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

at University of Ottawa Canada

Why is our world the way it is? How can we understand and explain what we observe around us, from the smallest sub-atomic particles to the largest galaxies? How can we apply this understanding to manipulate our world? Studying physics gives insight into the fundamental laws of nature. 

But an education in physics gives so much more. The rigorous training our students receive in analyzing and understanding complex problems is valuable in many future careers. While many of our graduates have established careers in universities and in the high tech sector as research and development scientists, others have used their physics degrees as a springboard to careers in finance, administration, medicine, management or education. The range of career opportunities is perhaps wider than for any other students with a science education. 

Physicists have revolutionized the way we live our lives, with groundbreaking discoveries and new technologies, transferable to other fields such as biology or finance. Our professors and graduates are an important part of this chain. Many of our professors have also been recognized for their teaching and are seen as world-class researchers in their fields of expertise. 

The research conducted by the professors in the Department of Physics is concentrated in several sub-specialties, including the physics of biological and complex systems, condensed matter physics, photonics and the physics of geomaterials. Depending upon your choice of program, you have the opportunity to take courses and participate in research projects in these specialized areas. 

In addition to the Honours BSc in Physics, we offer three other Honours BSc programs. The first is in physics-mathematics, which provides enriched mathematics training within a physics program. The second is the option in photonics, which gives students a solid training in physics and a more applied and industry-related training in photonics. The third is the option in biological physics, which teaches students to apply a rigorous education in physics to various areas of life sciences. We also offer a Major in Physics that can form the core of an Honours BSc when combined with a major or a minor in another discipline in the Faculty of Science, or in another faculty. Finally, starting in fall 2016, we will offer a five-year integrated program in physics (BSc) and electrical engineering (BASc), jointly with the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (SEECS). This unique program will offer a full education in physics and electrical engineering. Graduates will be sought after by industry and academia, as they will have the capacity to develop technology from a basic physics idea to the final product. 

The Department of Physics also has strong graduate programs, leading to an MSc or PhD. They give students the opportunity to work on cutting edge science in a research group led by one or more department professors.

Geology is a modern, dynamic and diverse science that involves investigating the composition and evolution of Earth and other planetary bodies.

Geologists and Earth scientists study the Earth, including its chemical, physical and biological evolution. Our programs teach students how to analyze Earth materials, probe the Earth from surface to core and model the processes that produced and shape its oceans and continents. The Ottawa region is a natural laboratory where students investigate resources (water, metals, minerals, petroleum), hazards (earthquakes, tsunamis, eruptions, landslides) and a variety of geological environments.

The Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences offers programs in geology and, along with the Department of Physics, a program in geology-physics. These programs balance field-based learning with theoretical and analytical investigations directly relevant to the needs of society. The final year involves an independent research project or equivalent units (credits) in advanced courses in the discipline.

The honours requirements meet the professional accreditation requirements of the Association of Professional Geoscientists of Ontario and l’Ordre des géologues du Québec.

Healthcare systems are undergoing unprecedented transformation fuelled by the digitization of services and investments in health information technologies. Our option in Healthcare Analytics is a field built on the crucial role that data, systems engineering, management, and organizational innovation play in improving the quality and timeliness of service delivery in a high performing healthcare system. This field answers a need to develop expertise to create the research and training capabilities required for transforming healthcare into a system that adheres to the principles of patient-centered care and participatory medicine.

The Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine is located in the Faculty of Medicine and offers graduate programs leading to the degrees of Master of Science (MSc) and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Neuroscience.

The programs help students develop their theoretical knowledge as well as their capacity for critical analysis. This is achieved through reading and critiquing the scientific literature, conducting experiments in the laboratory, analyzing the data and results generated, and presenting their results in the form of research seminars or posters. The programs prepare candidates for a variety of careers in teaching and research both within and outside of academia.

Graduates of the program will acquire autonomy in conducting research and in preparing scholarly publications and grant applications. A comprehensive set of courses, state-of-the-art research facilities and outstanding research opportunities ensure a career in neuroscience.

The Department is a participating unit in the collaborative program in Human and Molecular Genetics and in Pathology and Experimental Medicine at the master's and doctoral levels.

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.

Ethical issues are taking on a greater importance in society and in our lives. Think, for example, of the questions raised by medical advances that challenge our concepts of life and death, or the privacy issues created by the growing use of the Internet. This multidisciplinary program in ethics is both theoretical and applied. You reflect on fundamental issues in moral and political philosophy and come to understand the nature of ethics issues in health care, business, law, communication, criminology, social work, public affairs and other areas.

Psychology
Psychology is the science that studies human behaviour and mental processes, and it is one of the richest fields of scholarly and scientific research. The BA in psychology deals with the fundamentals of psychology with a particular focus on how we learn, communicate and interact with one another, preparing you for graduate studies in experimental psychology, clinical psychology, in health sciences, in education or in administration. 

Linguistics
Where does language come from? How does language work? What is the nature of language structure and how is meaning encoded into language? Advances in research and new technologies are revolutionizing the way we try to answer these questions. Using the latest equipment and investigative approaches, our research laboratories make it possible for you to analyze spoken sounds, track eye movement and brain activity during language processing, explore language variation and acquisition, and probe dozens of other theoretical and empirical aspects of language including unfamiliar languages. 

These programs can serve as an entry point for a master's degree in either speech-language pathology or audiology, as well as for subsequent graduate study in theoretical and empirical linguistics.

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.

Economics
Ever wonder why some countries are richer than others? Ever question why income inequality has been growing? Ever wonder why Canadian politicians worry when other countries may be going bankrupt? Economics can answer all these questions. 

Economics examines how individuals and society make choices in a world where resources are limited. It focuses on the production, distribution and consumption of goods and services. Two important themes are efficiency (the absence of waste in the use of resources) and fairness. Since making choices is central to all human activities, studying economics often helps explain why people and governments behave in certain ways.

Physics
Why is our world the way it is? How can we understand and explain what we observe around us, from the smallest sub-atomic particles to the largest galaxies? How can we apply this understanding to manipulate our world? Studying physics gives insight into the fundamental laws of nature. 

But an education in physics gives so much more. The rigorous training our students receive in analyzing and understanding complex problems is valuable in many future careers. While many of our graduates have established careers in universities and in the high tech sector as research and development scientists, others have used their physics degrees as a springboard to careers in finance, administration, medicine, management or education. The range of career opportunities is perhaps wider than for any other students with a science education. 

Physicists have revolutionized the way we live our lives, with groundbreaking discoveries and new technologies, transferable to other fields such as biology or finance. Our professors and graduates are an important part of this chain. Many of our professors have also been recognized for their teaching and are seen as world-class researchers in their fields of expertise. 

The research conducted by the professors in the Department of Physics is concentrated in several sub-specialties, including the physics of biological and complex systems, condensed matter physics, photonics and the physics of geomaterials. Depending upon your choice of program, you have the opportunity to take courses and participate in research projects in these specialized areas. 

In addition to the Honours BSc in Physics, we offer three other Honours BSc programs. The first is in physics-mathematics, which provides enriched mathematics training within a physics program. The second is the option in photonics, which gives students a solid training in physics and a more applied and industry-related training in photonics. The third is the option in biological physics, which teaches students to apply a rigorous education in physics to various areas of life sciences. We also offer a Major in Physics that can form the core of an Honours BSc when combined with a major or a minor in another discipline in the Faculty of Science, or in another faculty. Finally, starting in fall 2016, we will offer a five-year integrated program in physics (BSc) and electrical engineering (BASc), jointly with the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (SEECS). This unique program will offer a full education in physics and electrical engineering. Graduates will be sought after by industry and academia, as they will have the capacity to develop technology from a basic physics idea to the final product. 

The Department of Physics also has strong graduate programs, leading to an MSc or PhD. They give students the opportunity to work on cutting edge science in a research group led by one or more department professors.

Electrical Engineering
Electrical engineering is at the heart of today's exciting advances in technology. With five technical specializations—communications, systems, electronics, microwave and photonic, and power and sustainable energy—our curriculum will enable you to influence how the world communities communicate, generate sustainable energy and heal diseases. As an electrical engineer, you will work with other engineers or scientists on emerging technologies. 

The option of Engineering Management will prepare you with necessary skills to pursue entrepreneurial activities and start your own technology-related business. The double degree program—BASc in Electrical Engineering and BSc in Computing Technology—will put you at the intersection of the two areas that propel the waves of technological development.

In recent years, organizations have increasingly begun to appreciate the strategic importance of adopting a systematic approach to human resource management (HRM). The purpose of this program is to provide an in-depth knowledge of the three HRM functions that have become most critical in organizations: personnel management, industrial relations and organizational behaviour. This program emphasizes both practical and conceptual skills, to enable students to work in all areas of HRM in the private, public, and not-for-profit sectors. 

Graduates of this program are well-positioned to succeed in the competitive HR labour market, as the majority of our courses have been accredited by the Human Resources Professionals Association of Ontario (HRPAO). Thus, students who successfully complete the HRM program not only receive a BCom with specialized training in HRM, but also fulfill the academic requirements for Certified Human Resources Professional (CHRP) designation.