Bachelor of Science in Biomedical and Molecular Sciences
The pandemic showed what it costs a continent to manufacture almost none of its own biological products and to depend on distant laboratories for diagnosis and research. Biomedical and molecular science is the foundation beneath diagnostics, biomanufacturing, drug development and modern clinical ...
Employment thesis
What this programme is designed to produce
Forward publishes the destination of every programme before you enrol. If the thesis stops holding, the programme is reviewed and, where necessary, retired. Next review: 2032.
Roles
- Biomedical scientist
- molecular laboratory scientist
- diagnostics scientist
- quality control scientist
- research scientist
- biomanufacturing technologist
- clinical laboratory specialist
- technical founder
Employer types
- Clinical and diagnostic laboratories
- biomanufacturing and pharmaceutical firms
- research institutes and universities
- public health and reference laboratories
- biotechnology firms
- regulators and standards bodies
- international health organisations
- hospitals
- the graduate's own venture, incubated through the Forward Venture Studio
Target outcomes we hold ourselves to
- This programme targets strong graduate compensation in health and biomanufacturing and supports research and industry careers. Progression routes include the MSc in Bioinformatics and Genomic Medicine and doctoral study.
Compulsory · The Forward Core
How the Core works →Every Forward programme, including this one, carries the same five cross-cutting requirements. They are graded, not optional.
- AI Fluency
- Quantitative Reasoning
- Ethics and African Context
- Human-Advantage Skills
- Enterprise
Includes 12 months paid work-integrated learning
Students complete COP 190 Workplace Immersion in the Year 1 recess term, COP 290 Co-operative Education Placement I (six months, paid, assessed) and COP 390 Co-operative Education Placement II (six months, paid, assessed), totalling not fewer than twelve months. Placement hosts are contracted by the Co-operative Education Office. The employer completes a structured capability assessment carrying 40 to 50 per cent of the placement mark and signs the capability claims that enter the Capability Passport. Online students are placed with accredited hosts in their own city or country under remote academic supervision, or have their existing employment accredited as the placement site under Part D4. Read the co-op commitment
Am I eligible?
Check yourself against the published requirements
7 questions written specifically for Bachelor of Science in Biomedical and Molecular Sciences. Every answer is checked against a requirement Forward has published, and the result tells you which page that requirement comes from. Indicative only, the admissions office decides on your full file.
What is the highest qualification you hold or are completing?
Curriculum structure
The same degree, in both pathways
Every Forward programme is published in both pathways: Path One, the term plan of two six-month terms, and Path Two, the block sequence of twelve four-week blocks. Same competencies, same assessments, same award. Toggle to see this programme in each.
Path One term plan shown
Path One · The Term Model
| Code | Course | CU | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| FDC 101 | AI Fluency I: How Intelligent Systems Work Both | 4 | 2-2-0 |
| BBMS 110 | Cell Biology and Biochemistry Performance | 5 | 2-2-4 |
| BBMS 111 | General and Organic Chemistry Objective | 4 | 3-2-0 |
| BBMS 112 | Programming and Data for Life Sciences Both | 5 | 3-2-2 |
| BBMS 113 | Human Anatomy and Physiology Both | 4 | 2-2-2 |
| Code | Course | CU | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| FDC 102 | Quantitative Reasoning and Evidence Both | 4 | 2-2-0 |
| BBMS 130 | Introduction to Laboratory Science Performance | 5 | 2-2-4 |
| BBMS 131 | Molecular Biology and Genetics Both | 5 | 3-2-2 |
| BBMS 132 | Microbiology and Immunology Objective | 4 | 3-2-0 |
| BBMS 133 | Analytical Biochemistry Both | 4 | 2-2-2 |
| COP 190 | Workplace Immersion (4 weeks, recessterm) Performance | 0 | 0-0-0 |
| Code | Course | CU | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| FDC 201 | Ethics, Society and the African Context Both | 4 | 2-2-0 |
| BBMS 210 | Laboratory Quality and Biosafety Performance | 5 | 2-2-4 |
| BBMS 211 | Statistics for Life Sciences Both | 4 | 2-2-2 |
| BBMS 212 | Medical Microbiology and Diagnostics Performance | 4 | 2-2-4 |
| BBMS 213 | Molecular Diagnostics and Techniques Both | 5 | 3-2-2 |
| Code | Course | CU | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| FDC 202 | Human Advantage: Argument, Writing and Teams Both | 4 | 2-2-0 |
| COP 290 | Co-operative Education Placement I (6 months) Performance | 10 | 0-0-0 |
| BBMS 230 | Haematology and Clinical Chemistry Performance | 6 | 3-2-4 |
| BBMS 231 | Genomics and Sequencing Both | 2 | 1-0-2 |
| Code | Course | CU | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| FDC 301 | AI Fluency II: Building, Evaluating and Auditing Both | 4 | 2-2-0 |
| BBMS 310 | Immunodiagn ostics and Serology Performance | 6 | 3-2-4 |
| BBMS 311 | Bioprocess and Biomanufacturing Fundamentals Performance | 5 | 2-2-4 |
| BBMS 312 | Bioinformatics and Data Analysis Performance | 5 | 2-2-4 |
| BBMS 313 | Histopathology and Cytology Both | 2 | 1-0-2 |
| Code | Course | CU | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| FDC 302 | Enterprise, Employability and Financial Literacy Both | 4 | 2-2-0 |
| COP 390 | Co-operative Education Placement II (6 months) Performance | 10 | 0-0-0 |
| BBMS 330 | Instrumentation and Laboratory Automation Performance | 5 | 2-2-4 |
| BBMS 331 | Research Methods and Project Management Both | 3 | 1-2-2 |
| Code | Course | CU | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| FDC 401 | AI Fluency III: Domain Deployment, Governance and Assurance Both | 3 | 1-2-0 |
| BBMS 410 | Diagnostics Development and Validation Performance | 6 | 3-2-4 |
| BBMS 411 | Intelligent Laboratory and Data Systems Performance | 5 | 2-2-4 |
| BBMS 412 | Advanced Molecular and Biomedical Science Both | 4 | 2-2-2 |
| BBMS 413 | Specialisation Elective I Objective | 4 | 3-2-0 |
| Code | Course | CU | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| FDC 402 | Capability Portfolio and Day One Preparation Both | 3 | 1-2-0 |
| BBMS 430 | Biomedical Science Capstone: A Validated Assay or Investigation Performance | 9 | 0-2-16 |
| BBMS 431 | Regulation, Ethics and Standards in Biomedical Science Both | 4 | 2-2-2 |
| BBMS 432 | Specialisation Elective II Objective | 3 | 2-2-0 |
| BBMS 433 | Professional Practice and Laboratory Leadership Objective | 3 | 2-2-0 |
Total credit units: 176
Curriculum source
Forward University Curriculum Compendium
Assessment
Assessment follows Part E without variation. Across the programme the aggregate weighting is 35 per cent continuous assessment and built artefacts, 25 per cent authentic performance including practical examination and oral defence, 30 per cent external practitioner assessment in the final year, and not more than 40 per cent written examination in any single course. The capstone is client verified and the Day One Assessment contributes 5 per cent of the final year mark. Assessment principles. Assessment is authentic, criterion referenced and, for every capability claim above Level 2, verified by someone other than the teaching lecturer. There is no compensation between competencies: a student must master each one, and a marginal performance in one cannot be offset by strength in another. Feedback is returned quickly, within seven days of a block closing in the Block Sequence, so that it can inform the next unit. A student who does not yet meet the standard is given a further, structured attempt under Part E rather than being carried forward, which protects the value of the award while supporting progression. Reasonable adjustments for disability are made under Part D without altering the competency standard.
Work-integrated learning
Students complete COP 190 Workplace Immersion in the Year 1 recess term, COP 290 Co-operative Education Placement I (six months, paid, assessed) and COP 390 Co-operative Education Placement II (six months, paid, assessed), totalling not fewer than twelve months. Placement hosts are contracted by the Co-operative Education Office. The employer completes a structured capability assessment carrying 40 to 50 per cent of the placement mark and signs the capability claims that enter the Capability Passport. Online students are placed with accredited hosts in their own city or country under remote academic supervision, or have their existing employment accredited as the placement site under Part D4.
Your week at Forward
A typical week on Bachelor of Science in Biomedical and Molecular Sciences
Path One, the Term Model: your own pace across a six-month term, one live session a week, short flexible lessons, and assessment on demand.
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Curriculum explorer
Drill into the degree, step by step
Choose a study path, then a year, then a term or block, then a course. Credit totals add up as you go, and every course shows what comes before it and what it unlocks.
Step 1, choose a year
Step 2, choose a term
TERM 1 (SIX MONTHS) | FORMERLY YEAR 1, SEMESTER 1 | YEAR 1 | 22
Year 1 · this step is worth 22 CU
Cumulative
22
Programme total
176
22 CU of 176 CU completed by the end of this step (13%)
Step 3, choose a course
Pick a course to see the detail
Credits, assessment, prerequisites and what each course unlocks later.
The twelve Forward capabilities
What this programme develops in you
Every Forward degree develops the same twelve cross-cutting capabilities. The profile below is the level this programme is designed to develop and verify by graduation, on the four-level scale in Part B2 of the Curriculum Compendium. Every claim above Level 2 is verified by someone other than the teaching lecturer.
- C1Intelligent Systems FluencyLevel 3 of 4, Independent
- C2Quantitative and Evidential Reasoning CriticalLevel 4 of 4, Leading
- C3Ethical and Contextual JudgementLevel 4 of 4, Leading
- C4Communication and PersuasionLevel 3 of 4, Independent
- C5Disciplinary Mastery CriticalLevel 4 of 4, Leading
- C6Technical Production and Craft CriticalLevel 4 of 4, Leading
- C7Problem Framing and Systems ThinkingLevel 4 of 4, Leading
- C8Collaboration and Multidisciplinary TeamingLevel 3 of 4, Independent
- C9Enterprise, Value and Commercial LiteracyLevel 3 of 4, Independent
- C10Professional Conduct and Workplace PerformanceLevel 3 of 4, Independent
- C11Learning to Learn and Adaptive CapacityLevel 4 of 4, Leading
- C12Stewardship and Public Contribution CriticalLevel 4 of 4, Leading
Critical capabilities for this programme: Quantitative and Evidential Reasoning · Disciplinary Mastery · Technical Production and Craft · Stewardship and Public Contribution. A graduate cannot pass out of this programme below the stated level on any capability marked critical.
Programme Learning Outcomes
What you will be able to do
Each outcome is assessed, and each is tagged with the Forward capabilities it is verified against.
- PLO 1Apply the molecular and cellular basis of health and disease to a laboratory problem.
- PLO 2Perform, validate and troubleshoot core biomedical and molecular assays to standard.
- PLO 3Run a clinical or diagnostic laboratory process under quality management.
- PLO 4Design and conduct a biomedical investigation and analyse its data honestly.
- PLO 5Apply molecular techniques to diagnostics, research or biomanufacturing.
- PLO 6Analyse biomedical and molecular data, including genomic data.
- PLO 7Apply biosafety, ethics and regulation as constraints on laboratory work.
- PLO 8Apply intelligent tools to laboratory data and process improvement.
- PLO 9Cost, pitch and defend a laboratory or biomanufacturing improvement or venture.
- PLO 10Acquire and demonstrate a new capability without formal instruction, evidenced in the Capability Passport.
Why this programme exists
The pandemic showed what it costs a continent to manufacture almost none of its own biological products and to depend on distant laboratories for diagnosis and research. Biomedical and molecular science is the foundation beneath diagnostics, biomanufacturing, drug development and modern clinical laboratories, and the region trains too few scientists who can work to the standard those industries require. This programme builds the laboratory and molecular scientist who can run, validate and improve the assays and processes behind health and biomanufacturing, with the laboratory central from Year 1 and data and quality treated as part of the science.
Admission requirements
Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education with two principal passes including Biology and Chemistry; plus Uganda Certificate of Education with five passes including Mathematics, sciences and English. Applicants sit a structured reasoning task scored against Capabilities C2 and C5. All applicants must demonstrate competence in English, the language of instruction, through their qualifications or an approved proficiency test under Part A. International and non standard qualifications are assessed for equivalence against the profile above under the Credential Portability provisions, so that a suitably prepared applicant may enter from anywhere in the world. Selection considers the whole application, including the structured admission task, and is conducted without discrimination under the University's admissions policy. Alternative pathways: Foundation Year, diploma entry with advanced standing, mature age entry and recognition of prior learning, all governed by Part A5 and Part G. Online applicants additionally complete the compulsory Digital Readiness orientation under Part D6.
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