A. General Information

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

We hope that you have an interesting and exciting year. Please take the time to read through the Handbook. The information it provides is of great importance to you and we hope that it will be a useful resource throughout the academic year. It contains key details about your degree programme, as well as information such as staff contact details, links to degree regulations and work and attendance requirements.

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

You can view your personalised timetable on Publish: Publish (manchester.ac.uk)

Our future

At The University of Manchester, one of our core goals 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.”

All the information in this handbook was accurate at the start of the 2023-2024 academic year.

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 09:00 and 17:00

Key dates and deadlines:

IMPORTANT DATES IN 2023-24

First Semester:

University and programme induction – w/c Monday 18^th September 2023

Semester 1 teaching starts Monday 25th September 2023

Christmas Break:

Monday 18^th December 2023 – Sunday 14^th January 2024

Reading week is from 30th October – 3rd November.

Note: BIOL21041/21051/21061 practical classes will continue through Reading Week and attendance is compulsory. Other non-BIOL units may also continue to teach over reading week.

Second Semester:

Monday 29^th January 2024 – Sunday 10^th June 2024

Easter Break:

Monday 18^th March 2024 – Sunday 7^th April 2024

Examination Periods:

Monday 15^th – Friday 26^th January 2024 (Semester 1)

Monday 13^th May – Friday 7^th June 2024 (Semester 2)

Examination Result publication dates (provisional):

w/c Monday 26th February 2024 – Semester 1 exam results

w/c Monday 8^th July 2024 – Semester 2 exam results

August/September examination period:

Monday 19^th – Friday 30^th August 2024

August/September Examination Result publication date:
TBC

Report Submission Dates:

EDM full write-up (online submission) -Thursday 14th December 2023 via Blackboard no later than 16.00

Scientific Communications Project (online submission) – Thursday 11^th April 2024 – via Blackboard no later than 16.00

Talks/Meetings:

“What to expect from the Final Year” (Senior Advisor) TBC

Course unit selection during PD Clinics – TBC

MSci Programmes Talk – TBC

Compulsory for students currently on MSci programmes and all students wishing to transfer to the MSci programmes – TBC

Outgoing placement meeting – Tuesday 7th May 11-1 in Simon Theatre B

Year 2 Placement Health and Safety talk – Friday 10th May 3-5 in University Place Theatre A

Careers:

Biological Sciences Careers “Second year: Sorted”: TBC

Deadlines:

Change of programme form submission – Friday 7th June 2024 at 4pm

Project preferences submission deadline – Thursday 6th June 2024 at 4pm

Academic Calendar

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

Examination timetables

Exam timetables are produced in advance of examination periods and students will be emailed information about where to access the timetable when it becomes available. For any on-campus examinations, you will be able to view a personalised exam timetable in MyManchester which will inform you of the room and seat number. 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 timetable. However, you should be aware that more than one of your exams might be scheduled on the same day.

If there are any problems with your exam timetable, or you have any questions, please contact the Assessment & Progression Team (sbs.assessment@manchester.ac.uk).

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. This will be emailed out to all students in advance of exam timetables being produced. More information is available here.

Aims and intended learning outcomes of the School with regard 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 and Programme Directors (Programme Directors and where to find them), 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: 09:00 – 17.00 Monday to Friday

Room G.483 Stopford Building

Email: sbs.hub@manchester.ac.uk

Telephone number: +44 (0)161 2751487

Fax number: +44 (0)161 275 1488

By using the chat service (Monday – Friday, 9am – 5pm)

Programmes and Curriculum team

Email: sbs.programmes@manchester.ac.uk

Assessment and Progression Team

Email: sbs.assessment@manchester.ac.uk

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 Simon Hubbard

Finally, the Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health has two ‘Writing Fellows’: Sarah Jasmon and Ian Pople, 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 & Tuesday	sarah.jasmon@rlfeducation.org.uk
Ian Pople	Tuesday & Thursday	ian.pople@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	Michelle Keown (L1)	michelle.e.keown@manchester.ac.uk
	Rebecca Dearman (L2)	rebecca.dearman@manchester.ac.uk
	Tristan Pocock (L3)	tristan.pocock@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 Martin Pool	lisa.swanton@manchester.ac.uk Martin.R.Pool@manchester.ac.uk
Neuroscience	Nicholas Glossop	Nicholas.glossop@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 09:00 -17:00 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.

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 is 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 therefore has 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.

Laboratory co-ordinators are 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. They must ensure that no one will be adversely affected as a consequence of the decisions that they 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. 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
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.

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, that 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.

The use of Artificial Intelligence (AI)

AI tools have the potential to enhance learning, and can support inclusivity and accessibility when used appropriately. It is important that you understand the potential risks and benefits of these tools if you plan to use them during your studies.

You may use AI tools like any other resource to help you generate ideas, key themes, and plan your assessment, and you may also cite or quote content generated by AI systems. However, passing off work generated by AI as your own is plagiarism, and will be treated as seriously as plagiarism of another person.

Some Course Units or assignments may vary this position. In these cases you will be given detailed instructions on what is and isn’t allowed, and may be asked to sign a code of conduct. If you are unclear about what is permissible, contact the course unit lead.

For more detail on the University’s position on the use of AI in teaching and learning, see Artificial Intelligence (AI) Teaching Guidance.

For advice on how to acknowledge and cite content generated by AI see https://manchester-uk.libanswers.com/teaching-and-learning/faq/264824

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.

B. 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
An Experimental Design Module (EDM, practical unit) in the first semester
A Research Skills Module (RSM) in the second semester
An extended essay
A tutorial unit over the year

In the first semester, you will undertake an Experimental Design Module (EDM). This module has been designed to place an emphasis on the design and interpretation of experiments and will allow you to advance from first year practicals by making experimental choices appropriate to the practical. There are three EDM strands (Molecular & Cell Biology, Organismal Biology, Human Sciences) and the strand you take will be dictated by your Degree Programme. Each EDM stream is made up of 5 3-hour sessions running every other week over the semester. There will also be some online practicals to participate in.

In the second semester, you will do a Research Skills Module (RSM), the nature of which will depend on your Degree Programme. For most Degree Programmes there is a specific RSM. If you are a Biochemistry, Biology, Biomedical Sciences, Biotechnology, Medical Biochemistry, Pharmacology/Physiology student you may choose a RSM according to your interest. Note that some RSMs may have EDM or lecture unit pre-/co-requisites and may be limited in the number of students that can be accommodated. Entry for RSMs for which numbers are restricted will be based on your overall first year mark.

Students must ensure their student ID is entered correctly as unrecognised IDs will count as nil submissions
Where students fail to submit a choice by the deadline 13th May 2022 they will be allocated an appropriate RSM based on availability
Where multiple surveys are returned we can only take the last submission recorded
Where an RSM is oversubscribed allocation will be based on level 1 year average, and if students are unsuccessful in obtaining a place on their first choice we will endeavour to allocate 2nd (or 3rd choice where applicable)
You must take into account any pre-co requisites for your RSM preferences as failure to register for any mandatory requirements may result in re-allocation

Most RSMs will consist of a block of practicals over 4 weeks at the rate of three 6-hour sessions per week and will usually occur in weeks 1-4 or 5-8. Where appropriate, field courses, including Urban Biodiversity constitute the RSM and will occur in part of or all of the Easter or Summer vacation.

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 (Section Course unit profiles). 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 (see Section Units that clash (Level 1) (Level 2) (Level 3)). 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 2. Failure to balance your lecture units in this way could significantly increase your workload in one semester relative to the other. In Year 3, it is recommended that you take 4 lecture units in semester 1 and 2 lecture units in semester 2 to balance your workload. Note that units taken from outside the School may have coursework components that are unlike those offered by units from within the School.

All teaching including lectures, tutorials and practicals will be delivered on campus. Most lecture units will comprise two face-to-face teaching sessions per week. These sessions will be captured by podcast and will be available for catch-up purposes and revision after the lecture has finished. 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 2 (except 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 2 students may change optional units as follows:

Semester 1 units – week 2 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.

Programme Directors will be available to talk about their programmes after the “What to expect from the second year” talk in Semester 2 – see section Key Dates and Deadlines for further information (Level 1) (Level 2). Watch the announcements for more details.

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’. Please note that there are deadlines for completing programme changes for Year 2 students see section Key Dates and Deadlines for further information). Please note that these deadlines apply to ALL degree programme change requests 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”

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’ 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.

In order to progress on to each year of with “Industrial Experience” programme (years 2 and 3), you must obtain a minimum average of 60% during the preceding years of your study (with no fails in core 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 core units at first attempt cannot be avoided by changing to a programme where they are not core.

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 Request 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, pleasediscuss 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_0Ik4YIHbDl85gSa

Languages Degrees

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 core 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 placements are usually arranged via Erasmus+ a network of European Universities to which Manchester belongs, or arrangements are made with partner Universities in Japan or China. Placement Coordinator – Erasmus/Exchange Co-ordinator (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 Placement Coordinator – Erasmus/Exchange 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. A completed Degree Programme Change Request 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

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. If you have an overseas visa you will have to return to your own country to apply for a new visa before you can complete the next year of your BSc degree. 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 Request 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. A completed Degree Programme Change Request should be submitted to the Student Support Office if you do decide to transfer off the Entrepreneurship programme.

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)

Up to two of the following: 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 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. A completed Degree Programme Change Request should be submitted to the Student Support Office if you do decide to transfer off the MSci programme.

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 Field Course in Ecology & Behaviour (non-residential)

Second Year

BIOL20552 Tropical Ecology & Conservation

BIOL20872 Urban Biodiversity & Conservation

BIOL20182 Island Biodiversity

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 unit or RSM 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.

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 £600 non-refundable deposit to secure your place 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. This must be valid for at least 6 months after the field trip has finished.

• 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.

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.

C. 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 is. 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, it is very likely 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 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 2 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.

It is your own responsibility to ensure that you understand what constitutes academic malpractice. Committing malpractice unintentionally is no defense.

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 2. 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 2) will only be applied if you pass the tutorial assessments AND fulfil the attendance requirement for tutorials units. The marks for tutorial assessments in Year 2 are not included in the calculation of your mean mark for the year.

Examinations

The Second Year lecture unit exams consist of written examinations. The majority of these will be online and taken synchronously (i.e. all students start at the same time). Please note that some lecture units have on campus exams.

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.

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.

D. 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

Second Year

Second year assessments and examinations contribute 30% towards your final degree mark or 19% for MSci students. For students directly entering Year 2 the second year assessments and examinations also contribute 30% towards the final degree mark.

Allocation to projects in the final year and eligibility for post-graduate study in the School will also be based on second year performance.

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 Second Year Examination as a whole you must:

have satisfactory attendance at tutorials and practical classes (see sections Tutorial assessments and Practical assessments)
gain a mark of at least 40% in the Tutorial unit BIOL20000, Extended Essay unit, the EDM unit appropriate to your Degree Programme, and in all designated non-compensatable units for your Degree Programme (see below)
achieve marks of at least 40% in each of the units totalling 80 credits (including the tutorial, Extended Essay unit, the EDM unit and non-compensatable units) and at least 30% in each of the remaining 40 credits worth of units

NB – failure of the Tutorial unit BIOL20000 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 not 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 2 Non-compensatable units

BSc Anatomical Sciences

BIOL21291 Human Anatomy and Histology

BIOL21402 Anatomy of the Special Sense Organs

BSc Biochemistry

BIOL21111 Proteins

BIOL21041 Molecular and Cellular Biology EDM