Programme Specification: Part II Physiology, Development and Neuroscience

This course is taught primarily by the Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience.

Aims

1. to attract outstanding students to work in Physiology, Development and Neuroscience whether from natural science, medical or veterinary backgrounds;
2. to provide an intellectually stimulating lecture, practical and project programme in which students can develop their understanding of the subject to the best of their potential;
3. to develop and maintain the highest academic standards of teaching, and to develop new areas of teaching and assessment in response to the rapid advances in the subject;

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course, students should have:

1. obtained an introduction from the course as a whole to Physiology, Development and Neuroscience at Honours level, emphasising the broadly based nature of the subject;
2. obtained some experience of independent investigation whether through completion of an experimental project or written dissertation;
3. developed the ability to evaluate critically results from their own or others' experiments;
4. developed transferable skills and responsibility for their own learning;
5. developed their capacity to argue and think in the biomedical sciences.

Teaching and learning methods

Each module will contain a mixture of didactic lectures, seminars, journal clubs and interactive workshops as appropriate to the material being covered.

Assessment

• four written papers (for aims 1-2 and learning outcomes 1 and 3-5);
• a research project of up to 8,500 words (for aims 1-2 and learning outcomes 1-5).

Courses of Preparation

Essential: None.

Recommended: either NST Part IA Physiology of Organisms and NST Part IB Physiology or NST Part IB Neurobiology; or Parts IA and IB of the Medical and Veterinary Sciences Tripos.

Additional Information

Further information on each subject is available in the Subject summary and on the Course Websites pages.