My name is Will Palin.
I'm a Professor in Biomedical Materials Science,
so a lot of my job is actually research.
I'm very interested in research and development of dental materials,
but also materials for other biomedical applications.
So we spend a lot of time
in our state of the art laboratory working towards that cause.
I'm actually also Programme Director for this postgraduate taught programme,
so I'm going to give you a little bit of information on the course itself.
As I was saying before, my job is research.
And for most departments at the University of Birmingham,
our teaching is research led.
So all our research, our findings informs the things that we that we teach
so it keeps it very up to date, state of the art and emerging technologies.
And we keep our ethos for this particular postgraduate training course.
That said, we also have
state of the art labs that, that
actually work with that,
and it's delivered by world leading experts.
So we have a number of lecturers and tutors
that are internationally renowned within dentistry
and within the dental materials science field.
And we're also very fortunate to have
a pretty brand new building.
We have the first new dental school
and hospital in the UK, for, for over 40 years.
We've been here about three and a half - four years now
and it's really it's a fantastic facility.
There's a few images you can see there of the building
on the bottom right.
You can see we're actually very close to the main campus.
University of Birmingham is unique in that it has a fairly unique.
It's one of the very few campuses in the UK and across the world
really that have all of their departments within one single campus.
And it's really a beautiful, beautiful, campus.
Redbrick And we're about 10 minutes walk from the centre there
and you can see Old Joe, which is the large clocktower.
That's
where the University of
Birmingham is very famous for that.
So we train about 600 students.
We have undergraduate in dentistry obviously,
but we also have a three year course in biomaterials.
We also train dental hygienists and we have several
postgraduate taught courses.
This one really in materials
science was designed for dentists
and those affiliated with dentistry
in order for them to build their knowledge of dental materials
and also for those that are interested in
a research career or an academic clinical research career.
So we again, emphasis is on, on research
training throughout, the throughout, the curriculum.
We're quite fortunate again being close to the main campus.
So our course is multidisciplinary.
So although our core work
is around the use of materials and dentistry,
obviously materials science is a multidisciplinary field.
So we, we, collaborate with many different departments within the university.
And these are just some, some, examples here and we're very close to those.
We also have strong collaborative links with other medical departments,
the QE Hospital and the medical school itself.
So specifically for the course,
it's divided into seven separate modules.
So these are separate and consecutive.
So this actually allows part-time options.
It also allows CPD.
And if you didn't want to do a master's or if you wanted to do it
over a longer period, then you could start with a PG Cert
or PG Diploma and build up the modules that way.
So we designed it so, it's, it's flexible
for international students and those that are
professional dentists already.
So the first module is mandatory.
So this kind of gets everyone to the same level
foundation in material science so that this kind of teaches
the principles of, of material science and its application towards dentistry.
And then going on from that, we focus on the different
materials systems that are involved with all aspects
of dentistry and allied dental health care.
We also have, I would say, multidisciplinary approach
to the interaction of materials with the biological environment
is very important, especially for modern materials and emerging technologies.
So, you know, there's a big emphasis and so there should be on
not just only filling holes and filling cavities, but also
making sure that they're a bit more synergistic.
They offer some ability to regenerate tissue.
So there is opportunity there to work in emerging technologies
for development of materials that do such a thing.
And then also we talk about the technologies that are emerging
that are potentially very exciting for the future of dentistry.
So these modules all build
to the final research project, which is a three month,
three month duration.
This is a 60 credit module,
and all of these modules are delivered at the dental school.
So again, we're quite unique
in the UK of a similar course is perhaps
don't have a core focus on dental material science.
We might do a few dental applications,
but then their modules are sent out to other departments in the university,
which may not, may or may not be so specific to the dental application.
We use our facility and our expert teaching knowledge
to deliver content specifically for dental materials.
So there's no bolt, bolt, ons or
irrelevant information
that's, that's, delivered.
So that's quite a modern way, a modern approach of teaching.
We, we, adopt a blended teaching approach.
So what I mean by that is we have different ways of delivering
the content, delivering the curricula, and that helps
you know all students
learn, to all learn, in different ways.
So instead of just
standard didactic
delivery of lectures and tutorials, we, we mix it up a bit.
We have weekly seminars, so-called flipped classroom approach,
which really puts the emphasis on, on, to the student.
It allows a deeper learning approach.
So what that means really is we set the scene at the beginning of a week in a seminar
where we restate the problem, we introduce the theories.
Halfway through the week, you then go into the lab
and you actually practice those theories into practice
and experiment
with materials that actually coincide
and help you learn about the theories that we're trying to teach.
And then at the end of the week, we come back to a seminar
and we actually then go over any areas that you're not too clear on.
We try and round up, some of the, some of the theory and some of the science.
So we foster robust critical analysis.
So critical appraisal of of previous research.
We have a lot of emphasis on learning research
techniques, on, on modern equipment.
This year, we've just developed
a key virtual learning environment tools.
So we actually have online interactive tutorials
that help to teach you
standard experimental techniques.
So then when you do that to the lab, it's becomes a little bit
more familiar.
So in terms of entry, we require
experience in dentistry of some sort, a Bachelor
of Dental Surgery degree or equivalent relevant qualification.
It's essential.
It doesn't have to be specifically Dentistry.
It can be an allied field.
So we look for experience in Physical or Biomedical Sciences
and those that are really interested in a research career.
Or it might be for already qualified dentists that are looking
to increase our research, excuse me, research experience.
We have a lot of international students that come in.
They pick up all the research techniques and skills.
They come away with a very good qualification from an
internationally reputed institution,
and they go back to that host institution and then
disseminate their own knowledge and teach other people
the research techniques that they've learned here.
We do have a high international intake
and of course with that you are required to meet English language qualifications.
So it is an IELTS, IELTS,
score of 6.5 on average with no less than six in every skill.
And the MSc actually begins
at the end of September every year.
So that's about it for me.
You can find additional information from our dedicated website
or you can email them to our dental materials mailbox any questions that you might have.