In this course, you will gain advanced level knowledge and understanding of the scientific basis of disease, with focus on the underlying cellular processes that lead to disease. You also learn about the current methods used in disease diagnosis and develop relevant practical skills. As well as studying the fundamentals of pathology, you can choose one specialist subject from: cellular pathology; infection and immunity; blood sciences. If you choose the MSc route you also take a project module. Most of your practical work is carried out in our teaching laboratories which contain industry standard equipment for cell culture, quantitative nucleic acid and protein analysis and a sophisticated suite of analytical equipment such as HPLC and gas chromatography. Many of our research facilities including flow cytometry, confocal microscopy and mass spectrometry are also used in taught modules and projects, and our tutors are experts in these techniques You develop the professional skills needed to further your career. These skills include: research methods and statistics; problem solving; the role of professional bodies and accreditation; regulation; communication. The teaching on the course is split between formal lectures and tutorials, and laboratory-based work. A third of the course is a laboratory-based research project, where you are assigned to a tutor who is an active researcher in the Biomolecular Sciences Research Centre. Three core modules each have two full-day laboratory sessions and the optional module applied biomedical techniques is almost entirely lab-based. Typically taught modules have a mixture of lectures and tutorials. The professional development and research methods and statistics modules are tutorial-led with considerable input from the course leader who acts as personal tutor. This course is taught by active researchers in the biomedical sciences who have on-going programmes of research in the Biomolecular Sciences Research Centre together with experts from hospital pathology laboratories. The course content is underpinned by relevant high quality research. Our teaching staff regularly publish research articles in international peer-reviewed journals and are actively engaged in research into: cancer; musculoskeletal diseases; human reproduction; neurological disease; hospital acquired infection; immunological basis of disease. Upon successful completion of the PGCert/PgDip course you have the option to progress onto our MSc.