MSc in Toxicology
University of Birmingham - College of Life and Environmental Sciences
Key Information
Campus location
Edgbaston, United Kingdom
Languages
English
Study format
On-Campus
Duration
1 - 2 year
Pace
Full time, Part time
Tuition fees
GBP 11,340 *
Application deadline
31 Aug 2024
Earliest start date
Sep 2024
* for UK full-time students | for UK part-time students: £5,265 | for international full-time students: £29,340
Introduction
This programme in Toxicology provides vocational training in the theoretical, clinical and laboratory aspects of toxicology.
You will learn about the nature and mechanism of adverse effects of chemicals such as those found in industry, in the household, in agriculture, in medicine and those that occur naturally in the environment. We give particular emphasis to molecular and cellular mechanisms of toxicity and risk assessment.
Our Toxicology programmes are designed to meet the future needs of the sector, with contributions by international experts from the pharmaceutical industries, contract research companies, government and external toxicology centres.
The MSc Toxicology programme provides training in theoretical, clinical and laboratory aspects of toxicology and acts as a conversion course, taking students from a variety of backgrounds and giving them new skills to enable them to move into research and employment in the field of toxicology and related disciplines.
Gallery
Admissions
Scholarships and Funding
Birmingham Masters Scholarship
Our Birmingham Masters Scholarship offers £2,000 via a tuition fee discount, to support the brightest and best applicants undertaking Masters study at Birmingham during 2024-2025.
Postgraduate Progression Award
Our Postgraduate Progression Awards offer final-year undergraduates at the University of Birmingham a fee discount of £1,500 for postgraduate taught study.
As a Birmingham graduate, we want to support you in taking the next steps in your journey as you continue to study and develop your career. With the familiarity of the University of Birmingham, you will have access to our resources, facilities, and support networks to shape and secure your future. As one of the UK’s Top 15 universities, we can assure you that you will receive our well-being and career support, community, and resources to assist you in your development.
The tuition fee discounts for our progressing undergraduate students are our commitment to you, in appreciation of your choice to stay with us for your postgraduate degree.
Global Masters Scholarships
£2,000 to kick-start your studies. Birmingham has a proud heritage of removing barriers to education to enable the most academically talented students to fulfill their potential in learning and education. This award is available to all international students from a selection of countries who are seeking to study a taught Masters's degree at Birmingham in the 2024/25 academic year.
Curriculum
The MSc is of 12 months duration commencing late September and can be taken either full-time over one year or part-time over two years. It comprises six 20-credit taught modules and a 60-credit research project. There are two taught modules in both semesters 1 and 2 that run in parallel and are taught on Monday-Tuesday and Thursday-Friday respectively making the course suitable for part-time students who can take one module each semester over 2 years:
Semester 1
- Metabolism and Mechanisms of Toxicity
- Forensic, Clinical and Occupational Toxicology
- Practical Skills for Toxicologists
Semester 2
- Assessing Toxic Potential
- Regulatory Science and Toxicology for the 21st Century
- Integrated Toxicology
Twenty credits of generic and specific training are embedded throughout the taught modules reinforcing teaching and providing a wide variety of transferable skills. A final synoptic exam encourages the development of an integrated view of the subject. During the year you will make several site visits to establishments involved in toxicological research and development. International experts from outside the university make a substantial contribution to the taught modules and the material covered is driven by the needs of the industry for toxicology training.
Collaborating organizations have included:
- Cancer Research Campaign laboratories
- The Regional Toxicology Unit
- AstraZeneca
- GlaxoSmithKline
- Unilever
- The Health Protection Agency
- The MRC Toxicology Unit
- The MRC Institute for Environment and Health
- The National Center for Toxicological Research, Jefferson, USA.
There is an industry-sponsored prize awarded annually for the best project dissertation
Recent project titles offered to MSc Toxicology students
- Molecular pathology of radiation‐induced mammary tumors
- Does x-ray-damaged DNA persist in tissues long after their initial irradiation?
- In vitro alternatives to determine skin sensitization of agrochemical products
- Identification and characterization of novel regulators modulating programmed cell death tissue recovery
- Target Safety Review of PI3 Kinase Inhibition
- Cellular responses and resistance to histone deacetylase inhibitor treatment in Burkitt'sLymphoma
- Endocrine disruptors: over‐hyped or serious risk to human health?
- Phytoestrogens: beneficial or hazardous to human health?
- Analysis of phospho‐proteomic datasets from human breast cancer cells addicted to FGF signaling
- The role of MCL1 in Breast Cancer Cell Survival
- Do supramolecular iron cylinders inhibit DNA repair
- Utility of In vitro models of the respiratory tract to replace animal models for agrochemical safety testing
- Identification of novel anti-tumor agents from marine sediments
- Characterisation of nitroreductase‐ an enzyme proposed for use in cancer gene therapy
- The cellular role(s) of the enzymes NQO1 (cytosolic NAD(P)H: quinone acceptoroxidoreductase 1) and NQO2 (NRH: quinone oxidoreductase 2)
- Bacterial Toxins: structures, mechanisms, use and abuse
- The role of Dynasore in intracellular membrane trafficking
- Cracking the code of suspended animation
- Structure‐activity and safety assessment of chloroacetanilide pesticides and environmental metabolites
- An assessment of the health effects of the addition of fluoride to drinking water
- Effect of topoisomerase II inhibitors on genome stability
- Toxicity of novel ferrocene analogues
- ZnO nanoparticle-mediated toxicity and perturbation of algae‐Daphnia kairomone signaling
- Optimisation and validation of a high‐throughput imaging system for Daphnia toxicity tests; automating the measure of key phenotypic endpoints for use in environmental risk assessment (ERA) and the context of adverse outcome pathways (AOPs).
- Crystallographic structure determination of E. coli nitroreductases.
- Epigenetics effects of vitamin B12 in clones
- Epigenetic key players in sex determination for toxicological model organism
Program Outcome
Specific Program Aims
The MSc in Toxicology program aims to:
- Provide a broad, modern training in the theoretical and practical aspects of toxicology
- Prepare individuals to collate, interpret, and communicate toxicological information
- Provide an opportunity to study at the cutting edge of research in a chosen specialist field of toxicology in clinical practice, industry, or academia
- Develop student awareness of the importance of toxicology to industry, health, the environment and society
Skills Gained
As well as specialist disciplinary knowledge, graduates of the MSc Toxicology program will also acquire many transferable skills such as the ability to design experiments using a variety of research techniques, collate and interpret the data, use specialist computer software packages to predict metabolism and toxicity, communication and interpersonal skills, which will all provide an appropriate grounding for employment or further study.
Program Tuition Fee
Career Opportunities
What can I do with an MSc in Toxicology?
The success rate of students in the MSc in Toxicology program is approximately 95% and the career opportunities are excellent. Even in times of economic hardship toxicology remains a necessary and important area for funding. The current concern over environmental safety adds to these opportunities.
Those completing the program in recent years have been employed, for example, in:
- The pharmaceutical industries
- Contract research laboratories
- Government bodies such as the Health and Safety Executive, Health Protection Agency, Food Standards Agency
- NHS Poisons Units
- Water research establishments in pollution control
- Hospital and research laboratories
Approximately 30% of our students have gone on to study for a PhD in a specialist area of toxicology. It is encouraging that almost all of our graduates stay in the general field of toxicology.
The high involvement of external contributors in the delivery and planning of the program ensures that the content is always relevant to employers’ needs and that students make contacts with potential employers.
Careers
Toxicology relates to many aspects of our everyday activities, so a career in this field promises to provide a variety of opportunities aimed at improving the standard of life and the environment. Career opportunities are excellent, as even in times of economic hardship toxicology remains a necessary and important area for funding.