MSc Plant Genetics and Crop Improvement (Part time)

Key details

MSC PLANT GENETICS AND CROP IMPROVEMENT (PART TIME)

Start Year

2023

Attendance

Part Time

Award

Degree of Master of Science

Duration (years)

One of the greatest challenges facing humanity is sustainable food production for a rapidly increasing global population. Achieving this will depend, amongst other things, on our ability to expedite the production of new higher yielding crop varieties that are better adapted to a changing climate, and which will require fewer inputs, such as fertilisers and other agro-chemicals.

You’re ready to specialise in plant genetics and crop improvement at the John Innes Centre (JIC), a ground-breaking institute for research on plant and microbial sciences. With this expert, cutting-edge training, you’ll have the perfect grounding to move onto a PhD, or alternatively into a career within the plant breeding industry.

This MSc in Plant Genetics and Crop Improvement enables you to explore the theoretical basis of plant breeding and statistics, plant genetics, genomics and bioinformatics, while at the same time gaining valuable practical experience. You'll also receive training in key transferable skills. Alongside your taught modules (worth 120 credits), you’ll also complete a laboratory-based research project (worth 60 credits), giving you the opportunity to work alongside world-leading scientists at JIC, The Sainsbury Laboratory, the Earlham Institute, or possibly with an industry partner.

The JIC, which is based on the Norwich Research Park, is one of the world’s leading research institutes in plant genetics and crop improvement. So, there are few better places to study this topic within a world-class teaching and research environment.

About

Our MSc in Plant Genetics and Crop Improvement is perfect training if you plan to study for a further degree in plant genetics, or alternatively, a career in plant breeding and crop improvement. It’s a unique opportunity to study plant molecular genetics and its potential applications in the 21st century, within an environment of academic and research excellence.

JIC is one of the world’s leading research institutes in plant genetics and crop improvement. This means you’ll benefit from teaching by research staff at JIC, and a number of leading plant breeding and plant biotechnology companies within the UK.

In your taught modules, you’ll cover subjects including plant molecular genetics and biotechnology, target traits for crop improvement, and plant breeding with statistics – as well as learning key transferable skills such as laboratory research and communication skills. An important element of the course is the substantial six-month laboratory-based research project that you’ll conduct under the supervision of a senior scientist. As part of this you’ll submit a dissertation and present a seminar on your research project. We offer research projects in the following key areas:

Crop plant genetics
Plant biotechnology and crop improvement
Plant genome organisation
Plant-microbe interactions
Cell and developmental biology
Plant gene function

In recent years, the career prospects for students with a postgraduate degree in plant genetics and crop improvement have been very good, often leading to a PhD or employment within the UK plant breeding industry.

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Important Information

Whilst the University will make every effort to offer the courses listed, changes may sometimes be made arising from the regular review of course programmes. Where this activity leads to significant (but not minor) changes to programmes, there will normally be prior consultation of students and others. Changes may for example consist of variations to the content and method of delivery of programmes, courses and other services, to discontinue programmes, courses and other services and to merge or combine programmes or courses. The University will endeavour to keep such changes to a minimum, and will inform students.

This is the first year of your taught Masters programme

Assessment for Year 1

We will assess your learning through a diverse set of assessment types depending on the module and learning objectives. These include essays, laboratory reports, coursework assignments, presentations and problem-based learning sessions. In addition, your research dissertation and seminar presentation will form a significant part of the course assessment.

Compulsory Modules

TARGET TRAITS FOR CROP IMPROVEMENT

Code BIO-7002B

Credits 20

Future crop plant improvement will depend upon new varieties expressing a number of key traits, either by conventional plant breeding, or by genetic modification. These traits include durable resistance to pathogenic microorganisms, and promoting interactions with other microorganisms that will result in mutually beneficial symbioses that could reduce inputs of nitrogen and phosphorous in agriculture. Other desirable traits include tolerance to abiotic stresses such as drought, salinity, and extremes of temperature, as well as crops with enhanced nutritional quality. This module will investigate the genetic basis underlying these important traits in both model and crop plants, and the strategies for introducing these traits into specific crops. This is a compulsory module for MSc in Plant Genetics and Crop Improvement.

PRACTICAL SKILLS IN PLANT MOLECULAR GENETICS

Code BIO-7015Y

Credits 10

The aim of this laboratory-based module is to provide you with a link between the theory of bioinformatics, plant molecular genetics and marker-assisted selection, (which is covered in other modules), together with their practical basis. Using bioinformatics, you will design molecular markers to determine the genotypes of F2 plants segregating for distinct morphological characters. Genotyping of the F2 seedlings will be used to predict the phenotypic characters exhibited by mature plants. The module will demonstrate how molecular genetics can be used to select plants with specific combinations of traits – which is a key feature of contemporary breeding programmes. The module will also provide you with key practical skills in bioinformatics, molecular genetics and scientific writing skills.

PLANT BREEDING AND STATISTICS

Code BIO-7038Y

Credits 30

The aim of this year-long module is to provide an understanding of the practice of plant breeding and genetics. It is also to explore the principles and applications of other technologies in the manipulation of traits in crop improvement. The module also covers statistical methods for analysing data from many experiments in plant science and crop improvement. This provides students with important skills required for the design and analysis of experimental data from their own research project, and for a wide range of research in the future. On completion, the module students will understand the principles, analysis and application of Mendelian, population and quantitative genetics in plant breeding. They will also understand the application of biotechnology, breeding strategies and selection procedures, the principles and application of heterosis and hybrid breeding and the role of genetic resources and gene conservation. The statistics training will cover the estimation of important parameters, confidence intervals and significance tests and the concepts of experimental design, together with the use of general linear modelling as a widely-applicable method for analysing experimental data.

PLANT GENETICS, BIOINFORMATICS AND BIOTECHNOLOGY

Code BIO-7054Y

Credits 30

SUSTAINABLE FOOD SYSTEMS

Code DEV-7064B

Credits 10

This is a module about how food production and security is affected by policies, environmental processes, and actions that occur from the local to international level. Food security is a central theme, and we consider how it is constructed and contested at international level, involving global institutions, interest groups, and diverse policy agendas. This exploration does not confine itself exclusively to production, but also considers other areas of concern, including: global environmental change, dietary shifts, ‘post-production’ concerns with food quality or ecosystem integrity, agribusiness, public versus private agricultural innovation, intellectual property rights, and strategies for technological development.

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Important Information

Whilst the University will make every effort to offer the modules listed, changes may sometimes be made arising from the annual monitoring and review of modules. Where this activity leads to significant change to a programme and modules, the University will endeavour to consult with affected students. The University may not be able to offer a module for reasons outside of its control, such as the illness of a member of staff. Availability of optional modules may be restricted owing to timetabling, lack of demand, or limited places. Where this is the case, you will be asked to make alternative module choices and you will be supported during this process.

This is the second year of your taught Masters programme

Assessment for Year 2

Your learning will be assessed through a variety of methods, depending on the module and learning objectives. These methods may includeessays, laboratory reports, coursework assignments, presentations, and problem-based learning sessions. In addition, your research dissertation and seminar presentation will be a significant part of the course assessment.

Compulsory Modules

RESEARCH PROJECT PLAN

Code BIO-7014B

Credits 20

This module involves an extensive survey of current literature related to the research project module, the formulation of hypotheses, and the design of experiments to test them. In the research project, you will conduct these experiments, analyse their research project data, and critically assess their hypotheses. You will carry out individual work under the supervision of the research project supervisor. This is a restricted and compulsory module for MSc in Plant Genetics and Crop Improvement.

LABORATORY RESEARCH PROJECT

Code BIO-7033X

Credits 60

This is a compulsory and restricted module for MSc in Plant Genetics and Crop Improvement. You will undertake a six month laboratory-based research project on some aspect of plant genetics, crop improvement, plant-microbe interactions or plant biology. You will be supervised by a member of scientific staff at the John Innes Centre or The Sainsbury Laboratory. This module provides a thorough training in experimentation, data collection, critical analysis, and presentation.

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Important Information

Entry Requirements

Degree classification

Bachelors degree 2.1 or equivalent

Degree subject

Biological Sciences or Plant Biology. Employment experience with a plant breeding company or related research experience would be advantageous.

Additional entry requirements

Applicants are required to submit two references with their application - at least one of these must be related to your most recent academic study.

Students for whom english is a foreign language

We welcome applications from students whose first language is not English. To ensure such students benefit from postgraduate study, we require evidence of proficiency in English. Our usual entry requirements are as follows:

IELTS: 6.0 (minimum 5.5 in two components only, with 6.0 in the other two)
PTE (Pearson): 64 (minimum 59 in two components only with 64 in the other two)

Test dates should be within two years of the course start date.

Other tests, including Cambridge English exams and the Trinity Integrated Skills in English are also accepted by the university. The full list of accepted tests can be found here: Accepted English Language Tests

INTO UEA also run pre-sessional courses which can be taken prior to the start of your course. For further information and to see if you qualify please contact intopre-sessional@uea.ac.uk.