Course summary

Understand the behaviour of living systems from the level of cells up to whole organisms and ecosystems. This specialist course focuses on the interaction between living organisms and species and their environment. You will learn to assess the impact plants, animals and microbes have on their ecosystem. You will study the diversity of the living world, how we make sense of this diversity and how the planet's biological diversity is organised by ecological processes into ecosystems, communities, and populations. Through laboratory, computational and field work you will learn the skills you need to design, carry out and analyse the data from biological experiments. After receiving a solid grounding in fundamental topics you will be prepared for advanced study. As you progress, you will study more advanced topics while being able to tailor your modules to suit your interest from a wide range of choices, including field-based work. Our Department's internationally leading research programme means you'll be learning at the very cutting edge of the subject. You will also benefit from access to our outstanding facilities, including for genomic and cell biology studies, tissue culture suites and the most modern microscopes. When you graduate, you'll be prepared for a range of exciting careers. This course will provide the grounding required to pursue further education, or a career in areas such as pharmaceuticals, biomedical science, and food technology. Similar opportunities exist for life scientists in government and independent laboratories. Your transferable skills will even prepare you for other careers as well, with some graduates working in medicine and the media.