in this handbook. At a meeting with your Programme Director during Welcome Week, you will receive additional advice on your choice of optional units. Units provided by the School of Biological Sciences have a “BIOL” code.

You will be automatically enrolled on your mandatory units and will need to enrol yourself on your optional units via the Student System before teaching commences.

The final stage of registration is conducted by members of staff from the Student Services Centre. You will be issued with a Student Card, which you need to access the Library and the Stopford Building, and must also be taken to all examinations. It is very important that you look after this card and have it with you every day – without it you will not be able to enter the Stopford building for practicals or lectures.

Overview of the programmes

The programmes are built on a unit (modular) structure. You will take:

9 Lecture-based units over the year
2 practical units
A tutorial unit over the year

Practical Units in Year 1

In the first semester, all you will undertake the 10-credit unit BIOL10401 (Introduction to Laboratory Science). This introductory practical unit is designed to introduce you to some of the techniques and skills required to explore biological systems experimentally at the biomolecular, cellular and organismal levels. The experiments have been selected to introduce fundamental techniques used in biological research – in particular, microscopy, spectrophotometry, gel electrophoresis and a range of techniques used in biomedical experimentation. You will have laboratory sessions throughout the semester; each laboratory session will be preceded by an online pre-laboratory exercise and will be followed by online post-laboratory work.

In the second semester, depending on their degree programme, you will either do a laboratory-based practical units or a field course. Various field courses will be available for Biology, Plant Science and Zoology students. The other students will do, depending on their discipline either BIOL10412 (Introduction to Experimental Biology – Molecular and Cellular Biology stream), or BIOL10422 (Introduction to Experimental Biology – Human Biology stream. Biomedical Sciences and Life Sciences students will be able to choose their unit and Biology students will be able to do a lab-based unit if they do not want to do a field course.

You must ensure that you take 120 credits for each year of study – this is most important and your responsibility. You should take no more than 60 credits per semester (maximum exception of 70 credits allowed, and only with Programme Director consent) and no less than 50 credits as specified in the University’s Manual of Academic Procedures.

For each programme there are mandatory units that define your Degree Programme plus a range of optional units. You may choose your optional lecture-only units from those provided by the School of Biological Sciences (coded BIOL) and some units from outside the School. No more than 20 credits of your lecture-based units should be taken from units without a BIOL code (this will differ for programmes such as Biology with Science and Society, and Cognitive Neuroscience & Psychology – in all cases please refer to your Programme Structure). You should carefully read the unit descriptions before deciding upon your optional units and also take account of potential timetable clashes between your chosen options. Guidance on your choice of units should be sought from your Academic advisor or Programme Director. It is recommended that you do 4/5 lecture units in each semester in Year 1. Failure to balance your lecture units in this way could significantly increase your workload in one semester relative to the other. Note that units taken from outside the School may have coursework components that are unlike those offered by units from within the School.

Please be aware that all of the tutorials and practical classes are compulsory and will all be delivered face-to-face on campus. Lecture units will include a mixture of lectures and interactive sessions that will be delivered on campus. Through these teaching sessions you will be taught the key topics covered by your course and have the opportunity to engage in discussion with your peers and teaching staff, and participate in question-and-answer activities. On campus teaching sessions will be supplemented by online resources, which will help you explore the topics covered in more depth. Where appropriate, lectures will be live-streamed so that you will have the flexibility to decide whether you wish to attend in person, or listen remotely. Recordings of all lectures will also be available, so you will be able to watch them later if you prefer.

There are a few units offered outside the School that are year-long and are examined in May/June.

The University has a system of credit rating of all course units. It is intended to give you an indication of the proportion of your time that all the work of a unit is expected to occupy and is based on a full year’s work being 120 credits. This figure assumes 30 weeks’ work at 40 hours per week. Therefore, you can expect to spend ~100 hours on a typical 10-credit unit. This time includes, for example, reading, eLearning materials, writing and revision, as well as direct contact hours.

Tutorials are held in small groups of 10-12 students. These occur at times convenient to your Advisor and the students in the group, which may be 8.00-9.00 or 17:00-18:00.

Changing optional course units: You may change any optional units in Year 1 and 2 (except field courses in Year 1, RSMs in Year 2, and language units that run for the full academic year), at the beginning of each semester (during the first two weeks). Year 3 students may change optional units as follows:

Semester 1, first two weeks of semester one.
Semester 2 units – week 2 of semester two.

To do this you will need to log into your Student System in the same way as you did when you completed course unit selection. Further instructions can be found in the Course Unit Selection section. Please note that you must ensure that you do not drop or swap any course unit that is a mandatory course unit within your programme regulations. You must ensure that any changes you make to your course unit selections still satisfy your programmes academic advisement rules. Academic advisement rules can be found at the following link here.

Changing Degree Programme: It is recognised that your interests will develop and may change after entering the University. You may wish to change from one Degree Programme to another at the end of the first or second year, and the system is quite flexible in this respect. However, there are some restrictions depending on which units you have taken (refer to the mandatory units (Level 1) (Level 2) for any programme you may be considering). It should be noted that it is not normally possible to transfer into/or from the Joint Honours Programme of Cognitive Neuroscience & Psychology.

Note: transfers to certain programmes may be dependent upon exam performance in certain units.

If you are considering changing Degree Programmes you should speak to your Academic advisor at the earliest opportunity. You should also obtain the approval of both the ‘old’ and ‘new’ Programme Directors and complete a ‘Degree Programme Change Request’ on the following link https://www.qualtrics.manchester.ac.uk/jfe/form/SV_0j13mRL5INhb1We

Please note that there are deadlines for completing programme changes – see section Key Dates and Deadlines for further information. Please note that these deadlines apply to ALL degree programme change requests INCLUDING adding an Industrial Placement year or switching to the MSci programmes. You should aim to complete your programme change as soon as possible prior to this deadline, particularly if you are transferring to/from a degree with industrial experience or an MSci programme. Programme changes will be actioned on the student system at the end of the current academic year.

Degrees “with industrial/professional experience”

You will normally spend the third year of the programme working in a professional environment away from the University. Although this may seem some distant time in the future you should start thinking now about what you would like to do. Also, only first year results will be available when placement organisations consider your application so it is well worth putting plenty of effort in during Year 1! During Year 2, students registered for the ‘with Industrial/Professional Experience’ degree will be helped by the Placement Officer to apply for placements for the third year of the programme. Only students registered on a Degree Programme ‘with Industrial/Professional Experience’ or ‘with Entrepreneurship’ are eligible to apply for the placements managed by the Placement Office.

Although as much help as possible will be given, we cannot guarantee all students a placement. Placements are obtained competitively, competition being not only with students from Manchester but also with those from other institutions. Companies usually produce a short-list on the basis of an application form or curriculum vitae, along with references from Advisors (which will be based primarily on the performance in tutorials and the First Year Examination). Most companies will then interview students before making their decisions.

Students following Degree Programmes with a placement will take the same units in year 1 and 2 as the three-year BSc degree students. There may be some optional units that your Programme Director will strongly recommend if you are contemplating a placement.

It is a requirement for students to spend a minimum of 9 months on placement. Students who terminate their placement before the scheduled end date, and who do not complete a minimum of 9 months on placement, will not be eligible to graduate ‘with industrial experience’. In these circumstances, a student will be required to apply for an interruption to their studies in order to return in September of the following year to continue on the final year of the standard BSc programme (without industrial experience).Any student unable to obtain a placement will be transferred to the appropriate three-year BSc degree at the end of the Year 2. However, a request to switch to an appropriate MSci programme can be made by completing and submitting a Degree Programme Change form by the appropriate deadline (see section Key Dates and Deadlines for further information (Level2)

If you feel that you no longer wish to continue on a programme with industrial/professional experience and would like to transfer to a standard three-year BSc degree, please discuss this with your Programme Director and/or Academic advisor and complete a ‘Degree Programme Change Request’ on the following link https://www.qualtrics.manchester.ac.uk/jfe/form/SV_0j13mRL5INhb1We

Languages Degrees

If you are registered for one of the degrees with a language, the proportion of language units that you are required to take will depend upon your qualifications on entry: if you have an A level in your chosen language at grade B or above, you will take 100 credits in biological sciences and 20credits in your chosen language, excluding cultural units (route a); if not, you will take 80 credits in biological sciences and 40 credits in your chosen language, including cultural units (route b). Details of the biological sciences units can be found on the academic advisements for the relevant biological science degree programme. Details of the language units can be found on the School of Arts, Languages and Cultures website. Timetabling may be challenging so you must check carefully that all mandatory units do not clash (tell the staff in the Student Support Office immediately if they do). You may only choose optional units that do not clash with other units.

You will be expected to spend the third year of the programme working in a University in the country of your chosen language. The Language placement coordinator (Dr Patrick Gallois) will contact you during your second year to begin discussions about potential placements.

Language placements are for 9 months (in Europe) or 10 months (Japan and China). These placements are with Universities with whom the School has a student exchange agreement and a list of these Erasmus Exchange Partners can be found on the intranet .

You will be expected to visit the websites of these Universities and identify and contact potential project supervisors during the first semester of your second year. The Placement Office can also provide you with the contact details of the individual responsible for student exchanges, who may also offer assistance. Note that while you are guaranteed a placement under the exchange agreement, it is up to individual academics to decide if they can supervise a project with you in their lab and you may therefore have to approach a number of individuals before you are accepted. You should keep the Placement Office and Language Placement Coordinator (Dr Patrick Gallois) informed of your progress and any difficulties that may arise.

If you feel that you no longer wish to continue on a programme with a language and would like to transfer to a standard three-year BSc degree, please discuss this with your Programme Director and/or Academic advisor and complete a ‘Degree Programme Change Request’ on the following link https://www.qualtrics.manchester.ac.uk/jfe/form/SV_0j13mRL5INhb1We

Entrepreneurship Degrees

You will take 100 credits in biological sciences and 20 credits in entrepreneurship units in each year for years 1, 2 and 4 of your degree. Year 3 will be undertaken as a placement year (120 credits). Details of the biological sciences units can be found on the academic advisements for the relevant biological science degree programme. Details of the entrepreneurial units can be found on the Masood (Manchester) Entrepreneurship Centre (MEC) website (part of the Alliance Manchester Business School). Timetabling may be challenging so you must check carefully that all mandatory units do not clash (tell the staff in the Student Support Office immediately if they do). You may only choose optional units that do not clash with other units.

In order to progress on to each year of the Entrepreneurship programme (years 2 and 3), you must obtain a minimum average of 60% during the preceding years of your study (with no fails in mandatory units during the 1^st year and no fails in any units during the 2^nd year). If you do not meet the progression criteria, your course will be automatically changed to the 3-year BSc. Please note that the requirement to pass mandatory units at first attempt cannot be avoided by changing to a programme where they are not mandatory.

You will normally spend the third year of the programme working in a professional environment away from the University. During Year 2, students registered for the ‘with entrepreneurship’ degree will be helped by the Placement Officer to apply for placements for the third year of the programme. Although as much help as possible will be given, we cannot guarantee all students a placement. Placements are obtained competitively, competition being not only with students from Manchester but also with those from other institutions. Companies usually produce a short-list on the basis of an application form or curriculum vitae, along with references from Advisors (which will be based primarily on the performance in tutorials and the First Year Examination). Most companies will then interview students before making their decisions.

It is a requirement for students to spend a minimum of 9 months on placement. Students who terminate their placement before the scheduled end date, and who do not complete a minimum of 9 months on placement, will not be eligible to graduate ‘with Entrepreneurship’. In these circumstances, a student will be required to apply for an interruption to their studies in order to return in September of the following year to continue on the final year of the standard BSc programme (without Entrepreneurship). Any student unable to obtain a placement will be transferred to the appropriate three-year BSc degree at the end of the Year 2. However, a request to switch to an appropriate MSci programme can be made by completing and submitting a Degree Programme Change form by the appropriate deadline (see section Key Dates and Deadlines for further information (Level2).

If you feel that you no longer wish to continue on a programme with Entrepreneurship and would like to transfer to a standard three-year BSc degree, please discuss this with your Programme Director and/or Academic advisor and complete a ‘Degree Programme Change Request’ on the following link https://www.qualtrics.manchester.ac.uk/jfe/form/SV_0j13mRL5INhb1We

MSci degree programmes

You will take the same lecture and practical units as the three year BSc students in Year 1 and 2. In year 3, you will take the two degree programme specific papers (problem and essay papers) and five lecture units. You will be prepared for the degree programme specific papers through the third year tutorials with the BSc students. The remaining 50 credits will come from the following units:

BIOL33000 MSci Research Project Proposal (10 credits)
BIOL33012 MSci Experimental Skills Module (20 credits)

BIOL33011 MSci Bioinformatics Tools and Resources (10 credits) and/or, BIOL33021 Computational Approaches to Biology (10 credits) and/or BIOL33031 Reproducible Data Science (10 credits,) as determined by your Programme Director.

Then either 4, 5 or 6 Lecture-based units over the year (each worth 10 credits) up to 120 credits total. During Year 4, you will complete a seven month research project.

In order to progress on to the 3rd year of the MSci, you must obtain a minimum average of 60% during the first two years of your study (with no fails in mandatory units during the 1^st year and no fails in any units during the 2^nd year). Please note that the requirement to pass mandatory units at first attempt cannot be avoided by changing to a programme where they are not mandatory.

A maximum of 70 students from all Bioscience MSci programmes can progress to Year 3. If you fall outside the top 70 students (based on mean mark), or do not meet the progression criteria, your course will be automatically changed to the 3-year BSc and you will have to return to your own country to apply for a new visa before you can complete the final year of your BSc.

If you feel that you no longer wish to continue on a MSci degree programme and would like to transfer to a three-year BSc degree, please discuss this with your Programme Director and/or Academic advisor and complete a ‘Degree Programme Change Request’ on the following link https://www.qualtrics.manchester.ac.uk/jfe/form/SV_0j13mRL5INhb1We

Field Courses – Year 1 and 2

BIOL10642 Field Course in Animal Behaviour and Diversity

BIOL10622 Field Course in Comparative and Adaptive Biology

BIOL10602 Field Course in Marine Biology

BIOL10662 Non Residential Field Course in Ecology & Behaviour

BIOL20552 Tropical Ecology & Conservation

BIOL20872 Urban Biodiversity & Conservation

BIOL21422 Alpine Biodiversity & Forest Ecology

To be confirmed: Field Course Exchange with National University of Singapore

You must attend the compulsory Field Course Talk which will take place in semester one, where you will be given essential information which expands on what is given below.

If you are studying Zoology or Plant Science, you will enrol on a 10-credit field course as part of your compulsory units in both your first and second year. Other degree programmes offer a field course as part of the practical unit requirement in first year or the Research Skills Module (RSM) in the second year (link to course unit profile database). You will be asked to submit your choice of three field courses (and/or practical units or RSM units, depending on your programme) in rank order. If there are not enough places on a field course or RSM unit for everyone to get their first choice, places will be allocated based on an essay / assignment (for Year-1 field courses) or Year-1 average mark (for Year-2 field courses). You will be informed before the end of Semester 1, Week 2, as to whether or not you have been accepted on your first choice course. For advice and further information please contact Dr Ben Chapman or Dr Donald Ward.

Residential Field courses (where you stay over for the duration) are 1 to 2 weeks long in first year and 2 to 3 weeks long in second year. They take place during the Easter or summer vacation at locations suitable for marine or terrestrial field work within the UK and overseas. Non-residential field courses usually consist of several day trips. This coming year (subject to confirmation) we also hope to offer a field course exchange with the National University of Singapore (NUS), which will combine three weeks of study at NUS with a week-long field trip to a Malaysian island.

There is a cost to attend a residential field course. It is very important that you are fully committed to attending and paying for your field course so that we can effectively plan your trips; we start booking flights and accommodation at the end of Semester 1. We therefore require a £300/500 non-refundable deposit to secure your place (amount dependent upon the field course), to be paid at the time of selection. However if your field course cannot take place, the deposit will be refunded. If you have any concerns about paying for a field course, please contact the Student Support Office for advice.

You will be asked to sign a declaration form to confirm that you will meet all the requirements of attending your field course. In addition to payment, there is documentation you must submit by the given deadlines. These are:

Health Screening Questionnaire – required for all residential field courses. Your medical fitness to travel must be confirmed by our Occupational Health team, who will issue your Fitness to Travel certificate. Depending on the location of your field course and the information included in your Health Questionnaire, you may need to attend an appointment with them and you may also require vaccinations. You will therefore be required to submit a copy of your vaccination history. If you are from the UK, we strongly recommend that you are fully up to date with your NHS vaccination schedule.
Copy of your passport – required for all overseas field courses.
Copy of a valid UK Global Health Insurance Card (GHIC) – now being used instead of the previous European Health Insurance Card (EHIC)
Copy of your visa – if you are an international student and this is required to enter the country you are visiting.

If you are attending a non-residential field course and have any concerns regarding health conditions that may affect your participation, you can meet with Occupational Health for confidential advice.

For your safety and comfort you must have suitable footwear (strong walking boots and/or Wellington boots) and warm waterproof and windproof clothing.

International voluntary exchange programme

The University has an International Exchange Programme that allows students to spend part of their Degree Programme in another country. A period overseas during your third year is a requirement if you are taking one of our degrees with a language (see Section Language degrees), but you can also use the scheme if you are not studying a language and wish to have the opportunity to experience different modes of teaching and a different culture. There are two approaches to this type of exchange – in Denmark, Norway, and Sweden a large number of degree courses are now taught in English, so you do not need to speak the language to study in these countries. You may find it an advantage to study the language of the country when you are there, but it is not a requirement. You may be competent in another language due to family or residential reasons, or you may be taking one of the Language units offered by the Language Centre. Alternatively, worldwide exchanges to English-speaking countries (USA, Canada, Hong Kong, Australia, etc.) are also an option.

Any voluntary overseas exchange must be in your second year only (the first semester) and is for one semester. You may be able to take courses that are not available to you in Manchester, but in all cases you must obtain the permission of your Programme Director. The courses you take will be assessed by the overseas university and will contribute to your degree in place of units you would have taken in Manchester. In order to be eligible for this scheme, you must obtain an average of 60% (and no fails) in Year 1.

You should discuss the possibility of participating in a voluntary International Exchange with your Programme Director. Applications for this scheme are coordinated by the International Programmes Office and the deadline for applications is early February of your first year. In order to apply, you must attend a compulsory session run by the International Programmes Office (in December/January). Further information about the process is available here. It is not possible to undertake both an International Exchange and an industrial/professional experience placement.

Language Enhancement Access Programme (LEAP)

The University offers courses to students who wish to study a language as part of LEAP.

Further information is available from the LEAP website.

If you are considering registering for a language module you must discuss this with your Programme Director at registration during Welcome Week. If your Programme Director authorises your application for a LEAP course, you must enrol with the LEAP office by filling in an enrolment form. Enrolment will be conducted on a first-come first-served basis and you are therefore strongly advised not to leave it too late.

TEACHING, LEARNING AND ASSESSMENT

Coursework

Deadlines, penalties and document limits

Items of coursework, such as essays and write-ups, will normally have strict deadlines. It is YOUR responsibility to ensure that you know when the deadline for each submission falls. As your programme is preparing you for the world of graduate employment, where deadlines are often very strict indeed, you should treat School deadlines like train departure times (just a few seconds after the time has passed, you will have missed the train!).

Any work that has been submitted after a deadline has passed is classed as late except in cases where an extension has already been agreed via mitigating circumstances procedures and DASS extensions. A student who submits work at 1 minute past a deadline or later will therefore be subject to a penalty for late submission; a reduction of 10 marks per 24 hours or part thereof past the deadline. If the work is submitted more than 10 calendar days late, then it is considered as a non-submission and a mark of zero applied. Submission dates and times are in UK local time, and it is the responsibility of students to ensure that they check the relevant time zone. Students who submit referral assignments after the deadline will be automatically subject to a mark of zero. The full policy can be found here. Exceeding the specified page limit will result in a deduction of 20 marks per page or part thereof.

Coursework will normally have a specified content limit. This will normally be a number of pages, but in some cases may be a number of words – it is YOUR responsibility to ensure that you understand exactly what the limits are and how they are to be achieved. Again, in post-graduate work you will usually find that documents, such as applications for grants, reports etc., have stringent word or page limit requirements – with line spacing, font, margins etc. specified. The standard School of Biological Sciences instructions for coursework including essays, reports and write-ups follow, but it is YOUR responsibility to ensure that you are aware of any alternative requirements for a particular piece of work:

The [submission] must not exceed [x] pages of text excluding the list of references. Text must be in Arial, 10 point, one and a half line spacing, with margins of at least 2.5 cm all around the text. ALL supporting material, such as figures, tables, text boxes etc. must be included in the page limit, and you are advised to ensure that any such items are sufficiently large enough to be read and understood with ease.

You should conform to the format that has been specified. If the work needs to be converted to a PDF for submission you must check very carefully that the conversion is accurate and conforms to the guidelines well in advance of the submission deadline.

A penalty of 20 marks (out of 100) will be applied to all SBS coursework that is incorrectly formatted (i.e. does not follow the specified guidelines on spacing, margins, figure position, sections etc). Existing penalties for lateness (10 marks per day or part thereof) and length (20 marks per page or part thereof) will continue to be applied as noted above. Where an assignment is incorrectly formatted and up to one page over length, then a single 20 mark penalty will be applied.

Time Management

Some deadlines may be shortly after the delivery of the material, some quite a way off, and this may well differ for different cohorts of students. This mixture mirrors the graduate world of work, and the requirements of your final year programme, so you are advised to plan ahead! Anticipate a few days of ill-health that might impact on your ability to complete assignments on time, and start work early on items with far-off deadlines. Mastering time management is one of the most essential goals you should set yourself. To help you, every course where there are assessments/assignments/deadlines will have all the deadline dates available to you within the ‘Assessments’ area of Blackboard in the left-hand menu. Any non-course-specific deadlines, such as essays, can be found in the Tutorials courses on Blackboard. Please note that it is possible that some dates may be adjusted throughout the semester at the Unit Coordinator’s discretion, therefore you should check your deadlines for each course regularly and complete work as early as possible.

Plagiarism, collusion and other forms of academic malpractice

These topics form an important part of the first stage of the Writing and Referencing skills modules in Year 1 but general guidelines and advice are given hereunder.

Plagiarism is a serious offence – it is treated as seriously as cheating in exams.

As a student, you are expected to cooperate in the learning process throughout your programme of study by completing assignments of various kinds that are the product of your own study or research. Coursework, dissertations and essays submitted for assessment must be your own work, unless in the case of group projects a joint effort is expected and this has been indicated by the Unit Coordinator. For most students this does not present a problem, but occasionally, whether unwittingly or otherwise, a student may commit what is known as plagiarism, or some other form of academic malpractice, when carrying out an assignment. This may come about because students have been used to different conventions in their prior educational experience or through general ignorance of what is expected of them or of what constitutes plagiarism.
The guidance below is designed to help you understand what we regard as academic malpractice and hence to help you to avoid committing it. You should read it carefully, because academic malpractice is regarded as a serious offence and students found to have committed it will be penalized. At the very least a mark of only 30% would be awarded for the piece of work in question, but it could be worse; you could be awarded zero (with or without loss of credits), fail the whole unit, be demoted to a lower class of degree, or be excluded from the programme, depending on the severity of the case.

Academic malpractice includes plagiarism, collusion, fabrication or falsification of results and anything else intended by those committing it to achieve credit that they do not properly deserve. This also includes submitting work which you have previously submitted for credit – this is self-plagiarism. You will be given exercises and guidance on plagiarism/academic malpractice in tutorials and if you are unsure about any aspect of this you should ask your Academic advisor for advice. There is also information in My Learning Essentials. It is well worth visiting these sites in your spare time to ensure that you fully understand.

You should be aware that all teaching materials and examination papers are subject to copyright by the University. If these are shared externally, then you will be subject to academic malpractice procedures, and possible legal action.

All students are required to confirm that they have read and agree to the University’s declaration on Academic Malpractice as part of the online registration process.

Further information on Academic Malpractice and how to avoid it can be found here.

The University uses electronic systems for the purposes of detecting plagiarism and other forms of academic malpractice and for marking. Such systems include TurnitinUK, the plagiarism detection service used by the University.

As part of the formative and/or summative assessment process, you may be asked to submit electronic versions of your work to TurnitinUK and/or other electronic systems used by the University (this requirement may be in addition to a requirement to submit a paper copy of your work). If you are asked to do this, you must do so within the required timescales.

The School also reserves the right to submit work handed in by you for formative or summative assessment to TurnitinUK and/or other electronic systems used by the University.

Please note that when work is submitted to the relevant electronic systems, it may be copied and then stored in a database to allow appropriate checks to be made.

You will be given an opportunity within the tutorials to submit a draft essay through this system, and it is very much in your best interests to do this so that you understand how it works.

Please see the document Guidance to students on plagiarism and other forms of academic malpractice.

eLearning (Blackboard)

As a student at the University of Manchester, you will find that many of your units contain sections of work that you must complete online (known as electronic (e)Learning). The University uses a website-like environment for this called Blackboard.

Online eLearning support for your course means that it is easy to fit your learning into your everyday life, as you can complete the work from almost any computer in the world with an internet connection. We are encouraging the use of students’ own mobile devices to support teaching and learning in lectures and tutorials. However, if the session requires a mobile device and you do not have one, one will be supplied.

Your eLearning work will often have strict deadlines and marks will be awarded for successful completion of assessments. Every Blackboard course is different, so read the rules regarding the course before you start, to ensure that you don’t miss any work.

Technical support from the eLearning team is available between 9:00 and 17:00 on all working days. This is accessible by selecting ‘Technical Support’ from the menu bar on the left of your online courses and following the on-screen instructions; the eLearning team will reply to your University email address.

More information on eLearning in the Faculty of Biology Medicine and Health can be found here.

Practical assessments

Most of the practicals will require you to do some background reading before the session, so please come prepared.

Practical work is assessed either as written work that you submit during or at the end of a unit, your ability to perform a task during a practical session, and/or as an online assessment or examination at the end of the unit. Details of assessment will be given to you at the start of each unit.

If you fail to submit an assessment by the due date and time, it will not normally be possible for it to be marked. If ill-health prevents you attending a practical session or meeting a submission deadline, see the Section Guidelines on ill health.

NB: In many practical classes you will work as one of a pair or larger group of students. Be careful that you feel confident with all the procedures yourself and do not leave it to others to do tasks for you: remember, in the exam you will be on your own. Furthermore, although you will most likely obtain results as part of a group, it is essential that any practical work that you submit for assessment is written in your own words, unless you have been specifically instructed to submit a group report (see Section Plagiarism, collusion and other forms of academic malpractice).

Tutorial assessments

Most of the work submitted in tutorials is assessed. You must obtain a pass mark on this work to be able to pass your Examinations in Year 1. If you obtain a mean mark of <40% for your tutorial work, OR if your attendance is unsatisfactory, you will fail the tutorial assessment and will be required to write an extended essay during the summer vacation.

The compensation rules for examinations (see Section Pass marks and compensation rules (Level 1) will only be applied if you pass the tutorial assessments AND fulfil the attendance requirement for tutorials units.

Assessments associated with the Writing and Referencing Skills Unit are monitored for the work elements of the Work and Attendance Regulations (see Section Work and attendance regulations (Level 1) and are also part of the tutorial assessment. Failure to complete these assessments satisfactorily will result in failure of the tutorial, and you will be required to complete tutorial referral work over the summer vacation.

The marks for tutorial assessments and Writing and Referencing Skills units in Year 1 are not included in the calculation of your mean mark for the year.

Examinations

The First Year Examinations consist of multiple choice and short answer questions, in each of the first-level lecture units. These will be sat on campus under invigilated conditions.

Written exams will be sat during the examination period at the end of the semester in which the unit is taught (i.e. January or May/June). Units that run across both semesters will normally be examined in the May/June exam period. Units taken from other Schools may be examined at a different time.

Attendance at all appropriate examinations is compulsory.

To prepare for examinations, you are encouraged to use any quizzes and practice exercises posted on Blackboard and to look at copies of past examination papers and any mock examples available. These can be obtained from the My Learning tab in your MyManchester portal, where you can search for papers by Faculty, School, exam name or code, year or semester. If the unit has no past papers the Unit Coordinator should make questions that are representative of the kind that will be set in the examination available at least 6 weeks before the exam which will be representative of the kind that will be set in the examination.

The pass mark for unit examinations is 40%. You will normally be expected to pass all the units you have taken before you can proceed to the next academic year. However, compensation may be possible if you fail a unit by a small amount, when the examiners may allow you an overall “compensated pass” (see Section Pass marks and compensation (Level 1). Otherwise, all units failed must be re-taken during the August/September examination period (see Section August/September referrals).

You may not normally start the next academic year of your degree programme until you have passed the Examinations in your current academic year, so failure again in August/September may lead to you being excluded from further courses and examinations in the School of Biological Sciences.

Multiple choice examinations

All units in the First Year Examinations and a few in Second Year Examinations will be examined wholly or partly by Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs). You are advised:

to follow carefully all written instructions for completing the examination
to make yourself familiar with the various rubrics that we use by looking at past examination papers, mock examination papers and exemplar questions provided by the unit delivery team.
to read the rubric to questions carefully. For example, one rubric may ask you to choose the one MOST SUITABLE option, and another may ask you to identify the one INCORRECT option.
to read the questions carefully. A good MCQ is intended to make you think.
that all MCQs in the School, unless otherwise stated, are marked by a technique that includes a negative correction for wrong answers. The correction that is subtracted for each wrong answer is 1/(n-1), where n is the number of options. This is intended to ensure that you will gain no benefit from guessing at random. All questions will include an option which will allow you to decline to answer the question, thereby scoring zero, rather than randomly guessing and answer, risking a negative score. Despite this negative marking, unless the number of options is few (three or fewer), it is to your advantage to make informed guesses, i.e. if you know some of the options can be excluded, you should make a guess at the other options. On average you will gain more marks when you get these informed guesses right than you will lose when you get them wrong.
Short answer questions and essay-type questions are NOT negatively marked. You will not lose marks for incorrect material (but will not gain any either) so it is worth writing something, even if you are not sure it is correct.

Criteria and marking for answers on theory examination papers

Criteria for marking theory papers is available on the Faculty intranet:

https://app.bmh.manchester.ac.uk/public/downloads.aspx?docId=131640.

Guidelines on feedback to students

Feedback is a broad term, which can be interpreted in different ways. The purpose of this section is to define the activities associated with feedback mechanisms, as they relate to lecture-based BIOL units so that you are aware of the feedback available for any unit which you decide to take.

Lecturers are expected to provide general guidance to students on appropriate reading material and other learning resources for the unit in advance of the start of the unit on Blackboard.

We encourage you to ask questions through any appropriate medium. However, if the lecture course has finished, then we suggest that you seek confirmation of the answer to your own question. What do we mean by this? Lecturers are unlikely to respond favourably to questions phrased along the lines of ‘Can you tell me the answer to this?’ Thus, if you want to ask a question, particularly by email, please make sure you include your own interpretation of the answer, including the literature sources that you used, and ask only for confirmation that you are correct. For example:

Wrong format: Can you tell me the primary role of voltage-gated sodium channels?

Correct format: It is my understanding that voltage-gated sodium channels are primarily responsible for the depolarising phase of the action potential. I used Kandel’s Principles of Neuroscience to obtain this information. Is this correct?

NB: The School does not normally publish marking schemes or answers to examination questions – you are expected to deduce these yourself using text books, peers, and PASS sessions.

In addition to providing the mandatory level of feedback, Unit Coordinators may provide more detailed feedback on your work. You should consult the feedback entry within the unit description in this handbook for further details on the additional feedback provided.

Examination feedback

Students have a right to receive feedback on their examination performance from Unit Coordinators. This may be done in a number of ways. A Unit Coordinator may:

publish a general feedback document outlining how questions were answered, addressing general strengths and weaknesses of students and giving a general indication of how well the questions were answered.
hold a feedback session, to which students are invited.
review an answer paper for a student and summarise his/her feedback via email.
provide online feedback.

Students will be able to view marker’s comments on essay-based exam answers submitted to Turnitin after the exam results have been released. For hand written (paper) exams, students may seek individual feedback, in which the Unit Coordinator will obtain their exam scripts and report feedback on their answers including, where appropriate, any written comments recorded on the manuscript. A student does not, however, have the right to challenge any academic judgements on the quality of the answer. This means there is NO opportunity for papers to be re-marked.

STUDENT PROGRESSION

Degree Regulations

The degree regulations for students can be found on the University website.

Bachelors Degree classification weighted to 120 credits	Classification thresholds: weighted average (0 to 100 mark range)	Boundary zone weighted average
First class	70.0	68.0 to 69.9
Upper Second class	60.0	58.0 to 59.9
Lower Second class	50.0	48.0 to 49.9
Third class	40.0	37.0 to 39.9

Note, unlike the BSc degrees, it is not possible to attain a 3^rd class for an MSci degree. Consequently, MSci students who obtain a final mark of less than 50% will fail the MSci degree. However, you will be able to graduate with BSc(Hons) degree based on your performance during your first three years.

Assessments and examinations

First Year

First year assessments and examinations contribute 10% to your final degree mark.

Allocation to Research Skills Modules RSMs with restricted numbers in second year for students who have a choice will be based on your overall first year mark.

Pass marks and Compensation rules

The pass mark for each unit examination is 40%, and ideally you should pass all the units for which you are registered. However, the examiners realise that not all students will achieve this ideal, and some students may pass most of their units, getting good marks in some but just failing others. The following compensation rules are therefore used, whereby good marks can compensate for some fail marks; the degree of compensation permitted will depend on the marks of all your units (excluding the tutorials).

To obtain a compensated pass in the First Year Examination as a whole you must:

pass all elements of the tutorial assessment (see Section Tutorial assessments) and have satisfactory attendance at tutorials and practical classes (see Section Practical assessments)
gain a mark of at least 40% in the tutorial unit BIOL10000, both practical units (BIOL10401 and either BIOL10412, BIOL10422, BIOL10602, BIOL10622, BIOL10642, BIOL10662, or BIOL10652 depending on your degree programme), and in all designated non-compensatable units for your Degree Programme (see a below).
gain a mark of at least 70% in BIOL10741 Writing and Referencing Skills
achieve marks of at least 40% in each of the units totalling 80 credits (including the tutorial practicals and non-compensatable units) and at least 30% in each of the remaining 40 credits.

NB – failure of the – Tutorial unit BIOL10000, and BIOL10741 Writing and Referencing Skills will lead to loss of compensation and all unit assessments with marks less than 40% will have to be resat.

For most Degree Programmes, at least one core non-compensatable unit has been designated in which you must attain a mark of at least 40%. However, failure of these units will not result in overall loss of compensation. Please also note that referrals of these units cannot be avoided by changing to a programme where they are compensatable. Students are expected to complete the year on their current degree programme. Also failed non-compensatable unit credits cannot be carried forward to the next year. A list of these units follows:

Level 1 Non-compensatable units

Anatomical Sciences

BIOL10811 Body Systems

Biochemistry

BIOL10212 Biochemistry

BIOL10221 Molecular Biology

Biology with Science and Society

BIOL10381 A History of Biology in 20 Objects

Biotechnology

BIOL10221 Molecular Biology

Cell Biology

BIOL10232 From Molecules to Cells

Cognitive Neuroscience and Psychology

BIOL10832 Excitable Cells: the Foundations of Neuroscience

Developmental Biology

BIOL10521 Genes, Evolution & Development

Genetics

BIOL10521 Genes, Evolution & Development

Medical Biochemistry

BIOL10212 Biochemistry

Microbiology

BIOL10532 Microbes, Humankind & the Environment

Molecular Biology

BIOL10221 Molecular Biology

Neuroscience

BIOL10832 Excitable Cells: the Foundations of Neuroscience

Pharmacology

BIOL10822 Drugs from Molecules to Man

Pharmacology and Physiology

BIOL10822 Drugs from Molecules to Man

BIOL10832 Excitable Cells: the Foundations of Neuroscience

Medical Physiology

BIOL10832 Excitable Cells: the Foundations of Neuroscience

Plant Sciences

BIOL10511 Biodiversity

Some field courses do not take place until after the date that we are required to hold the Examiners’ meeting. Therefore, marks for these field course units will be excluded and the compensation rules will be applied only to the units that have been taken. However, you should note that:

(i) If you obtain a fail mark in a field course and no compensation is available after applying the compensation rules across ALL your units, you will be required to complete a substantial assignment in lieu of a referral of a field course.

(ii) the field course marks WILL be included in the calculation of your mean year mark that will contribute towards your final degree mark.

The University gives the Board of Examiners the right to refuse a referral to a student whose Work and Attendance has been unsatisfactory and who has received an official warning letter.

If after the application of the above compensation rules you are found to have failed overall, then you will be required to take referral (resit) examinations in August/September. If you have passed 40 or more credits at the first attempt the Board of Examiners will specify which unit assessments you are required to refer in order to gain at least a compensated pass in the August/September examinations.

Note the Board of Examiners may choose to exclude you from further study if you are absent without explanation from all exams in a given examination period or if you fail on first attempt more than 80 credits worth of assessments.

ABSENCE FROM EXAMINATIONS/ASSESSMENTS: you must inform the Student Support Office if you are absent for any examinations or assessments BEFORE THE START OF THE EXAM (see Section Absence from examinations due to ill health). If you are absent for all exams within a given examination period, without prior notice and documentation to mitigate this absence, the School will assume that you have withdrawn from your programme of study and will not permit you to progress to the subsequent year.

Practical Assessments: Marks are awarded for completing the practical units, the end of unit examination (BIOL10401/10412/10422) and for completing written coursework.

Failure to complete the Writing and Referencing Skills module BIOL10741 satisfactorily (>70%) will result in a failure of BIOL10000 and will require a re-sit assessment (online) to be completed during the summer vacation.

Tutorial Assessments: your tutorial work is usually assessed by marking several pieces of work. If you miss part of this assessment through properly documented illness (see Section Absence affecting submission of written work), the examiners may base your overall mark for the unit on the marks for the remaining pieces of work that you did complete.

Unit Examinations: absence from any of your Examinations, or non-submission of assessments for whatever reason, will score 0% for that examination. If, however, the absence is mitigated (see section Mitigating Circumstances Committee), your referral in August/September may be counted as your first attempt at the examination (and the fee may be waived). See also Section Absence from examinations due to ill health.

Pass marks and degree classification

August/September referrals

If you pass a minimum 40 credits but have failed to meet the expected standard in up to 80

of the remaining credits, you will be able to have one more try at the assessment. This is

known as ‘referred assessment’ and these assessments will normally take place over the

summer period. This will all happen in good time for the examination board to make

decisions on your progression for next year’s enrolment.

No more than 80 credits can be referred
Please note that it will be the mark that you obtain in the referral examination that will determine whether you obtain a pass in a unit (we do NOT take the better of marks obtained on the first or second attempt). The mark will be derived solely from the referral examination and will not include any coursework/eLearning component carried over from the first sitting, unless the exam is being taken as a first attempt.
To give credit for passing referral examinations, any passed referral mark will be capped at 30% for the purposes of progression and will be recorded on academic transcripts as 30R. It is this mark that will be used to calculate your final degree classification.
Should you still not pass the Examination on this referral (when the compensation rules will again be applied) the following decisions by the Board of Examiners may be taken.

You may be

Permitted to carry forward up to 20 failed credits to the next year. This decision is at the discretion of the Board of Examiners and will be based on your academic standing and any mitigating circumstances. Whole units must be repeated in attendance, with assessment taken in full. Marks are capped to the lowest compensatable mark. Failed non-compensatable units cannot be carried over to subsequent levels. See section Pass marks and compensation rules (Level 1) (Level 2).
Permitted to repeat the year on your current degree programme. This option is at the discretion of the Board of Examiners and can only be granted after the Board of Examiners meets in September to discuss the results of the referral examinations. It will normally only be available where you can demonstrate that your current academic performance is likely to improve in the following year and will be dependent on availability of places for the following year.
Excluded from your Degree Programme

Dates for the August/September examination period are printed at the front of this handbook. Please bear this in mind when making plans for the summer. Should you be ill and be unable to take an examination in January or May/June you will need to be available for the referral opportunity. It is NOT possible to take referral examinations at another location or to reschedule them.

Non compensatable units cannot be carried into the following year of study.

Note the referral examination is only provided to allow you to gain sufficient credits. The aggregate mark carried forward to your final degree mark is derived only from capped referral mark (see (3) above) or, if greater, the original mark for that subject. However, it will be the mark that you obtain in the referral examination that will determine whether you obtain a pass in a referred unit (we do NOT take the better of marks obtained on the first or any subsequent attempt).

Progression rules for students on Integrated Masters (MSci) Degrees

In addition to the above progression criteria, you must also fulfil the following criteria to progress on the Integrated Masters (MSci) Degrees:

Year 1

pass all year 1 mandatory units at the first attempt with a mark of at least 40% in both the January and May/June examination and obtain an overall mean mark of at least 60% (including a mark of at least 70% obtained in a tutorial assignment for Writing and Referencing skills (BIOL10741) that is attached to the tutorial unit (BIOL10000). Please note that the requirement to pass mandatory units at first attempt cannot be avoided by changing to a programme where they are not mandatory.

Year 2

pass all year 2 units at the first attempt with a mark of at least 40% in both the January and May/June examination and obtain an overall mean mark of at least 60% (excluding marks obtained for tutorial assignments). A maximum of 70 students from all Bioscience MSci programmes can progress to Year 3. If you fall outside the top 70 students (based on mean mark), or do not meet the progression criteria, your course will be automatically changed to the 3-year BSc.

Year 3

obtain an overall mean mark of at least 60% to progress to the final year project and marks of at least 40% in 2/3 of total credits including all non-compensated units and at least 30% in the remaining 1/3 of credits.

If you fail to meet any of these requirements, you will be transferred to the appropriate three-year BSc degree by the Board of Examiners at the next appropriate Exam Board, and you will be unable to continue on the integrated masters programme. If after Year 3 your average is below 60%, then you will be considered for an award of the Degree of Bachelor of Science.

Note: you cannot continue on the integrated Masters programmes, if your year 3 average was initially below 60% but your final degree mark was within the borderline range (58.0 – 59.9%) and was then raised to a II.i overall at the Exam Board.

If you feel that you no longer wish to continue on an integrated Master’s programme and would like to transfer to a standard three-year BSc degree, please discuss this with your Programme Director and/or Academic advisor. A completed Degree Programme Change Form should be submitted to the Student Support Office if you do decide to transfer off the programme but must be submitted by the publicised deadlines.

Degrees with industrial/professional experience

To continue on a programme with industrial/professional experience you must:

pass all year 1 mandatory units at the first attempt with a mark of at least 40% in both the January and May/June examination and obtain an overall mean mark of at least 60%. Please note that the requirement to pass mandatory units at first attempt cannot be avoided by changing to a programme where they are not mandatory.
obtain a mark of at least 70% obtained in a tutorial assignment for Writing and Referencing Skills (BIOL10741) that is attached to the tutorial unit (BIOL10000).
attend the compulsory meeting for prospective students (see key dates and deadlines for details of date/time of this meeting). Details about the venue for this meeting will be circulated via email early in Semester 2. Information will also be published on the Placement Student Area on Blackboard.
submit your CV to the submission area in Blackboard by the advertised deadline (1pm on the last Tuesday in August)
attend the two compulsory meetings for prospective students in Welcome Week of Semester 3 (Yr 2).
obtain a least a pass mark (40%) in each of your second-year examinations at the first attempt in both the January and May/June examination periods and in the practical and tutorial units and an overall mean mark of at least 60%
not divulge information about the placements offered to any other students in this School, Faculty, other Faculties or other Universities.

If you fail to meet any of these requirements will be transferred to the appropriate three-year BSc degree by the Board of Examiners at the next appropriate Exam Board, and will be unable to undertake a placement.

Any student unable to obtain a placement will be transferred to the appropriate three-year BSc degree at the end of the second year.

If you feel that you no longer wish to continue on a programme with industrial/professional experience and would like to transfer to a standard three-year BSc degree, please discuss this with your Programme Director and/or Academic Advisor. A completed Degree Programme Change Form should be submitted to the Student Support Office if you do decide to transfer off the placement programme (see key dates and deadlines for details of the programme change deadlines).

Language degrees

Satisfactory performance in both the biological science and the language components of the first year examinations is essential for you to continue on a biological sciences ‘with language’ programme. To continue on a programme with a language you must:

Pass all year 1 mandatory units at the first attempt with a mark of at least 40% in both the January and May/June examination and obtain an overall mark mean mark of at least 60% (including a mark of at least 70% obtained in a tutorial assignment for Writing and Referencing Skills (BIOL10741) that is attached to the tutorial unit (BIOL10000). Please note that the requirement to pass mandatory units at first attempt cannot be avoided by changing to a programme where they are not mandatory.
students with a mark of <40% in beginners’ language semester 1 units will be removed from the “with language” programme at the start of semester 2 and must select non-language units to replace the language units in semester 2.
obtain at least a pass mark (40%) in each of your Second Year Examinations at the first attempt in both the January and May/June examination periods and in the practical and tutorial units and an overall mean mark of at least 60%.
attend a compulsory meeting for prospective students in Welcome Week of Semester 3 (Yr 2).

There is no compensation between the language and biological components – both must be passed independently.

Any student unable to obtain a language placement will be transferred to the appropriate three-year BSc degree at the end of the second year.

If you feel that you no longer wish to continue on a programme with a language and would like to transfer to a standard three-year BSc degree, please discuss this with your Programme Director and/or Academic Tutor. A completed Degree Programme Change form should be submitted to the Student Support Office if you do decide to transfer off the language programme (see key dates and deadlines for details of the programme change deadlines).

Entrepreneurship Degrees

In order to continue on the ‘with Entrepreneurship’ programme you must gain satisfactory performance in both the biological science and the entrepreneurship components. In addition to the above progression criteria, you must also fulfil the following criteria:

Year 1

Pass all year 1 mandatory units at the first attempt with a mark of at least 40% in both the January and May/June examination and obtain an overall mean mark of at least 60% (including a mark of at least 70% obtained in a tutorial assignment for Writing and Referencing skills (BIOL10741) that is attached to the tutorial unit (BIOL10000). Please note that the requirement to pass mandatory units at first attempt cannot be avoided by changing to a programme where they are not mandatory.

Year 2

pass all year 2 units at the first attempt with a mark of at least 40% in both the January and May/June examination and obtain an overall mean mark of at least 60% (excluding marks obtained for tutorial assignments).

attend the compulsory placement meeting for prospective students (see key dates and deadlines for details of date/time of this meeting). Details about the venue for this meeting will be circulated via email early in Semester 2. Information will also be published on the Placement Student Area on Blackboard.
submit your CV to the submission area in Blackboard by the advertised deadline (1pm on the last Tuesday in August: 31st August in 2021)
attend the compulsory meeting for prospective students in Welcome Week of Semester 3 (Yr 2).
not divulge information about the placements offered to any other students in this School, Faculty, other Faculties or other Universities.

Any student unable to obtain an entrepreneurship placement will be transferred to the appropriate three-year BSc degree at the end of the second year.

If you feel that you no longer wish to continue on a programme with Entrepreneurship and would like to transfer to a standard three-year BSc degree, please discuss this with your Programme Director and/or Academic advisor. A completed Degree Programme Change form should be submitted to the Student Support Office if you do decide to transfer off the Entrepreneurship programme.

Disclosure of marks and record of academic performance

Marks for practical assessments and unit examinations will be made available to you via My Manchester Student Portal; details on how to access them can be found here. Please see section Key Dates and Deadlines (Level 1) (Level 2) for the dates the examination results will be published. Practical assessment and other coursework marks may be published on an ongoing basis.

Decisions on progression to the next year will be communicated to you via My Manchester Portal during the summer vacation. In some circumstances, a letter will also be sent to you at your home address.

It is entirely your responsibility to ensure that you learn the contents of these important messages in a timely manner.

Turnitin

The University uses electronic systems for the purposes of detecting plagiarism (including self-plagiarism) and other forms of academic malpractice and for marking. Such systems include TurnitinUK, the plagiarism detection service used by the University.

The School also reserves the right to submit work handed in by you for formative or summative assessment to TurnitinUK and/or other electronic systems used by the University.

Please note that when work is submitted to the relevant electronic systems, it may be copied and then stored in a database to allow appropriate checks to be made.

External Examiners

External Examiners are individuals from another institution or organisation who monitor the assessment processes of the University to ensure fairness and academic standards. They ensure that assessment and examination procedures have been fairly and properly implemented and that decisions have been made after appropriate deliberation. They also ensure that standards of awards and levels of student performance are at least comparable with those in equivalent higher education institutions.

External Examiners’ reports relating to programmes within the School of Biological Sciences will be shared with student representatives at the Student/Staff Liaison Committee (SSLC), where details of any actions carried out by the School in response to the External Examiners’ comments will be discussed. You should contact your student representatives if you require any further information about External Examiners’ reports or the process for considering them.

The External Examiners for each programme are as follows:

Programme	External Examiner	Institution
Anatomical Sciences	Dr Meenakshi Swamy	University Newcastle
Biochemistry	Dr Paul Curnow	University of Bristol
Biology	Dr Catherine Kidner	University of Edinburgh
Biology with Science & Society	Dr Catherine Kidner	University of Edinburgh
Biomedical Sciences	Prof Rachel Ashworth	University of Worcester
Biotechnology	Dr George Salmond	University of Nottingham
Cell Biology	Dr Ben Abell	Sheffield Hallam University
Cognitive Neuroscience & Psychology	Dr Kate Ellacott	University of Exeter Medical School, College of Medicine & Health
Developmental Biology	Prof Guy Tear	King’s College London
Genetics	Prof Guy Tear	King’s College London
Immunology	Dr Catherine Lawrence	University of Strathclyde
Medical Biochemistry	Dr Paul Curnow	University of Bristol
Microbiology	Prof George Salmond	University of Nottingham
Molecular Biology	Dr Ben Abell	Sheffield Hallam University
Neuroscience	Dr Kate Ellacott	University of Exeter Medical School, College of Medicine & Health
Pharmacology	Prof Michael Randall	University of Nottingham
Pharmacology & Physiology	Prof Michael Randall	University of Nottingham
Medical Physiology	Prof Michael Randall	University of Nottingham
Plant Sciences	Dr Catherine Kidner	University of Edinburgh
Zoology	TBC	TBC

Please note that it is inappropriate for students to make direct contact with External Examiners under any circumstances, and in particular with regards to a student’s individual performance in assessments. Other appropriate mechanisms are available for students, including the University’s appeals or complaints procedures and the UMSU Advice Centre. In cases where a student does contact an External Examiner directly, External Examiners have been requested not to respond to direct queries. Instead, External Examiners will report the matter to their School contact who will then contact the student to remind them of the other methods available for students. If students have any queries concerning this, they should contact the Student Support Office in the first instance.

WORK AND ATTENDANCE

Work and attendance regulations

Your Academic Advisor monitors your work and attendance throughout the course. This monitoring is for your own benefit: (1) to make sure that you are coping with your programme and keeping up with any continuous assessment elements; and (2) to confirm that you are actually attending the University. In practice, only a small number of students contravene these regulations and are called to account for their actions.

You are expected to engage with all the lectures for the units for which you are registered, and to be familiar with their content. During your degree your attendance for Tutorials (BIOL10000, BIOL20000 & BIOL30000) is compulsory and attendance including online attendance will be monitored.

You must submit all associated work (e.g. data handling assessments, essays, practical reports) by the dates stipulated. You will also be required to fulfil any special requirements, e.g. attendance at Field Courses and submission of appropriate reports. Attendance at all appropriate examinations is compulsory.

If your work or attendance gives cause for concern you will, in the first instance, be asked to discuss your position with your Academic Advisor. If you continue to fail to meet the work and attendance requirements, you will be issued with a written warning. This warning will inform you that should your work and attendance not come up to the required standard, you will not be allowed to sit University examinations.

On receipt of a warning letter, you will meet with the Senior Advisor or the Deputy Senior Advisor to discuss your position. Additionally, the receipt of this warning letter may impact on your ability to undertake a laboratory-based final year BSc project. The issuance of two such letters during your University undergraduate career will automatically preclude you from this type of project. You will, instead, be required to undertake a non-laboratory-based BSc project.

If you are refused permission to sit an examination or undertake a final year BSc laboratory-based project, you have the right to appeal. Information on Academic Appeals, including the full Academic Appeals procedure, can be found here.

The University policy on monitoring attendance and wellbeing of students can be found here.

Permitted absences

If you need to be absent from a practical class or tutorial, including online teaching sessions, for reasons other than ill health, you must supply documentary evidence to your Academic Advisor or Tutor and the Student Support Office strongly supporting your reasons for absence well in advance of the occasion in question. If you are granted leave of absence, your attendance will be recorded as a permitted absence. For practicals, the Unit Coordinator MAY be able to make arrangements for you to attend a replacement session. DO NOT JUST TURN UP AT A SESSION FOR WHICH YOU ARE NOT TIMETABLED.

Attendance and religious observance

If religious observance affects your attendance at normal teaching and learning activities including any assessments in ways that will cause problems, you should discuss the issue with one of the Senior Advisors. The School will give sympathetic consideration to your problems and will try to make reasonable adjustments. However, adjustments can only be made provided they maintain the standard of your degree (e.g. you will not simply be excused from parts of the programme affected by your religious observance or from satisfying overall attendance requirements). If religious observance means that you miss a lecture or other class, supporting material may be provided via Blackboard. However, if you want further notes from the lecture you must make your own arrangements to copy them from another student. Similar principles apply if religious observance affects your attendance at assessments (e.g. presentations or practical tests). Because lectures, practicals and assessments for the semester are scheduled in advance, you must notify one of the Senior Advisors of your requests for allowances for religious observance by the Thursday before the start of teaching each semester, and the School will use its best efforts to reschedule the assessment to accommodate your needs (e.g. by changing your scheduled slot in a programme of assessed presentations).

Deadlines for handing in assessed work will not normally be extended to allow for religious observance, and you must therefore plan your work accordingly.

For guidance on the University’s examinations and religious observance policy please visit this site where you can also download an Examinations & Religious Observance form.

Guidelines on ill health

You must register with a local General Practitioner (GP, this is what we call local or family doctors in the UK) who is willing to provide evidence in the form of letters, or comments and a signature on a self-certification document. You should register with a GP as soon as you know your term-time address. GPs provide a range of non-emergency services by appointment – including examinations, medication prescriptions, vaccinations and referrals to other medical specialists. Registering with a GP is also one of the ways you can get a COVID-19 vaccine.

You can register with The Robert Darbishire Practice, which is located in Crawford House near south campus (shown on the Campus map here as Building 31), using their online portal. Find out more about the service on the Robert Darbishire Practice website.
Alternatively, you can use the NHS Find a GP website to find a list of practices near your address. This will direct you to the GPs’ websites to find out how to register as a patient.

See a map of GPs near campus

According to guidance issued by the General Medical Council it would not be regarded as good practice for a family member to be the registered GP or to offer treatment, except in the case of an emergency.

You should always consult your GP (or for emergencies the Accident and Emergency Department of a hospital) if your illness is severe, if it persists, or if you have any concerns about your health. Your Academic Advisor or one of the Senior Advisors will give you guidance on the effect of any absence from your studies and your options if you consider your illness has affected your studies. If you have repeated episodes of ill health that are affecting your attendance and/or studies, the School may refer you to the Student Occupational Health Services.

Information and guidance to help you register with a Dentist when first moving to Manchester can be found here.

Absence due to illness affecting attendance at compulsory classes/tutorials

If you are unwell and feel unable to attend the University to take a compulsory class or attend a tutorial, including compulsory online teaching sessions

It is a regulation of the Faculty that if students are unwell or unable to attend compulsory tutorial/plenary or practical sessions, they are required to complete and submit this self-certification form to the Student Support Office, via email to studentsupportoffice.sbs@manchester.ac.uk before or on the day of the session you miss*. If you have any queries about completion or submission of this form, please contact the SBS Student Support Office for advice. If an illness is longer than 7 days, a doctor’s note is required. Student who are absent due to funerals are required to submit copy of death certification or order of service.

You must ensure that you keep a copy of both the email itself and the confirmation of reading the email, as there may be serious implications of being absent and consequences for your academic progress. You must do this as soon as possible, so that all options can be considered, and certainly no later than the day and start time of your compulsory class.

If you do not do this then you will normally be considered to have been absent from the class without good reason in which case you will be recorded as having an unauthorised absence. Until your return to University you must also inform us of any further missed compulsory classes.

* If you are so unwell that a friend or family member has to contact the Student Support Office on your behalf, it will only normally be possible for them to provide information for you – they will not be able to learn of the implications of your absence on your academic progress, which you must discover for yourself on your return to health. School staff will not engage in any dialogue with third parties (including parents) regarding your studies without your explicit, written consent.

If illness keeps you away from the University for more than 7 days including weekends, you must consult your GP. If you do consult a GP and he/she considers that you are not fit for attendance at the University, then you should obtain a note from the doctor to that effect. You email this to the Student Support Office as soon as you return to University and no later than 7 days after your return. A GP may make a charge for such a letter.

Absence affecting submission of written work

If, as a consequence of illness or other mitigating factor, you wish to seek an extension to a deadline for submitting written coursework for a course unit or a tutorial assignment, you must submit an Assessed Coursework Extension Request form with appropriate supporting evidence to the Student Support Office. The application for extension must be made BY 10:00am THE DAY BEFORE THE DAY OF THE DEADLINE and NOT retrospectively. Extensions can be requested using the following online form https://www.qualtrics.manchester.ac.uk/jfe/form/SV_0eRb24OqogBkZiC

If you are unable to provide evidence at the time of application for the extension, you can apply for an extension pending evidence. The School Support Office will set you a deadline to submit the evidence by. Failure to submit the evidence could incur application of a late penalty to the piece of work.

You should not assume that an extension has been approved until you receive written (e.g. email) confirmation from the Student Support Office. If you have been granted an extension to a deadline it is normally not possible to claim further mitigation for this work unless it is for a different reason.

Absence affecting eLearning assessments

Note that eLearning assessments are usually open for at least one week and close at 4.00pm on the published end date. Students should anticipate a possible period of illness during this time and complete the assessments as soon as they open. Students failing to submit by the deadline will receive a mark of zero for that assignment. Only in exceptional circumstances, such as prolonged illness, will a request for mitigation be considered. To request mitigation you must submit a mitigating circumstances application by the advertised deadline. Details of how to apply and the deadlines can be found below under the Mitigating Circumstances Committee section of the handbook.

Absence from examinations due to ill health

You should make every effort to participate in all examinations. It is often surprising how well candidates who are ill can perform in written examinations, and a mark of just 40% will avoid the automatic referral in August/September (level 1 and 2 only, there are no referrals/re-sits for level 3 students). It will not be possible to make special arrangements to take the exams in an alternative location, unless this has been arranged through the DASS.

If you are so ill you are unable to take an exam, you must contact the Student Support Office as soon as possible, and certainly no later than the day and start time of your examination. You should complete a Mitigating Circumstances application which must be accompanied by appropriate independent third-party supporting or collaborative documentation such as a letter signed by your GP or a letter from your health care professional. Further guidance on the type of evidence you might include is available here.

If the information is of a highly confidential nature, you may submit your evidence in a sealed envelope, marked for the attention of the Chair of the Mitigating Circumstances Committee. If due to an emergency you have attended a hospital Accident and Emergency (A&E) Department, you must obtain written confirmation of attendance either from the hospital or subsequently from your GP confirming your attendance and stating the nature of the emergency. A hospital attendance card alone will not be accepted as appropriate evidence of illness.

2022/23 DEADLINES for submitting your mitigating circumstances form

Semester 1 – Monday 30th January 2023 by 4pm

Semester 2:

Coursework and Other Assessments with a submission date on or before 14th April 2023 the deadline for mitigating circumstances applications and supporting evidence is Monday 17th April 2023 by 4pm

Exam/Coursework and Other Assessments after 14th April 2023 the deadline for mitigating circumstances applications and supporting evidence is Monday 12th June 2023 by 12 noon

Resit Period – Monday 4th September 2023 by 12 noon

Requests for mitigation submitted after this date for the end of an examination period cannot be considered. Students would need to go through the Appeals process and provide a credible and compelling explanation as to why the circumstances were not known or could not have been shown beforehand.

If you miss a unit examination through illness, you will be required to take the examination again in the August/September examination period (level 1 and 2 only). Provided that you have followed the procedures described above, this re-examination will normally be counted as your first attempt and the referral fee will be waived.

Mitigating Circumstances Forms can be found online: https://www.qualtrics.manchester.ac.uk/jfe/form/SV_5iM73F3ttTQxn7w

Applications for mitigating circumstances must be submitted using the above link. Paper forms will not be accepted.

Illness not resulting in absence from examinations

You may be unwell but able to proceed with an examination, but feel that your performance will have been impaired. If you wish this to be taken into account, you must follow the same procedures as in Section Absence from examinations due to ill health by applying for mitigation. Note that long-term chronic conditions or suffering from stress, anxiety or feelings of panic would not normally be considered a mitigating circumstance. If you anticipate or experience any of the latter problems you are strongly encouraged to contact the Counselling Service (see Section Counselling) or the Disability Service.

Interruption of Studies

It is the expectation of the University that students complete their programme in one continuous period of uninterrupted study. It is understood, however, that students may encounter personal difficulties or situations which may seriously disrupt their studies. In such instances, students may be granted a temporary interruption to their studies. If students have been, or are being, affected by mitigating circumstances that have lasted or are expected to last for a significant period, or that may impact upon a significant number of units, it may be better for students to apply for an interruption to their studies.

If an application to interrupt a programme of study is approved, it would normally be to help students recover from medical problems, or problems of a personal or financial nature which are having, or may have, a negative impact on performance. However, the School has the flexibility to consider and make decisions on whether to approve requests for interruption in relation to other circumstances too, e.g. work placements.

In the first instance students should speak to members of staff within the School – Academic Advisor, Programme Director, Student Support Office, Senior Advisors – about whether a period of interruption would be the most appropriate course of action. If students decide to make an application, they need to make an appointment (via the Student Support Office) to meet with one of the Senior Advisors who will provide the application form and go through it with students. Students will need to include evidence to support their application, e.g. medical evidence, confirmation of work placement.

Mitigating Circumstances Committee

Sometimes circumstances or events beyond your control may adversely affect your ability to perform in an examination/assessment to your full potential. The University defines mitigating circumstances as ‘unforeseeable or unpreventable circumstances that could have, or did have, a significant adverse effect on the academic performance of a student’.

Possible mitigating circumstances include:

significant illness or injury; or worsening of an ongoing illness or disability, including mental health conditions (please see the DASS webpage for examples of disabilities);
the death or critical/significant illness of a close family member/dependant;
significant family or personal crises or major financial problems leading to acute stress; and
absence from the University for public service, for example, jury service.

Circumstances or events that would NOT normally be regarded as grounds for mitigation include:

holidays, moving house and events that were planned or could reasonably have been expected
assessments that are scheduled close together
misreading the timetable or misunderstanding the requirements for assessments
inadequate planning and time management
failure, loss or theft of a computer or printer that prevents submission of work on time; students should back up work regularly and not leave completion so late that they cannot find another computer or printer
the act of religious observance
consequences of paid employment (except in some special cases for part-time students)
exam stress or panic attacks not diagnosed as illness or supported by medical evidence
disruption in an examination room during the course of an assessment which has not been brought to the attention of, or recorded by, the invigilators (including instances such as fire alarms or other noise disruption).If you are unable to take an exam you must contact the Student Support Office as soon as possible and certainly no later than the day and start time of your examination. You will need to complete a Mitigating Circumstances application which must be accompanied by appropriate documentation such as a Doctor’s note or letter signed by your GP or a letter from your health care professional. Full information on supporting documentation, please check this document.

Please note some doctors surgeries can take several weeks to provide you with a letter of evidence, so it is important to organise this as soon as possible. If your evidence will not be available until after the deadline, you must ensure your application is submitted on time and notify the Student Support Office when they can expect to receive the evidence. If the information is of a highly confidential nature, you may submit your evidence in a sealed envelope, marked for the attention of the Chair of the Mitigating Circumstances Committee.

We advise you to make every effort to attend all examinations. If necessary, special arrangements can be made to take the exam in an alternative location; if you cannot write (e.g. due to a broken arm), it may be possible for someone to write for you. If you feel you might experience any examination difficulties, you must inform the staff in the Student Support Office at the earliest opportunity.

Applications for mitigating circumstances must be submitted using this link https://www.qualtrics.manchester.ac.uk/jfe/form/SV_5hjPzO7cACK91GK

2022/23 DEADLINES for submitting your mitigating circumstances form

Semester 1 – Monday 30th January 2023 by 4pm

Semester 2:

Exam/Coursework and Other Assessments after 14th April 2023 the deadline for mitigating circumstances applications and supporting evidence is Monday 12th June 2023 by 12 noon

Resit Period – Monday 4th September 2023 by 12 noon

Please be aware, mitigation will NOT result in the changing of any marks, unless penalties for late submission are waived after an assignment has already been marked. Instead, mitigation may result in some marks being disregarded and the assessment being excused because it was adversely affected. You may also be given a mark for a whole unit based on your performance in the parts that were not adversely affected. Mitigation may also mean treating your overall performance as borderline even though the marks you obtained would not normally be high enough, and so considering you for a more favourable result such as a higher degree class.

Pastoral Support

To ensure that you are progressing well throughout each semester, the completion of e-learning assignments on Blackboard and tutorial and practical attendance will be monitored. If you have failed to attend several tutorials or practicals or to complete eLearning assignments, you will be asked to meet with your Academic Advisor to ensure that there are no underlying problems that the School needs to be aware of.

Academic Appeals

Academic Appeals are a way of asking the University to review a recent decision taken by an Examination Board or equivalent body, which affects a student’s progress or status (e.g. where a student is expelled or excluded from the University, or transferred to a programme for a lower qualification). However, appeals cannot be made simply on the basis of disagreeing with a mark, or as a challenge to academic judgement. They must instead be based on one of the grounds for appeal detailed in Regulation XIX Academic Appeals.

Full details are available here.

The purpose of this regulation is to safeguard the interests of students and may only be used when there are adequate grounds for doing so which are outlined in the regulation. It may not be used simply because you are dissatisfied with the outcome of your assessment or other decision concerning your academic progress.

An appeal which questions the academic or professional judgement of those charged with the responsibility for assessing a student’s academic performance of professional competence shall not be permitted. This means that you may not challenge marks or grades awarded unless you believe that they may have been affected by factors under i-iv below.

The accepted grounds for appeal are as follows:

(i) Circumstances affecting your performance of which, for good reason, the board of examiners or committee may not have been aware when the decision was taken, and which may have had a material effect on the decision. Note: if students wish to appeal on such grounds, they must give credible and compelling reasons with supporting documentation explaining why this information was not made available prior to the decision being made.

ii) An administrative error or procedural irregularity in the assessment process or in putting into effect the regulations for the programme of study such as to cause significant doubt as to whether the decision might have been different if the error or irregularity had not occurred.

(iii) Evidence of prejudice or bias or lack of proper assessment on the part of one or more of the examiners.

(iv) The supervision or training in respect of research for a dissertation or thesis or equivalent work was unsatisfactory to the point that your performance was seriously affected.

Appeals based upon provisional decisions of the School cannot be considered. This means that you will not be able to submit an appeal until after your marks have been ratified by the Board of Examiners and the results have been released. All recommendations for mitigating circumstances must be approved by the Board of Examiners, and any appeal cannot be considered until after the Board of Examiners has met in June/July/September.

The University encourages students to try to resolve the issue with their School in the first instance and only when this process has been concluded to proceed to the Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health (formal) appeal, if necessary. Please contact appeals.sbs@manchester.ac.uk with informal queries.

Please note you can only appeal on your own behalf. If you want a representative (e.g. a parent) to appeal for you, you must send a letter (or email) with your appeal explaining that you have given them permission to act on your behalf. Students can contact the Students’ Union Advice Service for assistance in drafting an appeal.

For further information on submitting an appeal, please contact the Student Support Office, email: studentsupportoffice.sbs@manchester.ac.uk).

Conduct and Discipline

The Conduct and Discipline of Students, Regulation XVII not only covers academic malpractice/plagiarism (see section Plagiarism, collusion and other forms of academic malpractice (Undergraduate) but also behaviour and actions.

The Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health (FBMH) has its own policies for students on communication and dress code, social networking, and drugs and alcohol. Policy documents can be accessed below.

Communication and Dress Code

Drugs and Alcohol

Social Networking

Information on Academic Malpractice and how to avoid it can be found here. If you find yourself the subject of a disciplinary procedure you are strongly advised to take advice from the Students Union.

If the allegation relates to an incidence which occurred in a Hall of Residence, then you should consult the Code of Conduct for living in Halls of Residence which can be found here.

Once you have been through the full process within the University, if you remain dissatisfied, you may be entitled to take your complaint to the Office of the Independent Adjudicator.

STUDENT SUPPORT

Additional information on support and services are available here.

Academic Advisors

Every student in the School is assigned an Academic Advisor. Your Academic Advisor (normally the same person throughout your course) offers you advice on academic matters, personal problems (if needed), and is your main link to the School and the University.

The role of the Academic Advisor is to:

assist students with the process of induction and orientation into academic life and the University community and respond promptly to any communication from him/her;
work with students to build personal academic relationships;
retain an interest in their students’ personal and general academic and professional development throughout their academic careers while at the University, providing information and guidance on academic choice;
monitor both academic performance and student engagement in a proactive manner and advise on constructive strategies to enable improvement, for example through the use of a personal portfolio or personal development plan;
offer general academic advice to their allocated students on their general progress and development towards the fulfilment of the Purposes of a Manchester Education, and to signpost relevant careers and skills development provision to enhance employability;
listen and offer students help and advice about pastoral/non-academic matters and to signpost students to other student services for further assistance if necessary;
ensure that a note is kept of discussions at each meeting (with the student) and any follow-up actions agreed with the student;
provide references.

The University’s aim is that by engaging with their Academic Advisor, students will:

know that their advisor cares about their progression, academic success and future plans;
feel that they belong and are valued regardless of their background, personal strengths and weaknesses;
know who to contact if they experience difficulties either personally or academically;
work to enhance their academic and personal self-efficacy as a result of setting and reviewing goals and reflecting on their experiences;
gain and grow in confidence and skills in developing professional relationships.

You must meet your Academic Advisor at regular intervals (at least twice per semester where at least one meeting is face-to-face) during your degree and should prepare for each meeting by starting to fill in the appropriate meeting form on “My intranet”. Students are expected to attend and prepare for all arranged meetings with their Advisor and respond promptly to any communication from their Advisor. During these meetings, you may agree a series of actions with your Advisor and it is a good idea to keep a record of these actions.

We recommend you speak to your Academic Advisor about any problems that you are having that are affecting your work (see also Section Work and Attendance Regulations (Level 1) (Level 2) (Level 3) and Section Guidelines on Ill Health). We encourage students to take the initiative in raising problems or difficulties (academic or personal) at the earliest possible opportunity so that staff can provide appropriate guidance and support. The expectation is that students will then make appropriate use of all the support and guidance offered at the University.

When you are making applications for summer work, placements, jobs, or further degrees, your Academic Advisor should know you well enough to write an informed reference. There is a mechanism within the intranet meeting forms for you to provide your Academic Advisor with a CV, which you should update regularly, especially towards the end of your Degree Programme. Please see Section Employability skills.

Senior Advisor

There is also a team of Senior Advisors for the School who are available (via the Student Support Office) to discuss any particularly serious problems, or anything you would rather not discuss with your Academic Advisor (including the situation where you may feel it necessary to request a change in Academic Advisor). The team of Senior Advisors can be contacted via email at senioradvisors.sbs@manchester.ac.uk

Academic Tutors

You will have regular small-group tuition in groups of between 5 and 10 students with an Academic Tutor. You will see several Academic Tutors with different areas of expertise during your undergraduate career. Normally your Academic Advisor will also be your Academic Tutor for the first year, which gives you a chance to get to know each other. Attendance at ALL of the academic tutorials and the production of satisfactory work are requirements of all Degree Programmes see also Section Work and Attendance Regulations (Level 1) (Level 2) (Level 3) .

Programme Directors

The Programme Director oversees the content of your Degree Programme, agrees your choice of optional course units during Welcome Week and assists your Academic Advisor in giving you advice on academic matters. A list of Programme Directors can be found in Section Programme Directors and where to find them (Undergraduate).

Counselling

The University Counselling & Mental Health Service offers you help in understanding, dealing with, or overcoming the many sorts of difficulties that may prevent you getting the most out of your life and studies at university. These may include problems at home, pressures from personal relationships, and difficulties in coping with stressful events, now or in the past, such as examinations, separation, bereavement or forms of abuse. There are also some group sessions/workshops on specific issues, e.g. confidence and self-esteem, managing low mood, managing exam stress, coping better with academic pressure, speaking out in groups, etc.

Please check the Counselling & Mental Health Service website for further details on what support the service can offer.

Students’ Union Advice Centre

The Students’ Union Advice Service offers free and confidential information and advice to students on personal and academic issues. It is run by professional Advisors who are independent of the University.

Please see the Students’ Union webpage for more information on how to access their service

Students with additional support needs

The University of Manchester welcomes students with additional support needs arising from a specific learning difficulty, such as dyslexia, an unseen medical condition, or a disability or impairment. The University has a central Disability Advisory and Support Service (DASS). Further information can be found here. In order to access the full support that the University can offer, you should contact the DASS to discuss your support requirements.

Please see the Disability Advisory and Support Service webpage for more information on how to access their service.

If you are a student who has, or suspects they have, support needs and have not yet informed the DASS, then please contact them in the first instance. In addition to this, the School of Biological Sciences has a Disability Coordinator, who liaises with the DASS to organise your support in the School. They can be contacted by email welfare.sbs@manchester.ac.uk

The Stopford Building has car parking spaces reserved for blue badge holders, wheelchair access and an adapted lift at the car park end of the building.

Health

The University recognises the importance of the health and wellbeing of all students. Occupational Health Services aim to promote the physical, mental and social well-being of students and to reduce the incidence of ill-health arising from exposure to workplace hazards.

You can access advice and guidance by going to see the Service or by visiting their website below. Some students will undergo regular health surveillance as required by their School etc, but you can also refer yourself for an appointment.

Where necessary the Service works closely with other services at the University; e.g. the Disability Advisory and Support Service (DASS) to support students with health problems or disabilities.

The Occupational Health Service does not deal with medical or first aid emergencies and cannot diagnose or provide treatment. If there is a serious medical emergency you should phone (9)999 for an ambulance, remembering to call University Security (69966) immediately afterwards so that they can assist the ambulance in getting to you.

You will need an appointment to see an Occupational Health Adviser or Physician as the Service does not have the capacity to see you as a ‘drop-in’.

Please see Occupational Health’s website for more information about accessing the service.

Night-time telephone advice/listening service

The Students’ Union runs Nightline, a telephone advice and listening service operated by students that offers a point of contact throughout the night. Please see Nightline’s webpage for more information about how to access the service.

Discrimination and Harassment

Information and University policies on discrimination and harassment can be found here.

If you have been a victim of some form of harassment, please use the reporting system available here. Students can report anonymously or speak to an advisor.

All members of the University community are required to treat all students, staff and local community in a friendly, courteous and dignified manner. Bullying, harassment, sexual harassment, discrimination and victimisation are contrary to the Equality Act 2010 and the values of the University as set out in the Equality and Diversity Policy.

Students have a right to complain in confidence if they are being harassed whilst studying. No student is expected to tolerate what they genuinely and reasonably believe to be bullying, harassment, sexual harassment, discrimination or victimisation, whether by a member of the University community or a third party such as a supplier or visitor to the University.

The University’s policy on bullying, harassment, sexual harassment, discrimination or victimisation is called the Dignity at Work and Study Policy and covers students, staff and the wider community.

The University has a dedicated team of advisors that students can speak with. Students can also report an incident anonymously if preferred. Further information on how to report an incident and to obtain support can be found here. The Students’ Union Advice Service can also provide free, impartial and confidential advice. You can also make an appointment to meet with one of the Senior Advisors via the Student Support Office or by contacting directly at senioradvisors.sbs@manchester.ac.uk.

The Student Services Centre

The majority of the University’s administrative services for students (except Accommodation Services) are available from our centralised Student Services Centre, off Burlington Street.

Please see the Student Services webpage for details on how to access their service including contacting the Service Delivery Team via email.

Accommodation

The Accommodation Office provides information and guidance on a range of issues including ways to deal with any problems that students might encounter over accommodation choices, special needs, existing accommodation difficulties, accommodation for students with families and on temporary accommodation, including provision available outside semester time. Please refer to the Accommodation Office website for further details here.

For private sector accommodation see the Manchester Student Homes website. Manchester Student Homes (MSH) is owned, managed and funded by the University of Manchester and Manchester Metropolitan University and their respective Students’ Unions.

The Students’ Union Advice Centre is also an excellent source of help and advice on problems with private accommodation.

International students

The International Society (ground floor of the Students’ Union), offers advice, information and a social base for students. The Society offers trips, language classes, events and activities and volunteering opportunities. Please see the International Society webpage for further information.

Financial help

If you are a UK student for fees purposes, you can apply to Student Finance for a Student Loan for Maintenance and a Student Loan for Fees. Payments for the Student Loan for Maintenance are made directly into your bank account. If you choose to take one, the Student Loan for Fees is paid directly to the University. Some students may also be eligible for a non-repayable grant and your Student Finance will assess you for this. If you get into difficulties while you are a student, the Student Services Centre on Burlington Street can help with money advice and budgeting. Further information is available here.

If you are experiencing unforeseen circumstances or financial hardship, students may be eligible for the Living Cost Support Fund which can provide financial support to help overcome food insecurity, supporting with utility bills, and addressing any other issues arising from financial hardship. It is open to ALL students, regardless of level of study, nationality, or social background and is open all year round and can award grants to help you overcome financial hardship or unforeseen expenses. The fund cannot assist with the cost of tuition fees for any student. Further details are available here. The Students’ Union Advice Service can also provide guidance on financial support.

Security on campus

The University Security Service should be contacted if you have concerns about personal security or theft (0161 275 2728) or wish to speak to a member of the security staff. You can also contact the Police Liaison Officers on 0161 275 7042 or police@manchester.ac.uk. Information on safety can also be found in the My Wellbeing section of MyManchester.

SafeZone is our mobile app designed to give you extra peace of mind on campuses across the city or living in accommodation.

The SafeZone app is free to download and easy to use. You can use it to:

‘Check in’ any time of day– tell us where you are on campus 24/7
Quickly and discreetly call for assistance– whether it’s for first aid or in an emergency
Keep up to date– notifications sent directly to your phone if there is an incident on campus

You can use SafeZone to call for help in areas of Fallowfield and Victoria Park, The University of Manchester campus, Manchester Metropolitan University campus and University of Salford campus. Any student can use the SafeZone app to get assistance on any of these campuses – no matter which university you attend. The app will directly connect you to the appropriate safety/security team or first responder for that area, who will provide the assistance you need. This is known as the ‘Manchester SafeZone Alliance.’

Further information is available here.

EMPLOYABILITY

Employability skills

During the course of your Degree Programme, you should develop a range of employability skills. These include skills in written and oral communication, organisation of information, presentation skills, teamwork and leadership. The unit descriptions outline the employability skills that have been identified for each unit.

Your tutorial unit also aims to help you develop employability skills. A detailed list of employability skills and how these can be developed through tutorials is provided in your tutorial handbook. As part of the tutorial unit, you will take part in plenary sessions run by the Careers Service that focus specifically on employability (topics such as CV-writing, interview skills and tailoring a CV to a particular application). Your Academic Tutor will inform you when these tutorials will take place and further information is available in the tutorial handbook and on the tutorial unit on Blackboard.

You will receive guidance on how to write a CV in Year 1 and the Careers Service website has a large amount of information to help you with this:

http://www.careers.manchester.ac.uk/applicationsinterviews/cv/

You should keep your CV updated as you progress through University and as your skills and experience develop.

The School organises a number of events during the year to help you to enhance your employability and you are encouraged to take part in these. Information about these events will be advertised to you via email. These complement a wide range of events organised by the central Careers Team, which will also be promoted to you via email and which can also be found on their web pages.

Weekly CV/Application Surgeries (one-to-one appointments) are run by the School during term-time for Years 2, pre-final and final year students and appointments can also be booked directly via the Careers Service (all years). Students can also book Careers guidance appointments and practice interview via the Careers Service.

The Careers Service: We are here for you

Becoming a Manchester Graduate starts with your degree, but the secret to future career success is using your time as a student to explore options, build your connections and reflect on what you learn. Working in collaboration with the School of Biological Sciences, other partners in the University and with organisations across the world, the Careers Service can help you reach your potential – but it all starts with you. What can you do to improve your chances of getting into the kind of work you’d love to do?

This year you have faced the challenge of Covid-19 and the impact it has had on your daily life, and on study. As a service, we can help you make sense of your options, and offer advice and guidance to enable you to move forward with your career.

Making the most of your time at Manchester

Actively seek out opportunities to build your experience; this could be work experience, voluntary work, being active in a University society or developing new skills. Careers Service research proves that students who do so move swiftly into the kinds of careers they want after they graduate. Covid-19 will mean a change to the activities on offer, with some moving online, but there will still be opportunities to be active as a Manchester student!

www.careers.manchester.ac.uk/findjobs/

The Careers Service has a dedicated FBMH Faculty Careers Team and your link Careers Consultants are Suzanne Creeber and Dr Sarah Ashworth. We offer a programme of activities for Biological Sciences students, organised in collaboration with the School’s employability team and the Alumni Relations Team. This includes the Biological Sciences Careers Fair in Semester Two, employability plenary lectures as part of the tutorials programme, special sessions on looking for work experience, and interview training for placement students. Optional events are advertised internally by the School of Biological Sciences and promoted on the Bioscience Careers Facebook group: www.careers.manchester.ac.uk/facebook/

If you want to work in science, make getting relevant work experience your priority.
If your degree programme doesn’t include an Industrial/Professional placement, there are options like Summer Research Studentships. If you are looking for work experience, start by checking out the Careers Service website, and also our specific science careers pages. www.careers.manchester.ac.uk/whichcareer/science/

Build and broaden your connections

Learn from other people, including people like you, i.e. other students in your School, PASS leaders, house-mates, lab demonstrators, people you work with and people you socialise with. Talk about careers and options, your ideas and aspirations; share ideas and connections. Our research shows that people who do this are more likely to make a smooth transition to work or further study after their degree.

www.careers.manchester.ac.uk/myfuture/connect/

The Careers Service organise an extensive programme of events throughout the year for all Faculties, from lunchtime talks to large recruitment fairs. This year, many will be delivered online, enabling you to participate safely. We also run workshops and interactive training sessions, sometimes with employers, where you find can out about jobs from the people who do them every day. www.careers.manchester.ac.uk/events/

Events like “Meet the Professionals” organised by the Alumni Relations team and your School are great opportunities to find out what Biological Science graduates did after their degree. www.careers.manchester.ac.uk/myfuture/explore/ We also offer support to help you engage with online networks such as LinkedIn, via our LinkedIn Academy sessions and online workshops. www.careers.manchester.ac.uk/applicationsinterviews/linkedin

Your Future Toolkit

The My Future Self Reflection Tool is a short online questionnaire and report, developed exclusively for University of Manchester undergraduates. It can help you figure out what to do next, to put you on target for a successful future. You’ll find it on My Manchester when you log in. www.careers.manchester.ac.uk/myfuture/

The Careers Service is open all year round, including vacation time. The Atrium in University Place is usually where students access face-to-face Careers information and guidance. NB. in 2020, some of our services will be delivered online and you can visit our virtual walk-up helpdesk on our website. (tel: 0161 275 2829, email: careers.info@manchester.ac.uk).

The Information Team can help you research your options and (when fully open) there is information on reference and to take away. You can book a guidance appointment with a Careers Consultant to explore options and ask for feedback on applications and interviews from an Applications Adviser (some services may delivered over Zoom or by email/telephone).

www.careers.manchester.ac.uk/services/

The Careers Service Website contains information, advice and interactive services. Explore tailored sections for each year of study and international students, plus general sections on job hunting, career options and applying for jobs.

www.manchester.ac.uk/careers/

Your Careers Account “CareersLink” lists job vacancies and careers events. You can also choose to receive email alerts about relevant jobs and events. We advertise thousands of vacancies each year: everything from summer internships and part-time jobs, to industrial placements and graduate jobs and internships.

www.manchester.ac.uk/careerslink/

Use Social Media? Check out our Facebook page, Careers Blog and Twitter feeds. Join the Careers Facebook Group for Biological Science students to stay on top of careers and for specific tips and advice for Biological Scientists.

www.careers.manchester.ac.uk/services/socialmedia/

Obtaining a reference for employment

Most applications require you to cite one or more referees, and you should normally seek permission from your Academic Advisor to cite him/her as your main/first referee. If you need another referee, this should be a staff member familiar with your relevant work. If this is your research, this should be a supervisor of your practical work, placement, summer or final year research project. Additional referees could include your final year or second year Academic Tutor, or dissertation supervisor. It is essential to approach the members of staff concerned before citing them, to ensure that they are willing and able to provide a supportive reference.

MAKING YOUR VIEWS KNOWN

Day-to-day problem solving and other ways of making your views known

You are welcome to make comments about any aspect of your Degree Programme at any time. If you have difficulties or suggestions please be aware that they should be raised promptly, and that the resolution of problems is likely to be most effective via face-to-face interaction. You should feel free to comment on unit content, delivery or assessment direct to the lecturer or practical coordinator in the first instance. If you feel this is not appropriate, you are encouraged to discuss matters with the Unit Coordinator. If you are still not satisfied, you should seek advice from your Programme Director or Academic Advisor.

Representation on Committees

The structure of the School of Biological Sciences is intended to give you opportunities to express your views and to influence School and University policy. Specific problems should be dealt with by the Unit Coordinator or your Academic Advisor, but from time to time matters of a general nature may arise which will benefit from being discussed in a wider, more formal setting. In addition, the School values your views on academic and organisational matters and welcomes the contributions you can make to the work of its committees. You also have established rights to participate in the work of certain School and University committees. So if you feel you could serve as a student representative for your Degree Programme please discuss this important and rewarding role with your Programme Director as early as possible. Training is provided by the Students’ Union for Student Representatives.

The Student/Staff Liaison Committee (SSLC) is the main student-focused forum for discussion of matters related to teaching. The committee consists of the Programme Director and one student representative from each year of every Degree Programme. This committee usually meets three times during each academic year and considers questions and concerns of a general nature (rather than those specific to a particular Degree Programme). The name of the SSLC representative for your programme can be found through the Intranet.

The Biosciences Teaching Board meets about four times a year and is open to all staff who teach on Bioscience programmes. The Biosciences Teaching Board reports directly to the UG Education Leadership Team, chaired by the Director of UG Studies. The Board consists of academic teaching staff, a final year and postgraduate taught student representative from each Degree Programme.

In the University more widely, your representation is co-ordinated by the Students’ Union. This is run by students who are elected annually, and guided by policy that is passed at referendums twice a year. The structure of the Students’ Union provides a number of different forums, groups and assemblies for students to raise any type of issue, whether specific or general. These can then be acted upon by an elected officer, taken to a referendum or you could be supported in taking an issue forward yourself, for instance with the backing of an action group on a specific issue.

The Executive runs the Union on a day-to-day basis. Executive members sit on various committees within the University, from University wide committees such as Senate (the highest academic body in the University), through to committees specific to Biological Sciences.

If you wish to be a representative in the union at any level (i.e. Volunteer or paid) you can stand in the elections which usually take place in the second semester. Please visit http://manchesterstudentsunion.com/ for more information.

There is provision, therefore, for you to be represented from your specific Degree Programme all the way through to the university wide level. Students are elected to other School committees, e.g. eLearning, at the beginning of each academic year at the first Student/Staff Liaison Committee.

Unit evaluations

Towards the end of each semester, students will be asked to complete an anonymous Unit Survey about the content and delivery of each School-run unit on which they are enrolled. Unit Surveys are part of the University’s commitment to listen to students and to seek annual improvements in the quality of the students’ teaching and learning experience.

The process seeks to highlight units that achieve high levels of satisfaction so that the School can identify and disseminate best practice; the process also seeks to identify units that achieve low levels of satisfaction so that the causes of dissatisfaction can be remedied. The academic staff involved in coordinating the units will review the survey results and individual comments for their specific unit(s) and are required to complete a ‘comments and response’ form to address any issues raised.

Action taken as a result of the issues raised in the unit surveys may also be reported back to students via the Student/Staff Liaison Committee.

Programme evaluation

During the year your Programme Director will seek your views on the year as a whole. You will have the opportunity to comment on all aspects of your year of study.

Complaints procedure

As part of its commitment to ensuring the standard and quality of its programmes of study, services, and facilities, the University has established a Complaints Procedure to deal with complaints from students. Complaints provide useful feedback information and, where appropriate, will be used to improve services and facilities.

The University’s Student Complaints Procedure (Regulation XVIII) and associated documents, including a complaints form, can be found here.

The University has separate procedures to address complaints of bullying, harassment, discrimination and/or victimisation further information is available here.

Students thinking of submitting a formal complaint should, in most instances, attempt informal resolution first with the Head of Teaching, Learning & Student Experience, kerry.mycock@manchester.ac.uk. Formal complaints should be submitted on the relevant form to FBMHappealsandcomplaints@manchester.ac.uk).

LEARNING RESOURCES

Computing facilities in the Stopford Building

Computing facilities are available to students within the School of Biological Sciences in three computer clusters situated on the ground floor: Stopford PC Clusters 1-3. Although these clusters are used for scheduled classes, the School tries to ensure significant free time on these computers for student use. Standard word processing, spreadsheet and database software is pre-installed (Microsoft Office Suite), as well as any software related to your studies. Printing facilities are available in each cluster and technical help can be obtained via the IT Service Desk.

In addition, the University of Manchester provides several large public computer clusters based around the campus, which are available to all students. All the PC clusters run the same operating system and have the same software installed. Visit http://www.itservices.manchester.ac.uk/students/pc-on-campus/ for the location of these clusters and availability.

Guidance notes for students wishing to access their University email accounts outside the University can be found here.

Intranet

The intranet (https://app.bmh.manchester.ac.uk/) is a service provided for staff and students in the Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health. Like any other electronic medium there may be occasional outages caused by power surges beyond the control of the School and/or malfunctions, so its operation cannot be guaranteed. Any material on the intranet, as well as that on any other platform, should be accessed well in advance of any deadlines. Non-availability of the service for 48 hours or less would not be considered a circumstance to mitigate against non-completion of an assignment.

The University of Manchester Library

The University of Manchester Library provides you with the resources and support you need throughout your Biological Sciences programme. The Main Library and Stopford Library house all of the essential textbooks. The Library also has an extensive collection of eBooks, databases and journals available online.

The My Learning tab in My Manchester has quick links to all of the Library’s resources and services available to students.

Getting Started

All the information you need to get started at the Library is found on the student page of the library website. You will need your student card to access all library sites around campus. Many of our services and resources also require you to confirm that you are a registered student, this is usually your central username and password.

Your course unit in Blackboard may include an online reading list, so you can quickly check availability and directly access e-books, digitised chapters and e-journals or articles.

The Main Library

The Main Library holds the principal collection of Biological Sciences books and journals available. Biological Sciences textbooks are available on Floor 2 of the Blue Area. Books and periodicals in other related subjects such as Biology are located in other areas of the Main Library. The Library Search facility will let you know what items are available and where to find them including eBooks and online journals. All the main biological science databases are available including Web of Science, Biosis Previews, Biological Sciences, Medline, Embase, Scopus and Zoological Record. These can be used to discover what has been published on a particular subject. The electronic resources can be accessed both on-campus and remotely.

The Main Library offers group study rooms, individual study space options and computer clusters. WiFi is available throughout the building and a cafe lounge can be found on the ground floor. The Library has long opening hours and extends these during exam periods. Please check Locations and Opening Hours for full details.

The Stopford Library

The Stopford Library is a smaller site library for Medicine, Dentistry, Pharmacy and Biological Sciences and holds multiple copies of all new editions of core and useful texts. Full details of what is available can be found using Library Search or asking a member of customer service staff. In addition to books, Stopford Library also has half skeletons, anatomical models and iPads available for loan.

The Stopford Library also has a computer suite, wifi and 6 group study rooms. Bookings can be made via My Manchester or at the customer service desk in the Stopford Library.

Please check Locations and Opening Hours for full details.

The Alan Gilbert Learning Commons

The Alan Gilbert Learning Commons is a state-of-the-art learning environment. The Learning Commons has flexible open learning spaces with multimedia facilities, computer clusters and bookable study rooms. Study spaces are available from 10am to 4pm.

Please check Locations and Opening Hours for full details.

My Learning Essentials

My Learning Essentials is the Library’s comprehensive programme of online resources, workshops and drop-ins designed to support you in your personal and professional development.

Workshops and drop-ins are held throughout the year and include special sessions during exams and the summer. Our online resources are available at all times, providing flexible support for your development from undergraduate to postgraduate level and beyond.

Full details of workshops and online resources can be viewed on the My Learning Essentials website.

The My Learning Essentials programme is run by The University of Manchester Library in collaboration with other services across campus.‌

The Manchester Museum

The Manchester Museum is part of The University of Manchester. It has a distinctive role in engaging the public with the work of the University. The Museum has the third largest natural sciences collection in the UK, with 4.5 million specimens, from birds and plants collected by Charles Darwin to specimens of new species collected and classified by present curators. Many of the collections can be searched from the Museum’s website (www.museum.manchester.ac.uk). There are also numerous additional resources, such as library materials and associated archives. The Museum has around 500,000 visits per year and over 20,000 visits by schoolchildren. The Museum is currently closed to the public until February 2023 but you can access their digital content online here.

Museum staff work to make the collection available for teaching, research and public engagement and are always keen to explore new opportunities to engage students with the collection. Many museum staff teach on lecture courses and field courses, practicals and research skills modules. They also offer several studying opportunities, including final year projects, industrial placements, use of the Museum resources in PhD and Post-Doctoral work and co-supervision of PhDs. These may involve the collections or the specialist interests of staff.
The Museum is heavily involved in local biodiversity, climate change and sustainability work and helps to deliver the Biodiversity Action Plan and Climate Change Action Plan (A Certain Future) for Manchester.
The Museum can help you develop employability through its many volunteering opportunities, particularly useful to those who wish to enter careers in public communication, education and, of course, museums.
Anyone—staff or student—can visit collections that are not on display. This is done by arranging a visit with the appropriate curator (details below) or by arranging to visit the Collections Studio. The collections are a wonderful source of inspiration and information for research on scientific subjects and the history of science.
The museum is starting a new capital development project, hello future, which will bring new gallery spaces and a new exhibition hall. (https://mmhellofuture.wordpress.com/). The natural history galleries remain open, with a busy programme of events and are free to enter.

Zoology: internationally important collections of many groups of animals, particularly birds, mammals, skeletons, molluscs and many other invertebrates, around 250,000 specimens.

Contact Rachel Petts, Curatorial Assistant (zoology): rachel.petts@manchester.ac.uk

Botany: an internationally important collection of 750,000 specimens of worldwide plants, mostly herbarium sheets. Contact Rachel Webster (email: Rachel.E.Webster@manchester.ac.uk), Curator of Botany.

Entomology: internationally important collections of over two million insects from most taxonomic groups. Contact Dmitri Logunov, Curator of Arthropods, who has a particular interest in spiders, email: dmitri.v.logunov@manchester.ac.uk.

Earth Sciences: one of the five regional Earth Science Collection centres in the UK; one of the largest mineral collections with over 30,000 specimens and important collections of fossil plants and animals, with over 100,000 specimens. Contact David Gelsthorpe, Curator of Earth Sciences, email: david.gelsthorpe@manchester.ac.uk.

Vivarium: a unique collection of live animals with over 270 specimens of 40 species. Contact Andrew Gray, Curator of Herpetology, who has a particular interest in tropical frogs, email: andrew.r.gray@manchester.ac.uk.

Also humanities collections, notably an important Egyptology collection and Archaeology collection.

To book a visit to the museum Collections Studio telephone 0161 275 2643 or email collections@manchester.ac.uk

The University Centre for Academic English

The University Centre for Academic English provides courses and language learning resources for students from a wide variety of disciplines wishing to include a modern languages element within their studies. It also offers a wide range of courses and services for international students for whom English is not a first language.

Language courses

Offered as part of the University Centre for Academic English institution-wide language programme (LEAP), these courses are available to students from across the University and may be studied on a credit or on a non-credit basis to complement your degree. Currently there are 13 languages offered, ranging from the main international languages to a number of less-widely taught languages:

Arabic
British Sign Language
Chinese
French
German
Japanese

Korean
Polish
Persian
Russian
Spanish
Turkish
Urdu

For more information on the full range of languages and levels that are available, please consult the University Centre for Academic English website at University Centre for Academic English – LEAP courses – School of Arts, Languages and Cultures – The University of Manchester

English Language Support: Academic Success Programme

Our Academic Success workshops are available to all students registered at the University of Manchester. Writing and speaking Academic English can be challenging, even for native speakers. Our team of experienced tutors are here to support you, and will help boost your confidence to work independently in English through a series of interactive workshops.

To find out more, including links to online resources, visit our website.

Face to Face – This is an informal reciprocal language learning scheme, in which students can meet with native speakers of the language they are learning. International students find that this is a good way to meet home students and to become more integrated into the University. Home students can prepare themselves for study abroad by finding out about their partners’ home universities and cultures. The Face to Face contact board is online. To join the scheme, contact angela.farrand@manchester.ac.uk

Open Learning Facilities – The University Centre for Academic English open learning facilities, situated in the Samuel Alexander Building, offer:

A well-stocked library of materials in text, audio, DVD and CD-ROM formats
Materials in some 81 languages
Two suites of dedicated multimedia PCs for computer aided language learning, viewing of online TV channels, multilingual word processing and DVD viewing
Booths with LCD screens for group viewing of DVDs
A conversation room for group work and voice recordings
Support and advice for learners from expert staff and through on-line resources

A full guide to the University Centre for Academic English courses, services and its language learning resources is available at: www.manchester.ac.uk/languagecentre

Peer Assisted Study Sessions (PASS)

Peer Assisted Study Sessions (PASS) are operated by second, third and final year students to assist first year students in the transition to University life. Groups of first year students will be assigned 2 PASS leaders by PASS scheme student coordinators and the School Sabbatical Student Intern at the start of their programme and will be scheduled to meet with their PASS leaders at regular intervals during the year. Any queries about PASS should be addressed to the Student Intern responsible for the scheme (peersupport@manchester.ac.uk).

The aims of the scheme are to:

enable a clear view of course expectations
promote a non-threatening environment
provide an effective method to:
assist learning
develop interpersonal/transferable skills (communication, team working, problem solving)
develop self confidence
increase responsibility and motivation
increase peer interaction
obtain inside knowledge
allow students to give real-time feedback
generate real-time feedback for the teaching staff
challenge the barrier between year groups

Additional information on the PASS scheme can be found at http://www.peersupport.manchester.ac.uk/.

Textbooks and other requirements

Included in most of the unit descriptions and on the Blackboard sites for each unit are the text-book(s) recommended for the unit, and any other special requirements. You are advised not to purchase textbooks until the Unit Coordinator has had a chance to discuss these with you, and perhaps show you samples – sometimes there is a choice of recommended texts, depending on the other units that you are taking. Copies of all recommended texts are in The University of Manchester Library and multiple copies are available for overnight loan.

Where no ‘recommended reading’ list has been provided in the unit description or on Blackboard, it can be assumed that there are no set texts that cover the unit or that would be useful to read before the unit begins, and that reading material will be recommended once the course has started.

White lab coats and safety spectacles are required for all practical classes and will be provided at the start of the academic year – it is your responsibility to ensure that you bring your lab coat and safety spectacles to each practical. A pocket calculator will also be necessary.

NB: Calculators capable of storing and retrieving text (or having a full alphabet keyboard) are not permitted in University examinations. Please refer to the “Guidance on the use of calculators in examinations” for further information.

COURSE UNIT SELECTION

You will be automatically enrolled on all mandatory course units by the Student Support Office, if you believe there is an error on your mandatory enrolments, please contact the Student Support Office.

The first thing you will need to do is if not already done so is:

Complete IT signup and activate your IT account: https://www.welcome.manchester.ac.uk/get-ready/become-a-student/activate-it-account/ This process provides you with your University Username and Password that is required to access online University services.

Optional Course Unit Enrolment

You are now able to select your optional choice course units selection (where applicable) for your first year of study. Although this is a new process, that you have not completed before we are on hand to assist you every step of the way. You will need to follow your Advisement Sheet which explains which optional course unit you can take for your programme. You can look up details of a course using the Course Unit Profile database: link to course unit profile database

Mandatory Enrolment

The Student Support Office will automatically enrol you on to all mandatory course units, leaving you with the task of selecting optional course units only.

Academic Advisement Sheet

Via SBS Student Intranet

To ensure you make the correct course unit selections you are advised to refer to the programme structure for each year of study. These can be found on the School intranet under the heading Academic Advisement.

By following the above link, you will be able to access the programme structure for your degree programme. Your programme structure shows clearly which units you are able to select and enables you to identify mandatory units you will be studying.

You can find full course unit specifications within the Course Unit Information Portlet via the ‘My Learning’ tab in MyManchester.

Course Unit Information Portal

Via My Manchester

The Course Unit Information portal provides Course Unit Descriptions of available course units to assist you in selecting your optional course units.

Self-service optional course unit selection will open from Wednesday 1^st September 2021 and will remain open until Friday 8^th October 2021. During this time all students must complete self-service enrolment on all optional course unit in line with the programme structure for their degree of study.

Should you require assistance with this process, please contact the Student Support Office:

School of Biological Sciences – Student Support Office

Opening Hours: Monday to Friday: 10:00 – 16:00

Course unit profiles

link to course unit profile database

Profiles of the course units on offer from the School of Biological Sciences for the current academic year can be found via your MyManchester portal, as well as on the intranet. Profiles include Aims, Intended Learning Outcomes, lecture and/or practical content, along with details of the assessments, recommended texts and prerequisites. The Unit Coordinator and principal lecturers teaching on the unit are also listed. A list of the employability skills that the course unit will allow you to develop is also given; employers often ask for examples of these skills when applying for a job, either within your CV, on their job application form or during interviews. In addition to MyManchester, course unit information is also available on the School’s intranet.

If you have any questions about a unit once it has started, you should approach the lecturer directly, or consult the Unit Coordinator.

Full descriptions of language units for those students taking the four-year degrees with a language are available from the Course unit information portlet.

In addition, information on course units run by the University College for Interdisciplinary Learning (available University-wide) can be found on their website. Details of how to contact the College are listed below.

Please note, although students are permitted to take units outside the School, timetable constraints may not allow some of these units to be taken in conjunction with some compulsory School. Please discuss this with your Programme Director.

Alliance Manchester Business School (BMAN units)

Please see webpage https://www.ambs.ughandbook.manchester.ac.uk/programme/programme-information/course-units/

School of Arts, Languages and Cultures – Language units

Students registered on a ‘with language’ Degree Programme only.

If you are on a ‘with language’ degree, you will be enrolled on your Language units alongside your mandatory BIOL units on the Student System. Should you have any questions about your Language units please contact the Student Suppport Office.

Masood Entrepreneurship Centre (MCEL units)

Details of the course units offered and contact details can be found at the following link:

https://www.alliancembs.manchester.ac.uk/media/ambs /content-assets/documents/enterprise/masood-enterprise-centre-elective-units-2020-21.pdf

School of Psychological Sciences (PSYC units)

PLEASE NOTE: PSYC units are only taken by students enrolled on the Cognitive Neuroscience & Psychology programme.

For information on PSYC units please contact ug.psychology@manchester.ac.uk.

School of Psychological Sciences

Coupland 1 Building

Coupland Street

https://www.bmh.manchester.ac.uk/psychology/

Programme Director – Dr Donna Lloyd (donna.lloyd@manchester.ac.uk)

Units that clash

There are no clashes between any of the units provided by the School of Biological Sciences in the first year. However, a few units offered by other Faculties are timetabled for the same periods as those in Biological Sciences. Students taking degrees with a language may find that biological or language options will be restricted by clashes. If language students find that there are clashes between compulsory units they must alert the Student Support Office at the earliest opportunity.

Pre-/Co-requisites

Listed below are units from the School of Biological Sciences with their listed mandatory co/prerequisites, or recommended co/prerequisites. If a unit has prerequisites, this means that you may need to take the prerequisite unit(s) in order to take this unit. For example, BIOL10221 is a compulsory prerequisite for BIOL20332, therefore, if you do not take BIOL10221 in your first year, you will not be able to take BIOL20332 in your second year. Your first year choices can therefore influence what is available to you in subsequent years of your Degree Programme.

Unit Code	Unit Title	Mandatory co/pre requisite	Recommended co/pre requisite
BIOL10822	Drugs: From Mols		BIOL10811
BIOL20302	Science & Society RSM		HSTM10721
BIOL20322	Cell Biology RSM	BIOL21121 OR BIOL21141
BIOL20332	Genetics RSM	BIOL10221 & BIOL10521 & BIOL21371	BIOL21172
BIOL20342	Microbiology RSM	BIOL21181
BIOL20872	FC RSM		level 1 FC strongly recomm
BIOL20912	Anatomy RSM	BIOL10811 & BIOL21291	BIOL21061
BIOL20922	Neuro RSM	BIOL10832 & BIOL21332 & BIOL21341
BIOL20932	Pharm RSM	BIOL20312 & BIOL21412 OR BIOL20312
BIOL20942	Phys RSM	BIOL10832 & BIOL21141 & BIOL21321	BIOL21141 OR BIOL21321
BIOL20972	Dev Biol RSM	BIOL10521 & BIOL21172	BIOL10221 & BIOL21371
BIOL21101	Genome Maint	BIOL10221	BIOL10212
BIOL21111	Proteins	BIOL10212	CHEM10021 OR CHEM10021
BIOL21121	Dynamic Cell	BIOL10232
BIOL21132	Cell M & MC		BIOL21111
BIOL21141	Cell Memb & Struc		BIOL10212 OR BIOL10232
BIOL21152	Omic Technologies	BIOL10221	BIOL21101
BIOL21172	Principles of Dev Biol	BIOL10521
BIOL21181	Fundamentals of Bacteria		BIOL10532
BIOL21192	Principles of ID	BIOL10532	BIOL21181 & BIOL21242
BIOL21202	Plants for Future		BIOL10511
BIOL21232	Funds of Evol Biol	BIOL10521
BIOL21272	Gut & Renal		BIOL21141 & BIOL21321
BIOL21291	Human Anatomy		BIOL10811
BIOL21302	Clinical Drug Dev	BIOL10822
BIOL21312	Drugs & Brain	BIOL10822	BIOL21302
BIOL21321	Memb Excit	BIOL10832
BIOL21332	Motor Systems	BIOL10832	BIOL21341
BIOL21341	Sensory Systs	BIOL10832
BIOL21351	Mols & Cells in HD		BIOL10232 & BIOL10822
BIOL21371	Organismal Biol		BIOL10221 & BIOL10822
BIOL21402	Anat of Spec Senses	BIOL21291
BIOL21412	Drugs Mols & Mechs	BIOL10822 & BIOL20932
BIOL21432	Animal Behaviour	BIOL10521	BIOL21232
BIOL21442	Disease in Nature		BIOL10532 & BIOL21221
BIOL21451	How to Make a Brain	BIOL10832
BIOL21742	Introduction to Cancer	BIOL10232
BIOL31311	Protein Assemb	BIOL21111
BIOL31341	Macro Recog	BIOL21111
BIOL31371	Adv Immunology	BIOL21242	BIOL21192 & BIOL21252
BIOL31402	Human Gens & Evo		BIOL10521 & BIOL21232 & BIOL21371
BIOL31451	Comparative Dev Biol	BIOL21172
BIOL31471	Advanced Behav		BIOL10521 & BIOL21232 & BIOL21432
BIOL31482	Conservation Biology	BIOL21232
BIOL31582	Cardiovascular Systems	BIOL21141 & BIOL21321	BIOL21272
BIOL31602	Toxins, Toxicants		BIOL21302
BIOL31612	Neuroinflamation	BIOL10832	BIOL21312
BIOL31622	Ion Transport		BIOL10832
BIOL31651	Advances in Anat Sci	BIOL21291	BIOL20912 & BIOL21402
BIOL31671	Neuropharm of HH	BIOL21312
BIOL31751	Stem Cells	BIOL21172	BIOL21121 & BIOL21351
BIOL31802	Immune Resp & Disease	BIOL21242 & BIOL31371

The above resources will enable you to identify the mandatory units you will be studying and you should have consulted the individual course unit profiles to identify optional units you feel you would enjoy. However, don’t worry if you are unsure of your choices as you will finalise your selection of optional units with your Programme Director during Welcome Week and can change your optional units for a short time after they have started.

Withdrawal of units

The information provided is correct at the time of publication. The School reserves the right to withdraw or alter units should there be changes in academic staff or insufficient registrations.

GLOSSARY

Campus Solutions Glossary of Terms

Introduction

This Glossary describes terms used in the Campus Solutions Student System and describes general usage including University of Manchester terminology.

Campus Solutions Term	University Of Manchester Usage/Definition	Alternative Terminology
Academic Career	Study path e.g. Undergraduate, Postgraduate Taught	Career/Study Level
Academic Group	Any body that can offer a course be it Faculty, School, Division, Subject Area	School/Faculty
Academic Plan	A plan of the programme especially where there are specialisations	Programme
Academic Programme	A course of Study made up of one or more course units which leads to an award	Programme
Class	A scheduled instance of a course unit	Session
Class Enrolment	Choice and enrolment of both mandatory and optional course units	Course Unit Selection
Course	An individual study unit of the programme	Course Unit or Module
Degree	The award normally achieved at the end of the programme	Award
Emplid/ID	The number generated by Campus Solutions unique to the individual, whatever the role. For students it will also be their registration number.	Person ID/Registration Number
Facility	Class or meeting venue	Building
Matriculate	The process by which applicants are converted to students.	Roll Forward
Session	A session can be either one of the two semesters or the full term	Semester
Term	Academic year running from September to June	Academic Year
Term Activate	The process by which the system is informed that admitted and matriculated students are eligible to enrol on classes in a particular term	Expected to register
Units	An award is achieved by attaining a mandatory amount of units (units are earned by completion of a course)	Credits

Campus Solutions Progression Terminology

ACTV (Activate) – progress normally or complete successfully
REVW (Review)
ACTR (Activate Pending Re-sit Results)
RYIA (Repeat Part Year in Attendance)
RYOA (Repeat Year Out of Attendance)
SPCL (Special Circumstances)

General Information

Welcome to the University of Manchester and the School of Biological Sciences

Guide to Handbook:

Our future

Sharing Information

Service level agreement for the Student Support Office

Key dates and deadlines:

Important dates in 2022 – 2023

Academic Calendar

Examination timetables

Examinations and religious observance

Aims and intended learning outcomes of the School with regards to undergraduate Teaching & Learning

Administration of the School of Biological Sciences

Your official contacts in the School of Biological Sciences

Where to find people and places

Communication – email/mail/announcements/texts

Society of Biology accreditation

Health and Safety

Your responsibilities as a Biological Sciences student

Bring Your Own Device (BYOD)

Podcasting

Safeguarding your work

Student Societies

YOUR DEGREE PROGRAMME

Registration

Overview of the programmes

Degrees “with industrial/professional experience”

Languages Degrees

Entrepreneurship Degrees

MSci degree programmes

Field Courses – Year 1 and 2

International voluntary exchange programme

Language Enhancement Access Programme (LEAP)

TEACHING, LEARNING AND ASSESSMENT

Coursework

Deadlines, penalties and document limits

Time Management

Plagiarism, collusion and other forms of academic malpractice

eLearning (Blackboard)

Practical assessments

Tutorial assessments

Examinations

Multiple choice examinations

Criteria and marking for answers on theory examination papers

Guidelines on feedback to students

Examination feedback

STUDENT PROGRESSION

Assessments and examinations

Level 1 Non-compensatable units

Pass marks and degree classification

Progression rules for students on Integrated Masters (MSci) Degrees

Degrees with industrial/professional experience

Language degrees

Entrepreneurship Degrees

Disclosure of marks and record of academic performance

Turnitin

External Examiners

WORK AND ATTENDANCE

Work and attendance regulations

Permitted absences

Guidelines on ill health

Conduct and Discipline

STUDENT SUPPORT

Academic Advisors

Senior Advisor

Academic Tutors

Programme Directors

Counselling

Students’ Union Advice Centre

Students with additional support needs

Health

Night-time telephone advice/listening service

Discrimination and Harassment

The Student Services Centre

Accommodation

International students

Financial help

Security on campus

EMPLOYABILITY

Employability skills