Bachelor of Science (Hons) in Biology with Placement Year

at Manchester Metropolitan University United Kingdom

BSc Sociology with Quantitative Methods offers exciting opportunities for you to study the cutting-edge discipline of sociology in the vibrant city of Manchester, whilst gaining extensive quantitative skills. It is aimed at students who want to understand and analyse contemporary social phenomena, trends and problems as well as develop a specialism in quantitative methods to study society.

The first year introduces you to the building blocks of sociology: key sociological concepts and theories, social divisions and problems, and major transformations – such as globalisation or digital culture – which are altering the fabric of contemporary society. You will receive training in a wide range of research methods, both qualitative and quantitative, during the first two years. In the final year, you will focus on quantitative research methods for designing, implementing and analysing social issues and complete an independent project.

Our large, multi-disciplinary department believes in offering extensive optionality to study specific areas of sociology in depth. Throughout the degree, there is an emphasis on developing skills and experiences that are relevant to professional careers, including work experience, study-abroad schemes, and independent project work. In the final year, there is the opportunity to complete a placement in a relevant organisation. You may also have the opportunity to spend an extra year expanding your horizons studying with one of our partner universities overseas.

Political and economic developments such as Brexit mean that international trade agreements, foreign direct investment and the attractiveness of where a company does business and accesses talent are more important than ever.

In the digital age, almost every business operates on the world stage and supplies to multiple countries. To help you compete in a hugely competitive global landscape, our International Business Management degree will give you a greater understanding of the nuances, challenges and opportunities of operating overseas.

Exploring enterprise, entrepreneurship and emerging markets

We’ll help you gain specialist knowledge in managing people of different cultures and backgrounds, and the political and governing structures of different markets that influence how businesses operate.

You’ll also develop the cross-cultural management skills you need to build international business relationships in often volatile political, cultural and economic environments.

Our International Business Management degree offers four-year routes where you can spend your third year on placement or study abroad at one of our overseas partner universities. Past students have worked for Johnson and Johnson in Tokyo, Hellman Worldwide Logistics in the USA and Warner Bros in London.

By the time you leave our business school, you’ll have the business knowledge and cross-cultural management skills to kick-start your career in the UK and abroad.

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.

You’ll consider theories about the meaning of existence, divinity, who we are as individuals, and our relation to the transcendent from Eastern, African, and Western cultural perspectives and religious institutions. You’ll explore how these theories have shaped our ideas about humanity, and the challenges the modern world poses. And along the way, you’ll find your philosophical voice and develop a rich set of analytical and critical skills invaluable for your future – with the power to influence others and drive change.

As a philosophy student you will be joining a hub of research-active philosophers with local, national and international impact, with many of them being invited to present at major international conferences and workshops. Our staff work across key areas including metaethics, normative ethics and philosophy of religion – with this expertise behind us, we can give you a rounded, balanced understanding of the subject.

You may also have the opportunity to spend your third year studying overseas, including in the US, or on placement, with opportunities available in Britain or abroad.

Placement options
You may have the chance to spend a year getting a taste of professional life. It is an opportunity to develop core skills and explore how this course can relate to the graduate world, and it shows employers that you’re ready to get to work.

You are free to choose placement opportunities from a wide range of roles both in the UK and abroad. Students choosing this option are supported by a dedicated placement team who provide links to employers through presentations, events, and fairs, and provide a specialist program of guidance on recruitment procedures including CV and interview preparation, as well as work readiness and working overseas.

Understanding the link between foods, diets, dietary patterns, nutrients, and physical health is paramount in the current environment. And that’s where nutritionists can help.

You’ll look at the issues that make the headlines and the topics that touch our everyday lives. Whilst our relationship with food has never had a higher profile in the public sphere, the food industry is constantly adapting to new consumer trends and developments.

Many dietary factors can influence a person’s health, and throughout our course, you’ll gain a working knowledge of a range of contemporary nutrition issues such as the origins of nutrition-related illnesses, the chemistry of food and dietary assessment.

You won’t simply learn the theory behind nutrition, you’ll explore how it works through practical sessions.

We have chemistry and microbiology laboratories, a taste panel suite, a product development kitchen, a bakery and food quality testing equipment. We also have the capability to produce and develop new food products, test and analyse them, taking them through to the packaging and labelling stage.

This creates a holistic approach to our teaching and means you gain real-life experience whilst studying with us.

Our nutritional sciences degree also provides the option of spending an extra year working in a partner organisation on placement.

Placement options

• If you choose the sandwich year degree route, you will spend Year 3 of your studies on a placement in industry.  Placement learning is a key element of the course as it allows you to apply university-based knowledge, skills and understanding to the real world of work.

Our creative writing courses are taught by internationally-renowned writers from The Manchester Writing School; one of the most successful of its kind in the UK, with more than 95 graduates and MA students who’ve gone on to become published writers. But skilled writers must also be well-developed readers and this course offers the best of both worlds, allowing you to combine Creative Writing and English as part of a joint degree.

While studying and practising creative writing, you’ll take a range of options from the English degree, including American literature, film, television and cultural studies. As you progress, you’ll have the chance to take part in creative writing workshops, focussing on two options from the selection of: prose, poetry and script. Our placement route offers you the opportunity to spend your third year on an industry placement, allowing you to apply university-based knowledge, skills and understanding to the world of work, and giving you an advantage when you begin looking for your first job after graduation. Or you may have the chance to spend a year expanding your horizons, studying with one of our partner universities overseas. In your final year, you’ll be ready to undertake an all-important independent creative project.

By the time you leave us, you’ll have an excellent understanding of the critical and cultural contexts in which you’re writing, together with the skills and experience to excel in the creative journey from original idea to finished work.

Placement options
Placement opportunities may be available both in the UK and abroad, in a variety of roles and sectors.

Our dedicated placement team have developed excellent links with various industries. You will be offered support through a preparation program of activities that includes guidance on selection procedures, working overseas, CV preparation, interview and selection techniques.

Through this course, you’ll explore 21st century food manufacturing and develop your understanding of how the biochemical properties of food components influence how foods taste and feel, and how they impact nutrition and health.

You’ll explore sensory evaluation, food law and how global trends in trade, regulation and policy influence the sustainability and wider impact of the food chain. You’ll also consider topics such as modern production and analytical technologies, functional foods and labelling legislation, and how to ensure that foods are nutritious and safe to eat.

Technical skills are vital to the food industry and they’re an important part of this course. In our dedicated food technology and biochemistry laboratories, you’ll have practical sessions in areas of food production, evaluating the sensory properties of foods, microbiological quality, and the chemical and physical analysis of foods.

You’ll also complete a food development project where you’ll create your own innovative foods, working on everything from marketing and sensory analysis to legal requirements – and you’ll create your product too.

Past projects include beer made from waste patisserie products, functional yoghurts for elderly consumers, and sustainable vegan ice cream made with tiger nuts.

BA (Hons) Filmmaking is a practice-based course giving you the creative freedom to develop your voice through the dynamic language of film.

Our learning environment incorporates a unique mix of digital art and film school philosophies, empowering you to express your ideas and stories through narrative fiction, documentary, artists’ moving image and new media. You will specialise in original ideas from unique perspectives, with the potential for your work to be screened in international venues.

Studying at the School of Digital Arts means learning beyond the usual limits. You’ll be part of a vibrant creative community that spans a range of disciplines, from photography and animation, to music and sound design. It’s an environment designed for collaboration – a place where you can push the boundaries of filmmaking, explore the directions that interest you most and develop a broad skill set made for today’s digital arts and media sector. Here, you’ll have access to a vast range of specialist resources and purpose-built facilities, as well as a wealth of opportunities for developing your professional skills, from work experience placements and industry competitions to guest lectures and collaborations with organisations.

The UK film and television industry is a global success story and Manchester is the perfect place to write your own chapter. It’s a major media city, second only to London. The likes of the BBC and ITV are on our doorstep at MediaCityUK, while the city is also home to a thriving, bustling digital production sector, from innovative start-ups to established production companies. For today, that means you’ll have the chance to work on live industry projects – developing practical skills and valuable experience. For tomorrow, that means you’ll graduate in one of the most exciting cities in Europe for starting a career in the creative and digital industries.

A taught postgraduate course that conducts research into how global cultural and economic forces influence contemporary cities. The design, functioning and future of urban situations is explored in written, drawn and modelled work that builds on the legacy of twentieth-century urban theory and is directed towards the development of sustainable cities.

Our human biosciences degree combines academic theory with applied practice. You’ll develop a broad understanding of the human biosciences and their significance in the contemporary world – and how you can apply that knowledge in the workplace.

You’ll study human function and structure in depth, the causes of abnormalities in humans and the consequences of human action. Typical areas of study include human physiology, cells and molecules, human neuroscience, and infection and immunity. In our specialist laboratories, we’ll also train you in the various scientific techniques used to study human biology.

Group study brings vital teamwork and communication skills, while in your final year you’ll get the chance to focus and develop your academic interests through an independent piece of laboratory-based research or a dissertation.

The degree will also launch you on a professional path and by the time you’ve finished you will have partly met the academic and experience requirement for membership of the Royal Society of Biology and Chartered Biologist (CBiol) status.

Placement options

The course offers real flexibility, as you will enrol on the three-year course and then decide if a placement is right for you once you have started your studies. If you opt to undertake a placement, your course will normally be four years full-time. Placements are not guaranteed or included as part of the course, as you would be required to source your own placement if you would like to undertake one.

Explore a fascinating area of biology: a microscopic world inhabited by single-celled organisms which drives all other facets of the natural world. While rooted in the fundamental theories of biological science, our BSc (Hons) Microbiology and Molecular Biology degree is also designed with practical applications in mind. As you progress, you’ll find a real emphasis on the environmental, industrial, clinical and research applications of microbiology and molecular biology and study current techniques, such as next-generation DNA sequencing technology and biotechnology.

Study microbiology and molecular biology at Manchester Met and you’ll learn about how biomolecules enable cells to function, the genetics of microorganisms, biotechnology and environmental microbiology. You will explore specialist aspects within the subject as you progress, with the opportunity to specialise in areas like molecular biology, genetics, bioinformatics and microbial ecology.

Along the way, you’ll develop a valuable set of skills in our laboratories, with an emphasis on how to apply the tools and techniques within biotechnological, medical and environmental microbiology.

Our BSc (Hons) Microbiology and Molecular 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. This is subject to national and international travel restrictions.

Placement options

The four-year placement route gives you the opportunity to spend your third year on a placement with a relevant employer, like a conservation or environmental body, zoo or animal welfare organisation, or 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.

The four-year study abroad route gives you the opportunity to study overseas during your third year in Europe, North America or Australasia.