Biochemistry
Published: 15 August 2004
What do you come out with? BSc
Why do it? Biochemists are at the sharp end of biological research, working with the very building blocks of life - their work is crucial to a number of industries, not least in developing treatments for cancer.
What's it about? Biochemistry deals with life at its most basic, where cells undergo molecular, and thus chemical, change. It's where biology meets chemistry, examining interactions between cells, how the chemicals in our bodies work and how we produce them. At Bristol, students begin the course with compulsory biochemistry and chemistry units, then tailor their later options towards either molecular biology or medical biochemistry. Nottingham Trent offer four biochemistry related BSc courses: Applied Biology, Biochemistry and Microbiology, Biomolecular analysis and Cell and Molecular Biology. Like Bath, Bristol and Salford, Trent encourage students to take an industrial work placement during their third year, and return to complete their finals in a fourth year. The courses at Trent, Bristol, Bath and Dundee culminate in an extended research project. Students at Dundee have the benefit of more than 250 top-flight researchers from the Wellcome Trust Biocentre, who lecture and conduct tutorials with biochemistry undergraduates.
How long is a degree? Three years in most places, but with the optional sandwich year in industry offered by Bristol, Bath, Salford, Leicester or Trent (amongst others) it can take four years. At Cambridge, Biochemistry forms part of a natural sciences degree: students specialise after two years and spend one or two years on biochemistry. At Dundee, there is a three-year BSc and a four-year honours course.
What are the students like? Bright, committed, interested in practical research, experiments and gaining a detailed understanding of cellular and molecular activity. Many students do the course as a stepping stone to medicine. Others take it because they want to do research in the field. At Leicester, there is a significant proportion of female students from Asian backgrounds and, on average, slightly more women than men on the course.
How is it packaged? Programmes are usually modular, with an extended research project counting for a significant percentage of the final-year mark. At Leicester the standard model for a module is 70 per cent exams and 30 per cent continuous assessment. At Cambridge, more than 75 per cent of the course is by examination; at Bristol, 60 per cent. However, the industrial attachment year counts for 15 per cent at Bristol, and the other final marks are scaled accordingly. At Salford, 33 per cent of the final year is assessed. At Imperial, 20 to 25 per cent.
How cool is it? Biochemistry? Not very. But Bristol University still receives over 600 applications each year for the 60 places available. And you'll probably be financially solvent much sooner than those trendy arts students.
What A-levels do you need? At Dundee, Salford or Leicester, Biology and Chemistry. Imperial, Bristol, Bath and Cambridge require Chemistry and one other science - preferably Biology. Physics and Maths are also useful.
What grades? AAA at Cambridge; AAB at Imperial, though the average is ABB; AAB at Bristol and Bath; BBB at Leicester and Birmingham; BBC at Dundee.
Will you be interviewed? Bristol and Cambridge invite applicants for interview, as does Salford. Imperial, Trent and Leicester don't.
Will it keep you off the dole? Yes. Many students continue biochemical research after completing their BSc. Others go to work in the pharmaceutical, petrochemical, medical and agricultural industries. 70 per cent of Biochemistry graduates from Salford are in Bioscience jobs. Graduates also have plenty of transferable skills that make them highly employable in other sectors - management and beyond.
What do students say? Anna Riemen, 23, just graduated from Dundee University. "I'm from Germany and did a few summer internships at Dundee while I was in high school. I like the area and the course at Dundee has a great reputation. The good thing is that every topic has somebody lecturing who works in the relevant field of research. People who are interested in research can go on to do a fourth, honours year. The others leave after three years with a BSc. I did my final honours project on protein crystallography with Dr Daan van Aalten - the practical laboratory-based research is where the course really gets interesting. I'm thinking about doing a PhD and I have a few offers, but my plans have changed from being just a scientist to being a medical practitioner and doing part-time research; I'm going to the Dundee medical school this year."
Heather Davies, 21, fourth year, Leicester University. "This is just what I wanted to do. I have specialised in genetics and I am now thinking about doing a year's research in the United States."
Where's best for teaching? Bristol, Cambridge, Oxford, Sheffield, Kingston, Nottingham Trent, Bath, Durham, Kent, Salford, Sunderland and York scored 24 out of 24. Aston, Birmingham, Leeds, Nottingham, Essex, Hull, Southampton, Wolverhampton and Warwick scored 23.
Where's best for research? Cambridge, Bristol, Imperial College, Manchester, Newcastle, Sheffield and Dundee were awarded 5* in the research assessment exercise. Oxford, Bath, Birmingham, Durham, East Anglia, Leeds, Leicester, Liverpool, UMIST, Royal Holloway, Southampton, Sussex, UCL, Warwick, York, Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow and St. Andrews got 5s.
Where's the cutting edge? Cancer research, generally; DNA; immunology; human ageing; the Human Genome Project and everything that flows from genomics and protein chemistry. Dundee's Mike Ferguson and Andrei Nikolaev recently collaborated with colleagues from the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine on an investigation into how sand-flies spread Leishmaniasis, a particularly virulent tropical disease.
Who are the stars? At Dundee, director of research Professor Sir Philip Cohen, for his work on insulin and diabetes; and Dr Inge Nathke, who was recently named the 2004 Women in Cell Biology junior award winner by the American Society for Cell Biology. At Cambridge, Professors Tom Blundell and Richard Perham, for protein structure.
Added Value: Many of the industrial placements offered are abroad. Bath, for instance, sends some third-year sandwich students to Europe and the US. Salford offers second-year exchanges with universities in France, Spain, Sweden and Ohio. Dundee offers exchanges in the second or third year to the US and Canada. The average salary for a third-year placement student from Nottingham Trent is between £10,000 and £13,000.
