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Our courses

Our Biological Science courses all come with options to gain additional experience beyond the three-year BSc. You can add an extra year of research experience with an integrated masters (MBiolSci), or spend a year on a work placement gaining transferrable skills with a top employer. You can even apply to spend a year studying abroad in a fantastic location, after you've joined the University.

Explore our course listings below to learn more about Biological Sciences at ºù«Ӱҵ, including module details:

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ºù«Ӱҵ biological sciences at ºù«Ӱҵ

Our biological sciences courses offer you the flexibility to discover what kind of biologist you want to be by giving you the freedom to choose the topics you want to study.

From year one, you’ll be defining your degree and putting your skills and knowledge into place for a vibrant future. You’ll have access to modules across all scales of biological systems from biotechnology, cell biology, genetics, microbiology and biochemistry, to biomedicine, neuroscience, human health and disease, to biodiversity, evolution, sustainability and climate change.

You’ll have the chance to carry out your own research projects in the lab or the field. You might do research in the lab using the latest, cutting-edge equipment to study proteins and enzymes, analyse stem cells, sequence DNA or image cells. Alternatively, you might work in the lab or the field to explore how organisms and populations grow and how biodiversity is managed. No matter what you choose, it’ll give you invaluable hands-on experience in your chosen area.

You might choose to do field research projects in the Peak District National Park, or to embark on a once-in a lifetime field course in the UK or abroad. You can make the most of our links with the NHS, completing research on cancer and ageing in conjunction with the ºù«Ӱҵ Teaching Hospitals.

Tailor your degree

Biological Sciences at ºù«Ӱҵ is all about enabling you to study what you’re passionate about, from genes and molecules, to organ systems and from behaviour to biodiversity and ecosystems, and everything in between. Our pathways will allow you to select complementary modules. Your personal tutor and dedicated support staff will help you tailor your degree to your interests and career goals.

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What our students say

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Teaching

You'll be taught through traditional lectures and small group tutorials, (where our world-leading academics will share their latest research findings with you). You'll also conduct research projects and take part in practical lab sessions (where you’ll be working with the latest technology for DNA and protein analysis) as well as head off on field trips to zoos, aquaria and wildlife reserves.

We encourage our students to be fully engaged throughout their courses, so you'll have lots of opportunities to be creative, think independently, and express your ideas. You’ll spend a lot of time working in the lab or field, working with amazing technology, and learning skills like microscopy, DNA analysis or mathematical modelling for biodiversity conservation.

We embed employability skills into all of our degrees. This array of teaching and learning approaches gives you plenty of chances to gain the skills and experience you need to build a strong and adaptable CV.

Find out more about our teaching

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Research projects

You’ll undertake research projects throughout your degree, getting practical hands-on experience in the laboratory or the field that will lead to an in-depth research project and dissertation in your third year. The flexibility of the Biological Sciences degree means that you can take your degree in the direction you choose within one of four pathways.

There are several types of capstone projects to choose from depending on your interests and career goals, each of them giving you plenty of chances to gain new transferrable skills and experience to put on your CV. Current projects include:

• Lab-based: Investigate a scientific problem, using state-of-the-art facilities and working alongside our leading research scientists
• Field-based: Gather data or  insect, plant, or mineral samples samples in the field and analyse them on location or back in the lab
• Collections-based
• Bioinformatics
• Computer modelling: Analyse and evaluate complex data to investigate fundamental biological processes, with opportunities to learn computer programming
• Education: Organise events to get school children better engaged with science – students generally work in primary schools or university technical colleges (UTC) to gain teaching experience communicating science to school children
• Science communication: Build up a portfolio of writing on a scientific topic of your choice and evaluate the effectiveness of different communication strategies

And if this really excites you, our integrated Masters courses (MBiolSci) allow you to work for a fourth year to complete a further, in-depth research project whilst embedded in one of our specialist research groups.