The student experience
With a distinguished history of academic achievement and an ambitious agenda for the future, The University of Manchester and Faculty of Life Sciences offers all prospective students a world-class training experience.
Our current postgraduate research students are enthusiastic about their projects, training and research environment.
Find out more : Ambassadors ¦ Students say... ¦ Student perspectives ¦ Profiles
Ambassadors
Would you like to speak to a current student from your home country?
We have ambassadors from many countries around the world to help you with any questions you may have about the application process, life in the Faculty and more…
We also have student representatives from the prestigious Wellcome Trust Four Year PhD Programme that are willing to offer advice and guidance.
Students say…
Rodrigo Maldonado
PhD Biotechnology
“I really like the PhD programme; designing experiments and reading literature in particular. Seeing the work of other students who are in another year of the programme is really motivating to hear and to see them showing a lot of results, after many hours of work, is motivating and challenging.”
Annette Allen
PhD Neuroscience
“I think The University of Manchester provides an enjoyable, dynamic and exciting working environment, full of enthusiastic people, and with a positive attitude towards scientific research and post-graduate study. In turn, this provides a great environment to work and study in, and has made my experience of Manchester a very positive one.”
Aishwarya Payapilly
Wellcome Trust 4 year PhD programme
“... Manchester now has museums, galleries, theatres and shopping centres to rival any city in Europe. The people here are friendly and helpful. There is a large international community in Manchester, which gives you the opportunity to experience different cuisines and cultures from all over the world.”
Profiles
Nathan Truelove is from the United States and is studying for a PhD in environmental biology. He receives funding from the Faculty of Life Sciences Overseas Research Scholarship and the Sustainable Consumption Institute (SCI) at The University of Manchester. Nathan’s multidisciplinary research focuses on improving the sustainability of marine protected areas.
“The Faculty of Life Sciences provides students with numerous excellent opportunities to become well rounded early career researchers. The faculty brings in world famous scientists for their seminar series, has developed several international field courses in biodiversity and conservation, provides their students with state-of-the art lab facilities, and provides PhD students with the option of developing their teaching skills. I really enjoy the working environment in the write up areas and in the lab which encourages PhD students to work together collaboratively and really get to know each other. I’ve learned a great deal by collaborating with other PhD students and postdocs in FLS which has lead to three co-authored publications in sustainability science during the first two years of my PhD.”
Mohammad Rahman from Bangladesh is studying his PhD in Sustainable Consumption and is also funded by the Sustainable Consumption Institute (SCI). He was previously funded by the European Union for his MSc from the Technical University of Dresden, Germany and Bangor University, Wales. Mohammad commented,
“my PhD is interdisciplinary in nature and the Faculty of Life Sciences is the place which gives me the opportunity to work on the challenging field of climate change and urban ecology. Supervisors and other members of staff are really helpful and always encourage excellence in my research. Altogether, it’s a fantastic working environment. I have published a paper as a first author in the Journal of Urban Forestry and Urban Greening.”
Warren Flood is a dual national, Norwegian-American, from Norway. Warren originally decided to come to study Medical Biochemisty in Manchester...
“based on their 5 star (international class) research rating from the British Council and recommendations from the British Council staff in Norway. I received funding from the Norwegian government for both my BSc and later my MSc in Immunology and Immunogenetics. It was first as a postgraduate that I fully realised what the University had to offer, especially with the Faculty’s excellent core research facilities, wide variety of seminar series and vast spread of world class researchers. After a great masters experience I am currently doing a PhD in Microbiology investigating the innate immune response to Helicobacter pylori. The open and friendly research environment here has immeasurably aided my PhD as I have been able to take advantage of assistance and collaboration from leading researchers in immunology (Dr Douglas Millar, Professor Kathryn Else) and cancer research (Dr Chris Noakes). The experts and technicians within the core facilities have given me excellent training in a variety of techniques which has allowed me to employ approaches that typically belong to separate disciplines, everything from mass spec and biochemical techniques to bioimaging with immunofluorescence to cell sorting with FACs. Undoubtedly the breadth of education I have received here from my bachelors to my PhD has also contributed to this multidisciplinary approach and given me valuable contacts in a variety of fields. All in all Manchester has been an excellent place to do research and I doubt it would have been possible to get to know so many different researchers in different fields and get the diversity of training and education have received in many other places”.