Pre-arrival information for new masters students

Welcome to the University of Sheffield! Congratulations on securing your place to study with us in the School of Biosciences - we can’t wait to meet you! On this page you’ll find lots of useful information and tasks to complete to make your transition to Sheffield as smooth as possible.

On

Welcome message

Dear student,

Welcome to the University of Sheffield! Congratulations on securing your place to study with us in the School of Biosciences. On this page you’ll find lots of useful information and tasks to complete to make your transition to Sheffield as smooth as possible.

We know it’s a busy and exciting time for you, and we want to make preparing for starting your masters as straightforward as possible. You’ll be receiving lots of information about how to register as a student at Sheffield, and all the exciting university-wide activities that all students can get involved with once you arrive.

This pre-arrival page is just for new Biosciences students where you’ll find information and tasks to complete, specific to you and your course. We’ll be adding information to this page right up until you arrive so be sure to keep checking back.

Welcome Week event

We’re holding a Welcome Week event on Wednesday 25 September, 1pm - 3pm in Firth Hall (please note the time change from that previously shared). Here we’ll introduce the School of Biosciences, our MSc and MRes courses and there’ll be opportunities to meet course leads and fellow students. Our admin team members will be available to help you so you can get any questions you have answered, too. . 

This session will ensure you get the best start to your time at Sheffield. Don’t worry if you know that you’ll be arriving late as you’ll have plenty of opportunities to meet everyone during your course specific welcome events.

We’d also love to see you at our PGT welcome drinks and snacks social on Friday 4 October, 3pm - 5pm in the Alfred Denny building Conference Room. 

If you have any problems accessing the information on this site or completing the tasks, or you know you’ll be arriving in Sheffield late, please get in touch with your name, registration number and programme of study, using the details below.

Myself and the rest of the postgraduate team cannot wait to meet you!

Dr Dave Turton
Director of PGT programmes
study@sheffield.ac.uk

Course-specific information

Please check out your specific course area below which contains information and tasks related to your chosen programme. 

Biomedical Science MSc students - we’d like you to select some research project options by Friday 13 September. You can find more information below.

MSc Biodiversity and Conservation (BIST03)

Welcome message

Welcome to the MSc in Biodiversity and Conservation! I’m Dr Tom Webb, the programme lead for the course.

We’re running a welcome session specific to this course on Monday 30 September (time and location TBC), where we’ll go through all of the information you'll need to thrive at Sheffield. Please note that this is in addition to the School-wide welcome event.

If you have any questions about the course in the meantime, please get in touch with me on the details below.

Dr Tom Webb
Programme Lead, Biodiversity and Conservation MSc
School of Biosciences
t.j.webb@sheffield.ac.uk

Handbooks

For general information about studying for your masters in the School, we recommend you spend some time reading the Biosciences Postgraduate Taught Handbook.

Course-specific information will be presented during your introductory session, which will be recorded if you can't make it.

Your timetable

Your timetable is unique to you, based on the optional modules that you choose to study. This will be finalised once you complete your registration and after this time, you’ll be able to access your specific timetable through the iSheffield app.

If you have particular questions or concerns about your timetable please do not hesitate to get in touch with Dr Tom Webb.

Choosing your modules

At the beginning of September, you’ll receive an email asking you to select your optional modules using online module selection as part of your pre-registration tasks. A link to the Online Module Choice system will also appear within the pre-registration system.

To allow you to tailor your learning on the MSc, you'll study 120 credits of compulsory (or core) modules, and choose 60 credits of optional modules from a specific list.

All students will study:

  • BIS401 Advanced Data Handling and Analysis (15 credits)
  • BIS402 Advanced Scientific Skills (15 credits)
  • BIS412 Field Biology (15 credits)
  • BIS426 Literature Review (15 credits)
  • BIS428 Individual Research Project (60 credits)

Choose 60 credits from this list:

  • BIS411 Global Conservation Issues (15 credits)
  • BIS430 Agricultural Ecology in a Changing World (15 credits)
  • BIS413 Biodiversity in Space and Time (15 credits)
  • BIS424 Global Sustainability (15 credits)
  • BIS407 Research Methods in Avian Biodiversity and Conservation (15 credits)

If you studied your undergraduate degree at the University of Sheffield, you cannot choose a postgraduate module that’s linked to one you’ve taken as an undergraduate student.

If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to contact Dr Tom Webb and we can discuss your choices.

Research projects and field course

MSc research projects start in semester two and we’ll be discussing these over the coming months.

Your field course will also run in semester two and we'll give you a full briefing on this when you arrive in Sheffield. This will also include information about the day trip to our High Bradfield field centre that we run in semester one.

Recommended reading

There’s no specific pre-course reading list, however my colleagues and I have put together some suggestions of popular science books that we like and which cover some of the major issues that the course tackles. There’s absolutely no requirement or expectation that you read all (or any!) of these, but they’re all interesting and relatively light reads:

For more general information on climate change (which underpins a lot of conservation issues), the IPCC’s summary reports - e.g. the report for policy makers - are very useful, available here (external link).

For very useful short videos explaining key concepts in ecology and conservation, Bill Sutherland’s Conservation Concepts YouTube channel is excellent.

The modules that you’lll take on the course all have their own set of reading that will be introduced during the lectures. Almost all of this is from the primary scientific literature, so you may want to keep an eye out for conservation-related papers appearing in journals - you might come across these in science / environment news stories, but it’s good to get in the habit of following these up and tracing the source. The Conversation is another good place to check regularly. This covers a wide range of topics but all articles are written by academics with support from journalists, and they’ll usually include links to the primary literature they’re covering. The most relevant section would be Environment (external link).

For other skills, we teach quantitative skills in the statistical computing environment R, using RStudio. We have a good system for teaching this from complete beginners up to advanced level over the year - so you don’t need to do anything in advance, although there are loads of R resources online if you do want to have a go. I’d recommend looking at the R4All website which is run by two of the people who run our course.

MSc Biomedical Science (BIST05)

Welcome message

Hello and welcome to the School of Biosciences! We're the Biomedical Science Course Directors, Dr Anne-Gaelle Borycki and Dr Steve Brown. We’re looking forward to meeting you in September.

We wanted to invite you to some introductory sessions that are specific to your course taking place on Monday 30 September. Please note that these are in addition to the School-wide welcome event. 

9.00am - 11.00am 
Arts Tower Lecture Theatre 04

We’ll be holding a series of introductory lectures where we’ll introduce the module ‘Advanced Scientific Skills’ (BIS402), a core module for all MSc students in the School of Biosciences.

As part of this session, you’ll also get essential information on various University services that provide academic support to MSc students.

2.00pm - 2.50pm
Hicks building F28

Join us for an introduction to the Biomedical Science MSc.

Below you’ll find a pre-arrival handbook. Please read this carefully, in particular the “Choosing your research project” section on page 18. We’d like you to indicate your three preferred research project themes by Friday 13 September, in order to help us plan your research projects and allocate supervisors. You can find more information on this below.

Please do not hesitate to contact us with any questions you have.

Dr Anne-Gaelle Borycki and Dr Steve Brown
Course Directors, Biomedical Science MSc
a.g.borycki@sheffield.ac.uk
stephen.brown@sheffield.ac.uk

Your course handbook

2024/25 MSc Biomedical Science course handbook (PDF, 1.72MB)

Your course handbook is packed with information about your masters course and is the place where you’ll be able to find answers to most of the questions you have. We recommend that you spend some time having a read through the handbook before you start your course. This is a live document and we do update this from time to time, but we’ll always alert you to any significant changes.

Please note that some elements might not be accessible until you’ve completed registration and signed in with your University of Sheffield account.

Your timetable

Your timetable is unique to you, based on the optional modules that you choose to study. This will be finalised once you complete your registration and after this time, you’ll be able to access your specific timetable through the iSheffield app.

If you have particular questions or concerns about your timetable please do not hesitate to get in touch with Dr Anne-Gaelle Borycki or Dr Steve Brown.

Choosing your modules

At the beginning of September, you’ll receive an email asking you to select your optional modules using online module selection as part of your pre-registration tasks. A link to the Online Module Choice system will also appear within the pre-registration system.

To allow you to tailor your learning on the MSc, you'll study 120 credits of compulsory (or core) modules that are common to the two pathways, Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine, and Cell Biology and Drug Development, and choose 60 credits of optional modules from a specific list. This list can be found in the pre-arrival handbook.

When choosing your modules, you need to make sure you have a balance of credits across semesters. Taking all optional modules in the same semester will give you a very large workload alongside labs, skills modules and other academic tasks.

If you studied your undergraduate degree at the University of Sheffield, you cannot choose a postgraduate module that’s linked to one you’ve taken as an undergraduate student. These are as follows:

If you studied this module at undergraduate level (former University of Sheffield students only)You cannot study the corresponding module at postgraduate level
BMS354 Principles of Regenerative Medicine and Tissue EngineeringBIS462 Principles of Regenerative Medicine and Tissue Engineering
BMS336 Modelling Human Disease and DysfunctionBIS461 Modelling Human Disease and Dysfunction
BMS382 Stem Cell BiologyBIS447 Stem Cell Biology
BMS379 Cancer BiologyBIS448 Cancer Biology
BMS335 Sensory NeuroscienceBIS460 Sensory Neuroscience
BMS301 Membrane ReceptorsBIS449 Membrane Receptors

If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to contact Dr Anne-Gaelle Borycki or Dr Steve Brown and we can discuss your choices.

Research projects

On page 18 of the course handbook you’ll find a list of all the projects offered as part of your MSc course, grouped by themes. Before you arrive in Sheffield, please:

  • Review the available projects and note down the three themes that contain projects that interest you.
  • Please complete our Google Form indicating your preferences by Friday 13 September.

Your MSc research project will be allocated to you at the start of your course.

If you have any problems accessing the Google Form, or any questions about research projects, please get in touch with Dr Anne-Gaelle Borycki or Dr Steve Brown.

Recommended reading

We often receive queries from students wanting to know how they can prepare for the course before they arrive such as pre-reading. Our recommendation is to use Molecular Biology of the Cell by Bruce Alberts.

The 4th Edition can be browsed online here (external link).

Depending on your previous academic training, you may need to review the following topics and recommended reading:

  • Chapter 1 Cells and Genomes
  • Chapter 3 Proteins
  • Chapter 4 DNA, Chromosomes, and Genomes
  • Chapter 6 How Cells Read the Genome: From DNA to Protein
  • Chapter 7 Control of Gene Expression
  • Chapter 8 Analysing Cells, Molecules, and Systems

The following is reading that’s more pathway-specific:

  • Chapter 9 Visualizing Cells (Cell Biology and Drug Development)
  • Chapter 15 Cell Signalling (Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine, Cell Biology and Drug Development)
  • Chapter 20 Cancer (Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine, Cell Biology and Drug Development)
  • Chapter 21 Development of Multicellular (Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine)
  • Chapter 22 Stem Cells and Tissue Renewal (Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine)
MSc Human and Molecular Genetics (BIST06)

Welcome message

Hi everyone! I'm Dr Dave Turton and I lead the Human and Molecular Genetics MSc.

To welcome you to the course and provide you with all the information you'll need for the next year, I'm running an in-person welcome event on Friday 27 September 1.00pm - 3.00pm in the Alfred Denny Building Lecture Theatre 1. 

This meeting will cover the course structure, assessments, your timetable and your laboratory work starting in the first week of term.

Please don't hesitate to contact me with any questions you have.

Dr David Turton MRSB FHEA
Human and Molecular Genetics MSc Course Director
School of Biosciences Director of Postgraduate Programmes
david.turton@sheffield.ac.uk

Your course handbook

2024/25 MSc Human and Molecular Genetics course handbook (PDF, 2.12MB)

Your course handbook is packed with information about your masters course and is the place where you’ll be able to find answers to most of the questions you have. We recommend that you spend some time having a read through the handbook before you start your course. This is a live document and we do update this from time to time, but we’ll always alert you to any significant changes.

Please note that some elements might not be accessible until you’ve completed registration and signed in with your University of Sheffield account.

Your timetable

Your timetable is unique to you, based on the optional modules that you choose to study. This will be finalised once you complete your registration and after this time, you’ll be able to access your specific timetable through the iSheffield app.

If you have particular questions or concerns about your timetable please do not hesitate to get in touch with Dr Dave Turton.

Choosing your modules

At the beginning of September, you’ll receive an email asking you to select your optional modules using online module selection as part of your pre-registration tasks. A link to the Online Module Choice system will also appear within the pre-registration system.

To allow you to tailor your learning on the MSc, you'll study 135 credits of compulsory (or core) modules, and choose 45 credits of optional lecture modules from a specific list.

All students will study:

  • BIS403 Laboratory Techniques in Molecular Bioscience (15 credits)
  • BIS4100 Advanced Molecular Diagnostics and Cell Culture Techniques (15 credits)
  • BIS402 Advanced Scientific Skills (15 credits)
  • BIS485 Advanced Research Topics (15 credits)
  • BIS499 Literature Review in Molecular Genetics (15 credits)
  • BIS484 Research Project (60 credits)

Choose 45 credits from this list:

Semester 1:

  • BIS447 Stem Cell Biology (15 credits)
  • BIS477 The World of RNA (15 credits)
  • BIS478 Clinical Genomics of Cancer and Rare Genetic Diseases (15 credits)
  • BIS480 Human Genomics, Proteomics and Genome Biology (15 credits)
  • BIS482 Genetic Pathways from Zygote to Organism (15 credits)

Semester 2:

  • BIS448 Cancer Biology (15 credits)
  • BIS476 Genome Stability and Genetic Change (15 credits)
  • BIS481 Human Reproduction and Fertility (15 credits)

When choosing your modules, you need to make sure you have a balance of credits across semesters. Taking all three lecture modules in the same semester will give you a very large lecture workload alongside labs, skills modules and other academic tasks.

If you studied your undergraduate degree at the University of Sheffield, you cannot choose a postgraduate module that’s linked to one you’ve taken as an undergraduate student. These are as follows:

If you studied this module at undergraduate level (former University of Sheffield students only)You cannot study the corresponding module at postgraduate level
MBB313 Genome Stability and Genetic ChangeBIS476 Genome Stability and Genetic Change
MBB325The World of RNABIS477 The World of RNA
MBB329 Clinical Genomics of Cancer and Rare Genetic DiseasesBIS478 Clinical Genomics of Cancer and Rare Genetic Diseases
MBB344 Human Genomics, Proteomics and Genome BiologyBIS480 Human Genomics, Proteomics and Genome Biology
MBB345 Human Reproduction and FertilityBIS481 Human Reproduction and Fertility
MBB346 Genetic Pathways from Zygote to OrganismBIS482 Genetic Pathways from Zygote to Organism
BMS382 Stem Cell BiologyBIS447 Stem Cell Biology
BMS379 Cancer BiologyBIS448 Cancer Biology

 If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to contact Dr Dave Turton and we can discuss your choices.

Research projects

All of our MSc research projects for 2024/25 will be offered in collaboration with the Julia Garnham Centre. Here you’ll receive analytical NHS training before undertaking a placement that will generate data to serve as the basis for the laboratory components of your project. 

Details of your MSc research project choices will be shared with you at the start of the academic year.

Recommended reading

We often receive queries from students wanting to know how they can prepare for the course before they arrive such as pre-reading. You’ll be taught everything in your modules as you go along, and you can attend weekly office hours with your academic tutor or module lecturers if you ever need extra help. Some students find it helpful however to refresh their knowledge of the following themes that we’ll be using in the laboratory in semester one.

  • Making solutions: Molar calculations (V1C1=V2C2, Moles=Mass/mw, serial dilutions etc)
  • Molecular biology: Performing DNA restriction digests, DNA ligations, bacterial transformations, agarose gel electrophoresis, polymerase chain reaction (PCR), SDS-PAGE and western blotting
  • CRISPR

If you just can’t wait to get started, you’re very welcome (but not required) to check out the following resources to familiarise yourself with some of the clinical themes you could encounter in your MSc: 

MSc Molecular Biology and Biotechnology (BIST07)

Welcome message

Dear all,

I am Dr Qaiser Sheikh, serving as the Course Lead for the MSc program in Molecular Biology and Biotechnology in the School of Biosciences. It is with great enthusiasm that I extend a warm welcome to all of you who have chosen to embark on this postgraduate journey with us, and I eagerly anticipate our forthcoming interactions.

In addition to my role in coordinating a few core modules of the program, I am honored to serve as your academic tutor. As such, I will be your primary point of contact for all your academic needs and guidance throughout your academic journey.

If you have any non-academic questions or issues, the PGT admin team will be there to help you; they can be contacted at: pgtadmin.biosciences@sheffield.ac.uk

To welcome you to the course and provide you with all the information you will need for the next year, I am running an in-person welcome event on Friday 27 September at 2.00pm in Hicks LT11. Please note that this is in addition to the School-wide welcome event.

I eagerly anticipate meeting you all soon. 

Dr Qaiser I Sheikh
Lecturer / University Teacher
MSc Molecular Biology and Biotechnology Course Director
School of Biosciences
q.i.sheikh@sheffield.ac.uk

Your course handbook

Your course handbook is packed with information about your masters course and is the place where you’ll be able to find answers to most of the questions you have.

This will be shared with you during Welcome Week.

Your timetable

Your timetable is unique to you, based on the optional modules that you choose to study. This will be finalised once you complete your registration and after this time, you’ll be able to access your specific timetable through the iSheffield app.

If you have particular questions or concerns about your timetable please do not hesitate to get in touch with Dr Qaiser Sheikh.

Choosing your modules

At the beginning of September, you’ll receive an email asking you to select your optional modules using online module selection as part of your pre-registration tasks. A link to the Online Module Choice system will also appear within the pre-registration system.

To allow you to tailor your learning on the MSc, you'll study 135 credits of compulsory (or core) modules, and choose 45 credits of optional lecture modules from a specific list.

All students will study:

  • BIS484 Research Project (60 credits)
  • BIS404 Laboratory Techniques in Molecular Biology (15 credits)
  • BIS474 Cellular Systems Engineering for Biotechnology (15 credits)
  • BIS402 Advanced Scientific Skills (15 credits)
  • BIS485 Advanced Research Topics (15 credits)
  • BIS486 Literature Review (15 credits)

Choose 45 credits from this list: 

  • BIS475 Plant Biotechnology (15 credits)
  • BIS477 The World of RNA (15 credits)
  • CBE6028 Advanced Biochemical Engineering (15 credits)
  • CBE6027 Advanced Bioprocess Design Project (15 credits)
  • BIS437 The Biotech and Pharmaceutical Industry (15 credits)
  • BIS440 Genomic Approaches to Drug Discovery (15 credits)
  • BIS406 Microbial Genomics and Diversity (15 credits)

Please note that the modules CBE6028 Advanced Biochemical Engineering, and CBE6027 Advanced Bioprocess Design Project need to be taken together.

If you studied your undergraduate degree at the University of Sheffield, you cannot choose a postgraduate module that’s linked to one you’ve taken as an undergraduate student.

If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to contact Dr Qaiser Sheikh and we can discuss your choices.

Research projects

MSc research projects start in semester two and we’ll be discussing these over the coming months.

Recommended reading

It would be useful for you to start reading background material covering the following topics:

  • Understanding of microbiology
  • Basics of DNA, RNA, proteins
  • Understanding of genes, the processes of replication, transcription and translation
  • Understanding of gene cloning e.g. its uses and how it can be done
  • Understanding of gene structure and function e.g how gene function (genetic switch) and its control by operators, promoters and repressors in different organisms
  • Biotechnology: its types and applications 

I personally really like YouTube (most of the prestigious journals such as Nature Methods have a YouTube channel) and the University of Utah has a brilliant 'learn genetics' site to brush up on the basics. Importantly, read what interests you. If you love it you will learn it effectively!

The following series of JoVE films (external website) are useful for understanding technical scientific language that you can discuss in more detail with your tutors.

  • Microbiology
  • Cell Biology
  • Genetics (more suitable for genetics students). “An Overview of Genetic Engineering”, “Recombineering and Gene Targeting”, and “Genome Editing” are worth watching.

Please feel free to contact me if you need any further information, and keep me updated.

MSc Science Communication (BIST02)

Welcome message

Welcome to the Science Communication MSc! I’m Dr Tori Herridge, the Course Director.

During Welcome Week, we’ll be running a course-specific event to introduce you to the course structure, and give you a chance to meet some of the staff from Biosciences, Journalism and Creative Media who'll be teaching you this year. This in-person event will take place at 3pm on Wednesday 25 September in the Hicks Building (room F20). Please note that this will be in addition to the School-wide welcome event.

If you can’t make the welcome session, don’t worry – all key information will be included in the course handbook.

If you have any questions about the course in the meantime, please get in touch with me on the details below.

Dr Tori Herridge
MSc Science Communication Course Director
School of Biosciences
v.herridge@sheffield.ac.uk

Your course handbook

Your course handbook is packed with information about your masters course and is the place where you’ll be able to find answers to most of the questions you have.

This will be shared with you during Welcome Week.

Your timetable

Your timetable will be finalised once you complete your registration and after this time, you’ll be able to access it through the iSheffield app.

If you have particular questions or concerns about your timetable please do not hesitate to get in touch with Dr Tori Herridge.

Modules

All of your MSc modules are core (compulsory) for your course, so you don't need to choose any as part of your registration.

The modules you'll be studying are:

  • BIS421 Science Communication Skills (30 credits, Semesters 1&2)
  • BIS422 Topical Science (15 credits, Semester 1)
  • JNL6210 Research Methods (15 credits, Semester 1)
  • JNL6014 Ethics & Regulation (15 credits, Semester 1)
  • BIS408 Engaging the Public (15 credits, Semester 2)
  • BIS409 Science Communication Project (60 credits, Semester 2)
  • JNL6046 Data Driven Storytelling (15 credits, Semester 2)
  • JNL6029 Communicating with the Media (15 credits, Semester 2)

You'll also be expected to attend some mandatory aspects of BIS402 Advanced Scientific Skills, although you won't be assessed for this module. This is to support your wider academic learning, and professional/careers development.

Research projects

MSc research projects start in semester two but we'll be discussing how best to plan and develop your project ideas in semester 1.

If there’s something you're passionate about, it's never too early to begin laying the groundwork for your dissertation. But don’t worry if you're unsure about what you want to do, or how to do it – there'll also be projects offered by staff that you can apply for.

Recommended reading

We don't need you to complete any pre-course reading, but please come to the welcome session prepared to discuss one piece of science communication with the rest of the group. This can be a book, article, TV programme, documentary, podcast, radio series, social media account, online video, video game, policy document, whatever you choose (as long as you can say something about it!).

I'll ask you to:

  • summarise it (briefly, 1-2 sentences!)
  • say what you liked about it
  • say what you would do differently (if anything)

Biosciences postgraduate taught handbook

Access the Biosciences postgraduate taught handbook here

The Biosciences postgraduate taught handbook is packed with information about studying for a masters in the School and is the place where you’ll be able to find answers to most of the questions you have around assessments, teaching methods, health and safety training, as well as information on how to access academic and pastoral support. You’ll also find some general induction activities here.

Please note that this won't be accessible until you’ve completed registration and signed in with your University of Sheffield account.

Induction tasks

To prepare you for starting your studies, you'll need to complete your postgraduate induction. This includes completing training such as general health and safety.

Finding your induction tasks

On the postgraduate taught handbook, under "Getting Started", please select "Health and Safety (Including PGT induction)". Here you’ll find the PGT Induction - Your Training Checklist. Please download the PGT Training Checklist and head to the Health and Safety training portal where you'll find all the training courses we need you to complete.

These training courses will become available once you've completed your registration and signed in with your University of Sheffield account.

Please note that it's a requirement of the University that these tasks are completed before starting your studies.

LinkedIn group

To give you a chance to meet and speak to other students starting their masters in the School this autumn, we’ve set up a LinkedIn group. Please join us, introduce yourself and use this space to chat to other offer holders and Biosciences staff.

Request to join the LinkedIn group

Contact us

If you have any problems working through these pre-arrival tasks or you know that you’ll be arriving late to Sheffield in September, please let us know.

Email our Postgraduate Student Support Team on: biosciences.ug.pgt@sheffield.ac.uk.

Please include your name, programme of study and registration number (if you know it).

Useful links

Information for new students

A global reputation

Sheffield is a world top-100 research university with a global reputation for excellence. We're a member of the Russell Group: one of the 24 leading UK universities for research and teaching.

About the University