Final year projects
Intra-Phoenix Solutions - a business opportunity founded in a final year project.
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The business is Intra-Phoenix Solutions, it developed as a final year project and now we’ve seen the potential to form a biotechnology company with it. Our business provides a tool for all pharmaceutical companies to use in their drug discovery process. We are harnessing biology which enables the researcher to produce stem cells from adult cells from people with diseases such Alzheimer’s, Parkinsons and diabetes and then produce neurones which are disease specific which then pharmaceutical companies can test on.
There’s a huge potential market for our product estimated at £361 million. We’ve already spoken to UMIP and we’re looking to gain a proof of concept fund for the first year to allow our product to develop into a biotechnology company.
Your final year project is your opportunity to undertake a research project in an area of your interest, whilst potentially contributing to cutting edge scientific research. There are a wide range of project types available:
Laboratory Based Project
Design and carry out a piece of original research in a specialist research laboratory.
- Matthew Miller did his final year project on the carnivorous plant Utricularia (bladderwort) he has written an article about the species he worked on which was published in Biological Sciences Review (Volume 24 Number 1 September 2011.) [PDF 5MB]
- Shahram Abasi Semnani did his research on the extracellular matrix, an image and short paragraph on his final year research findings related to the extracellular matrix were published in the Biological Sciences Review (Back cover, Volume 24 Number 1 September 2011.)
See: Biological Sciences Review
Enterprise Project
Work in a team to develop a business plan for a real product or service in the area of Life Sciences. A recent project planned to set up a biotechnology company to produce stem cells from people with diseases such Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s and use these cells to produce disease specific neurons for pharmaceutical companies to test on.
Science Communication Projects
Enhance the understanding of biology by effective communication of a selected topic to a particular target audience. We offer three types of science communication projects:
- eLearning Project
Plan, design, develop, and evaluate an electronic resource to support eLearning.
See: Final year projects
- Education Project
Work with a school or other educational organisation to design a product such as a practical or website which may be of value in teaching and learning. A recent project involved creating a display at Manchester Museum to teach children about carnivorous plants.
- Science Media Projects
Produce a portfolio of communication materials including articles for scientific magazines, a presentation to a scientific audience and a creative piece such as a video, podcast or poster.
Field Based Project
Design and carry out a piece of original research in the field. A recent project took place in a conservation area in Peru examining the population of species of Caiman (which are similar to crocodiles).
CHSTM Project
Engage in independent and original research on an aspect of the development of modern science, technology and medicine and/or science communication. A recent project investigated the treatment of postnatal depression in 19th century asylums.
Data Analysis Based Project
Test an overall hypothesis by combining information from several primary research papers. A recent project examined data on HIV mutation and anti-viral drug resistance.
Bioinformatics Project
Carry out research using computers. This may be achieved by running other software, or querying online data resources, or it may be done by designing and writing your own software. A recent project identified the areas of interaction between specific proteins by analysing data on protein structures which is available in a protein database. Interaction between proteins governs the majority of biological processes.
Contribute to cutting edge scientific research!
Many of our students work alongside our renowned Manchester university research scientists during their final year projects, contributing to their research. Below is just a selection of students whose work has been acknowledged in published research papers:
Fiona Sherwood cloned and analysed new genes involved in development.
(McGonnell IM, Graham A, Richardson J, Fish JL, Depew MJ, Dee CT, Holland PW, Takahashi T. Evolution of the Alx homeobox gene family: parallel retention and independent loss of the vertebrate Alx3 gene. Evol Dev. 2011 Jul;13(4):343-351. doi: 10.1111/j.1525-142X.2011.00489.x.)
Lisa McGlasson studied a protein that plays a key role in the metabolism of glucose.
(McGlasson, L., Best, L. & Brown, P.D. (2011). The glucokinase activator GKA50 causes an increase in pancreatic beta-cell volume. Mol. Cell. Endocrinol, 342(1-2), 6.)
Lydia Farrington completed a project examining the effects of light on the circadian rhythm or biological clock.
(E. Brooks, E. Waters, L. Farrington, M. M. Canal. Differential hypothalamic tyrosine hydroxylase distribution and activation by light in adult mice reared under different light conditions during the suckling period. Brain Struct. Funct. April 2010)
Mark Richardson completed a project investigating the effect of load bearing in geese on their energetics.
(Peter G. Tickle, Mark F. Richardson, Jonathan R. Codd. Load carrying during locomotion in the barnacle goose (Branta leucopsis): The effect of load placement and size. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology, Part A 156 (2010) 309–317)
Antonina Pakhomova investigated the properties of cells that form an important barrier between the blood and the cerebrospinal fluid.
(Hughes ALH, Pakhomova A, Brown PD. (2010). Regulatory volume increase in epithelial cells isolated from the mouse fourth ventricle choroid plexus involves Na+-H+ exchange but not Na+ -K+- 2Cl- cotransport. Brain Res, 1323(1), 1-10.)
John Kendall investigated methods of metal homeostasis in bacteria.
(Wang Y, Kendall J, Cavet JS & Giedroc DP (2010). Elucidation of the Functional Metal Binding Profile of a Cd(II)/Pb(II) Sensor CmtR(Sc) from Streptomyces coelicolor. Biochemistry, 49: 6617-6626.)
Jessica Hunt studied the link between prolonged activation of the geneERK and changes in genome organisation.
(Martin C, Chen S, Heilos D, Sauer G, Hunt J, Shaw AG, Sims PFG, Jackson DA, Lovrić J. (2010). Changed genome heterochromatinization upon prolonged activation of the Raf/ERK signaling pathway. PLoS ONE, 5(10), e13322.)
Lisa Thorpe completed a project investigating proteins that interact with the cell microtubule motor Cytoplasmic dynein 1.
(Connie Lam, Maïlys A. S. Vergnolle, Lisa Thorpe, Philip G. Woodman and Victoria J. Allan. Functional interplay between LIS1, NDE1 and NDEL1 in dynein-dependent organelle positioning. Journal of Cell Science 123 (2) 2009)
Fiona Robson and Nicola Rose completed Neuroscience projects examining the effects of inflammation on the brain after a stroke.
(Increased brain microvascular MMP-9 and incidence of haemorrhagic transformation in obese mice after experimental stroke. Journal of Cerebral Blood Flow & Metabolism 2009)
Alan Sanderson completed a Genetics project examining the genes associated with the sense of smell in beetles.
(Engsontia P, Sanderson AP, Cobb M, Walden KK, Robertson HM, Brown S. The red flour beetle's large nose: An expanded odorant receptor gene family in Tribolium castaneum. Insect Biochemistry and Molecular Biology 38(4): 387-397. 2008)
Fay Poyser completed a Zoology Project examining whether dogs show "left or right handedness" and whether the sex of the dog has any influence on this.
(Fay Poyser, Christine Caldwell and Matthew Cobb. Dog paw preference shows lability and sex differences. Behavioural Processes 73(2): 216-221.2006)