Biological Sciences

You will only be able to pursue a research degree with us if we can offer appropriate supervision. Your supervisors will provide the necessary support and guidance and so need to have expertise in your chosen research field. You may join a research team or work with specific members of staff.

We strongly recommend that you informally approach your potential supervisor(s) with your research proposal before submitting a formal application to study. This will enable you to find out if they feel they would be able to supervise you and whether they believe your research proposal needs further refinement.

Visit our how to apply page for detailed information on the application process.

Postgraduate training and support

We are committed to ensuring that our research students are given the training and support to develop high-level professional skills required for careers in academia, commercial or public sectors.

On our Penryn Campus, there are several training options open to our students:

• Grant and fellowship application workshops
• Intensive programmes highlighting ways in which to help get scientific literature published
• Training in statistical programming

Find out more about the options available to research students:

• Research Opportunities and Careers
• Researcher Development Programme (training and development events exclusively designed for our Masters by Research and PhD students)

Exeter (Streatham Campus)

There are a wide range of training opportunities available to PhD and taught Masters students including:

• Universal transferable skills and research specific training
• Yearly events, workshops and sessions that cover transferable skills and research specific training, including quantitative biology and statistics, demonstrator training and various aspects of safety
• Research seminars featuring internal and external speakers are organised each week during term time
• Specific training associated with microbiology techniques, the use of radioisotopes and genetically modified organisms are provided for students expecting to use these techniques
• Additional optional courses, graduate schools and conferences arranged with supervisors on an individual basis

In addition, you will be encouraged to participate in the University's Researcher Development Programme. This offers training in a wide range of generic and transferable skills in key areas such as research management, personal effectiveness, communication skills, networking, teamworking, and career management.

Penryn Campus, Cornwall

There are a wide range of training opportunities available to MPhil/PhD students including:

• Universal transferable skills and research specific training provided by Biosciences staff, or colleagues from the University’s Researcher Development Programme.
• Yearly events, workshops and targeted sessions including quantitative biology and statistics, demonstrator training and various aspects of safety, research management, personal effectiveness, communication skills, networking, teamworking, and career management.
• Weekly (term time) research seminars featuring internal and external speakers
• Additional optional courses, graduate schools and conferences arranged with supervisors on an individual basis

Graduate destinations

Some examples of recent destinations of our research students are listed here. This information has been taken from the Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education (DLHE) Survey 2016/17

Please note that, due to data protection, the job titles and organisations are listed independently and do not necessarily correspond.

It is also supported by purpose-built greenhouse facilities.

The Geoffrey Pope building recently underwent a £25m refurbishment, and now includes:

• 4,817 m2 of lab space, much of which is configured as BSL2/GM2 laboratories
• Four controlled environment growth rooms
• A bioimaging suite offering state-of-the-art light microscopy
• A mass spectrometry facility
• the Exeter Sequencing Service, providing genomics and bioinformatics analysis
• A £9m state-of-the-art aquaria complex featuring:
  • 14 aquaria rooms housing 600 experimental tanks and seven preparative and analytical labs
  • seven preparation and laboratory rooms that contain specialist microscopes, cameras, and video and imaging equipment
  • a Wolfson Foundation funded imaging unit, used principally for studies on embryogenesis

Facilities at Penryn

We have state-of-the-art research facilities to create a stimulating environment in which to undertake an MPhil/PhD. Our Penryn Campus is home to the £30 million Environment and Sustainability Institute (ESI). Our laboratories are fully equipped with the needs of a modern laboratory and are complemented with state of the art cold rooms and numerous temperature and light controlled incubators, enabling rearing of model and non-model organisms for study. Our facilities include:

• Controlled environment rooms: 13 large programmable environment rooms (including 8 in the ESI) with variable temperature and light regimes and shelving for insect rearing and plant growth applications
• Greenhouses: 2 large fully programmable greenhouses with automated blinds and lighting systems and full racking for plant and insect rearing
• Aviary: this Home Office approved facility is for breeding and observational studies of small birds
• 100 tank freshwater aquarium
• Molecular biology laboratories, including Category 2 microbiology/molecular biology laboratory, Class 2 tissue culture room, radioactive area licensed for a range of radioactive procedures, dark room/microscope rooms for light sensitive work and fluorescent microscopy, protein purification and proteomics equipment including HPLC and 2D SDS PAGE analysis, quantitative PCR machines and DNA preparation robot for preparation of DNA from BAC libraries and DNA capillary sequencer for DNA sequencing and DNA fragment analysis
• Metabolomics laboratory, dedicated to HPLC, Gas Chromatography and mass spectrometry
• Stable Isotope facility - the Sercon facility has two isotope ratio mass spectrometers with elemental analysers allowing the dedicated technician to measure Carbon Nitrogen, Sulphur, Oxygen, and Hydrogen ratios.

A wide range of training is available to postgraduate students, including traditional, transferable skills and research specific training. This is either provided by Biosciences staff, or by colleagues from the University's Researcher Development Programme, which offers an extensive choice of training and development events exclusively designed for our postgraduate students.

There are a number of events, workshops and sessions available every year. These include quantitative biology and statistics, demonstrator training and various aspects of safety, research management, personal effectiveness, communication skills, networking, teamworking, and career management. Research seminars featuring internal and external speakers are organised each week during term time. You will be encouraged to attend additional optional courses, graduate schools and conferences and these are arranged through discussion with supervisors on an individual basis.

MbyRes Assessment

You will be assessed by a written thesis or scientific paper of up to 40,000 words in length.

Candidates may be required to take a viva voce examination.

MPhil/PhD Assessment

All MPhil/PhD students enter onto an MPhil degree and undergo an upgrade to the full PhD typically during the first year of study. This upgrade typically involves a written progress report assessed by an internal viva with academics from within the department. For students who successfully upgrade to PhD, the PhD is assessed by a thesis of up to 100,000 words and a viva voce examination. For students who remain on the MPhil, the MPhil is assessed by a thesis of up to 60,000 words, and candidates may be required to take a viva voce examination.