Physiology

The Physiology Honours course is an advanced course of study and practical skill development; it provides an opportunity to experience the life of a biomedical researcher. The honours program consists of course work and a laboratory-based research project. The main emphasis is on the latter. There is also a strong emphasis on learning to critically evaluate scientific publications, and learning to present your research findings to a wide audience. Therefore, the course provides valuable real-world skills that are relevant and valuable preparation for a diverse range of professions, not solely for biomedical research.

The Honours year provides students with the opportunity to integrate their previous science or technology studies with advanced studies in their biomedicine field of interest, and focus their knowledge, skills and intellect on an exciting piece of original research.

Each program comprises two components:

• The advanced coursework component provides opportunities for increasing students’ depth of knowledge in their particular areas of interest and expanding the theoretical basis on which they will undertake their research work. It provides students with the opportunity to develop expertise in the broad scientific field(s) in which their individual research project is placed, including the methodologies of the relevant field(s), and the use of the scientific literature in their specialist area of study.
• The research project provides students with the opportunity to apply their knowledge and technical skills in a supervised research project and develop skills in experimental design, project implementation and in the communication of the outcomes of a research project. The project develops students’ technical and data acquisition skills, their problem-solving and critical thinking capacities in the context of research, their skills in communicating to a variety of audiences and the application of appropriate risk assessment and ethical approval processes.

Honours also develops students’ capacity for independent study and research that will help develop maturity and skills for transition to employment in a range of occupations and industries or a research higher degree.

The Honours program consists of 100 credit points completed over 12 months full time comprising of two (2) Advanced Coursework subjects and a Research Project.

To be awarded Honours with a specialisation in Physiology, students must successfully complete the following:

• BIOM40001 - Introduction to Biomedical Research (12.5 points)
• PHYS90008 - Advanced Seminars in Physiology (12.5 points)
• PHYS40005 and PHYS40006 - Physiology Research Project (75 points)

There are no elective subjects in this Honours program.

Coursework Component

Students must complete 25 credit points of advanced coursework subjects. This is achieved by enrolling in the following subjects in the appropriate semesters.

Research Component

Students must complete a total of 75 credit points of research across the duration of the Honours program. This is achieved by enrolling in a combination of the following subjects in the appropriate semesters.