Synthetic Biology MRes

UCL (University College London)

Join this cutting-edge research degree on synthetic biology to gain the skills and tools needed to engineer biology for a better future. This interdisciplinary MRes will equip you with advanced laboratory techniques, computational modelling skills, and a systems-level understanding of synthetic biology to thrive and progress in this rapidly advancing field of science and industry. You’ll learn how to design and build biological systems to address real-world challenges from novel vaccines to sustainable food production and environmental pollution. You’ll graduate ready to pursue a PhD or enter highly skilled roles across the biotech and bioinformatics sectors. Join us on this intensive one-year Master’s, and qualify as a research scientist with the practical skills needed to specialise in the exciting new field of synthetic biology. Building expertise with career applications far beyond academia, you’ll gain transferable research skills and a comprehensive understanding of a broad range of related biological disciplines, including molecular biology, microbial physiology, biochemical engineering, mathematical modelling, DNA design and bioinformatics. Using this knowledge, you’ll be able to use interdisciplinary approaches to design and build synthetic elements, pathways, cells, and systems for a range of different real-world applications. You’ll also gain a wider appreciation of the ethical and societal contexts of synthetic biology, and gain a nuanced awareness of the patenting considerations that apply to technologies that draw their inspiration from the natural world. This degree attracts students from a wide range of science backgrounds including graduates from biology-based science degrees and the physical, engineering, chemical and mathematical sciences, and we train them in this new field, enabling students to transfer these skills to work on further research, in industry and teaching.

Engineering Sciences