Plant responses to UV-B provide an excellent system for students to learn about the regulation of gene expression following stimulus perception. This article concerns a laboratory class for undergraduate students at the University of Glasgow that is based on molecular responses to UV-B in Arabidopsis thaliana. During the class students design and plan experiments, interpret and discuss their results with other students and present the findings. Hence they learn valuable research skills. Some examples of students’ work are presented and students’ perceptions of the class are summarized.