If you study one of our bioscience degrees, it opens up a diverse range of opportunities. It could be lab research, fieldwork or even further study in a dedicated postgraduate study programme. If you’re interested in focusing on a bioscience career or further study related to the subject, you’ll need the right information about your options.
Here are the next steps: explore the career and study options for bioscience students.
Postgraduate study options
After graduation, there are many options available for further study. These could be in scientific, science-related or even in non-scientific fields.
Postgraduate study can begin straight after graduation or even a few years after, giving you time to find other work experience and save some money. It’s completely your choice.
Some employers require potential employees to have completed specific postgraduate courses, which will usually be included in the job advertisement. Alternatively, you could also use Prospects to discover what kind of course you need for a specific role. In some cases, employers will even fund these types of course, although this isn't common.
Master’s degree
Master’s degrees can be taken any time after graduation. They typically take one year if studied full-time and allow you to specialise in a particular scientific field. For bioscience students at Newcastle University, this means you could study a Biosciences MPhil, Medical and Molecular Biosciences, Medical Sciences or Molecular Microbiology. These are just some of the courses on offer, as there are many more that are open to you.
Whatever you choose depends on what you’d like to study or career path you’d like to follow.
You can explore more master’s degrees on our ‘Find a Degree’ page.
PhD courses
PhDs usually last from three to four years if studied full-time. They’re typically required degrees to have if you want a career in academic research. A PhD typically includes one large piece of original research, which is created as a thesis.
PhD programmes also include training and other responsibilities which mirror the type of work you’d have in a full-time job. For example, you could experience working as a research assistant, a teaching assistant, lab demonstration or even the grading of other students’ work.
This is done so that you can develop your transferable skills. These skills could be ones that focus on analysis and research, teamwork, leadership and management, planning and organisation and communication skills.
At Newcastle University, we have many options for PhD study. Our Biosciences PhD might interest bioscience students who want to further develop their knowledge and experience in this field. It’s a three year course when studied full-time and is divided into four research themes.
A lot of research needs to be done before applying to study a PhD programme. For example when considering a PhD, you must also think about which academic supervisor is right for you, as his or her research group will need to match what you want.
You also need to determine whether the PhD programme is the right one for you and what career you want. You can always make an appointment with an academic supervisor or the Newcastle University Careers Service to ask them questions about the possible career options of a certain degree.
Doctoral Training Partnerships (DTP)
A DTP is a specific type of PhD programme which is funded by the main research councils. These offer the traditional PhD programme as well as skills-based training. They can also be collaborative, meaning that they can be hosted by one or more research organisations.
At Newcastle University, we have two DTPs available to interested students:
- Leeds-Liverpool-Newcastle-Sheffield MRC Doctoral Training Partnership (DTP)
- Newcastle-Liverpool-Durham BBSRC Doctoral Training Partnership (DTP)
Career options for bioscience students
Looking for work after university is an important, challenging and exciting process. At this point, you might not have a clear idea of the kinds of jobs you could go into, but don’t worry. There are so many options so it’s natural to feel this way.
Researching career options as soon as possible is a good idea as it gives you time to plan ahead, consider what skills or abilities you’ll need and then eventually create a good application.
Here are a number of possible careers you could pursue after studying a bioscience degree:
- Lecturer
- Clinical Biochemist
- Medical Doctor
- Research and development for industry or academia
- Teaching in schools or colleges
- Science communication e.g. journalism or publishing
- Research management
- Research Technician
- Bioscience-related specialist
- Scientific sales or marketing
It’s worth noting that a lot of these roles will need a lot of further study to begin a career in after completing a degree.
This list doesn’t cover everything you can do, so you can use our Explore Occupations service to see what interests you. For more information, contact Newcastle University’s Career Service. You can use this service to gain helpful advice, improve your job applications, find information on potential careers and much more.
The Careers Service is a really good place to start as they have all the relevant information needed and you can speak to an individual career consultant or information adviser. Given the range of study and career options available to bioscience students, it's best to start your research as soon as possible, so get in touch with the careers services today.
If you’re interested in learning more about how to prepare for your career after university, from what you should be doing and when to start, check out our helpful visual guide.
Enhance your employability today
If you’re wondering what you could be doing to prepare for your career after university and when you should start, you can start by downloading our guide.
Our guide can help you improve your CV, develop your interview techniques and outlines the best practices when it comes to creating job applications. Download it and use it while booking appointments with the Newcastle University Careers Service.
Click the link below to get started.
