Mobile menu icon
Mobile menu icon Search iconSearch
Search type

Doctoral Academy Mandatory Training Programme

Our training programme is delivered in partnership with the University's Researcher Development Team and provides foundation and intermediate level training at key stages of your postgraduate research degree to ensure timely completion, generic skills development and increased future employability.

The training programmes listed below are not mandatory for students on Nursing, Midwifery and Social Work pathways.

Mandatory Biosafety Training for lab-based research

For any postgraduate researchers in the Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health who are doing lab-based research with biological agents and genetically modified organisms, you must complete the specific training module in Blackboard.

Who is it for?

All new PGR students doing lab work with biological agents and genetically modified organisms (GMOs) must complete this training. Note, it is not a replacement for face-to-face training and supervision for lab experiments with biological agents and GMOs.

What does it cover?

Biosafety and why it’s needed for lab work using pathogens, cell cultures, clinical samples, and genetically modified organisms. Covers legal framework; hazard groups; GM classification; containment levels; routes of transmission; controls; microbiological safety cabinets; Schedule 5 pathogens/toxins; and the FBMH approval process for GM/BioCOSHH risk assessments.

There is a quiz so you can test your knowledge, and a download with links to guides for writing GM and BioCOSHH risk assessments.

How do I access it?

The biosafety awareness course can be accessed via Blackboard under “Organisations / FBMH Health and Safety Training Resources”

How long does it take?

Approximately one hour. Users can access content whenever they want. Users progress through slides at their own pace. Users can stop and resume later.

If you have queries about any of the training...

If any training that you have completed doesn't show up on your training catalogue within a week of you completing it, please email us at resdev@ds.man.ac.uk.

For any issues with eProg, contact your administrator in the Doctoral Academy. 

If your Blackboard Health and Safety modules still aren't showing ten working days after completion, please contact the Doctoral Academy: FBMH.doctoralacademy.support@manchester.ac.uk.