Medicine MRes

Course overview

Research stands at the forefront of science to prevent illness, develop therapies and improve human health. At Leeds, our ambition is to drive forward research to make impactful changes on both local and international levels.

The MRes Medicine is designed to resemble a mini-PhD. It is an exciting research-based course designed to challenge your critical and creative approach to current issues in medicine and health. We will provide you with training and opportunities to develop as a scientist or scientifically literate clinician, resulting in a comprehensive understanding of the concepts and techniques relevant to medical research.

MRes students frequently use the experience gained as a springboard to a PhD, a career in industry, or a clinical academic position.

Course highlights

• Be part of a major international centre for research and education.
• Take on a nine-month research project to develop your specialised knowledge.
• Choose from a range of research opportunities including:
  • applied health
  • cancer and pathology
  • cardiovascular
  • genes and development
  • medical education
  • musculoskeletal topics.
• Grow and refine your skills and knowledge to improve the lives of others.
• Design and undertake a substantial piece of publishable research.
• Study in one of our internationally renowned institutes and learn from leading experts in their field.
• Self-designed projects are possible.
• Gain experience formulating new hypotheses.
• Explore the causes and consequences of diseases by conducting rigorous scientific research in a laboratory with patients and patient data.

Course details

The taught modules are designed to stimulate a deep and critical knowledge of research, while our offer optional modules to allow you to develop a comprehensive knowledge of different approaches to medical research.

Between them, these modules will give you the skills you need to complete your research project, and help you understand how individual research projects fit in with the wider scientific community.

The Methods in Biomedical Research module will introduce many of the methods used across a variety of research settings. This will enable you to see patterns, whereby multiple different specialist technologies are actually answering similar questions in different contexts.

The Paper Criticism and Publication Review and Dissemination modules allow you to understand how research is then presented to the world, how papers are written, and how the gradual progress of a research project is converted into disseminated information. This will enable you to read scientific papers and understand how those studies were carried out, which findings were then made public, and why.

As optional modules, you can choose between Informatics and Data Science in in Health Care and Research or Applied Qualitative Health Research. The data science module provides advanced techniques to analysis quantitative data. The qualitative module provides similar instruction for qualitative research. Your choice should reflect the nature of your research project, so you will be best placed to analyse the data you produce.

Course structure – term dates

The MRes Medicine does not follow standard term dates. The Research Project starts early September with the writing of a proposal, and the final project report is due mid-June with oral presentations taking place in July. This gives you nine months of research experience on the project. We’ll expect you to work on your project when you’re not attending taught modules. On average you can expect to work two to three days a week on your research project in semester 1 and four to five days a week in semester 2. The MRes Medicine holidays are when the University is officially closed at Christmas, Easter and bank holidays.

Course structure

The list shown below represents typical modules/components studied and may change from time to time. Read more in our terms and conditions.

For more information and a full list of typical modules available on this course, please read Medicine MRes in the course catalogue

Year 1 compulsory modules

Learning and teaching

The MRes Medicine is designed to resemble a mini-PhD. The main part of the academic year is dedicated to the Research Project. You’ll be involved in assessments likened to those of an academic researcher. For instance, you’ll have to write:

• A research proposal.
• A literature review.
• An impact statement.
• A press release.

You’ll then be expected to critically analyse your data to form a final report that you will present orally.

You’ll experience a mixture of stimulating lectures and interactive small group teaching sessions.

The taught modules will develop your numerical and qualitative skills that are essential in medical research such as data analysis and paper appraisal. All teaching is research-led and you’ll be taught by experts in the field.

On this course, you’ll be taught by our expert academics, from lecturers through to professors. You may also be taught by industry professionals with years of experience, as well as trained postgraduate researchers, connecting you to some of the brightest minds on campus.

Assessment

All modules are assessed by the submission of coursework, workbooks, reports and reviews.

Fees

UK: £14,250 (Total)

International: £33,000 (Total)

Read more about paying fees and charges .

For fees information for international taught postgraduate students, read Masters fees .

Additional cost information

There may be additional costs related to your course or programme of study, or related to being a student at the University of Leeds. Read more on our living costs and budgeting page .