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 Welcome website - http://www.welcome.manchester.ac.uk/getready/registration/.
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 the meeting with your Programme Director during Welcome Week you will receive additional advice on your choice of optional units, and your final selection will be recorded. Units provided by the School of Biological Sciences have a “BIOL” code.
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 5 x 5-hour laboratory sessions throughout the semester (one timetabled every two weeks); 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, students will either do a laboratory-based practical units or a field course. Various field courses will be availab
le for Biology, Plant Science and Zoology students and further information can be found here. 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). Both units consist of 12 x 3 hour laboratory sessions run throughout the semester from week 2 to week 9. 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 the total credits you take over the year is 120 - 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) 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 (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 the Academic Advisement sheets found on the intranet). 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 Tutor or Programme Director. It is recommended that you do 4/5 lecture units in each semester in Year 1 and 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.
Most School lecture-only units in Year 1 and 2 consist of 22 lectures (or equivalent of other forms of teaching/learning) at the rate of 2 per week. In Year 3, School lecture-only units consist of 18 lectures (or equivalent of other forms of teaching/learning) at the rate of 3 per week; BIOL lecture units run over a 6 week period in final year. Most lecture-only units from the School include an assessment by written examinations at the end of each semester, i.e. January and May/June. 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 5-10 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 two semesters), at the beginning of each semester (during the first two weeks). Year 3 students may change optional units as follows:
- Semester 1, early units – first two weeks of semester one.
- Semester 1, late units – week 7 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 (Level 1) (Level 2) (Level 3) 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: https://app.bmh.manchester.ac.uk/education/cm/academicadvisement.aspx.
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 and your attendance at the “What to expect from the second year” talk.
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If you are considering changing Degree Programmes you should speak to your Academic Tutor at the earliest opportunity. You should also obtain the approval of both the ‘old’ and ‘new’ Programme Directors and complete a ‘Degree Programme Change Form’, which can either be downloaded from the Faculty intranet at https://app.bmh.manchester.ac.uk/education/studentsupport/supportforms/default.aspx or collected from the Student Support Office (G.483 Stopford). Please note that there are deadlines for completing programme changes for Year 1 students and Year 2 students see section Key Dates and Deadlines for further information (Level 1) (Level 2)).
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 during Year 1. 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’ 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 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 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 (Level 2)).
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 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 placement programme
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 20 credits 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 life science degree programme. Details of the language units can be found on the School of Arts, Languages and Cultures website www.alc.manchester.ac.uk and you should discuss your choice of units with the relevant Language 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.
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. 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. A completed Degree Programme Change form should be submitted to the Student Support Office if you do decide to transfer off the language 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). You will be prepared for the degree programme specific papers through the third year tutorials with the BSc students. The remaining 100 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 Computional Approaches to Biology (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 in total.
During Year 4, you will complete a seven month research project.
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 Tutor. A completed Degree Programme Change form should be submitted to the Student Support Office if you do decide to transfer off the MSci programme.
Field Courses
BIOL10642 Field Course in Animal Behaviour and Diversity
BIOL10622 Field Course in Comparative and Adaptive Biology
BIOL10602 Field Course in Marine Biology
BIOL10662 British Conservation Ecology & Behaviour
BIOL20552 Tropical Ecology & Conservation
BIOL20872 Urban Biodiversity & Conservation
BIOL21422 Alpine Biodiversity & Forest Ecology
You must attend the compulsory Field Course Talk (link to important dates) 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 unit for everyone to get their first choice, places will be allocated based on an essay or assignment. 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. If any second year field course RSM unit is over-subscribed, places will be allocated based on first year mean mark. 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 £500 non-refundable deposit to secure your place, to be paid at the time of selection. 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 European Health Insurance card – required for UK students travelling overseas within Europe.
- 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 a 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 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. Note: Most of our partner institutions expect visiting students to have a high level of academic achievement and good organisational skills.
The academic criteria for a place on the International Exchange Programme are similar to those which apply to the placement scheme and it is not possible to undertake both a International Exchange and an industrial/professional experience placement.
More information will be provided in a talk in Welcome Week and you should discuss the possibility of participating in a voluntary International Exchange with your Programme Director. You are also encouraged to contact the University’s International Programmes Office for further details about exchanges or to ask any questions you may have about studying abroad. Please also see the information on Studying Abroad on the University website.
LEAP – Language Enhancement Access Programme
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 which can be accessed at the link below. Enrolment will be conducted on a first-come first-served basis and you are therefore strongly advised not to leave it too late.