Welcome Message – MSc Global Biodiversity Conservation - Aisling Devine
Dear Students,
A very warm welcome to Swansea University and to the MSc Global Biodiversity Conservation programme!
My name is Dr Aisling Devine, and I am the Programme Director for the MSc programme. I’ll be responsible for ensuring your time with us runs smoothly, and that you have the best possible student experience. I’ll also be here to help support your transition into postgraduate study and guide you through your academic journey over the coming year.
We’re really looking forward to welcoming you in person and integrating you into our Biosciences department. During Welcome Week, you’ll take part in an induction session where you'll meet fellow students and key staff. We’ll also be holding a range of biosciences-related social and academic events throughout the year to help you feel part of our community right from the start.
Throughout the programme, you’ll engage with lectures, fieldwork, and hands-on practical sessions delivered by world-leading researchers in biodiversity and conservation. You will also be assigned an academic tutor who will support your personal and academic development as you progress through your postgraduate studies.
If you have any questions ahead of your arrival, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with me on a.p.devine@swansea.ac.uk.
We can't wait to meet you and welcome you into the Department of Biosciences
Best wishes,
Aisling
Welcome Message – MSc Marine Restoration and Conservation - Aisling Devine
Dear Students,
A very warm welcome to Swansea University, and to the MSc Marine Restoration and Conservation programme!
My name is Dr Aisling Devine, and I am the Programme Director for this course. I’ll be responsible for ensuring everything runs smoothly and that you have an excellent student experience throughout your time with us. I’m also here to help support your transition to postgraduate study and guide you through the exciting year ahead.
We are especially excited to welcome you to this brand-new programme—a world-first MSc focused specifically on marine restoration. You are joining us at a pivotal moment in marine science, as the UN has declared this decade, the decade for ecosystem restoration.
You’ll have the opportunity to explore vital concepts in marine restoration and conservation through lectures, fieldwork, lab sessions, and boat-based practical work. Our teaching is delivered by world-leading researchers and practitioners in marine science, ensuring you receive cutting-edge knowledge and hands-on experience throughout the year.
During Welcome Week, you’ll take part in an induction session to meet your fellow students and key academic staff. We’ll also be holding a range of marine and biosciences-related social and academic events to help you settle in, build connections, and feel fully part of our departmental community.
You’ll also be assigned an academic tutor who will support you throughout the programme and help guide your academic and personal development as a postgraduate student.
If you have any questions before you arrive, please feel free to contact me on a.p.devine@swansea.ac.uk
Once again, welcome—we can't wait to meet you and begin this exciting year together.
With best wishes,
Aisling
Welcome from the MRes Programme Director - Dr Konstans Wells
A very warm welcome to the Master of Research (MRes) in Biosciences at Swansea University. I am delighted to welcome you to the programme and to what I hope will be an exciting, challenging and rewarding year.
Whether you are joining us through Behavioural Ecology and Evolution, Biodiversity and Ecosystems, Marine and Freshwater Systems, or Natural Products and Environmental Resources, you are also becoming part of a much broader Biosciences research community. One of the strengths of our MRes is this breadth: your project will allow you to develop depth and expertise in a particular area, but I encourage you to remain curious about the science happening around you. Ideas, methods and unexpected connections do not always respect subject boundaries!
The MRes is a little different from the university experience you may have had so far. You are joining us not simply as a student attending classes, but increasingly as an independent postgraduate researcher. That means taking greater ownership of your learning: asking questions, exploring ideas, developing your research interests and, ultimately, designing and carrying out your own research project.
But independent does not mean isolated. Research thrives on conversations with fellow MRes students, supervisors, researchers, technical staff and academics. Look beyond your immediate project and pathway: talk to people working on different organisms, environments, questions and approaches. Some of the most useful parts of your year may come from discussing an idea, hearing about someone else’s research, encountering an unfamiliar technique, or discovering a connection you had not previously considered. Developing a focused research project while remaining part of this wider intellectual community is at the heart of the MRes experience.
Your induction programme is the starting point for this transition. Whether you have studied previously at Swansea or are joining us from further afield, induction will help you understand how the MRes works, what the year ahead will look like, and where to find academic, technical and administrative support within the Faculty of Science and Engineering (FSE).
Following induction, you will begin three taught modules that provide core skills for postgraduate research, including research methods, data analysis and scientific writing. These will support you as you explore potential research areas, meet academics and discuss possible projects and supervisors. From January to September, your research project will become the main focus of your MRes, giving you the opportunity to put those skills into practice through an extended period of independent research, culminating in your dissertation and viva.
Please make the most of the induction programme and attend all scheduled activities, particularly the MRes programme induction and the health and safety sessions, which are essential preparation for your research project. And please do not overlook the social activities. Meeting your course mates and members of the academic community is not an optional extra to becoming a researcher; making connections and exchanging ideas are part of research itself!
As Programme Director, I am here throughout the year, so please get in touch if you have questions, concerns or simply want to talk something through. There is no need to wait until a small issue becomes a big one. My metaphorical door is always open – though an email is safer than running into the real one!
Most importantly, be curious, ask questions, make connections and look beyond the boundaries of your own project. Your MRes is an opportunity to develop expertise in a focused area while seeing how your research fits into the much bigger picture. Across the breadth of Biosciences, we may study very different organisms, systems and questions, but we share a common purpose: to understand the natural world and use that understanding to help shape better futures.
We look forward to meeting you, hearing about your interests and ideas, and welcoming you into our postgraduate research community.
Welcome to the MRes in Biosciences – explore widely and deeply and enjoy the year ahead!
Dr Konstans Wells
Programme Director, MRes Bioscience
https://www.swansea.ac.uk/staff/k.l.wells/
