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We welcome applications to undertake research towards MPhil and PhD degrees in Biological Sciences.

We offer students either an MPhil (Master of Philosophy) in Biological Sciences or PhD (Doctor of Philosophy) Biological Sciences.

More information about MPhil and PhD degrees can be found here.

Overview

Overview

Key insights into a research degree in Biological Sciences

  • A diverse and international postgraduate research community
  • Strong and international links with research institutions and organisations
  • Strong links with stakeholders e.g., the National Health Service
  • Supportive and inclusive learning and research training environment
  • Dedicated, state of the art research facilities at our St John’s Campus
  • Supervisors involved in cutting-edge research and consultancy in their field
  • Tailored supervision and support through the Researcher Development Programme (RDP)

We conduct impactful Biochemistry research that promotes improvements in human disease diagnosis and patient risk stratification. Our specialist multi-national Human Biology research focuses on corroborating links between nutrition and long-term health conditions that impact global health economics. We also have links with industry that enable us to develop novel laboratory workflows and in vitro / in silico modelling systems, and these allow the exploration of deeper research hypotheses regarding molecular and cellular function.

Our Plant Biology research in plant–microbe interactions focus on advancing sustainable crop protection and food security; and our work on small RNAs strengthens understanding of plant immunity. We also conduct impactful translational breeding research that applies molecular markers to develop climate-resilient crops. We also specialise in biological control research focused on reducing reliance on chemical pesticides.

Entry requirements

Entry requirements

Entry qualifications

For MPhil

  • First or Upper Second Class Honours Degree or an approved equivalent award

or

  • Research or professional experience which has resulted in appropriate evidence of achievement.

For PhD

  • Postgraduate Masters Degree in a discipline which is appropriate to the proposed programme of study

or

  • First or Upper Second Class Honours Degree or equivalent award in an appropriate discipline

or

  • Research or professional experience at postgraduate level which has resulted in published work, written reports or other appropriate evidence of achievement.

International applicants

International applicants will be required to demonstrate that they have the appropriate level of written and spoken English.

For MPhil/PhD this is an IELTS score of 6.5 with a minimum score of 6.0 in every component.

Programme structure

Programme structure

After receiving your application, we will establish if we have the expertise to supervise your project. This will normally consist of a Director of Studies (DoS), who will be your lead supervisor, and at least one other supervisor, who will offer you additional support and guidance throughout your studies. If you are offered a place as a student, your programme of study will look like the outline below.

At the start of your MPhil or PhD

At the start of your MPhil or PhD, you will complete a Postgraduate Certificate (PG Cert) in Research Methods, a mandatory taught part of MPhil and PhD programmes at Worcester. Full-time students complete the PG Cert in 9 months and part-time students in 12-15 months depending on your month of registration (September or January).

The PG Cert is designed to set you up for your research degree, and focuses on establishing your development needs, developing your research proposal, and preparing you for the planning and delivery of your programme of research. You will be taught through a combination of in-person seminars and online delivery. You can also engage with our online researcher development programme workshops.

You will engage with three modules as part of your PGCert:

  • RSDP4001: Developing as a Researcher
  • RSDP4004: Planning Your Research Project
  • RSDP4005: Approaches to Research

Throughout these early stages of your research degree, you will work with your supervisory team to regularly discuss your progress. At the end of each year, you will reflect on and formally review your progress with your supervisory team and Doctoral Programme Leader. We call this annual meeting an Annual Progress Review (APR).

If you are enrolled on an MPhil programme, the remainder of your programme of study will follow a similar pattern as our PhD programme structure outlined below but in a shorter timeframe. Data collection will typically begin in your first year (full-time) and years 2-3 (part-time). Writing of thesis chapters, dissemination and your viva will typically occur in year 2 (full-time) and years 3-4 (part-time).

During your MPhil or PhD

In your second year (full-time) or years 3-4 (part-time), you will be collecting data and working on your research project with the support of your supervisory team through regular meetings.

You may at this point have research papers ready to publish and attend conferences to present your research to other experts in your field. You will be able to apply to our Research Student Conference Support Scheme for some funding for this purpose.

You can also present your work as part of the annual Postgraduate Research Student Conference and our Images of Research event; seminars based within your academic school and our Postgraduate Network Present and Share series in addition to a range of online workshops as part of our researcher development programme.

At the end of the year of your registration, you will go through an Annual Progress Review.

Final stage of your MPhil or PhD

Throughout the final stages of your degree, you will be working with your supervisory team to discuss your progress through supervisory meetings. In year 3 of your PhD (full-time) or year 5 (part-time), you will be writing up your thesis and preparing for your viva voce (viva) examination.

Your viva will take place after you have submitted your final thesis. After the viva, the examiners may ask that some amendments be made to your thesis before the final award is confirmed, and you will have additional time to do this.

It is possible to complete a full-time PhD in three years, but many students do take four years to complete. Similarly, it is possible to complete a part-time degree in 4 years, but it is likely that it will take you five years to complete.

Programme specifications

For comprehensive details on the aims and intended learning outcomes of the course, and how these are achieved through learning, teaching and assessment, please download the latest MPhil programme specification or PhD programme specification document.

Research areas

Research areas

Research expertise

Biological Sciences research students will lead in-depth advanced research projects that have significant impact on their specific field of study, and society more widely. Students join our research community of researchers with diverse expertise across the Biological Sciences, including these specialist topics that research students can focus on:

  • Genetics
  • Molecular biology
  • Conservation ecology
  • Environmental policy
  • Plant physiology and plant–microbe interactions
  • Biochemistry
  • Enzymology
  • Structural biology
  • Cell biology
  • Small RNA biology in plant defence
  • Biological control of fungal and oomycete pathogens
  • Marker-assisted plant breeding for sustainable agriculture
  • Genomics, transcriptomics and other –Omic technologies for plant research
  • Genome editing technologies including CRISPR for crop improvement

Working under the careful supervision of our experienced researchers, postgraduate research students will explore key national and international issues that impact biodiversity, conservation, human health, and environmental sustainability. Students are encouraged to apply a unique lens to address pressing global challenges within the biological sciences. Creating new knowledge about how we can better co-exist with our environment and developing new ways of achieving this characterise our postgraduate student research, including projects on these themes:

  • Human health and diagnostic innovation
  • Molecular biology for resilience
  • Environmental monitoring and ecosystem health
  • Child development in a digital age
  • Technology as an enabler of precision science
  • Sustainable crop production and food security
  • Green alternatives to chemical pesticides
  • Application of –Omic technologies to understand plant stress and adaptation
  • CRISPR-enabled approaches for precision plant breeding

We also have links with national and international industry, and government and NGO environmental, and health groups and agencies. Where possible we support students to collaborate with these organisations to enhance the relevance and application of their research.

Research supervisors

Animal biology

Dr Kate Ashbrook
Expertise: behavioural ecology; ecological modelling; population monitoring and conservation management.

Dr Chris Brown
Expertise: animal biology (especially birds); animal behaviour, animal physiology, ostrich biology

Dr Susanne Prankel
Expertise: veterinary medicine, animal behaviour, animal welfare , ethics in the veterinary field; canine hydrotherapy and animal movement; cadmium in the environment and the human food chain; use of drama in science education.

Biochemistry

Dr Allain Bueno
Expertise: dietary fats and the endocrine function of the adipose tissue and pancreas; diabetes and obesity as mild chronic inflammatory states and the role of endogenous antioxidants; cell membrane phospholipid composition in health and disease and its relation to nutritional status.

Dr Amy Cherry
Expertise: cancer cell signalling; viral Replication; protein expression and purification; crystallography; protein-protein interactions; molecular biology; gene cloning; mutagenesis; enzyme kinetics.

Dr Steven Coles
Expertise: Acute myeloid leukaemia (AML); protein and cellular redox regulation; AML/cancer immunology and immunotherapy; the role of metabolic processes in disease pathogenesis (branched-chain amino acid metabolism); cell signalling and apoptosis.

Dr Mike Wheeler
Expertise: cell-cell signalling in plants; plant receptor-ligand interactions; the biology and genetics of plant breeding systems; the genetics of natural hybridisation barriers in plants.

Human biology

Dr Allain Bueno
Expertise: dietary fats and the endocrine function of the adipose tissue and pancreas; diabetes and obesity as mild chronic inflammatory states and the role of dietary antioxidants; cell membrane phospholipid composition in cardiovascular and neuroendocrine diseases; the role of nutrition in health and disease.

Dr Amy Cherry
Expertise: cancer cell signalling; viral Replication; protein expression and purification; crystallography; protein-protein interactions; molecular biology; gene cloning; mutagenesis; enzyme kinetics.

Dr Steven Coles
Expertise: Acute myeloid leukaemia (AML); protein and cellular redox regulation; AML/cancer immunology and immunotherapy; the role of metabolic processes in disease pathogenesis (branched-chain amino acid metabolism); cell signalling and apoptosis.

Dr Emma Edwards
Expertise: virology, immunology; canine disease CRGV; markers of cardiovascular disease.

Professor Peter Seville
Expertise: drug delivery (focus on the lung); healthcare law and ethics; healthcare education.

Dr Mike Wheeler
Expertise: cell-cell signalling in plants; plant receptor-ligand interactions; the biology and genetics of plant breeding systems; the genetics of natural hybridisation barriers in plants.

Plant biology

Dr Beverley Adams-Groom
Expertise: pollen forecasting; aerobiology; palynology, trend analysis, pollen and climate change and impacts; real time automated sampler.

Dr Matthew Smith
Expertise: environmental and atmospheric science; aerobiology; biogeography; biometeorology; phenology; palynology; atmospheric monitoring; climate change.

Prof. Mahmut Tör 
Expertise: molecular plant pathology; molecular genetics, molecular plant breeding and bioinformatics.

Dr Mike Wheeler 
Expertise: cell-cell communication/plant reproductive biology and development.

Research groups

Postgraduate Research Students are encouraged to join Research Groups at the University, and those with significant focus on the Biological Sciences include:

  • Worcester Biomedical Research Group (WBRG) builds sustainable societies through research into disease prevention, medical treatment and diagnostics, lies at the heart of the WBRG research ethos. We aim to achieve this goal through basic and translational research with particular focus on cancer, cardiovascular disease and neurodegeneration.
  • Molecular Plant and Microbial Biosciences Research Unit (MPMB-RU) focuses on understanding plant-microbe interactions at the molecular level to improve crop resilience, disease resistance, and sustainable agriculture. Research within the unit spans host-pathogen interactions, functional genomics, small RNA biology, and biocontrol strategies against fungal and oomycete pathogens. Postgraduate students gain hands-on experience in advanced molecular techniques, bioinformatics, and translational approaches aimed at developing disease-resistant crop varieties.
Careers

Careers

An MPhil and a PhD in Biological Sciences prepares graduates for a wide range of careers, including:

  • Academic and research roles – contributing to university research and teaching.
  • Environmental and conservation science – working with organizations focused on biodiversity and sustainability.
  • Healthcare and biomedical research – advancing expertise in human biology and medical sciences.
  • Consultancy and policy development – advising organizations on best practices in environmental and biological sciences.
  • Agricultural biotechnology and crop improvement – developing resilient crops and sustainable food systems.
  • Plant health and protection – working with government, NGOs, and industry on plant disease management and biosecurity.
Fees

Fees and funding

Fees

The current fees can be found within the tuition fees document on our figure out finances page.

Accommodation

Finding the right accommodation is paramount to your university experience. Our halls of residence are home to friendly student communities, making them great places to live and study.

We have over 1,000 rooms across our range of student halls. With rooms to suit every budget and need, from our 'Traditional Halls' at £136 per week to 'Ensuite Premium Halls' at £236 per week (2026/27 prices).

For full details visit our accommodation page.

Postgraduate and doctoral loans

The Government will provide a loan of up to £12,858 if your course starts on or after 1 August 2025 per eligible student for postgraduate Masters study. It will be at your own discretion whether the loan is used towards fees, maintenance or other costs. For more details visit our postgraduate loans page.

If you are pursing a PhD, you may be eligible for a doctoral loan of up to £30,301 if your course starts on or after 1 August 2025. For more information visit our doctoral loans page.

To help with the financial responsibility of students, we offer a range of scholarships and alumni discounts. Find out more about these on our scholarships page.
How to apply

How to apply

Additional information

Please see guidance on Applying for an MPhil or Applying for a PhD to include application and interview deadlines.

If your research involves working with vulnerable adults and/or children then you may be required to obtain an Enhanced DBS check. There will be a small charge for this. For more information please contact research@worc.ac.uk.

We are committed to making reasonable adjustment. If you require an alternative format for making your application due to a disability, please contact us to discuss your needs on 01905 542182 or research@worc.ac.uk.

How to apply

Please make your application via our online application form. If you have any questions, please contact the Doctoral School on 01905 542182 or research@worc.ac.uk

Application links

PhD - September - Full time PhD - September - Part time PhD - January - Full time PhD - January - Part time

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