Bachelor of Science (Hons) in Biology

at Manchester Metropolitan University United Kingdom

This course is at the forefront of production design and manufacturing practices and brings together students from creative and technical backgrounds, to foster original approaches to product design for manufacture. It supports you to explore and develop personal design methodologies and philosophies, and locate these within a deep understanding of historical, contemporary and future design practices, and wider social and cultural contexts.

You will undertake core units, delivered by production design specialists, consisting of design theory and practice lectures, material and manufacturing workshops, group seminars, individual tutorials, live external projects, and research study trips. Practical design development is supported by extensive hand and machine workshops for wood, metal, ceramics, glass and plastics, and digital workshops for laser cutting and large scale CNC routing.

Optional units facilitate innovative cross-disciplinary opportunities, supporting the development of collaborative working with students from within the material making and manufacturing cluster of MA/MSc/MFA Craft and MA/MSc/MFA Textile, and across the wider postgraduate design community. There are cross-faculty options to study within the faculty of “Science and Engineering”, acquiring advanced 3D CAD skills for industrial production, and utilising the latest advanced 3D printing processes. The Manchester Metropolitan Business School option addresses commercial aspects of design, enabling students to locate their ambitions within a defined financial model.

You will able to explore and challenge all aspects of product design, embracing opportunities for innovation across markets and production levels, from one-off making and batch fabrication, to flexible digital manufacture and high volume industrial production.

Whether your ambition is to help an athlete smash world records, or improve the quality of life for recovering patients, we can give you the tools to achieve it.

Our sport and exercise science degree covers a broad spectrum of themes across sport and health. You’ll build an understanding of the key disciplines of biomechanics, physiology and psychology, and then develop specialist skills and knowledge according to your strengths and interests. You'll also have the opportunity to spend an extra year expanding your horizons, working on a placement in industry.

Study sport and exercise science at Manchester Met and you’ll have the support of our team of accredited sport scientists and experts who work with business, the NHS, government and international athletes. With our network of local sports organisations and health providers, you’ll have plenty of great opportunities to apply your knowledge and secure work placements.

Placement options

Our sports and exercise science degree offers the chance to spend a year getting a taste of professional life. If you choose to go down this route, your degree will take one year longer, with the third year spent working in industry. These optional placements not only give you the opportunity to develop your core skills and learn about how a business really operates in your industry, but also shows employers that you’re ready to get to work. We offer a range of services to help you find the right placement, including employer presentations, advice and placement fairs.

Interested in being an influencer in a major corporation? Or mentoring people to overcome challenging situations at work? Or perhaps you want to coach leaders of charities and public organizations?

Business psychology is an emerging topic in the working world. Performance, excellence, talent management, mental health – they’re not just buzzwords, they’re driving a new approach to doing business.

This unique course lets you combine your interests in human behaviour and business operations. You don’t need any psychology or business knowledge when you join us – just curiosity and a willingness to learn. We’ll go over everything from scratch, introducing you to the business environment, and helping you develop the academic and professional skills you’ll need to succeed.

The MA/MFA Performance is an exciting taught masters programme that offers a practical, versatile and interdisciplinary approach to performance-making and training. The programme provides students with an advanced and practical understanding of current performance practices, drawing on a broad range of artistic and theoretical influences. The development of new creative practice is at the core of the programme, as well as how this work might be developed and profiled in a professional context.

Furthermore, MA/MFA Performance also offers students the chance to specialise in either of the distinctive areas of laboratory theatre or contemporary performance, or to combine elements from both with direct experience of a current professional arts context. The experience of these options is fed through a further process of critical and professional contextualisation, before students embark on the creation of their own major projects as the culmination of the degree.

Our BSc (Hons) Biology degree offers the chance to gain a solid grounding in the biological sciences – with the flexibility to develop your own interests and learn about the areas and aspects of biological sciences that match your career ambitions.

Study biology at Manchester Met and you’ll begin by learning the fundamentals of the subject, before exploring the areas that interest you most through a variety of option units. Along the way, you’ll explore the issues that shape our world and touch our lives – from molecular biology, microbiology and genetics, to ecology, animal behaviour, biodiversity and conservation.

The program also allows you to develop your own interests in areas such as comparative anatomy and physiology, plant science, brain and behaviour, population biology, biotechnology, biochemistry and the conservation of biodiversity, to tailor your learning to your career aspirations.

In our laboratories, you’ll get to grips with the latest equipment, as we help you develop a range of practical skills that you can take into your career. And, by getting out in the field, you can learn about biology out in the real world – whether in the UK or overseas.

Our biology degree also provides the option of spending an extra year expanding your horizons, either studying with one of our partner universities overseas, or working on a placement with a business or non-governmental organisation.

Placement options
The four-year placement route gives you the opportunity to spend your third year on a placement with a relevant employer, such as a conservation or environmental body, zoo or animal welfare organization, or with local government or a molecular diagnostics company. It’s a great chance to gain experience, build your network and develop transferable skills – all of which can boost your career prospects.

This course is a popular joint honours combination which brings together two subjects with highly complementary approaches and interests. Study English and history and you will explore a wide range of sources and representations that enhance our understanding of the world around us, both past and present.

As well as offering a balanced combination of core and option units rooted in each of the two subjects, this course has been designed so that your growing knowledge and skills in each subject will help you to develop a distinctive perspective, and strengths, in the other. During year 1, for instance, you will study the history of Manchester as a radical city on the History side of the joint curriculum, and the various ways in which it has been represented in literary and cultural texts on the English side. As you do so, you will be developing foundational skills and subject knowledge in the study of each discipline.

You may also have the opportunity to study abroad and, if you wish, to take your third year as a placement – in Britain or abroad. In your final year, you will have a chance to spread your wings with a substantial piece of project work, presented in a thesis, building on the skills you've been developing over previous years.

The English and history subject groups are staffed by internationally renowned writers and academics, and there’s a strong research culture, creating a learning environment that is both supportive and intellectually challenging. We pride ourselves on our excellent teaching and highly positive student feedback. And with our extensive cultural links both in Manchester and further afield, you will be in the right place to begin building a network for your future.

By bringing together our academic expertise with Manchester City F.C.’s City in the Community Foundation, this degree offers the very best of both worlds and an integrated path to rewarding career goals.

This course offers work-based learning in Premier League surroundings, equipping you with the skills, knowledge and experience you will need to find success as a coach or sports programme leader.

Academic experts deliver the programme, providing insight and support during your three years. In addition, you are continually mentored and supported by practitioners from City in the Community who provide perspectives from the real world of delivering community sport coaching and sport development initiatives.

You will learn how coaching sport improves aspects of mental and physical health. The programme will cover all angles of project development – from planning and delivering activity, through to measuring impact – to help understand the potential of sporting opportunities to make a positive difference in the community.  

The world of business can be exciting, challenging and unpredictable. Strong management skills are in high demand to help teams navigate difficult times and make the most of new opportunities.

Of course, you’ll need to learn the theory and context to build a career as a manager or consultant. But we believe it’s how you apply that knowledge that really matters. This course is all about practical solutions to real-world problems.

The world’s habitats are undergoing rapid transformation. The impacts of climate change are causing species extinction at an unprecedented rate. Conservation biology as a discipline looks at the science behind these changes – including the identification of ecosystems at risk, ways of conserving biodiversity, and the role of genetics and demography.

With our masters, you’ll tackle all that and more, gaining the knowledge and skills for a career at the forefront of conservation. You’ll explore the scientific background to species conservation and the factors driving extinction. You’ll also look at the sustainable use of resources and learn valuable statistical techniques for analysing ecological data. With a range of option units, you’ll be able to specialise in areas like species recovery and behavioural biology.

But this course is as much about practice as it is about theory. While the core units include a field course to Poland, Ecuador or Tanzania, your master's project also has a practical focus, demanding in-depth research before you present your findings.

Throughout, it all, you’ll be supported by experienced academics, who’ll bring their real-world expertise directly to the classroom as you prepare to make your own way in the world of conservation. And the international focus of this degree, it’s a career journey that could take you literally anywhere.

To survive, thrive and succeed in business, it’s not only about managing people, developing strategies and driving performance within the organisation. It’s also about understanding and engaging the market – identifying your position in the competitive landscape, developing an offering that meets demand and communicating with your target audience effectively.

With this business and marketing degree, you’ll delve into business operations, looking at how some of the world’s most successful organisations manage finances, lead staff and harness technology, as well as learning about the key issues in business today – from sustainable development to ethics in a global environment.

It’s a course that’s designed to help you prepare for the workplace, so we don’t limit your learning to the classroom or lecture theatre. Once you’ve discovered and discussed the theories in lectures and seminars, you’ll have the chance to turn ideas into action. We run various business and enterprise competitions that provide skill-building, CV-boosting experience. You will also have the option of spending a year on a placement, building on your skills in a professional environment.

As such, you’ll leave us with a blend of business understanding and marketing intellect. It’s a powerful mix. Whether you see yourself running a start-up, getting onto the fast-track to senior management or making waves in an agency environment, our BA (Hons) Business and Marketing can help you pave the way.

Study Abroad
Instead of a placement, you’ll have the opportunity to spend up to a year overseas, studying with one of our partner institutions across Europe, or beyond. Go abroad in the third year of your degree, and you’ll not only learn about other cultures, improve your language skills and discover more about yourself – you’ll also boost your career prospects.

Having first-hand knowledge of another country’s cultures and traditions can take you far in a range of careers. And, by going abroad you’ll also demonstrate the kind of independent spirit and adaptability that many employers want.