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School Mission Statement

The School of Biomedical Sciences educates undergraduates and postgraduates in the critical application of science; facilitates training for healthcare, scientific and technical professions; supports continuing professional development; contributes to knowledge through excellence in research on human health and disease and related areas and contributes to social and economic development through technology and knowledge transfer’.

Programme Provision

The School of Biomedical Sciences has a national and international reputation for excellence in teaching and research and was awarded an ’excellent’ score in the Subject Review Exercise in 1999 (assesses teaching provision in all universities in the UK). The School offers a range of healthcare, scientific and technical professions undergraduate and postgraduate programmes. In support of the programmes, the School has modern laboratories with sophisticated equipment and instrumentation for teaching and research. Staff are committed to the development and implementation of new and effective methods of teaching and learning.

Students get opportunities for hands-on training in practical laboratory and clinical settings, the use of computers for computer-aided learning, data analysis, word processing, on line literature searches and the use of the Internet. During their programmes, students may undertake placements which are either professionally approved and therefore contribute to the requirements for professional registration, and/or significantly improve their employment prospects on graduation.

A number of the programmes in the School lead to professionally recognised qualifications. For example, the BSc (Hons) Biomedical Sciences with Diploma in Professional Practice leading to Registration as a Biomedical Scientist; graduates of the BSc (Hons) Dietetics course will be eligible to apply for Registration as a Dietitian with The Health Professions Council; and the BSc (Hons) Optometry programme fulfils the degree element of professional optometry training. The School houses Optometry Clinics on the Coleraine and Jordanstown campuses of the University of Ulster which not only provides Optometry students with modern facilities for their clinical training but also offers a complete range of optometric services to the general public.

The School maintains close links with professional bodies, employers including those in the food and pharmaceutical industries, hospitals in Northern Ireland and further afield and others in order to provide programmes that are tailored to employer’s needs, as well as satisfying the academic and vocational needs of a highly qualified student.

In the final year of undergraduate programmes and in all MSc programmes, undertaking a research project module is a core part of the curriculum. During this project, students will have the opportunity to work within one of the internationally recognised research groups associated with the School

Research within the School of Biomedical Sciences

Biomedical Research at the University of Ulster is undertaken in a highly strategic way within a number of areas of interest; critical health areas such as: seeking a cure for diabetes, cancer, heart disease, Alzheimer’s, osteoporosis, visual deterioration, etc.; the relationship between diet and health, particularly age-related health problems and degenerative diseases; infectious diseases (foodborne and respiratory bacterial infections; and viral infections); and pioneering research with anti-tumour drugs and molecular therapies.

Areas of research are structured within recognised research groups:
 Bioimaging;
 Biomedical Genomics;
 Cancer and Ageing;
 Diabetes;
 Environmental and Food Microbiology;
 Microbiology and Biotechnology;
 Northern Ireland Centre for Food and Health (NICHE);
 Stem Cell and Epigenetics;
 Systems Biology; and
 Vision Science.

The extremely high quality of the research undertaken within the School of Biomedical Sciences was acknowledged by the 1996 and 2001 national Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) when a 5* (the highest possible assessment grade) was awarded. The School of Biomedical Sciences at the University of Ulster was the only unit in Biomedical Sciences within all universities of the UK to be awarded this top rating at both RAEs.

The Centre for Molecular Biosciences (CMB) at the University of Ulster is a new four storey, 6700 square metre building with laboratory facilities housing the highest specification equipment currently available assisiting the University to attract and retain the very best scientists of this generation. Further funding of £2 million was awarded by the CEC RDT Peace and Reconciliation II Scheme to establish a Centre of Excellence in Functional Genomics (CFG) housed within the CMB.

More recently, funding has been awarded through the UK Science Research Investment Fund to establish a Centre for Advanced Imaging (in collaboration with FEI) £1.9 million and to provide a new Centre for Metabolomics £3.2 million. Technology and Knowledge Transfer

Academic Enterprise

The School of Biomedical Sciences is committed to commercialising the intellectual property arising from its world class research activities. Working in partnership with UUTECH Ltd (the University’s technology and knowledge transfer company) and the Science Park company UUSRP Ltd, the School has already spun-out companies e.g. Diabetica Ltd and Gendel Ltd and has many other significant ongoing industrial collaborations.

The School is also committed to the more community oriented element of the University’s mission. Examples include the Science in Society initiative (improving public understanding of science in the world today) and our engagement with Regional Services (the University’s gateway for regional business, industry and community sectors) in Knowledge Club events and externally funded product innovation projects with businesses on the island of Ireland.