Zoology
By Zoe Flood
Published: 15 August 2004
What do you come out with? BSc.
Why do it? You are fascinated by animals and their habitats and want a qualification that will give you opportunities to travel, meet interesting and challenging people, and to conduct research at appealing laboratories. You have a scientific approach and want to investigate the mysteries of the animal kingdom.
What's it about? Animal biology, in particular, animal behaviour, ecology, cell biology and conservation. Because there are so many species and habitats, there is no end to the number and kinds of questions that can be asked an answered. Studying, cataloguing and maintaining biodiversity is becoming increasingly important and zoologists contribute to the understanding of the health of the earth and of its inhabitants. As students progress through the course, they will focus on the biology of specific groups of animals such as insects or reptiles, and on topics such as parasitic infections, the evolution of sex and breeding systems and animal orientation. Conservation is increasingly important and students will apply their biological knowledge to the design of effective conservation projects. Fieldwork is generally essential, but the destinations (usually abroad, to somewhere hot and tropical), are far from tedious.
What are the students like? Practical, scientifically minded with the patience to monitor, investigate, analyse and report. Tends to be a higher proportion of women.
How is it packaged? The proportion of practical to theory is generally 50:50. At most institutions you can expect to conduct a major research project in the final year that will contribute to your degree class.
How long is the degree? 3 years
How cool is it? Very. You might not be the next Diane Fossey, but there is a growing demand for zoologists as the environment becomes more important to everyone. Species are becoming extinct at an alarming rate.
What A-levels do you need? Newcastle asks for Biology at A level - Chemistry is desirable but not essential. At Edinburgh, you need two of Biology, Chemistry, Maths, Physics. Nottingham wants biology and a second science, preferably from chemistry, physics or maths.
What grades? Nottingham wants AAB to ABB, Edinburgh asks for a minimum of BBB whilst a typical offer from Newcastle is BBB/BBC.
What do students say? Charles Bingham, who is going into his third year of Zoology at Edinburgh. "The course at Edinburgh provides a broad range of modules for the budding biological scientist. This is great as you can tailor your degree to your interests, and means that you only have to choose your degree at the end of your third year! The facilities are pretty good and the staff are always willing to give you their time."
Will you be interviewed? Generally not, unless you are a non-standard entry student.
Will it keep you off the dole? Yes. Although not all graduates work in a scientific area, it is a solid and respected degree. Around 60 per cent of the Newcastle graduates usually choose to work in a scientific area, with a larger proportion from Edinburgh and Nottingham choosing this route.
Where can you do it? Aberdeen, Aberystwyth, APU, Bangor, Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Derby, Dundee, Durham, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Imperial, Leeds, Leicester, LJMU, Manchester, Newcastle, Nottingham, Queen Mary London, Queen's Belfast, Roehampton Surrey, Royal Holloway, Sheffield, Southampton, St Andrews, Stirling, Swansea and UCL.
Where's the cutting edge? At Newcastle, it's neurobiology, conservation and insects. The Institute of Cell, Animal and Population Biology (ICAPB) at Edinburgh houses a strong research group in animal behaviour, which concentrates on the evolution of animal perception and learning and memory. At Nottingham, it's behavioural and evolutionary ecology
Where are the stars? Dr Victoria Braithwaite at the ICAPB at Edinburgh works on the nature of the interaction between ecology and cognition. At Nottingham, Professor Chris Barnard is an expert on adaptive decision-making in animals in the context of their life history strategy, Francis Gilbert studies the evolution of feeding and reproductive strategies in insects and Tom Reader works on the impacts of ecological interactions. Desmond Morris, educated at Birmingham and Oxford, is a famous author and presenter of natural history programmes.
Added value: The overseas module at Newcastle lets students have a chance to study a topic of interest at a location of your choice. Recently, students have gone to Indonesia to investigate the Sumatran tiger, to Italy to tag bats and to Mexico to work on raptor conservation projects.
Related courses: Biological and biomedical Sciences, environmental and life sciences.
