Master of Science in Molecular Biosciences (Microbiology)

at University of Bath United Kingdom

Learn the practical, the analytical and the critical skills you need to become a business leader. Get real professional experience with two placements.

This flexible business and management degree is different. You will complete two six-month placements with separate companies rather than 12 months with one. Experience of two roles will help you decide on your future career direction and expand your professional network.

You’ll also work with businesses through applied research including the Final Year Project.

Whatever your career goals, you’ll be able to customise your degree with optional units.

Placement Year

Placements are real jobs and usually paid. The highest UK salary in 2019 was £50,000. The average salaries were £18,878 (Year 2) and £22,539 (Year 3). Salaries shown are pro-rata annual rate.

Average salaries are based on data provided by the 125 Year 2 and 132 Year 3 students that went on placement in 2019. Recent employers include BMW, Ferrero and BNY Mellon.

Play a vital role in the discovery, development and testing of treatments to improve global health.

If you love lab work and are interested in health and disease but don't want to work in a patient-facing role, then this could be the course for you. Pharmacologists study the effects of drugs on the body – where they act, what they do, and their mechanism of action.

On the course, you’ll gain an integrated view of drug action linked to disease-related functions of the major organ systems. You’ll enhance your understanding of the fundamental principles of chemistry, biology and the physical sciences, and learn to apply these principles to specific problems in drug discovery.

Prepare yourself for a career in specialist language work including translation, editing and précis-writing.

If you're interested in working as a professional linguist or working with the written word to provide translations and specialised language services, this course is an excellent option.

With a growing demand for highly trained speakers of English in the UK and abroad, this specialist master's will equip you to set up your own freelance business or work in-house for an international organisation or language service provider.

Unlike other courses of its kind, ours covers a wide variety of skills, including editing, revision, précis-writing and proofreading. Employers and agencies have told us they’re looking for these services, so having the right skills will place you in a strong position for securing work. You'll have the opportunity to gain skills in public service and commercial interpreting, and you will learn about setting up your own translation business.

In some cases, we can arrange external translation training. This may be in international organisations, such as the EU and UN, or an independent translation agency, and will give you first-hand experience of the workplace and valuable contacts for building your career.

The course is taught by qualified tutors. While some have worked for international organisations, others have developed their careers as freelance linguists. All bring extensive experience to the classroom to give students invaluable advice.

Gain the technical and professional skills to pursue a wide range of careers as a chemical engineer.

Our course introduces you to the core principles and practices of chemical engineering. It develops your professional skills in engineering, mathematics, science, information technology, research, design, communication and management.

Through lectures and practical lab sessions, you’ll learn how to gather and assess data to develop industrial strategies. You’ll explore new technologies and gain a comprehensive understanding of process design. Your studies will give you the confidence to critically apply scientific and engineering knowledge.

You’ll also develop transferable skills such as problem solving, teamwork and resource management. Integrating these with your technical knowledge, you’ll learn how to tackle complex, and often open-ended, engineering problems.

Placement Year

A placement gives you the chance to gain experience and develop skills in a commercial or industrial environment, and can count towards becoming chartered. The professional knowledge you gain can benefit the rest of your degree and improve your career prospects. It can also be an opportunity to earn a salary during your degree.

Our students have worked at companies such as GSK, Unilever, Mondelez, Wessex Water, Biobean, BP and Exxon Mobil.

Learn the core knowledge and technical skills of chemical engineering and focus on the environmental challenges of new technologies, processes and products.

The first three years of our course develop your understanding of the core practices of chemical engineering. Through problem-based learning, you'll critically apply mathematical, scientific and engineering knowledge to projects. A mix of practical work in laboratories and theory in lectures and seminars gives you the breadth of learning needed to become adept in the subject.

You’ll also develop transferable skills such as problem solving, teamwork and resource management. Integrating these with your technical knowledge, you’ll learn how to tackle complex, and often open-ended, engineering problems. Individual and group projects are a chance for you to develop scientific ideas from bench scale to process scale.

In your final year, you’ll have the opportunity to build on your chemical engineering knowledge by specialising in environmental engineering. Choosing this route allows you to explore aspects that address social, environmental and health issues, as well as sustainability. Focusing on environmental science and engineering, you'll study the economic, legislative and ethical issues that control environmental protection and sustainability. Areas you'll cover will include clean technologies such as water treatment and waste management.

You can switch between this and our MEng Chemical Engineering course up until the end of your third year. This is so you can use your study experience so far to help you decide on your final degree.

Studying an MEng gives you an in-depth study experience through advanced taught units and project work. You can explore topics in more depth through a semester-long research project that can be completed at Bath, a university abroad or in industry. Our MEng degrees also fulfil the educational requirements you need to become a Chartered Engineer.

Develop skills in mathematics and theoretical computer science, preparing you for roles involving computational analysis, modelling and simulation.

This joint degree is for you if you enjoy and excel at computing and want to combine that with a very strong interest in mathematics.

By combining our computer science degree with pure mathematics, probability and statistics, you’ll be prepared for careers in data science relying on a combination of mathematical and computational modelling.

Tailor to your interests

In the first two years, you’ll study a mix of mathematics and computing units, including computational approaches to finding patterns in data. You'll also share lectures with Mathematical Sciences students to study fundamental algebra and mathematical analysis. In the final year, you can choose to specialise in areas of numerical computer science and mathematics.

Computer scientists with good mathematical knowledge are in great demand worldwide. On graduation, you can apply what you’ve learnt to roles in software development relying on a combination of mathematical and computational modelling, such as data analysis and forecasting.

Year abroad

Broaden your horizons with a year studying at a university abroad. You’ll experience another culture whilst studying a course that complements your studies at Bath.

We have links with universities in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Europe, currently including Binghamton University, University of Nebraska, University of Canterbury, TU Vienna and National University Singapore.

Develop the skills and understanding to tackle the global challenges of poverty, inequality, conflict, sustainability and social justice.

Whether you are a graduate aiming to make a difference in the world, or a professional wishing to deepen your knowledge and critical thinking, our master's courses in International Development, could be for you.

Engaged with current debates in policy and practice and grounded in interdisciplinary social sciences, you will develop the tools and confidence to work towards creative solutions that address practical problems in strategic ways.

Four distinct pathways provide a choice of flexibility and breadth, or the chance to pursue a particular interest in greater depth.

You will use innovative learning approaches to investigate particular cases and issues. These will draw out connections and contradictions between different actors and analytical perspectives, across global, regional, national and local scales.

Equip yourself to work as a professional interpreter and/or translator on this highly respected master's, which can include a training opportunity.

Our MA Interpreting and Translating is designed to give you the practical skills and experience you need to work as an interpreter and translator at a high level.

You must have an excellent understanding of two languages. You can choose from one of two pathways:

• Path 1 allows you to work with two other languages (Chinese, French, German, Italian, Russian and Spanish) into English
• Path 2 allows you to work in both directions between Chinese/English or Russian/English

Our interpreting and translating master's have has been running for over 50 years and is highly respected internationally for the quality of the training provided. Many Bath graduates have gone on to work in organisations such as the EU and UN, as well as other language services around the world.

The course covers professional translation and simultaneous, consecutive and liaison interpreting in public service and commercial settings.

You'll have access to the latest digital interpreting labs, and you will participate in mini-conferences to put your skills into practice, holding debates on controversial topics and acting as both delegate and interpreter.

We seek to arrange external training opportunities for our students with the United Nations or independent agencies, giving you first-hand experience of the workplace and valuable contacts for building your career.

The course is taught by experienced tutors who have all worked as professional translators and interpreters themselves. Some have interpreted for heads of state and government ministers, and/or work for international organisations. They are therefore able to share this wealth of experience with you and provide useful advice on joining the profession.

Advance your knowledge of civil engineering and specialise in innovative and sustainable materials for structural applications.

Our master’s degree is unique in the UK for the breadth of materials and sustainable construction methods it introduces you to. You’ll explore renewable and low-carbon engineering materials that are key to infrastructural development worldwide.

Focusing on sustainability, you'll learn how to use materials and design to enhance our built environment. You’ll develop an in-depth understanding of the behaviour of structural materials and their characteristics. When you graduate, you’ll have the skills to analyse and design engineering structures with innovative materials and non-conventional technologies.

Mathematics enables us to reason logically, to understand structure and to formulate scientific principles, whether from the physical, life or social sciences.

Choose this course to gain specialist knowledge in pure mathematics, applied mathematics and/or statistics.

Tailor to your interests

At the start of the course, you’ll gain a broad education in pure and applied mathematics, including programming and statistics. You’ll have the freedom to study a broader mathematical pathway or specialise in your favourite subject areas, enhancing your analytical thinking and appreciation of the beauty of mathematics.

All of our courses are flexible and allow for a wide choice of units after year one. You may be able to switch courses during the first year.

Placement Year

Going on placement gives you the opportunity to apply your skills and knowledge to a year working professionally. You’ll be employed full-time in a role to match your future career ambitions, broadening your experience and transferable skills. This could give you a competitive edge when applying for graduate jobs.

We have links with some of the industry’s leading companies. Recent placement employers include BAE Systems, EY, Office of National Statistics, JP Morgan and Deloitte.