Timetable

Please check your online timetable for the most up to date version of your classes.

Lectures

You should endeavour to attend lectures as it is not obligatory for staff to post their lecture material. Posted material will be found on the programme Moodle site. You should be aware that attendance at lectures may be monitored.

Laboratory and Research Skills

The laboratory and associated research skills sessions are designed to reinforce the knowledge gained from lectures and to develop your research and practical skills. These skills will be vital during your final year research project. You should keep a record of your results in a lab book. The laboratories and associated research skills sessions will be assessed by your submission of reports that are to be completed in your own time.

You are required to be present for the whole of each laboratory.

Tutorials

Throughout the session there will be tutorials that will examine particular themes recently covered by lectures. Please prepare for the tutorials by going through the relevant lecture/tutorial material. The tutorials are a compulsory part of the programme. If you are unable to attend you should inform the lecturer, in advance if possible.

Journal Clubs

The aim of these sessions is to develop your ability to critically appraise the primary scientific literature, discuss experimental techniques, and present and analyse the data. Research Fellows from the School of Infection & Immunity will convene these sessions and they form part of your summative assessment (details below).

Student Oral Presentation Sessions

In each component course there are sessions devoted to developing and assessing your oral presentation skills. The first is a practice session, but subsequent sessions are part of your summative assessment, as discussed below.

Textbooks and Reading

During the hours not scheduled for class activities, you should make abundant use of both the University Library and the Student Reading Rooms. Students are strongly advised to familiarise themselves with the relevant books and journals in these locations.

Get into the habit of reading scientific articles in journals. The Nature Reviews in Immunology and Trends in Immunology journals are particularly valuable, and you should aim to consult them regularly. Your lecturers will also cite review or research articles in their teaching sessions, and you might wish to access these articles to build your knowledge of certain topics. 

The following textbooks will prove valuable for the course, and you may wish to purchase one. Make sure that you get the most up-to-date edition!

'Janeway's Immunobiology' by Murphy K & Weaver C.

‘Roitt’s Essential Immunology’ by Delves PJ, Martin SJ, Burton DR, Roitt IM.

‘Cellular and Molecular Immunology’ by Abbas AK, Lichtman AH, Pillai S.

‘Kuby’s Immunology’ by Kuby J, Kindt TJ, Osborne BA, Goldsby RA.

As a reminder of Level-2 Immunology, and an easy read introduction, you may also want to consider ‘How the Immune System Works’ by L Sompayrac

Other textbooks are available.

You will be awarded a separate grade for each of the two component courses which make up the Year 3 programme. Your result for each course is based on the items of assessment detailed below.

Note that the grades you obtain for Year 3 will contribute to your final degree grade and be used for writing references, for example for jobs or PhD places. They are also used as a guide to your ability if special circumstances affect your Year 4 result. It will also be one of the factors considered when allocating final-year projects and Honours options. Hence you should aim to get the best grade possible for both courses at the end of Year 3.

Relative Weighting of Assessments

The relative weightings of the items of assessment for each course are:

Format of End-of-Course Exam

There are two essay-based examination papers in the April/May diet, one for Immunology 3A and one for Immunology 3B. These examination papers will contain essay titles and you will need to write and submit 3-4 essays.

Problem Paper Exam

There is a problem-style examination paper linked with each course. The first of these will be held in December at the end of your Immunology 3A course. In this exercise, you will be given a journal article at least a week in advance of the examination. The examination paper will contain several short answer questions based on the contents of the article (and the Supplementary Data associated with the article, if applicable) and interpretation of the data. The equivalent 3B problem examination paper will be held at the same time as the end-of-course examinations in April/May diet — it has the same format as the 3A problem paper.

Coursework Assessments

Lab tests/reports, essays, oral presentations, and journal clubs all contribute equally to the assessed coursework component. The course work component contributes 40% of your final grade in each course.

Laboratory and Research Skills

Immunology 3A:

In 3A, laboratory and research skills will be assessed by two pieces of work to be completed in your own time and submitted for summative assessment by the specified deadline. The assignments include a data analysis and presentation task and a laboratory report, in which you will need to demonstrate an understanding of practical and analytical skills learned in a laboratory session. Details will be provided on Moodle and in the laboratory handbook.

Immunology 3B:

In 3B, laboratories and research skills will also be assessed by two pieces of work to be completed in your own time and submitted for summative assessment by the specified deadline. The first will be based on a Bioinformatics workshop. The second will require you to complete a report based on the Virtual Investigative Project that you will do in 3B. Details will be provided on Moodle and in the workshop handbook.

Essays & Written Work

During the 3A course, you will be required to write a short summary of an immunological topic, and one essay. During the 3B course, you will be required to write one essay. 

For the essays, you will be given a single essay title or topic or asked to select your favourite from several titles. You will then be expected to research and write the essay in your own time and submit it for summative assessment by the deadline date. When you are given the essay titles, you will also be provided with details of what format and length is expected. You will also be given some guidance about essay writing in teaching sessions in Immunology 3A. You must submit your essays online via Moodle. Glasgow University and the Immunology staff take plagiarism seriously. We will check submissions of electronic copies of most coursework using plagiarism software (Turnitin) and you might be asked to complete a declaration to confirm that the submitted work is original and all your own work.

Journal Clubs

There are compulsory Journal Club sessions in each of the 3A and 3B courses, one of which is an introductory session and five of which will be assessed (2 in 3A and 3 in 3B). Postdoctoral researchers or research fellows from the School of Infection & Immunity will deliver these sessions, and the programme coordinator (Prof Robert Nibbs) also moderates the assessment. Students will be introduced to a range of primary research papers. The methodologies used in the study, and the presentation and analysis of the data will be discussed, and students will be given the opportunity to discuss and evaluate the papers. By the end of the Journal Club series, students should be able to (i) analyse and evaluate experimental data, (ii) confidently discuss and critically appraise, primary scientific literature, and (iii) summarise complex findings in a succinct manner.

In advance of each Journal Club, instructions and scientific paper(s) will be emailed or posted on Moodle. You will be expected to read the research article and be ready to discuss the contents of the paper (methodologies, data, conclusions etc) in small groups and with the Journal Club organiser.

The first Journal Club session in Immunology 3A (referred to as the ‘Introduction & Advice’ session) will NOT form part of your summative assessment. It is designed to introduce the Journal Club scheme, provide information on what is expected from you, and describe how you will be assessed in subsequent Journal Clubs. If you are uncertain about what is expected from you in the Journal Clubs, or if it is unclear how you will be assessed, then it is up to you to ask the Journal Club organiser or the course coordinator.

The two subsequent Journal Clubs in Immunology 3A, and the three Journal Clubs in Immunology 3B, will form part of your summative assessment. Those in 3A are each worth 5% of your 3A grade, while those in 3B are each worth 3.33% of your 3B grade. It is important that you prepare well and contribute actively during the Journal Club, as this will likely be reflected in your grade. After each Journal Club, your grade, along with some feedback, will be posted on Moodle. You should reflect on the feedback and your performance, and attempt to build on what you have learnt so that you can improve your performance in subsequent sessions.

Oral Presentations

There are two compulsory Oral Presentation sessions each semester each worth 5% of your grade for the relevant course. You will be asked to prepare presentations on a variety of topics. There will be a chance to practice your Oral Presentation skills at SCENE in the Immunology 3A course - this will not form part of your summative assessment. At this session, you will: (i) give a short presentation (alone or as part of a pair); (ii) receive some feedback; and (iii) be given a summary of what you are expected to do at subsequent sessions and how your performance will be assessed. You should take this opportunity to ask questions and ensure you have a clear idea what is expected. At subsequent Oral Presentation sessions, staff will grade your work. Feedback will be given collectively to the class and/or on a one-to-one basis by the staff that listen to your presentations.

Assessment and Feedback Calendar

Immunology 3A

Immunology 3B

Moodle and Email

All information such as lecture notes will be made available via Moodle. Messages will be sent to the class through Moodle.

Relevant course information will be sent to your university student email account only. It is your responsibility to check your email regularly.

Careers Information

All students on the third year Immunology course are expected to progress to the Year 4 course (with or without completing an MSci Work Placement year). However, if you decide to graduate at the end of Year 3, it is suggested that you consult the Careers Service as early as possible in the year. Relevant career/job/studentship information received may also be circulated by email or posted on Moodle.

Student Feedback

Constructive, detailed feedback from students is strongly encouraged and helps us to improve the course in future years. Students are therefore asked to complete feedback forms when requested. Professor Nibbs is also happy to hear student opinions of the Programme and its component courses and will try to sort out any problems that arise. If students feel that problems have not been satisfactorily resolved, they should contact Professor Olwyn Byron, Director of Education in the School of Infection and Immunity.

MSci with Work Placement

Some students may wish to explore the MSci with Work Placement programme run by the School of Life Sciences. Students on this programme spend a year between Level 3 and 4 working in an academic or industrial research lab, and graduate with an MSci degree rather than a BSc. Only the best students are selected for participation, and in recent years nearly one third of Immunology programme students go out on Work Placement. Anyone interested would be advised to look into this during their Level 2 studies. Prof Nibbs acts as mentor for Immunology students whilst they on Work Placement and can be contacted by anyone who is interested in the scheme.

Seminars

Several research seminars are organised by the School of Infection and Immunity. Further information on these and other seminars is on the Level-3 Immunology Moodle page. These seminars provide very useful amplification of coursework, and you are strongly urged to attend. Extra credit is often given for the use of information derived from seminars in examination answers.

Component courses

The five component courses which make up the final year of your programme are:

1 x project or dissertation course (40 credits)

1 x the core course for your programme (20 credits)

3 x Honours options (3 x 20-credits)

Scheduling

Taught courses (core course and options)

Project

You should devote THREE days per week to the research phase of the project, normally all day Tuesday, Wednesday AM and all day Thursday during 10 weeks of Semester 1. The remaining half day can be undertaken Monday and/or Friday and/or Wednesday PM, depending on your own taught course timetable and the nature of your project.

Honours Options

There are two compulsory Immunology courses in Semester 1 and you take two Honours options in Semester 2.

The Semester 1 options are usually taught on Mondays and Fridays.

Semester 2 options are arranged in five blocks, one for each day of the week (4A, 4B, 4C, 4D and 4E options). You choose two options from these five blocks, but no more than one for any block.

Once enrolment opens in August, you choose the options that you wish to study in final year. Please note that the list of offered Honours options changes slightly each year as options are introduced, withdrawn or moved to a different block; therefore, options you see in your MyCampus My Requirements report may not be available for you to choose when you reach final year.

Available option choices:

You do not have a free choice when choosing options. The following factors determine which options you can take.

Each programme specifies which options are compulsory and recommended for that programme. You must choose options which satisfy the stated Requirements for your programme.

In addition, each option specifies restrictions on admission (“Requirements of Entry” or “Enrolment Requirements”) to ensure that only students with the necessary academic background can enrol on that option. A few options allow any Life Sciences final-year student to enrol while other options only accept enrolment from students registered for a particular programme or set of programmes (for example Behavioural Ecology 4B option specifies the following: “Normally, only available to final-year Life Sciences students in the Animal Biology group programmes”).

A few options require you to apply in advance during Year 3. You cannot take one of these options if you have not been approved in advance. Currently, these are:

Tropical Marine Biology (with Field Course) 4Y option

Marine Mammal Biology (with Field Course) 4Y option

Ecology & Conservation of African Ecosystems (with Field Course) 4Y option

Investigating Biological Function 4B option

Most options limit the number of students that may enrol. For many options, the limit is around 30 students but some options have a lower or higher limit on class size. Enrolment is on a first-come, first-served basis.

An option may be cancelled if too few students wish to do it or if there are other circumstances which mean an option cannot run.

Honours Project or Dissertation

You undertake a piece of independent work in final year, either a project or a dissertation. University regulations stipulate that you MUST obtain at least D3 in the “independent work” course for an Honours degree to be awarded.

During Year 3, you choose which type of final-year project you would like to do. There are four types of project within the Life Sciences portfolio:

Investigative (both laboratory-based “wet” projects and traditional “dry” projects)

Dissertation

Outreach (both School and Public Engagement)

Internship *

* Although the Internship type of project is available in theory to students on any programme, this will depend on internships being offered which are suitable to the programme. Until now, internships have only been available to students in Physiology & Sports Science.

The type of project you are allocated determines which project course you enrol on in MyCampus.

It may not be possible to allocate projects in line with your aspirations but staff seek to maximise each student’s preference. Your grades from Year 3 may be taken into account when project allocations are being made.

If you are a student in the Animal Biology Group (Marine & Freshwater Biology or Zoology), you are encouraged to think up possible projects yourself. However, you must find a member of staff willing to act as your supervisor.

Please refer to the current session’s Project Course Information Document for more information.

Enrolling on appropriate final-year courses

The structure of the final-year curriculum is more complex than Year 3. Therefore, it is very important that you use the guidance in MyCampus My Requirements to enrol on appropriate courses. Read the information carefully and ensure than none of the sections on My Requirements are labelled “Not Satisfied”.