Our postgraduate courses work with your strengths as a scientist. Whether you prefer a laboratory-based environment or lecture-centred learning, we have a postgraduate course that suits you.
We are ranked 4th in the UK and 27th worldwide for Biological Sciences in the 2022 Shanghai Ranking Global Ranking of Academic Subjects.
Research impact
88% our research was deemed "outstanding" for reach and impact in the Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2021 - the system for assessing the quality of research in the UK.
Funding
We offer a number of fully-funded studentships in a variety of research areas.
Our innovative MSc will enable you to use cutting-edge, big data platforms to tackle issues from developmental biology to disease surveillance and ecology.
Our research ranges across the biological sciences, from the understanding of precisely how neurons grow, to the mechanisms of cancer and other diseases, the molecular basis of animal and plant development and exploring the genetics of orang-utans, elephants, pandas and other endangered species.
The MRes helps to improve your research skills and may enable you to undertake a research project in the laboratory of an internationally-renowned scientist.
The Organisms and Environment research division focuses on the biology of whole organisms and their roles and interactions in changing ecosystems, in infection and health and at the genetic level.
Our postgraduate taught courses
MSc Big Data Biology
This innovative MSc Big Data Biology will enable you to use cutting-edge, big data platforms to tackle issues from developmental biology to disease surveillance and ecology.
From microbiomes, phenomes and genomes to whole ecosystems, modern biology generates a vast amount of data. The scale and nature of this information requires a new generation of scientists with the skills to harvest, analyse, manipulate and interpret big data, and to link this analysis to underlying mechanisms through mathematical and computational modelling.
MSc Global Ecology and Conservation
From the rivers of South Wales to the Bornean rainforest, our MSc in Global Ecology and Conservation covers the major conservation issues affecting various habitats across the globe.
With training in core areas, such as wildlife surveys, biodiversity assessments and species management, you will learn how to identify current and emerging threats to species and ecosystems, and develop the necessary skills to tackle these threats with effective and scalable solutions.
Our postgraduate research programmes
Our Master of Research (MRes) is a valuable postgraduate qualification is designed to help you improve and develop your skills as a scientific researcher. Our PhD and MPhil research degrees offer the freedom to investigate a cutting-edge topic in depth, working with leading researchers and enjoying access to first-class facilities.
This one-year programme will provide you with the essential skills, techniques and experience necessary to become a more competent, employable researcher. You may even have the opportunity to undertake a research project in the laboratory of an internationally-renowned scientist within the School of Biosciences.
Be part of our world-leading research, which spans the biological and biomedical sciences and is led by internationally renowned researchers. From global change to modelling and engineering living systems, the research at the School of Biosciences is making real-world impacts.
Learning from the best
Manisha is studying her PhD at the European Cancer Stem Cell Research Institute focusing on prostate cancer.
Fish hives in Tobago
During Kathryn's PhD at the School of Biosciences she led a project creating cheap and sustainable fish hives to help recover coral reefs in Tobago.
A PhD with the Otter Project
What can found dead otters teach you about contaminants, disease, and population biology across the UK? Emily is completing her PhD with Cardiff University's Otter Project, a long term environmental surveillance scheme, using otters found dead to create conservation strategies.
We are based in the Sir Martin Evans Building, which is named after our Nobel Prize-winning, founding director. Located in the centre of Cathays Park campus, we are a stone's throw away from the Centre for Student Life, main library and support services, and just a short walk from Cardiff's city centre.
Many of our postgraduate students travel to our research centre for the applied conservation of tropical ecosystems in Borneo to undertake field trips or research projects. Danau Girang is an ideal location to study biodiversity with its world-class facilities and cutting-edge technology for effective management of wildlife in fragmented landscapes.
We lead or co-lead several of the University's research institutes and centres, including the Neuroscience and Mental Health Research Institute, Medicines Discovery Institute and Water Research Institute.
Our research
Our research ranges across the biological and biomedical sciences and is led by internationally-renowned researchers using state-of-the-art facilities.
Key areas of focus include global change and its impact, molecular mechanisms of life and disease, and modelling and engineering living systems.
Our research has a real impact across many areas - from the conservation of endangered species and transforming the way freshwater ecosystems are managed to investigating new drugs for prostate cancer.