Honours & Masters of Biomedical Science (Biochemistry & Pharmacology)

Honours or Masters in 2024?

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Biochemistry & Pharmacology honours and masters information session

Honours & Masters Information Session.

View the Honours and Masters information booklet (PDF 4.2 MB)

View the slides for the Honours & Masters information session (PDF 5.5 MB)

What is Honours?

Honours is a fourth-year undergraduate course that consists of a combination of a research project and coursework subjects. The course is designed to develop the student’s capacity to solve problems, to analyse data, to read and think critically, and to communicate clearly.

Honours can give you a taste of what working as a scientist would be like as a career, allows you to demonstrate academic excellence in an area of special interest to you, and provides an entry point for further research higher degree study (i.e. PhD) and coursework courses. These skills are highly sought after by employers in biological, medical and industrial areas.

What is the Master of Biomedical Science?

The Master of Biomedical Science at the University of Melbourne is a coursework master’s degree incorporating a substantial research project. This course is an alternative to the Honours as a PhD pathway. Students undertake a major research project and discipline-specific coursework subjects. In addition, a suite of professional business and communication subjects are offered to complement and enhance the research undertaken and to progress students’ career opportunities.

The course encourages students to think innovatively and provides an awareness of the health and economic benefits of biomedical research. Graduates of this course gain an understanding of the research process, specialist knowledge and professional skills that are attractive to employers.

HonoursMasters
Duration 1 year (full time) 2 years (full time), part time available
Level Undergraduate Graduate
Fee Types Commonwealth Supported Place (CSP)
International Full Fee Place
Commonwealth Supported Place (CSP)
Australian Full Fee Place
International Full Fee Place
PhD Scholarship scoring Considers marks from 3rd year of Bachelor degree and Honours Only Masters marks are considered
International Market recognition Australian Honours degrees may not be recognised overseas as many countries do not have an equivalent degree. Recognised as a graduate Masters degree
How to applyhttps://study.unimelb.edu.au/find/courses/honours/bachelor-of-biomedicine-degree-with-honours/how-to-apply/https://study.unimelb.edu.au/find/courses/graduate/master-of-biomedical-science/how-to-apply/
Course Structure Coursework subjects: 25 points
Research project: 75 points
Coursework subjects: 75 points
Research project: 125 points

Research project guide

Thinking about Honours or Masters in Biochemistry or Pharmacology? Not sure which lab to do a research project in? Use these handy guides to help!

Prospective PhD or MPhil Students will also find the handbook useful as it gives an indication of the diversity of research within the Department of Biochemistry & Pharmacology.

Honours and Master Project Booklet (PDF 4.2 MB)

Apply for Honours!

Enrollments for 2024 Honours in Biochemistry & Pharmacology are now open!

See the available projects here!

To access the project listing please login with the login and password "MDHSHonours"

Provisional Offer Form

Students submitting provisional offer forms should expect to receive confirmation via email within 72 hours. If this is not received please contact A/Prof Graham Mackay: gmackay@unimelb.edu.au .

Students must also apply via MDHS Honours, but first, read these instructions for how to apply via the MDHS webpage.

Honours is a fourth-year program which gives you the opportunity to draw together your previous science or health science studies and focus your knowledge, skills and intellect on an exciting piece of original research.

In 2021 Biochemistry and Pharmacology Honours was rated 4.6/5 for overall Honours experience and 4.4/5 for Honours coordination.
“I just loved it”
“It was an incredible and meaningful year”
“Best thing was doing real science for the first time in my life and the whole journey of the year”
“A very rewarding and enjoyable experience!”

2021 Honours Cohort (Group)
2021 Honours Cohort (Group)

Projects at external institutes

It is possible for students to complete their research project with supervisors in affiliated external institutions. The Department of Biochemistry and Pharmacology has close links with research groups at the following research organisations:

Projects in external institutions must have a strong focus on the use of biochemical and molecular biological approaches and supervisors should be affiliated with the Department and approved by the Honours/Masters coordinator/s.

Please contact the relevant Honours/Masters Coordinator below for a list of potential supervisors in external institutions.

Scholarships

Note that Honours applicants who accept and enrol in a place in an FMDHS Honours course will automatically be considered for available FMDHS Honours Scholarships. These are awarded on academic merit.

Departmental contacts

Honours coordinators

Dr Graham Mackay
Email:
gmackay@unimelb.edu.au
Phone:
+61 (3) 834 43932

Master of Biomedical Science Coordinators

Dr Robyn Brown
Email: robyn.brown@unimelb.edu.au
Phone: +61 3 9035 6592

Dr Laura Edgington-Mitchell
Email: laura.edgington-mitchell@unimelb.edu.au
Phone: +61 3 9035 4630

General Enquiries

Email: http://forms.your.unimelb.edu.au/4747167?SID=a3xOY00000002Hx