Biochemistry

Awards available	PhD MSc by Research
Duration of programme	PhD: three or four years full-time MSc by Research: one year full-time, or part-time equivalent

Page contents

• Programme overview
• Entry requirements
• Staff research interests

Programme overview

As a highly research-active School, we believe that part of our mission is to train the next generation of life scientists. We take great pride in the standard of our postgraduate provision and offer both three- and four-year PhD programmes. It is also possible to pursue a one-year MSc by Research degree. Competition for places on our postgraduate programmes is high, but we believe that we offer a unique and nurturing environment for talented students.

All postgraduates receive extensive research training covering methodology, critical interpretation and problem solving, as well as transferable skills training in communication and presentation, team work, time management and teaching.

Most of our postgraduate students develop into highly productive researchers, published in leading peer-reviewed biomedical journals. Over 75% of our students go on to postdoctoral research in academia and industry, both in the UK and abroad. Other students use the transferable skills gained during their study to enter postgraduate-level employment. We are also committed to promoting the advancement of women in science, engineering and technology (SET).

Research groups

Research in the School covers all aspects of modern biochemistry, and this is reflected in the wide range of postgraduate projects available.

The School has an international reputation in cell biology, and enjoys an association with the world-class Wolfson Bioimaging Facility, which houses the latest state-of-the-art light and electron microscopes. Our work in this area covers intracellular trafficking, cell shape and movement, and the control of cell death and proliferation.

We have also earned an international reputation for our research in structural biology and biophysics, including rational drug design, mathematical modelling of protein structure and folding, and pioneering work on the interactions between DNA and proteins. The fundamental research supported by the School is often translated into practical applications aimed at understanding disease mechanisms and improving human health. Our research has made significant contributions towards understanding cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer and malaria, and many other aspects of clinical research.

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Entry requirements

An upper second-class honours degree (or international equivalent) in Biochemistry or a related subject.

For information on international equivalent qualifications, please see our International Office website.

Admissions statement

Read the programme admissions statement for important information on entry requirements, the application process and supporting documents required.

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Key research interests

Professor George Banting, Protein trafficking between the TGN and the cell surface organisation of membrane microdomains.

Professor Paula J Booth, Folding and misfolding of integral membrane proteins and applications in Synthetic Biology.

Professor Leo Brady, Structural biology of bacterial and malarial infection processes; synthetic biology.

Dr Steve Burston, Mechanisms of AAA+-ATPases in protein quality control.

Professor Anthony Clarke, Ab initio protein structure prediction.

Professor Ian Collinson, Structural and functional analysis of a protein-conductin channel: a study of the E. coli SecYEG complex.

Professor Pete Cullen, Phosphoinositides - second-messengers that modulate a dynamic spatial and temporal control of cell signalling.

Dr Chris Dempsey, Membrane insertion of helical polypeptides.

Dr Mark Dillingham, Molecular machines for DNA break repair.

Dr Jan Frayne, Erythropoesis in vitro from stem cell sources and its molecular regulation of sperm function and activation.

Dr Kevin Gaston, Protein-DNA interactions and the regulation of gene expression.

Dr Jonathan Hanley, Receptor trafficking and the regulation of the actin cytoskeleton at neuronal synapses.

Professor Jeremy Henley, Mechanisms of neurotransmitter receptor trafficking and posttransnational modifications underlying synaptic structure and function.

Dr Mark Jepson, Mechanisms involved in Salmonella infection of intestinal epithelia.

Dr Mike Jones, Structure, mechanism, stability and device applications of photovoltaic reaction centres.

Professor Patricia Kuwabara, Functional genomic analysis of signalling pathways in C elegans.

Dr Jon Lane, Molecular regulation of apoptosis and autophagy.

Professor Paul Martin, Studies of wound healing and morphogenesis in embryos and post-embryonic animals.

Professor Harry Mellor, Regulation of intracellular traffic and the actin cytoskeleton by Rho family GTPases.

Dr Kate Nobes, Regulation of cell migration by ephrin-mediated contact repulsion.

Dr Paul Race, Structure, function and engineering of cell migration by ephrin-mediated contact repulsion.

Dr Nigel Savery, Transcription and DNA repair.

Professor David Stephens, Membrane trafficking and cytoskeletal dynamics.

Professor Mark Szczelkun, Molecular motors in DNA damage and repair.

Professor Jeremy Tavaré, Signal transduction in diabetes and cancer.

Dr Ashley Toye, Biogenesis of the red blood cell membrane during health and disease. (AE1) trafficking and molecular interactions during red blood cell maturation.

Dr Paul Verkade, Understanding intracellular transport through imaging.

Professor Dek Woolfson, Protein design, protein-structure prediction and synthetic biology.

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