Course summary

Spend a year on a paid work placement as part of your degree. Combining a placement year with our MBiolSci course allows you to gain work experience in industry, before adding an extra year of research training back in the lab in your fourth year. Study animals and biodiversity at every scale, both in the lab and in the field, as you learn how animals function, how to conserve biodiversity and how evolution works. Gain invaluable research experience in your final year working alongside world-leading academics and learn to apply that knowledge during a placement year in industry, government or the charity sector. Sheffield's project-focused degree in zoology is a deep dive into biodiversity, conservation, animal behaviour, genetics, physiology, and the impact of climate change. From your first year you’ll study a range of zoology focused modules, with the freedom to explore optional topics from across the whole of bioscience. You’ll study topics across genetics, microbiology, evolution and biochemistry. At Sheffield, you’ll be encouraged to be creative, think independently, and express your ideas. You'll be in the lab completing in-depth practicals and studying animal anatomy and physiology in our Alfred Denny Museum. You might also choose to do field research projects in the Peak District National Park, or travel for a field course in the UK or abroad. As you progress through your degree, you’ll have the option to specialise in key areas such as biodiversity conservation, evolutionary biology, genetics and ecological modelling. Your ability to tackle one or more of these big global challenges will be supported by the field course options, so you start making a difference even during your degree. Your placement year is a great opportunity to test out a career path and work alongside professionals to acquire skills that will make you a great candidate for future jobs. You'll pay reduced fees while you're on placement, and we do everything we can with you and our partners to ensure it’s paid. Our students have found placements within consulting, charitable, scientific and governmental organisations in biodiversity management, sustainability, data science and education. Many students are even offered a graduate-level job at the end of it. Your final year is devoted to a major research project in the lab or in the field. You’ll work alongside our world-leading academics and explore a topic of your choosing in depth. Why study this course?

• Five year course - the ultimate kick-start to your career, resulting in a masters degree, with your fifth year focusing on a major research project.

• Build connections and a career - placement organisations include GSK, Atkins Environmental Consulting, Wildlife Trusts, Newquay Zoo or in government.

• 4th in the UK for research quality - the Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2021 rated 98% of research and impact from the School of Biosciences as world-leading or internationally excellent.

• State-of-the-art facilities - Controlled Environment Facility, Zebrafish facility, Drosophila facility, Bradfield Environment Centre and more.

• Make the course your own - focus on specific areas like animal behaviour or biodiversity, or cover the full range of zoology.