Biochemistry

Biochemistry is the study of how cells work at the molecular level, examining the chemical processes that sustain living systems, from enzyme catalysis and metabolic pathways to gene expression and protein folding. It is a discipline central to understanding the molecular basis of life and of disease, and it underpins much of modern medicine, pharmaceutical research and biotechnology. Adding a year in industry extends this academic formation with a twelve-month placement that brings the knowledge and techniques of the laboratory into a professional research or commercial setting.

At the University of Dundee this programme runs over five years in total, full-time. The year in industry is a structured placement that complements your biology and chemistry studies with on-the-job experience, giving you an understanding of how biochemical research is conducted and applied in pharmaceutical companies, biotechnology firms, research institutes or other relevant organisations. Dundee has a strong reputation in the life sciences, with internationally recognised research in cancer biology, drug discovery and cell signalling, and the course draws on that research culture.

A year abroad is also included in the programme structure, giving you additional international academic experience. The typical entry tariff for this programme is around 200 UCAS points, reflecting the high academic standard expected.

You will develop expertise in molecular biology, protein chemistry, enzymology, genetics, cell biology and the analytical techniques used in modern biochemical research, alongside the practical laboratory skills that are central to the discipline. The year in industry adds professional formation and career readiness that purely academic programmes cannot match.

Graduates of biochemistry programmes with industrial experience are sought after in pharmaceutical research and development, biotechnology, agrochemistry, clinical research organisations and academic research. Many go on to doctoral research, often drawing on contacts and experience from their industry year. Teaching, science communication and patent law are further paths suited to those with broad scientific knowledge.