The MPhil in Therapeutic Sciences is a full-time course taken over the course of 11 months. Two terms of intense teaching are followed by an industry project placement lasting three months.
Lectures & seminars: Throughout the course, lectures and seminars are widely used to deliver information. Students will at times share lectures with other Masters courses, enabling them to interact with other students. Teaching by academic staff will constitute approximately 50% of the formal teaching hours, with the remainder being delivered by industry experts. Some of the teaching will be delivered with a seminar style approach in order to promote open discussion around specific topics or theories. There are a large number of weekly and monthly seminar series across the University in many areas of therapeutic sciences and students will be strongly encouraged to attend as many as possible. Students will, overall, be expected to take responsibility for their own learning and will need to manage their time effectively to fit this around the academic timetable and any other activities that they may become involved in. There are also a number of workshops which will be delivered by academic and industry tutors which will require students to work individually or in groups based around information garnered in their lectures and seminars. Students will be encouraged to discuss topics and theories that they have read in class or independently, weighing its merits or considering its legal / regulatory or ethical implications in the real-life setting in therapeutic sciences. Discussions will be an important part of the overall MPhil experience, giving students not only access to other wide-ranging viewpoints on the same subject matter, but also enabling them to consider different rationale and to become familiar with psychology and logic, important elements in the industrial setting.
Laboratory and practical learning: Learning by doing will be an important part of this course. These sessions aim to give students an insight into a working environment, knowledge of experimental methods and techniques and an understanding of the academic and industry material taught on the course. Students will work independently, in pairs or as part of a small team and for some elements, where a practical element is incorporated, will be required to submit a piece of work.
Problem-based / Enquiry-based learning and field trips: Field trips will be an important element of the course. Similar to laboratory and practical work, fieldwork can help students put their theoretical knowledge into practice or see how this knowledge can be adapted depending on the therapeutic area. Trips may last a few hours to a full day. A number of high profile therapeutics companies in close proximity to Cambridge are keen to invite students from this course to their sites to show the practical application of the information they will teach and are also willing to run real-life problem-based and enquiry-based workshops. Here, groups of students will be presented with a real-life problem or scenario and will need to work as a team to investigate potential solutions while identifying what skills or knowledge are needed to effectively manage the situation.
