Grad Prog - Masters Science

Master of Science (Research) | Biological Sciences

Master (Research)

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Programme Type

Full-time, Part-time

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The School of Biological Sciences is committed to implement current best practices in the training of our graduate students.

Our main objective is to produce research scientists, who have deep and wide knowledge to be competitive in today’s global research and work environment. Our graduate students enrolled in graduate programmes by research may be admitted on a full-time or part-time basis. They will receive supervision and guidance by faculty members to conduct research projects aligned to the overall objectives of their chosen laboratories. We also provide advanced learning and hands-on training through foundation courses and practical modules.

Our school offers M.Sc. by research. M.Sc. students are required to fulfil course work requirement of 3 course modules (9 AUs) and Transferable Skills Modules within the candidature period; and conduct original research leading to a M.Sc. dissertation. 

 

Click here to view our admission requirements. 
Candidature Periods 

For higher degrees by research, candidates may be admitted as full-time or part-time students. For the minimum and maximum periods of candidature for both full-time and part-time please click here. 
Courses 

Courses Offered in Semester 1  

Course 

Course Title 

Subject Coordinator 

Foundational Course in Information Biology 

Konstantin Pervushin 

Graduate Seminar Course 

Koh Cheng Gee 

Practical Course in Protein Crystallography 

Julien Lescar 

​HWG702* 

Teaching Assistant Programme 

​​​ 

​HWG703* 

Graduate English Course 

​​​ 

Courses Offered in Semester 2

Course 

Course Title 

Subject Coordinator 

Foundational Course in Molecular & Cell Biology 

Lu Lei 

Practical Course in Multidimensional NMR spectroscopy 

Konstantin Pervushin 

​​Pract​ical Course in Electron Microscopy and image processing of macromolecular complexes 

Shashi Bhushan 

Skin Biology: Theory and Practice 

Gao Yonggui 

Bioentrepreneurship 

Hong Yan 

​BS7019 

​Fundamentals of Immunology - Concepts and Experiments 

​Su I-Hsin 

Computational Biology and modeling 

Mu Yuguang 

Practical Course in Advanced Microscopy 

Li Hoi Yeung 

HWG702* 

Teaching Assistant Programme 

 

HWG703* 

Graduate English Course 

 

*Both HWG703 and HWG702 are compulsory for all full-time Ph.D. students and Graduate Research Officer.HWG703 may be exempted if you meet the exemption criteria. Students must pass both HWG702 and HWG703 before Ph.D. Confirmation / Qualifying Exam (QE) in order to receive the Research Scholarship Stipend increment. Students who are exempted for HWG703 are required to take and pass HWG702. 

ERIC and Safety Courses 

Epigeum Research Integrity Course (ERIC)

ERI701 is a research integrity course with 0 AUs applicable to new Ph.D. and M.Sc. (Research) students who join NTU from AY2018/19. Existing graduate research students will continue to complete ERIC prior to QE following current schools’ processes. 

 

  • A student’s training requirement is met if he/she completes at least one track. If a student is required by the School to take multiple tracks, School administrators can check on track completion status. Transcripts will not reflect individual tracks selected.
  • If a student is required to take additional tracks after achieving a Pass grade for the course at the end of their first semester, the student can still register for other tracks on NTU Learn though course grade will not be reflected on exam transcript.
  • If there are individual queries, student can raise it to RIEO, who will then consult the Schools concerned. 

​To find out more about the integrity courses, please visit this link.

Safety courses

All new students will need to complete the (A) Safety Induction and all relevant (B) Safety Trainings applicable to them. The safety courses requirement is stated below. 

 

  • All the online safety training courses are available on NTULearn
  • There is a quiz at the end of each course and you are deemed to have successfully completed the quiz by scoring at least 8 correct answers out of 10 questions. The quiz allows multiple attempts. 

Kindly note that the safety training has to be done every 3 years on NTULearn (Refresher) as part of the university’s requirement.  

(A) Safety Induction

  1. NTU Safety Induction for Laboratory Users (OHS2SIL01)
  2. SBS Safety Induction for Lab Users (SBS2SIL01)

Timeline of completion of all the courses described above: within first two weeks of commencement of candidature in SBS. 

(B) Safety Trainings 

Compulsory courses for all SBS lab users (both dry and wet lab users)  

  1. Fire Safety in NTU 
  2. Electrical Safety 
  3. Slip, Trip & Fall 
  4. Work station/ Office Ergonomics 
  5. Manual Lifting 
  6. Use of Fire Extinguisher 
  7. Understanding Signage from SS508 
  8. SGSECURE Prepared Citizen Training 

Compulsory courses for SBS wet lab users 

  1. Basic Biosafety Training: Module 2 
  2. Fume Cupboard 
  3. Basic Guide for handling Chemicals 
  4. Understanding GHS 
  5. Understanding SDS 
  6. Safe Handling of Compressed Gas Cylinders 
  7. Risk Management: Introduction 
  8. Risk Management: Legal Requirements 
  9. Risk Management: Doing Risk Assessment 
  10. Risk Management: Risk Control Measures 

Timeline of completion of all the courses described above: within first month of commencement of candidature in SBS.

After completion, please forward a copy of your training result to your lab safety representative. 

(Note: To retrieve your training results, proceed to ‘Menu’ in ServiceNow@NTU. Select ‘Campus Services’ followed by ‘Safety Training Management System’. Under ‘My Training Records’ you can save a copy in PDF by pressing keyboard ‘ctrl’ + ‘P’) 

In addition

For ultrasonic device users (such as sonicators, ultrasonic baths, etc), please take the following courses: 

  • Non-ionising Radiation: Introduction to NIR and Local Regulations 
  • Non-ionising Radiation: Ultrasound Safety Training 
For laser device users (such as confocal microscopes, or other equipment having laser source such as flow cytometers, etc), please take the following courses: 

  • Non-ionising Radiation: Introduction to NIR and Local Regulations 
  • Non-ionising Radiation: Laser Safety Training 
For those who are handling radioactive materials (such as 3H, 14C, 32S, etc) or use radiation machine (such as X-ray, gamma ray), please take the following courses: 

  • Ionising Radiation: Introduction to IR and Local Regulations 
  • Ionising Radiation: Hazards and Monitoring 
  • Ionising Radiation: Protection and Spill Response 
For those who are handling hydrofluoric acid, please take the following course: 

  • Safe Use of Hydrofluoric Acid 
NOTE: please check with your lab safety representative with regards to the licenses required to handle the above mentioned equipment/ materials. 
Thesis Submission 

​​Please proceed to the following link​ for General information on thesis submission. The following statements are to be included in all thesis submission. 

  1. Statement of Originality: Certifies that the work done and reported is the student's own and has not been previously submitted to another University or Institution for any degree programme. The student should also declare that the thesis is free from plagiarism. 
  2. Supervisor Declaration Statement: Certifies that the supervisor has read through the thesis and declares that the thesis is free from plagiarism and ready for examination. 
  3. Authorship Attribution Statement: Details the contribution of each author to the study. 

Please download the thesis cover format here.