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Teaching
The course is predominantly research-based. Students are based in one research group and research a topic agreed with their principal investigator (supervisor).
There is no examined taught work, but students are required to attend a small number of workshops and will have the opportunity to complete a short lecture-based course. Students can subsequently continue their training in many areas, choosing from the wide range of courses available within the Postgraduate School of Life Sciences and the University.
All students in this programme will be members of the University's Postgraduate School of Life Sciences (PSLS), which offers a wide variety of core skills and professional development training. For more information, visit the PSLS website's Researcher Development page.
| One to one supervision | Students are expected to have regular (usually weekly) meetings with their supervisor. Each research group also typically has a weekly group meeting in which the student is expected to participate in presentations of research progress and journal clubs. In addition, all students are assigned an advisor. This is a separate research group head who is not directly involved in the student's research project but can provide independent monitoring of progress and general advice, and serves as a point of contact if any problems arise. All MPhil students also have a Postgraduate Thesis Panel (PTP) consisting of three principal investigators, one of whom is the advisor but excluding the supervisor. The role of the PTP is to provide additional support and mentoring for the student (through formal feedback), assess the tractability of the project, and review the adequacy of supervision. All students are required to complete periodic progress/planning reports that present the key elements of the project plan, progress, and training aims and achievements. These reports include the students' self-assessment of progress and supervisor comments, and allow students to provide feedback on their training resources and support. The University of Cambridge publishes an annual Code of Practice which sets out the University’s expectations regarding supervision. |
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| Lectures | Students are required to attend a small number of workshops covering topics such as research ethics, research question design, and data management. They are additionally invited to attend an advanced techniques series of lectures that provides a wide exposure to a range of methodologies available in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. |
Feedback
Students should expect to receive oral and written feedback on an individual basis from supervisors, advisors, and their Postgraduate Thesis Panel (PTP). In addition, they may expect oral feedback from their supervisors and group members after their presentations within groups. Students can also expect to receive termly formal feedback reports via the online feedback and reporting system, as well as constructive oral and written feedback from their PTP after their presentations.
Postgraduate Thesis Panel (PTP)
The student is required to present two talks on their project to their Postgraduate Thesis Panel (a panel of three academics). These presentations are generally held in approximately the third and sixth month. The panel also receives comments on student progress from the periodic student reports. After the presentation and a Q&A session with the student, the PTP gives constructive feedback about the student's progress and the nature and direction of the project.
The appointment of two members of the PTP (excluding the advisor who the Postgraduate Committee appoints) is student-driven, and the student will invite staff to join the PTP after they have consulted with their Supervisor for advice about the most appropriate members. The main aim of the PTP is to provide independent, enhanced mentorship and advice for postgraduate students to help them make progress in their projects. It is also a mechanism for providing a further independent assessment of student progress, to supplement the views of the Supervisor.
Peer Research Groups (PRGs)
Peer Research Groups (PRGs) consist of small groups of students across all years of postgraduate studies. The groups provide a student support network and additional educational and training opportunities to help meet the postgraduate programme's training objectives. They are overseen by an academic member of Biochemistry and one or more postdocs.
Weekly group meetings
Most research groups run their own weekly laboratory meetings and journal clubs, where students are expected to talk about their experimental work and review published papers. Some groups might also expect students to write reports on a regular basis (e.g., monthly) for their Supervisor as one component of the monitoring and mentorship programme.
Assessment
Thesis / Dissertation
The examination for the MPhil degree consists of a thesis of not more than 20,000 words in length, exclusive of tables, footnotes, bibliography, and appendices.
The thesis is a standalone piece of writing describing the student's research. It is written as a formal scientific document and usually contains an introduction, a materials and methods chapter, one or more results chapters, and a closing discussion. The assessment is a viva voce examination by two examiners, who examine both the thesis's content and the general field of knowledge within which it falls.