Translational Health Sciences (Taught)

The information provided on this page was correct at the time of publication (November 2025). For complete and up-to-date information about this course, please visit the relevant University of Oxford course page via www.graduate.ox.ac.uk/ucas.

The MSc in Translational Health Sciences, offered in both full- and part-time modes, explores how innovations are adopted in healthcare, focusing on behavioural, organisational, and policy challenges through interdisciplinary, applied learning.

Using innovations to meet healthcare needs is a global imperative – and one that can only become more urgent as demands on our healthcare systems increase. This applied MSc course brings robust, interdisciplinary and practice-based approaches to addressing the challenges of research translation.

The key focus will be theory and method in the downstream phases of translational health sciences – that is, the human, organisational and societal issues that influence the adoption, dissemination and mainstreaming of research discoveries. You can expect to gain a coherent overview of how different academic disciplines can inform problem-solving and guide action in translational health sciences, along with a rigorous interdisciplinary training to further develop your intellectual and research skills.

The course is ideal for researchers who want to study scientific and technological innovation in a healthcare setting and research managers looking to run clinical trials or promote the uptake of research findings. It will also assist entrepreneurs (from industry or the public sector) who seek to improve patient care through innovation and policymakers (local and national) wishing to support research and its translation to improve services. For students interested in undertaking doctoral research, the MSc will prepare them to apply for a DPhil in translational health sciences. The department expects you to have some relevant past experience in a work environment.

Course structure
You will take one compulsory module, Introduction and Research Methods for Translational Science, which you are strongly recommended to take first. You will also take five option modules and complete a dissertation.

Modules are spaced out throughout the academic year, allowing a choice of options to be taken over a year (for full-time students) or longer for students attending part-time.

Modules run over a nine-week blended learning cycle. An initial period of self-directed study is spent working on introductory activities using a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE). This is followed by a week spent in Oxford for supported face to face teaching, and then a further period of Post-Oxford activities (A mixture of self-directed and supported distance learning also delivered through the VLE). The final week of each module is for self-directed personal study, shortly followed by the assignment submission.

The teaching model aims to make full use of students’ real-world experience and diversity. Once you have covered key principles and topics, you will be encouraged to immerse yourself in case studies (some of which can be from your own experience) and to contribute actively and critically to group discussions. Your learning will be further enriched with input from visiting lectures, experts-in-residence and organisations outside academia (potential examples would include biotech and software companies, policy bodies such as NICE and patient charities).