Honours and Masters

Welcome potential research Honours and Master students.

Our research-project based courses take advantage of the extensive scientific research done in the Department of Paediatric and by our partners, the Murdoch Childrens Research Institute (MCRI) and the Royal Children's Hospital (RCH), enabling us to provide a unique opportunity for students to join multi-disciplinary research teams conducting laboratory, clinical and public health research.

Our Honours program has been carefully developed to provide students with advanced coursework and research projects focussed on the molecular biology of human development and disease.  The advanced lectures have been carefully prepared to provide a detailed and integrated biochemical and genetic knowledge of topics within this focus area.  The majority of lecturers have PhD degrees and most have had significant undergraduate and postgraduate teaching experience.

Read more about the research projects that will be offered in 2023.

Interested in studying Honours or a Master of Biomedical Science degree in 2023? Want to experience working in a professional hospital and research environment? Interested in improving child health?

If this sounds like you, we would love to have you join us for our 2022 Virtual Student Information Session on Tuesday 30 August from 5.00 pm onwards. Please register so we know to expect you at this webinar. (Use  zoom link password 166167)

You will have the opportunity to hear from our coordinator to find out about the programs and coursework, as well as from our current and former students.

Based within the Royal Children's Hospital, the Department of Paediatrics and the Murdoch Children's Research Institute collaborate to offer an array of research projects to Honours and Masters students. We offer lab-based, clinical and population health projects and a supportive learning environment with plenty of professional development opportunities.

Subject to Covid restrictions, there will be an opportunity for an onsite ‘meet-and-greet’ with supervisors at MCRI on Tuesday 6th September – details will be available in the MCRI website and will be emailed to all attendees of the webinar.

For more information, visit https://www.mcri.edu.au/students/honours-students

Prospective student can enrol in any of the following degrees in the Department of Paediatrics:

Research Projects and Supervision

  • Research projects offered by individual research groups within the department have been overseen by the Honours Committee
  • All projects address fundamental scientific questions
  • The Department of Paediatrics and MCRI have major basic research programs attracting external peer-reviewed funding in excess of $5 million a year. This research effort is substantially larger than that of many other departments and offers students a wide choice of supervisor, topics and technical repertoire
  • Supervisors have extensive experience in research and graduate supervision and student assessment
  • Supervisors are mostly full-time researchers with a limited teaching load and more time to devote to student supervision
  • A vigorous seminar program is in place, comprising at least weekly formal lectures from external invited speakers or researchers from within the hospital
  • After the conclusion of the coursework component, students completed a questionnaire assessing both the content and delivery of the lecture material. Students judged the course to be stimulating and highly relevant
  • Students assessed the coursework challenging, but not too hard

Subjects You'll be Studying

Students enrolled in the Department of Paediatrics Honours program will be enrolled in the following subjects:

Key Contacts

General Enquiries GR-MC@unimelb.edu.au
Carmen Van Tiggel +61 3 9345 7021
Helen D'Cruz +61 3 9345 6671 
Belinda McClarenBelinda.mcclaren@unimelb.edu.au