======= Date Modified 06 May 2012 20:13:18 =======
I've got an admit for the MRes in Biochem program at the Imperial College, London and needed some advice about the course, its value and its future prospects.
As an alternative, I have an admit from University of Freiburg, Germany for a MS/PhD program in Biomedical Science.

On one hand, the German course is better since it has both theory n practical (vs Imperial MRes: only lab rotations), however Imperial has a better reputation.

What are the chances of getting a PhD in Imperial after the MRes? Additionally, job prospects after MRes? (I believe getting a job/work permit for International students is next to impossible)

Any biochemists out there that can help?

Heya,

I done the MRes in Biochemical Research at Imperial last year, and along with two other people from that course, I am now doing a Ph.D at Cambridge. Overall I would say that the vast majority my class of around 20 are currently doing Ph.D's (I guess over 75%); with a large proportion (around 25%) staying at Imperial for their Ph.D. You can attend any lectures you want while you're at the university, so you can incorporate additional study if you wish. However 4 months is a very short period to obtain the expected level of data, so you may not have time. The focus on research may be a benefit because it means that you are very well prepared for experimental work and it is recognised as equivalent to a 2 year masters in Europe.

I would recommend this MRes, however, all of the biochem funding competitions at Imperial are for 1+3 year Ph.D's, so if you do an MRes there, you become illegible for these competitions. Please note from the above stats that about 10% were on the 1+3 program. I hope this helps!

In regards to work visa, you would have no problem in getting a visa for a Ph.D and then post-doc. You would however have problems getting visas for 'normal' jobs.