Biological Sciences
Academic Staff
Dr Graham Taylor is the Peter Brunet Tutorial Fellow in Biological Sciences at Jesus College. He is the course convenor for Animal Biology, and teaches a range of topics, including vertebrate and invertebrate diversity, animal behaviour, sensory ecology, biomechanics, and quantitative methods. His research focuses on animal flight and he has a strong interest in palaeobiology and evolution.
About the Course
Biological Sciences at Oxford is a single honours degree course taught jointly by the Departments of Plant Sciences and Zoology. The course combines traditional core topics, such as animal and plant evolution and systematics, with modern developments and techniques in all spheres of biology, from the molecular and cellular to the whole organismal and ecological. It makes full use of Oxford’s major research expertise in all these areas, and one of the course’s major strengths is this fundamental association between teaching and research. We believe that the focus on biology in depth over three years in combination with the tutorial system and world-class scientific research provides a degree course that is second to none.
Biological Sciences at Oxford is a three-year course. You will spend the first year encountering the full range of biology, developing an understanding of the integration between the levels and discovering, perhaps to your surprise, the similarities of some of the laws governing interactions between molecules, cells, individuals and populations. In the second year the depth of material covered increases in preparation for the third year. Here you will be able to specialise, pursuing the latest research, both pure and applied, in those subjects that interest you most. Recent changes to the course structure have placed additional emphasis on emerging topics relevant to society such as GM crops, bio-fuels, stem cells and ageing.
1st Year: The first year of the course involves three major strands taken by all students: Cells and Genes, Organisms, and Ecology. Each is examined at the end of the first year. Data Handling forms a fourth strand, but as a foundation course that is not examined at the end of the year. In the first year, all practicals are compulsory. They are not necessarily linked to lectures, but focus on providing practical skills relevant to modern biology, from the cellular and molecular to the ecological and taxonomic. There is a one-week residential field course to West Wales in the summer term.
2nd Year: In the second year, lectures are offered under two compulsory themes – Evolution and Quantitative Methods – and six others comprising Adaptations to the Environment, Animal Behaviour, Cell & Developmental Biology, Plants & People, Ecology, and Disease. Students are encouraged to attend lectures within all of these themes but are likely to specialise in four or five. A number of different practical courses are offered in the second year, aimed again at developing a range of relevant practical skills.
3rd Year: In the third and final year, the six general themes diversify into approximately 20 specialist options, including a residential field course in Borneo. Students are free to select any combination from among these options, although places on the Borneo field trip are limited. It is recommended to take a minimum of six options; students may take more if they wish to do so.
Project: All undergraduates undertake an assessed research project during their second and third years. The topic may be the student’s own idea or one chosen from suggestions by members of the departments. Students carry out practical research, either in the lab or field, analyse data using rigorous scientific method and conventions, and write a report. The level expected is similar to early stage graduate work and the results from many of these projects have been published in scientific journals – an early chance to get into print! The breadth of topics is vast; examples in the recent past range from how embryonic cells differentiate into nerve cells, to the number of fish on a coral reef.
Course Assignments: During their third year all undergraduates undertake one extended essay or another piece of written work, and one oral presentation plus a written abstract. There is complete freedom to choose the appropriate topic, and any subject within the areas covered or touched upon by any of the modules is eligible, but the format of the assignment will be specified by the particular theme.
Oxford is extremely well endowed with a whole variety of facilities of enormous value to our staff and students. These include the University Museum of Natural History, the first purpose-built in the country, the Botanic Garden and Harcourt Arboretum, which include a national reference collection of 7,000 different types of plants, the Fielding Druce Herbarium, which contains some of the oldest and most important botanical collections in the UK, and Wytham Woods, which is one of the best studied broadleaved woodlands in the world. Also based at Wytham is the University Farm, now managed by the Food Animal Initiative (FAI), a business whose aim it is to turn animal welfare benefits into commercially viable systems and thereby to improve farm profits and ethical standards in the farming industry. All are used for teaching in one part of the course or other, and biology students are encouraged to use these facilities to the full, either for serious work, or simply for pure enjoyment.
Joint Schools
There are no Joint Schools for Biological Sciences.
Admissions
Four places are typically offered to read Biological Sciences, among a total College entry of about 100 undergraduates. The College accepts pre- and post- A-Level candidates without preference; International and European Baccalaureates, and other comparable international qualifications, are also welcome. A strong academic record in Biology is essential, preferably supported by any of Maths, Physics, Chemistry, Geography, or another science subject. Combinations of other subjects with Biology will also be considered and judged on their individual merits: some of our most gifted students have been those with A-level Biology in combination with other, non-science subjects such as History or English.
There is no written test at interview and tutors will not request written work from the candidate’s school or college prior to interview. Offers made to pre-A level candidates will be set at A*AA with the A* required to be in a science subject; offers to post-A level candidates will usually be unconditional. For other qualifications such as IB or EB, offers are made at a recognized equivalent level. Candidates for deferred entry will be considered, but you should be aware that applicants who are offered deferred places must be among the very strongest of their cohort. In some cases, an applicant for deferred entry may be offered a place for non-deferred entry instead.
The interviews are designed to enable you to show your enthusiasm for biology, your aptitude to study and your ability to think and use information to construct your own opinions. We are not testing your factual knowledge but your ability to analyse and understand whatever facts you have encountered up to that time–including new pieces of information that we may give you at interview. If you express an interest in a particular aspect of biology, either on your UCAS form or at interview, then be prepared to talk about it in an intelligent and informed manner. The interview process is rigorous but sympathetic, so that you can show us your best. The specific selection criteria are given on the Admissions & Application page of the Biological Sciences website.
If you require any further advice, please contact the Admissions Officer.
Postgraduate Studies and Careers
Over 90% of Oxford biologists find employment within six months of graduating. Having spent three years exposed directly to original ideas and being encouraged to develop their own, Oxford biology graduates very often go on to become top scientists themselves, or successful professionals in other fields. Many take up careers in industry or commerce, where a broad understanding of scientific processes and expertise at analysis of complex systems are excellent training for confronting the complexities of the business environment. Others opt for school teaching with a Postgraduate Certificate in Education and yet others make careers in scientific filmmaking, publishing and journalism.
About a third of Oxford biologists continue studying biology, either by doing research towards a doctorate or by postgraduate training in applied fields such as plant protection, forestry, epidemiology, applied entomology or ecology. There are three branches of Biological Sciences at Postgraduate level: Biochemistry, Plant Sciences and Zoology. Graduate research students form one of the largest groups within the Faculty, numbering in excess of 100 during any academic year.
Preliminary Reading and Further Information
A booklet about Biology at Oxford is available from the Undergraduate Teaching Coordinator, Department of Zoology, South Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3PS (undergraduate.enquiries@biology.ox.ac.uk).
Further information about Biological Sciences at Oxford can be found on the Biological Sciences, Department of Zoology and Department of Plant Sciences websites and the University's Undergraduate Courses pages.