Biosciences

Biosciences at the University of Exeter is a rapidly expanding centre for the teaching and research of biological sciences. You’ll be taught by world-leading experts in cutting-edge subjects, ranging from evolutionary biology, conservation and ecology, through whole organism biology and microbiology, to molecular and cellular biology, computational biology and biological chemistry.

We have attracted internationally renowned professors to join our staffand we also host a number of independently-funded research fellows funded by the Royal Society, BBSRC, NERC, Leverhulme Trust and the EU Marie Curie Programmes. The Society of Biology recognises all our programmes.

We pride ourselves on providing the highest standard of care and support to our students and use the very latest research information, techniques and procedures in our teaching. We offer a wide range of modules, built around a core curriculum that provides the skills needed by the contemporary biologist, biochemist, ecologist, conservationist or medicinal chemist. Our teaching introduces new concepts in systems biology and describes how fundamental research is both commercialised in the biotechnology industry and applied practically in the fields of ecology and conservation.

We provide state-of-the-art facilities for all our students in Cornwall and Exeter. These include next-generation DNA sequencing and proteomics facilities and an enhanced bioimaging suite in Exeter, and the University’s £30 million Environment and Sustainability Institute on the Cornwall Campus that is leading the way in cutting-edge environmental research.

Above all, we are friendly and supportive and undergraduate teaching is central to all of our activities. We work hard to develop and improve the standard of our degree programmes and provide the best possible training to our students.

You may also be interested in our BSc/MSci Natural Sciences or BClinSci Clinical Science programme.

Biosciences: Streatham Campus, Exeter

Choosing a Biosciences degree at our Streatham Campus in Exeter will lead you into a community of scientists whose world-class research is matched by their passion for teaching. We are a department who can offer an all-encompassing knowledge in all aspects of biology, whether it be ecology, whole organism biology, microbiology, cell biology, biological chemistry or computational biology.

You’ll be welcomed into a warm, friendly, vibrant and supportive scientific environment, where the enthusiasm and engagement from both staff and students produces one of the very best undergraduate experiences. From your first day, you’ll interact with exceptional researchers in your academic tutorials and group lectures. Over the course of your degree, your learning will be driven towards small, focused sessions in the final year, based around the very latest research topics. You will also be able to undertake a challenging independent research project dealing with questions and issues at the cutting-edge of life science research.

You’ll be located in the refurbished Geoffrey Pope Building, where our new £3.8 million teaching laboratory is equipped with state-of-the-art instruments for observational, experimental and numerical aspects of biosciences including biochemical, molecular, physiological and electronic apparatus. We also have an excellent Bioinformatics Computer Centre to facilitate the rapid growth in biological computer use.

In addition, we have next-generation DNA sequencing facilities and have recently invested £5 million in new equipment and a bio-imaging facility. This includes both scanning and transmission electron microscopes, laser confocal and fluorescence microscopes, and real-time polymerase chain reaction and array scanning machines. A further £17.6 million has been spent to provide world-class research facilities across all the biosciences laboratories in the Geoffrey Pope building.

Our academics have close links with a wide range of industrial, medical and conservation organisations that you may be able to collaborate with for your final year research project. Many of our students work with these organisations during their vacations and others build their experience through one of our four year programmes with industrial experience.

Numbers

Exeter

Entrants: 178
Applicants: 1,151

Biosciences: Cornwall Campus

As a student of Biosciences at our Cornwall Campus, You’ll be taught by some of the world’s foremost biologists, working in evolution, behaviour, ecology and conservation. These research-active staff, based in our Centre for Ecology and Conservation, cover a range of specialisms from conservation biology, through behavioural, population and community ecology, to evolutionary biology and genetics. You will benefit from cutting-edge teaching and world-class research designed to address the very latest factors influencing biodiversity and complexity in the natural world.

Cornwall is an exceptional place in which to study Biosciences. The county is a perfect living laboratory that offers a diverse range of marine and terrestrial habitats and a wealth of natural resources. You’ll be welcomed into an interactive, dynamic and intimate environment in which to study. The campus features state-of-the-art equipment for teaching and research in Biosciences and the University’s new Environment and Sustainability Institute (ESI) which leads cutting-edge research into solutions to problems of environmental change.

Field work is an essential aspect of our programmes and can vary from one day field trips in Cornwall to a two-week field course worldwide, such as to South Africa, Borneo or the Bahamas*. We believe our students can carry out more field-based learning than at any other comparable university in the UK.

As part of a research-led department you will discuss the very latest ideas in our interactive seminars and tutorials and, in your final year, will become an active member of the research team. We have very close links with a wide range of conservation and environmental organisations in the UK and overseas with whom there may be the opportunity to collaborate for your final year research project. Many of our students also work with these organisations during their vacations and during their work placement module in the second year.

_{*Field course destinations may be subject to change.}

Numbers

Cornwall

Entrants: 136
Applicants: 767