About us

Internationally recognised for the quality of teaching and world-leading research, the Department of Biological Sciences at Royal Holloway is a dynamic and friendly place to study. We currently admit around 180 undergraduate students each year and about 50-60 postgraduate research students across a wide variety of laboratory and field-based research training courses.

As a vibrant scientific community, our active research programme is based on four overlapping research themes: Healthy Ageing and Molecular Medicine; Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services; Sustainable Engineering and Food Security; and Data and Technology Resources. The department is also host to the Institute of Cardiovascular Research and Centre for Systems and Synthetic Biology and the Centre of Gene and Cell Therapy.

Our research is funded by Research Councils, charities, government agencies, a wide range of other commercial, environmental and research organisations. Research collaborations take place through projects right across the department. Our widely published research teams are well known for pioneering work in molecular genetics, gene and cell therapy, our research into bipolar disorder, evolutionary and conservation ecology, biodiversity, mathematical epidemiology, plant biotechnology and seed biology. Our postgraduate research students regularly report their research findings, both nationally and internationally in symposia and publications.

To learn more about the postgraduate degree opportunities offered by the Biological Sciences department, please visit the department's Postgraduate research page.

We sometimes make changes to our courses to improve your experience. If this happens, we’ll let you know as soon as possible.

Research facilities and environment

Our department has a wide range of research facilities including cutting-edge molecular and biochemical tools, and we are located on a beautiful campus with extensive areas of natural habitat for fieldwork. We’re also a short distance from Sites of Special Scientific Interest, with sites of national scientific importance right on our doorstep such as Windsor Great Park and Chobham Common, and Box Hill nearby.

Research groups in the department have active interdisciplinary collaborations with numerous industrial partners in NHS, pharmaceutical and agrochemical companies and with many academic institutions and universities in UK and worldwide. Explore our research themes, centres and institutes here.

Assessment

Master of Philosophy (MPhil) involves two calendar years of full-time period study or the part-time equivalent. Assessment for the award is on the basis of a written thesis consisting of the candidate's own account of his/her investigations and an oral examination. The length of the Thesis shall not exceed 60,000 words.

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) involves between two and three calendar years of full-time period study or the part-time equivalent. Assessment for the award is on the basis of a written thesis consisting of the candidate's own account of his/her investigations and an oral examination. The length of the Thesis shall not exceed 100,000 words.

Entry requirements

Applicants should have, or expect to be awarded, a First or Upper Second Class Honours Degree or MSc in an appropriate biological discipline.

All members of academic staff can accept suitably qualified PhD students who we select for our studentships, or who have alternative means of support. To learn more about the research interests and activities of our staff, please visit our relevant research group pages on our research web section.

Before applying we recommend securing a supervisor in order to apply for your research project.

Once you have identified a potential supervisor, please email the relevant group contact to discuss available projects, your qualifications and skills and if spaces are available to accommodate you. Contact details can be found in the staff directory on our website.

English language requirements

All teaching at Royal Holloway is in English. You will therefore need to have good enough written and spoken English to cope with your studies right from the start.

The scores we require

IELTS: 6.5 overall. Writing 7.0. No other subscore lower than 5.5
Pearson Test of English: 67 overall. Writing 76 no other subscore lower than 59.
Trinity College London Integrated Skills in English (ISE): ISE III
Cambridge English: Advanced (CAE) grade C.
TOEFL iBT: 88 overall, with Reading 18 Listening 17 Speaking 20 Writing 26.
Duolingo: 120 overall, 135 in Literacy, 135 in Production and no sub-score below 100.

Country-specific requirements

For more information about country-specific entry requirements for your country please see here.

Your future career

Our graduates have entered into a wide range of interesting careers, within academia and beyond, including Post-Doctoral and Lecturer positions in Academia in the UK and abroad, staff scientist positions in pharmaceutical and other private sector companies, biopharmaceutical consultancy, a range of managerial and marketing positions, Clinical trials coordinators, Editorial positions with science publishers to name a few.

Fees & funding

Home (UK) students tuition fee per year*: £5,006

EU and International students tuition fee per year**: £29,700

Other essential costs***: Lab based projects attract additional Lab fees (Bench fees) and other projects may also incur similar fees. These are in addition to the standard tuition fees. Such Lab fees are project-dependent and applicants should ask the project leader/supervisor for further details.

…How do I pay for it? Find out more about funding options, including loans, grants, scholarships and bursaries. 

* and ** These tuition fees apply to students enrolled on a full-time basis in the academic year 2025/26.

* This figure is the fee for the academic year 2025/26 and is shown as a guide.Please note that for research courses, we adopt the minimum fee level recommended by the UK Research Councils for the Home tuition fee. Each year, the fee level is adjusted in line with inflation (currently, the measure used is the Treasury GDP deflator). Fees displayed here are therefore subject to change and are usually confirmed in the spring of the year of entry. For more information on the Research Council Indicative Fee please see the UKRI website.

** This figure is the fee for EU and international students enrolled on a full-time basis in the academic year 2026/27. 

Royal Holloway reserves the right to increase fees for all students annually. For further information see fees and funding.

*** These estimated costs relate to studying this particular degree at Royal Holloway during the 2026/27 academic year. Costs, such as accommodation, food, books and other learning materials and printing, have not been included. 