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Teaching
Taught material
This will comprise a combination of course-specific teaching and transferable skills training.
Course-specific teaching will include approximately 60 hours of lectures and tutorials in stem cell medicine, covering fundamental theory, state-of-the-art topics, and technical seminars, along with selected guest lectures. Teaching will be delivered primarily by the course team, including Principal Investigators (PIs), senior technical staff, and postdoctoral researchers developing their teaching skills.
Around 30 hours of transferable skills training will be provided within the Institute, covering scientific writing, public engagement, and public speaking, and drawing on the Biostatistics and Bioinformatics initiative from the Cambridge Centre for Data-Driven Discovery.
Lectures and transferable skills training will be scheduled primarily in the first seven weeks of Michaelmas Term, before the commencement of the research project, with further material delivered through weekly lectures and seminars throughout the remainder of the year.
| One to one supervision | Students will meet termly with the Course Director and/or co-Director(s) to give feedback on their progress and the course. They can also expect to receive termly formal feedback reports via the online Postgraduate Feedback and Reporting System. Ongoing supervision will be provided during the research project by the project Supervisor. For new supervisors, a more senior Supervisor will act as a mentor to the new Supervisor. The University of Cambridge publishes an annual Code of Practice which sets out the University's expectations regarding supervision. |
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| Seminars & classes | Course-specific teaching includes approximately 60 hours of lectures and tutorials covering fundamental theory, state-of-the-art hot topics, and technical seminars, together with a selection of guest lectures. In addition to the above mandatory teaching and training provisions, students will be encouraged to attend relevant seminars within the department, School, and wider University. Attendance is required for all taught course seminars and training sessions. Students are also required to attend at least 50% of Departmental seminars during the Lent and Easter terms. |
| Lectures | During the first 6-8 weeks of taught material, there will be 10-15 hours per week of lectures, plus Biostats training. After this (in term 2 and 3) lectures will average 1-2 hours per week. |
| Practicals | 32-week lab-based project. |
| Journal clubs | This varies according to the research group that the student has chosen. |
| Posters and Presentations | A poster on the research project will be prepared and recorded as a short video (of prescribed duration). The poster presentation aims to give students an opportunity to learn this skill, which is the most common form of student data presentation at scientific meetings. Preparing a video of the poster will ensure that all students have an equal length of time to present the poster to the examiners. Posters will also be presented at an informal event, where students will have the opportunity to discuss their work with their peer group. |
| Taught/Research Balance | Predominantly Taught |
Feedback
With the exception of the biostatistics course, feedback will be provided for each assessed element of the course along with the project plan.
Assessment
Thesis / Dissertation
Students are required to submit a dissertation based on the research project, not exceeding 10,000 words in length, which will be examined by two examiners.
Other
Assessment will be through a range of formats which may include coursework, written and oral examinations, posters, presentations and projects.
An oral presentation based on a topic of the student's choice distinct from the Research Project, e.g., a laboratory/analytical method, a public engagement activity, a separate piece of research work or a mini-grant proposal, will be assessed by the academic leadership team.