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Engineering, Mathematics and Science
154
A
research project
in the area of biochemistry, cell biology,
immunology or clinical medicine forms an essential part of the
Senior Sophister (fourth) year. Students will have a choice
to perform their project in the School of Biochemistry and
Immunology, on the main College campus or in the Department
of Clinical Medicine, St. James’s Hospital. Examples of research
areas from which topics may be chosen include the cell
cycle and cell division, cytoskeleton, developmental biology,
cancer, neurobiology, neurological disease, molecular and
cellular parasitology, viral evasion mechanisms, cell signalling,
metabolism, the immune system, genetic diseases, and control
of cell death. The School also participates in an
Erasmus
scheme
which offers the opportunity for students to spend their
third year studying in a university in the United Kingdom, France
or Germany.
Career opportunities
Graduates of this course will have the ability to work in all major
aspects of molecular biology, biochemistry, and cell biology.
You may decide to continue your studies at the postgraduate
level and subsequently take up a career in medical or academic
research. For example, it is possible to continue your studies
towards a Masters or PhD in several disciplines in life sciences
including the School of Biochemistry and Immunology and the
Institute of Molecular Medicine. Alternatively, you will be qualified
to work in hospitals and commercial laboratories dealing with
biotechnology, food science, pharmaceuticals or diagnostics.
Other possibilities include such careers as teaching, information
systems, communications and management, law, and banking,
where there is a demand for the analytical skills developed in the
science and medical disciplines.
Further information
Tel: +353 1 896 1608
Neuroscience
Students who wish to study Neuroscience apply to the
Science degree (TR071) and may select Neuroscience as
their specialist area after the second year.
Junior Freshman (first) year prerequisites: Chemistry
CH1101, Chemistry CH1102. Also: Mathematics or
Mathematical methods. Recommended: Biology 1101.
Senior Freshman (second year) prerequisites: Biology
BY2201, BY2202, BY2203 and BY2204.
For details of the first two years of the Science course,
including entry requirements, see page 140.
What is Neuroscience?
Neuroscience is the discipline concerned with the scientific
study of the nervous system in health and disease. It probes
the intricate machinery of the nervous system in an attempt to
understand how we think, move, perceive, learn and remember.
Research in the neurosciences is of considerable importance
in medicine, considering the debilitating and costly effects of
neurological and psychiatric disease. In this regard, a major goal
of modern neuroscience research is to elucidate the underlying
causes, and to produce more effective treatments for major
brain diseases such as Multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer’s disease,
Parkinson’s disease, schizophrenia and depression.
What will you study?
Neuroscience links neurobiology with cognitive science, and
as a result modules are provided by several Schools within
several faculties. The course involves in-depth instruction in the
fundamentals of modern molecular and cellular biology, as well
as on the structure and operation of the nervous system.
Other modules focus on the development of the nervous system,
its response to injury and disease, the relationship of the brain
to behaviour, imaging the brain, and the drug treatment of brain
disorders. You will also be trained in scientific methodology and
experimental design, data handling and research skills.
Junior Sophister (third) year courses include:
n
Introduction to neuroscience
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Neuroanatomy
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Neurophysiology I
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Neurochemistry I
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Introduction to neurogenetics
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Developmental biology
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Cellular physiology
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Biochemistry and immunology
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General principles of pharmacology
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Applied laboratory techniques
n
Research skills
