Immunology (M.Sc.)

Overview

Course Overview

This one-year Masters course in Immunology provides academic, laboratory and research training in cellular and molecular immunology, with emphasis on the interface between basic, clinical and therapeutic immunology. A major focus is on understanding how inflammatory regulation is lost in disease processes including viral, bacterial and parasitic infection, as well as cancer, autoimmune, and allergic disease.

The Immunology programme aims to provide students with a well-balanced and integrated theoretical and practical knowledge of Immunology, and to highlight the progress and intellectual challenges in this discipline. This course includes the study of immunological processes and mechanisms, how they contribute to disease and how they might be manipulated therapeutically. By focusing on the molecules, cells, organs, and genes of the immune system, their interaction and how they are activated and regulated, students will develop a deep understanding of the pathological processes underpinning immune mediated disease and how they might be controlled.  From a practical perspective, the course involves in-depth instruction in modern methodologies used in immunology / biomedical research, including the fundamentals of molecular and cellular biology. Students will also be trained in experimental design, data handling and basic research skills.

The course is underpinned by modules in basic immunological principles and technologies. A key component is the research project to be undertaken by each student under the supervision of an academic staff member.

Is This Course For Me?

The course is open to scientific, medical, dentistry, and veterinary graduates and will accommodate students from several backgrounds who wish to progress from introductory level Immunology to advanced clinical and applied Immunology.  The rate of progress and depth of the advanced modules will also suit students who may have graduated with an Immunology degree, but wish to explore the subject in more detail before committing to Ph.D. research.

Career Opportunities

Graduates of this course have pursued careers in academic research, medicine and the pharmaceutical industry for which a thorough grounding in immunology, immune-mediated pathogenic mechanisms and immunotherapy is required.

Course Structure

Students take modules totaling 90 ECTS. Taught core modules of 60 ECTS and a Research Project/Dissertation Module of 30 ECTS are all obligatory. Each Masters student is also required to undertake a twelve-week research project and submit a dissertation based on the outputs from this research project.

Course Content

The following modules are mandatory and make up the taught components of the course: Basic Immunology; Immunological Technologies; Communicating Science and Critical Analysis; Immunogenetics; Microbe Detection and Evasion; Clinical Immunology; Parasite Immunology; Tumour Immunology; Global Infectious Diseases; and Immunotherapeutics and Product Develoment.

In addition, students will undertake a research project under the direction of leading immunology researchers. Projects will explore novel immunological hypotheses related to work ongoing in host labs. The theoretical and technical aspects of immunology covered in the taught modules will be fundamental to carrying out practical, innovative and cutting-edge research. A thesis will then be prepared and submitted for assessment.

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