Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Biology (Co-op Optional)

at University of Ottawa Canada

Mathematics
Mathematics and statistics are not only powerful problem-solving tools, but also highly creative fields of studies that combine imagination with logic, and precision with intuition. 

Mathematics is much more than numbers! Its basic goal is to reveal and model general patterns to help explain our world, whether they be found in electrical impulses in the human nervous system, the evolution of animal populations in their habitats, fluctuations in stock-market prices, or electronic communications. Mathematics reaches far beyond science and engineering into medicine, business and the social sciences. 

Advances in mathematics and statistics lie behind many discoveries that are now part of our daily lives, such as MRI scanners, digital compression of music and video, secure electronic communications, data mining, genomic algorithms, futures pricing, and many other innovations. 

The Department of Mathematics and Statistics offers Honours, majors and minors both in mathematics and in statistics. Our Honours program in statistics is accredited by the Statistical Society of Canada, allowing graduates to earn the A.Stat. professional designation. Moreover, the Department offers a joint honours program in mathematics and economics, a joint honours program in mathematics and computer science, as well as a multidisciplinary program in financial mathematics and economics. All our honours programs also include the co-operative education option.

Computer Science
Computer science at the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science combines the study of computation and information processing fundamentals with their application in the world around us. Computer scientists build fast, reliable, scalable and secure software systems to organize and analyze information. The honours curriculum comprises advanced topics in databases, artificial intelligence, computer graphics, security, distributed computing and algorithm design, culminating in an honours project. 

This program teaches graduates how to use their creative and innovative talents to conceive, design and implement software systems. The French Immersion Stream is now available to all students in the Computer Science program. Our degrees are very flexible and include options, minors and a major, which can be used to explore connections between computer science and many other fields of study.

Environmental Science is the interdisciplinary study of the environment, its functioning and its relationship to human activities. 

The Environmental Science program at the University of Ottawa focuses on the integration of traditional science disciplines (e.g. biology, earth sciences, chemistry, physics) to study the natural environment and the impact of human activities. The program consists of a core of basic science courses complemented by courses in various disciplines that address the scientific and societal aspects of environmental problems. In addition, the program offers three areas of specialization: conservation and biodiversity; global change; and environmental geochemistry and ecotoxicology. The final year entails an independent research project or equivalent units in advanced courses in the specialization.

The MHA program has close links to other faculties including the Faculty of Health Sciences and the Faculty of Medicine to assure relevance to clinical practice for health service administration.

The MHA program also has close links with hospitals, long-term care institutions, community health agencies, psychiatric institutions, federal and provincial governments, and international, national, and provincial health organizations to assure curricular relevance and excellence.

Moreover, the program maintains close ties with the Canadian College of Health Service Executives, the American College of Health Service Executives, and other professional bodies across North America. The emphasis in this program is on proactive management with a vision of humanistic leadership and public service in a period of intense change in health care systems around the world.

The MHA aims to prepare students for the managerial and leadership responsibilities faced in rapidly changing health care environments.

The MHA program was designed with working professionals in mind. Spread over a period of 24 months, students can expect to complete 9 units per semester. All courses are taught in English. The MHA requires that students complete either an administrative residency of at least 16 weeks or a consulting project of approximately 200h. The goal of these experiential learning activities is to expand the students' experience in health care or health policy and awareness of the applicability of the material covered in the academic portion of the program to the practical world of management of health care. Students can do their administrative residency or their business consulting project, in English or in French, at any recognized and approved health agency.

Are you interested in the environmental, economic and sociopolitical challenges that humanity faces at the onset of the 21st century? Do you want to better understand how and why some countries “develop” (and others do not) in a world of globalizing markets, new technologies and ideas? Are you drawn to issues such as human rights, poverty reduction, climate change, humanitarian crises, social and corporate responsibility, fragile states and the education and health of “vulnerable” populations? Do you want to learn how humanity can find both fair and lasting solutions to such problems? 

The Honours Bachelor's in International Development and Globalization combines theory and practice within a rigorous academic program and provides students with field experience through work and study terms in Canada and abroad.

Public policy decisions shape daily life and well-being. Many essential services, such as health care and education, are provided by the public sector. Using their regulatory powers, governments establish the framework for competition between firms and they protect the environment. In return for public services, individuals and firms must pay taxes. This interdisciplinary program, which draws on the tools of economic analysis, gives students a better understanding of the challenges linked to public-sector economics (federal, provincial, municipal). Domains of application include the labour market, health care, education, environment and taxation.

The School of Music at the University of Ottawa is one of the country's leading music schools. It is the ideal place to nurture your passion for all things musical and to pursue the rigorous training needed for an active and successful career in the field. We maintain close ties with renowned institutions such as the National Arts Centre (NAC) and the Ottawa Symphony Orchestra. Our program boasts state-of-the-art music facilities and internationally recognized professors who perform around the globe and publish in leading academic journals. We are a full-service music school offering programs in performance, composition, music education, piano pedagogy, theory and musicology. 

Although any of our programs can pave the way for a career in education, musicology, music journalism or arts administration, the Bachelor of Music (BMus) is designed specifically for students wishing to become career musicians. Admission to the BMus therefore requires that you audition on your main instrument and demonstrate an intermediate or advanced level. In addition, the University of Ottawa is one of the only institutions in the country to offer the possibility of combining the BMus program in performance with a major in science.

Students will acquire knowledge and have opportunities to apply what they learn to interventions in physical activity, education and coaching that enrich peoples’ lives. They will gain theoretical and practical training in why and how to encourage people to become more active and how to better peoples’ experiences in various contexts of physical activity, education and coaching. Students will critically examine how various intervening roles, especially in teaching and coaching, lead to improved health, well-being, development, learning, and performance in individuals and society, and will learn to develop, implement and evaluate programs. Students will receive training informed by social sciences (e.g., psychology, sociocultural, pedagogy, leisure studies). They will have opportunities to acquire motivational and consulting skills to work with individuals in different contexts. For example, they can learn behavioural change techniques to promote physical activity, or how to work with athletes to prepare them for competition.

Students will have opportunities to gain competencies in leading group interventions in sport coaching, recreation programming, and teaching physical activity. They can gain training that will allow them to contribute to the strategic promotion of healthy physical activity in communities, that can be applied to interventions and programming across the lifespan (from young children to older adults), in established and under-represented populations (e.g., persons with disabilities, at-risk youth). Students will have opportunities to gain skills in critical inquiry they will use to question whether interventions or social policies address individual, social and environmental considerations, and to facilitate change in current approaches.

Studies in this area of interest enable our graduates to pursue various career-paths in education, coaching and roles in promotion and programming of physical activity, sport and leisure. The emphasis of our program on both foundational knowledge and also how knowledge translates into action enables our graduates to pursue different occupational roles. For example, our graduates can become leaders in the development of recreation services and fitness programs in the community (e.g., community clubs, campus recreation departments, employee wellness programs), sport coaches, teachers of physical and health education in schools, mental performance consultants in high-performance sport (e.g., sport academies), and exercise consultants and health promoters working in community health centres. Our graduates can find roles in developing persuasive messages for ‘Active Living’ or ‘Get Fit’ media communications, and they can become advocates promoting the health benefits of physical activity, sport and leisure to policymakers in the public, private and non-profit sectors. Our graduates can also pursue research based or professional-based graduate degrees relating to interventions in physical activity, sport and leisure.

If it moves, a mechanical engineer designed it! Mechanical engineers are responsible for a wide range of mechanical, thermal and biomedical systems and devices, from computer parts to power plants, from manufacturing systems to spacecraft. This is a broad-based area of engineering, and graduates find work in almost every industrial sector, including high tech, aerospace, manufacturing, auto, energy, biomedical and consulting.

The University of Ottawa School of Music is among the few offering a full master’s in musicians’ health and well-being, particularly in prevention and treatment of pain and injuries, as well as performance anxiety. Through innovative research, professors apply academic rigour to music pedagogy.

The school has launched a Musicians’ Wellness Centre dedicated to clinical research and professional training, not to mention a network of health care services. You can complete an internship there to gain professional experience and work with experts in fields such as physiotherapy, yoga, Feldenkrais Method, Alexander Method, audiology and mindfulness meditation.

The Business Technology Management program (BTM) is designed to allow students to develop core competencies and skill sets in management information systems and analytics. This option exposes students to business systems and management principles, and provides a sound knowledge of information technology and its application to the business environment. It prepares students to become recognized information systems professionals with solid foundations in information systems management. Students gain knowledge and core competencies in best management practices and recent developments in information technology. 

The option is recommended for students seeking a career as information systems professionals, including as a business/systems analyst, system developer, IT project manager, security specialist, IT consultant, network administrator, database administrator, systems auditor or management consultant specializing in management information systems.