Masters by Research

Biosciences now offers an MSc by Research in an outstanding international research-active environment, enabling students with an interest in pursuing further qualification the opportunity to develop their research skills and metrology through full-time supervised research.

With the recent technological developments in biological sciences, in particular post-genomic technologies leading to data-rich research environments, many students are finding that conventional taught courses cannot adequately cover their research needs and ambitions. Biosciences is addressing this situation by offering a Masters by Research in any of our areas of research focus:

• Behvaiour, Ecology and Conservation
• Environment and Evolution
• Evolution
• Plant and Microbial Sciences
• Molecules and Cells
• see our research groups pages for details of research and potential supervisors

Students need to identify a staff member and agree on a potential project prior to applying for the MSc by Research programme.

Duration

Study is for a maximum of up to two years full-time or three years part-time, leading to the submission of a research thesis of up to 40,000 words.

Fees

More information about fees can be found on our postgraduate study website.

Postgraduate funding

Please see our Funding for Masters degrees page for information on financial support for postgraduate study.

Programme requirements and progress monitoring

You will undergo an initial training needs analysis with your supervisor during the initial stages of the programme. You will be required to participate in all postgraduate research-related activities, such as induction and subsequent research training and are expected to attend School internal and external seminar series and pertinent components of the Research and transferable skills module. In addition you will have the opportunity to attend components of modules in the Taught Masters Programme if these are deemed beneficial to your research development.

In additional to regular meetings (recommended weekly) with your supervisor you will also partake in a formal monitoring process. You will be required to provide an initial report within the first 10 weeks of your study, providing comprehensive background to the research topic chosen with appropriate references, a description of the methodology to be applied during the project and a detailed thesis plan with an associated timetable outlining the experimental work. Your supervisor and an independent qualified researcher will assess this report.

Apply online

Need help?

See our apply for postgraduate study pages.

Please note the 'help' information, plus other supporting information about applying for postgraduate study at Exeter, is available within our Postgraduate study website.

Contacts for further information

Postgraduate Research Admin Team, Streatham Campus
Tel +44 (0)1392 723706 / 725150 / 723310
Email pgr-cles-admissions@exeter.ac.uk

Professor Tamara Galloway, Director of Postgraduate Research, Streatham Campus
Email T.S.Galloway@exeter.ac.uk