Bachelor of Science in Biology

at University of Southampton - Highfield Campus United Kingdom

How do we develop the next generation of drugs for treating bacterial infection, AIDS, cancer, depression and heart failure? These are among the challenges being addressed by pharmacologists at Southampton. Our BSc Pharmacology degree will prepare you to make your own contribution to this important work.

This 3-year programme will give you an in-depth understanding of the major pharmacological concepts and principles.

These include:

• The discovery and production of new drugs
• The interaction of drugs with humans and animals
• How existing drugs can be improved or repurposed
• Ways to solve the problems of toxicity
• New-generation antibiotics

You'll refine your practical skills in our state-of-the-art teaching labs. This will prepare you to work with our experts in pharmacology and undertake your individual research project in year 3.

As part of your degree you can also:

• Spend a year working in the pharmaceutical industry between years 2 and 3
• Spend a semester at a partner university abroad during year 2

Designed to challenge and inspire future legal professionals, this comprehensive international law degree combines in-depth knowledge of law with a year abroad at one of our global partner institutions. This programme reflects the Law School's own international standing, and the diversity of jurisdictions in which you can pursue your legal career as a graduate of English law.

This 4-year programme covers the qualifying law degree subjects in years 1 and 2. You'll spend your third year studying at one of our carefully selected partner institutions overseas. Most destinations offer modules taught in English. For others you can spend 2 years studying the language before you go. We currently have partners in:

• Australia
• Canada
• China
• India
• Hong Kong
• Japan
• Singapore

Students return to their fourth-year studies in Southampton with a more mature, independent outlook and greater confidence – qualities that impress recruiters in today's global job market.

As part of your degree you can:

• experience law in action by applying to shadow a senior member of the judiciary in the High Court or Court of Appeal
• work alongside legal professionals to advise students at the Law Clinic
• engage with our academic research groups including the Stefan Cross Centre for Women, Equality and Law, and the Institute of Maritime Law
• study modules outside of law to broaden your knowledge

During your degree you can enhance your skills and forge strong links within our friendly community by joining a student-run society. These include our Law Society, Inns of Court Society, Mooting Society, Lawyers without Borders and the Canadian Law Society.

Our MMus Music Composition programme gives you the opportunity to specialise in various elements of musical composition. On this course, you’ll learn:

• Current trends in composition
• 20th and 21st century musical developments
• Aesthetic, technical and critical issues in modern compositional practice
• In-depth analysis of your chosen compositional genres, materials, techniques and forms

Our academic staff are internationally noted performers with active solo and ensemble careers, and established composers of contemporary art music, electronic music, media music (for example, in film, TV and videogames), and jazz. These world-leading experts can offer you intensive one-to-one tuition in music history, culture and performance.

On the Composition pathway, you’ll work towards the final goal of a composition portfolio. We’ll work with you to create a portfolio that’s relevant to your career aspirations. On completion of the course, you’ll be ready to:

• Continue your research at a doctoral level
• Work in the music industry or wider cultural sector
• Become a teacher
• Work as a freelance musician

Do you have a passion for science and discovery? Do you want to make a difference to our planet’s future? On this MSci Natural Sciences degree, we’ll help you develop the skills and knowledge to address some of our biggest challenges. You’ll apply your knowledge across the sciences, to better understand the laws and phenomena of the physical world.

This interdisciplinary master's course is not like a traditional degree. We offer modules from across all the science disciplines. This will let you apply real-world contexts to global problems, such as:

• Air pollution
• Climate change
• Plastic waste
• Neurodegenerative diseases
• Loss of biodiversity

You'll have access to our world-class facilities in our research centres and institutes, including the:

• National Oceanography Centre
• Centre for Cancer Immunology
• Web Sciences Institute
• Nanofabrication Centre

As part of this course you can:

• Carry out original research projects that may be publishable in major scientific journals
• Explore the ethical, social and political issues in science
• Take a 6-month, full-time research placement in the UK or overseas
• Choose your own modules from a custom-made base of options
• Tailor your degree to your specific interests and career goals

Learn how to identify and manage public health issues by gathering, analysing and interpreting data. This specialist MSc Public Health Intelligence degree focuses on both academic and real-world learning. You’ll work in multi-disciplinary teams to gain the experience you need to take up health intelligence jobs in information management, data management and public health research.

This master's in public health intelligence will give you the skills for a career that makes a difference. Graduates of this course have gone on to work for the government and public bodies in both the UK and abroad, including Public Health England, local government, ministries of health, and universities.

The specialist public health intelligence areas you can explore include:

• Using geographical information systems in health analysis and health management
• Health economics for public health
• Advanced statistics

Public health is an interdisciplinary profession, and this is reflected in your learning. Your lecturers are academics who are actively involved in research or are working in the sector. They’re experts from across the University, in Public Health Geography and Social Science.

Modern biochemists study the molecular processes of life. Our Biochemistry MSci (integrated masters degree in science) covers topics from DNA to proteins, single molecules to cells, all the way up to complex lifeforms. This course will prepare you for a career in clinical biochemistry, biotechnology or pharmacology. It also provides the perfect foundation for further research or a PhD.

This course will give you a deep understanding of biochemistry, and develop your practical skills in a laboratory.

Our teaching staff are researchers at the forefront of their field. You'll learn how biochemistry can help us develop new drugs, and you'll explore:

• Cell biology
• Pathology
• Pharmacology
• Genetics

In the fourth year, you can work with our research teams on an original, in-depth research project. You'll research the molecular basis of disease, oncology, structural biology and DNA recognition. It will give you a chance to improve your research skills, and help us understand this fascinating field.

As part of your degree you can:

• Take a year out to work in industry
• Study abroad at one of our partner universities
• Specialise in particular areas, tailoring the degree to your own interests
• Take specialist skills modules to learn about cutting-edge technologies
• Use your knowledge of biochemistry in education, communication or business

With a master's in biochemistry, you'll be ready for a wide range of biochemistry careers.

Take your engineering passions to the skies as you learn to design the aircraft and spacecraft of the future. You’ll explore vital areas of electronics and take up the challenge of developing greener air travel. You'll also gain specialist knowledge of avionics, practical computing and programming. This course will prepare you for a career in the aerospace industry.

BEng Aerospace Electronic Engineering gives you a broad knowledge of electronics. You can then focus on new and future aerospace technologies, including:

• Autonomous, unmanned flying vehicles
• GPS to improve flight safety and efficiency

Our expert academics bring industry experience to the classroom. They have worked on projects with NASA and the European Space Agency.

As part of this course you can:

• Design and build your own electronic circuits, systems and computer software
• Use our research facilities, including a computer labs, high-voltage laboratory and £110m clean room
• Develop your enterprise skills with help from our startup supporter, Future Worlds
• study engineering management and law to develop your career skills

Our aerospace electronic engineering degree is accredited by the Institution of Engineering and Technology on behalf of the Engineering Council for the purposes of:

• Fully meeting the academic requirement for registration as an Incorporated Engineer
• Partly meeting the academic requirement for registration as a Chartered Engineer

Psychology is an important resource for educators and policy makers. This course is for those interested in how education evolves, how people learn and how they behave in educational settings. Like a single-honours psychology degree, this course will prepare you for a wide range of psychology careers, as well as education-related jobs and further study.

Our course focuses on the rigorous, scientific study of education alongside the core topics of a psychology degree. You’ll also examine how psychology research applies to education.

You’ll study topics such as:

• Curriculum design
• Behavioural neuroscience
• Developmental psychology
• Special educational needs

As part of your degree you can:

• Study UK and international systems, from primary to post-compulsory education
• Explore key topics like social justice, inclusion and digital literacy
• Use our custom observation rooms, eye-movement recording facilities and virtual reality labs
• Access our Institute for Equity and Effectiveness in Education (IE3), one of the country’s leading institutes for education research
• Study abroad at one of our exchange partner universities

This programme is accredited by the British Psychological Society. It can lead onto Chartered Membership.

Study the design, engineering and operation of land transport systems, with our MSc Transportation Planning and Engineering: Infrastructure. With a focus on transport infrastructure, this course looks in detail at traffic engineering, and railway engineering and operations. You can study this course on a full-time, part-time or distance-learning basis.

If you want a career in the transport industry or you're an experienced transport professional interested in enhancing your skills, this degree is ideal. 

This course covers everything from the fundamentals of modelling and economics through to the application of software and planning tools using real life examples from around the world. It’s the perfect way to improve your knowledge and employability in the transport sector.

Your course highlights include field trips and a mock public inquiry, where you'll learn about  public engagement and the role of public opinion in the transport planning process.

You taught learning includes modules on:

• Transport economics
• Transport data analysis and techniques
• Transport planning: policy and governance
• Transport modelling
• Highway and traffic engineering  
• Railway engineering and operations 

You’ll also have the chance to choose from a range of modules including:

• Transport, energy and the environment
• Human factors in engineering
• Transport management and safety
• Logistics systems operations

You’ll gain experience using a range of transport-related software and you’ll be able to hear directly from a range of industry guest speakers. You’ll also carry out an individual research project on a topic of your choice.

With climate change challenging our conservation efforts, now is the time to play a role in the future of conservation by studying our MRes Wildlife Conservation course. We’re the only university in the UK offering a Masters of Research in close collaboration with a conservation organisation.

Studying this Masters of Research gives you the opportunity to complete a research project in a real and very critical cause; conserving wildlife and their supporting ecosystems. Our wildlife degree in research is designed to give you the professional and research skills to either study a PhD or become a conservation biologist. 

During your studies, you’ll be based at the Science and Learning Centre at Marwell Wildlife where you’ll be considered part of the team. You’ll learn the foundations in advanced field research with access to their top of the range research equipment.  

You’ll be able to apply your research skills to immediate use during a 10-day trip to Kenya, which is covered as part of the course fees. You’ll collect data and report your findings to stakeholders giving you real-life work experience of a conservation biologist working in Africa.  

As part of this course you'll be given a choice of independent research projects to complete. This could take you from the local eco-systems in the UK, to the ranches of Kenya, or the mountains of Tunisia. The selection changes every year.

Students previous projects have looked at the following subjects: 

• Conservation grazing and its effect on local biodiversity
• Re-introducing species, considering the effect of climate change
• Evolution of species behaviour whilst in captivity
• Management of large herbivores, considering socio-economic constraints

Our teaching staff are experts and the learning environment is open and inclusive, with a focus on self-reflection. This enables you to measure your own personal growth as a researcher during this transformational point in your wildlife conservation career.