Semester 1

Molecular and cellular biology of cancer

10 ECTS

Clinical oncology, haematology

5 ECTS

Cancer research (technologies and skills)

10 ECTS

Introduction to research and experimental design

5 ECTS

Semester 2

Research Project (Part 1)

30 ECTS

Semester 3

Research Project (Part 11)

30 ECTS

The taught elements of the programme are based on a blended learning format for all three taught modules, so that face-to-face contact between students and lecturers is going to be combined with self-directed learning. This mode of learning was chosen to promote the ability of the students to independently collect information from a range of relevant sources, organise and learn it autonomously; to encourage independent- and critical thinking abilities, which is essential for future professional development.

The learning material between lectures and by self-directed learning is divided in a way that the foundation to a topic and the classical/easy to understand elements form parts of the self-directed study, while the complex and more advanced elements, or where the information is difficult to collect from text books and online resources are to be delivered by lectures. To ensure that the students understood all parts of the study

material, tutorials will be held where selected students present the self-study topics to the peers. The discussions during the tutorial will be moderated by a lecturer.

Research Project

Students will get their research project assigned by week 12 of Semester 1. Available research project titles in participating laboratories of the School of Natural Sciences and other programme-associated Institutes will be provided to the students on the 10^th week of Semester 1. The students will choose their top three project options from the list and submit their choices to the course co-ordinator by the end of week 11. As it is possible that more than one student applies for one given research project, the course co-ordinator together with the PI leading the project will decide which student will be enrolled for a given project. 

The research project will run for two full semesters (Semester 2 and 3). An assessment of the progress of the students will be carried out by the course co-ordinator and the PI leading the research project at the end of semester 2 that will determine if the student can progress to semester 3. Students have to achieve a minimum of a 40% mark in order to progress to Semester 3.

At the end of Semester 3 after concluding the laboratory experiments, the students will write their MSc thesis. The MSc thesis will be evaluated by the research project-leading PI and a second internal academic. The process of the MSc evaluation will be overseen by an external examiner.