MPhil Biomedical Materials: The University of Manchester

Course description

The Biomedical Materials research degrees cover an exciting area of research in the School focusing both on fundamental understanding of interactions between man-made materials and biological tissues and the development of useful applications. They have close links with the world's leading pharmaceutical and medical device companies and the clinical applications of their research impact many areas of medicine.

The subject

The subject of biomedical materials covers those materials that are used in the context of biology and medicine, usually to evaluate, treat, augment or replace any tissue, organ or function of the body. In surgery, a biomaterial may be a synthetic material used to replace part of a living system or to function in intimate contact with living tissue.

A new area in biomaterials involves the exploration of nanotechnology for drug delivery, biological sensing or tissue regeneration. Examples of these bionanomaterials are small particles that may be used for the delivery of drug molecules to target sites within the body or to detect diseased areas.

Biomaterials are produced using chemical, physical, mechanical processes and they often employ or mimic biological phenomena in order for them to interact with their biological surroundings in defined ways.

Entry requirements

Academic entry qualification overview: You will need to be a science and engineering graduate with at least a 2.2 Honours degree, or equivalent. Subject to satisfactory progress, it is possible to transfer to PhD at the end of the degree, requiring a further two years full-time study, or four years part-time.

English language: If English is not your first language, you will need to take and meet minimum requirements for the following recognised English language qualifications: IELTS (6.5 with no sub-test under 5.5); TOEFL (570 with 5.0 in TWE); CBTOEFL (230 with 5.0 in TWE).