Research excellence

One of the oldest centres for medical and veterinary medical research in the UK, the College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine is also one of the most dynamic and progressive. The College’s reputation as one of the world’s leading centres of medical and veterinary medical research has been reaffirmed by its UK REF2014 results where it again achieved an outstanding UK research assessment: Medicine was ranked in the top 5 in the UK, Veterinary Medicine came 1st in the UK and Neuroscience was ranked 3rd in the UK out of 82 submissions. Overall, 84% of the College’s research activity was rated world leading or internationally excellent (3* and 4*).

Stepping stone to PhD

We offer six different Masters by Research programmes, each providing thorough training in a particular discipline through original investigation and experiment. Many of our programmes allow you to work in different laboratories throughout the year, letting you explore whether research in that area is a suitable career path for you. Students graduate with an excellent grounding in research, and the majority continue on to a PhD, either at Edinburgh or elsewhere.

Transferable skills training

All of the degree programmes listed below include a 'taught' element - which means that in addition to working on specialist research projects, you will participate in core skills training, lectures, workshops and tutorials, broadening your understanding of research and giving you a suite of transferable skills to use in your future career, whether in industry or academia.