UCL Biochemical Engineering PG Beaker Society – Ask Us Anything!

You can find them all here:
https://www.ucl.ac.uk/biochemical-engineering/news/2020/jun/say-hi-newly-appointed-2020-beakers-committee

(edited 3 years ago)

Reply 2

I have a couple questions, firstly, would you recommend this to someone who is doing biomedical science and would like to work in pharmaceutical companies?

Reply 3

BeakerSociety

OP

3

Hi there!

Tom here. Absolutely. There are a number of biomedical postgraduate students here and if you’re interested in the MSc BiochemEng course you’ll find others with a many different science and engineering backgrounds.The department has very close ties to a number of pharma companies. Industrialists often come to the department to attend short-courses (MBIs) along with students here, allowing a chance to mingle and network. Even most of the modules you may do are put together with industry in mind making sure that you graduate with the skills industry wants to employ. :smile:

Reply 4

Original post by BeakerSociety

Hi there!

Tom here. Absolutely. There are a number of biomedical postgraduate students here and if you’re interested in the MSc BiochemEng course you’ll find others with a many different science and engineering backgrounds.The department has very close ties to a number of pharma companies. Industrialists often come to the department to attend short-courses (MBIs) along with students here, allowing a chance to mingle and network. Even most of the modules you may do are put together with industry in mind making sure that you graduate with the skills industry wants to employ. :smile:

That’s good to hear! I had a look at the modules offered for the scientist stream and engineer stream and was confused slightly, as I saw that the engineers learn vaccine development but the scientists don’t? I thought it should be the opposite as I have studied immunology for a good while?

Reply 5

BeakerSociety

OP

3

Original post by hello654321

That’s good to hear! I had a look at the modules offered for the scientist stream and engineer stream and was confused slightly, as I saw that the engineers learn vaccine development but the scientists don’t? I thought it should be the opposite as I have studied immunology for a good while?

Great point! So the idea of the streams is to ensure graduates have all the skills of a ‘Biochemical Engineer’ and also hold a degree accredited by the IChemE. So people with a heavy biological background will be able to study engineering principles, such as heat transfer, reaction engineering, reactor design etc. I was a chemical engineer with little biology experience, so I was in the ‘science stream‘ to study the biological side, like immunology, molecular and synthetic biology. You may not be able to ‘officially’ do vaccine development as part of the degree, but I knew some students who would sit in the lectures out of interest!
I’d recommend taking a look at the MSc Cell and Gene Therapy - it’s a brand new course more on the biology side and has a lot of interest considering where the industry is going! :smile:

Reply 6

Original post by BeakerSociety

Great point! So the idea of the streams is to ensure graduates have all the skills of a ‘Biochemical Engineer’ and also hold a degree accredited by the IChemE. So people with a heavy biological background will be able to study engineering principles, such as heat transfer, reaction engineering, reactor design etc. I was a chemical engineer with little biology experience, so I was in the ‘science stream‘ to study the biological side, like immunology, molecular and synthetic biology. You may not be able to ‘officially’ do vaccine development as part of the degree, but I knew some students who would sit in the lectures out of interest!
I’d recommend taking a look at the MSc Cell and Gene Therapy - it’s a brand new course more on the biology side and has a lot of interest considering where the industry is going! :smile:

That makes sense! Okay I will check out this new degree, I have so many courses now that I may do I’ll add this new one to the list to haha. I was wondering whether it matters if a degree is accredited or not, It won’t affect my chances or gaining a job will it?

Reply 7

Original post by hello654321

That makes sense! Okay I will check out this new degree, I have so many courses now that I may do I’ll add this new one to the list to haha. I was wondering whether it matters if a degree is accredited or not, It won’t affect my chances or gaining a job will it?

It's a really exciting area, in fact, the team that are about to start teaching it gave a taster lecture a couple of months ago if you're interested in the subject:
https://www.ucl.ac.uk/biochemical-engineering/study/taster-lectures

Reply 8

Original post by biochemical.ucl

It's a really exciting area, in fact, the team that are about to start teaching it gave a taster lecture a couple of months ago if you're interested in the subject:
https://www.ucl.ac.uk/biochemical-engineering/study/taster-lectures

Thanks I’ll take a look, I’ll come back here for more questions 🤣

Reply 9

Can a science graduate take the engineer stream?

Reply 10

Original post by hello654321

Can a science graduate take the engineer stream?

Hi. I'd suggest getting in touch with the programme director, Alex. He's great and always happy to answer any questions. Email him direct and he'll let you know. Let us know if you need anything else.

Reply 11

BeakerSociety

OP

3

Original post by hello654321

That makes sense! Okay I will check out this new degree, I have so many courses now that I may do I’ll add this new one to the list to haha. I was wondering whether it matters if a degree is accredited or not, It won’t affect my chances or gaining a job will it?

Sorry for my late response! An accredited degree would certainly help if you’re planning an engineering career. IChemE is globally recognised and the accreditation sets a standard benchmark for degrees to meet. It’ll help you get Chartered at which point I’ve heard people use it to secure higher salaries in positions 😉 All of the streams in the MSc allow you to become a ‘member’ of the IChemE, I believe. I’ve been with them for 6 years now and have been able to attend industry networking events and other events/seminars, so at the least you could dazzle employers with industry knowledge haha

Reply 12

nwilliamson151

6

Original post by biochemical.ucl

Hi. I'd suggest getting in touch with the programme director, Alex. He's great and always happy to answer any questions. Email him direct and he'll let you know. Let us know if you need anything else.

Original post by hello654321

Can a science graduate take the engineer stream?

I have the same question, where can I find his email?

Reply 13

Original post by nwilliamson151

I have the same question, where can I find his email?

I emailed them and they replied saying the admission tutor decides but they will discuss this with us :smile:

Reply 14

nwilliamson151

6

Original post by hello654321

I emailed them and they replied saying the admission tutor decides but they will discuss this with us :smile:

Thanks

Reply 15