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Medical Biology
Bachelor of Science (Degree with Honours)Informal specialisationYear: 2024
Medical Biology
Contact information
Coordinator
Dr Jessica Borger
Administrative Coordinator:
Lisa Trinh
Currently enrolled students:
Overview
The Honours program in The Department of Medical Biology is a fourth-year program, which gives students the opportunity to apply and extend their previous science, biomedical or health science studies to a cutting edge research project. Projects will be undertaken at The Walter & Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research and supervised by experienced full-time research staff. The course year starts in February or in August and is only available full time.
The Honours program comprises:
The Advanced Coursework (25 points) component is designed to develop a greater understanding of key topics of research in biochemistry and molecular biology, including areas such as genome sciences, structural biology, bioinformatics and molecular cell biology. Further, students will acquire an appreciation and understanding of new technologies and approaches that are used in modern biochemical and molecular biology research programs and develop a greater understanding of the scientific process as well as access to key literature and data sets.
The Research Project (75 points) provides the students with their first real-life experience of medical research. During the year, students will review and analyse the literature, design and perform their own experiments, and report the results of their research in a thesis, which constitutes the major piece of assessed work of the Honours program. The student will also present their research at a seminar at the end of the year.
Intended learning outcomes
On completion of this Honours program, students should be able to:
- Evaluate and synthesise advanced knowledge from the field of medical biology
- Critically appraise and communicate the key concepts and conclusions from medical biology research literature to various audiences in both oral and written formats
- Appraise the application of quantitative and qualitative experimental methods and statistical analyses for appropriate data analysis
- Conduct an original research project based on the development of a specific research question grounded in a critical review of the medical biology literature.
Last updated: 29 January 2025
Structure
100 credit points
The Honours program consists of 100 credit points completed over 12 months full time (or part time equivalent) comprising of two (2) Advanced Coursework subjects and a Research Project.
To be awarded Honours with a specialisation in Medical Biology (Walter and Eliza Hall Institute), students must successfully complete the following:
- BIOL40014 - Advanced Coursework in Medical Biology (25 points)
- BMSC40003 and BMSC40008 - Medical Biology Research Project (75 points)
There are no elective subjects in this Honours program.
Subject Options
Coursework Component
Students must complete 25 credit points of advanced coursework subjects. This is achieved by enrolling in the following subjects in the appropriate semesters.
Code | Name | Study period | Credit Points |
---|---|---|---|
BIOL40014 | Advanced Coursework in Medical Biology |
Semester 1 (Early-Start) (On Campus - Parkville)
Semester 2 (On Campus - Parkville)
|
25 |
Research Component
Students must complete a total of 75 credit points of research across the duration of the Honours program. This is achieved by enrolling in a combination of the following subjects in the appropriate semesters.
Code | Name | Study period | Credit Points |
---|---|---|---|
BMSC40003 | Medical Biology Research Project Part 1 |
Semester 1 (Early-Start) (On Campus - Parkville)
Semester 2 (On Campus - Parkville)
|
25 |
BMSC40008 | Medical Biology Research Project Part 2 |
Semester 1 (On Campus - Parkville)
Semester 2 (On Campus - Parkville)
|
50 |
Links
Last updated: 29 January 2025