A degree in biochemistry, cell and molecular biology opens more doors than most students realise. What distinguishes graduates who move smoothly into their next step is rarely their grades alone — it is the experience they accumulated while still studying.

Use your long vacations

The break between academic years is the single best opportunity to gain hands-on experience. Options on and around campus include the research centres and institutes of the University of Ghana and the wider Legon and Korle Bu research community. Off campus, consider hospital and clinical laboratories, quality assurance and production laboratories in food, beverage and pharmaceutical companies, agricultural and veterinary laboratories, water and environmental testing laboratories, and regulatory bodies.

Apply early — well before the semester ends — and apply widely. A short, clear letter stating your level, your programme, the dates you are available and what you hope to learn is far more effective than a long one.

Research attachments within the Department

Faculty research groups sometimes take on undergraduate volunteers outside the formal project period. This is one of the most valuable things you can do: you learn techniques properly, you build a relationship with a potential referee, and you find out what research life is actually like. Ask.

Build skills that travel

• Data and computing: basic statistics plus a working knowledge of R or Python is increasingly expected, and essential if bioinformatics interests you.
• Scientific writing and presentation: the ability to explain your work clearly is what gets you funded, hired and published.
• Core laboratory competence: pipetting accuracy, solution preparation, sterile technique, PCR and electrophoresis, and honest record keeping.

Where graduates go

Alumni of the Department work in biomedical and agricultural research, clinical and diagnostic laboratories, public health and disease surveillance, the food and pharmaceutical industries, quality assurance and regulation, science education, and science communication and policy. Many continue to graduate study — MSc, MPhil and PhD programmes in the Department itself, or abroad — and a number go on to medicine and other professional degrees.

If postgraduate study is the plan

Look at the Department’s own graduate programmes, and watch for scholarship calls — these have firm deadlines and usually require references, transcripts and a research statement prepared in advance. Start assembling those documents a semester before you need them, not the week the call closes.