Zoology

Zoology (BSc)

Study for a Zoology degree at Royal Holloway and examine animal diversity, behaviour and evolution. Develop your understanding of how animals interact with their environments.

The natural world is changing at an ever-increasing rate. As the world evolves, many animal species are under threat. Humans too experience health issues by disconnecting from nature.

Our zoology degree is highly flexible from day one. You’ll benefit from practical teaching, based on our research in areas such as local wildlife conservation (Surrey Wildlife Trust) or our Europe-wide pollinator work (PoshBee). You’ll also be part of our vibrant community of world-leading researchers and student societies.

The wider picture

• Enjoy our extraordinary green campus with direct exposure to many biodiverse habitats and ecosystems

• Gain first-hand experience with our marine biology field course to Scotland or our Borneo tropical rainforest expedition

• Boost your employability with our authentic assessments, focused on skills development and preparing you for your career

Make your mark

Your final year research project lets you focus on a subject of your choosing. And our course opens the door to a wide range of careers. Decide to be a scientific and biodiversity advisor, data scientist, biological safety officer, science teacher, conservationist or ecology consultant. Or even a wildlife filmmaker. Royal Holloway bioscience graduates consistently enjoy a high graduate employability record.

We sometimes make changes to our courses to improve your experience. If this happens, we’ll let you know as soon as possible.

Course Modules

Core Modules

Year 1

• Becoming a Bioscientist

• Cell Biology and the Origin of Life

• Genetics

• Ecology and Conservation

• Introductory Animal Physiology

• Vertebrate Evolution and Diversity

• Academic Integrity

Year 2

• Invertebrate Biology: Structure, Behaviour and Evolution

• Biological Data Analysis and Interpretation

• Animal Behaviour

• Evolution

Year 3

• Individual Research Project

• Extreme Animal Physiology

Optional Modules

Below is a taster of some of the exciting optional modules that students on the course could choose from during this academic year. Please be aware these do change over time, and optional modules may be withdrawn or new ones added.

Year 1

• Fundamental Biochemistry

• Protein Biochemistry and Enzymology

• Introduction to Human Physiology

• Biology in a Changing World

• Biomes and Ecosystems

• Chemistry of Life

Year 2

• Microbiology

• Cell Dynamics: Division and Movement

• Human Physiology in Health and Disease

• Developmental Biology

• Plant Biotic Interactions and Ecological Networks

• Practical Field Ecology

• Applications of Molecular Genetics in Biology

• Marine Biology

• Molecular Biology

• Immunology

• Dissertation - Extended Essay

Year 3

• Biology of Parasitic Diseases

• Conservation Science

• Tropical Rainforest Expedition

• Population and Community Ecology

• Marine Ecology and Biodiversity

• Evolutionary Ecology of Vertebrates

• Extreme Animal Physiology

• Circadian Biology

• Applications of Genetic Engineering in Health and Disease

• Cell and Molecular Biology of Cancer

• Human Embryology

https://www.royalholloway.ac.uk/studying-here/undergraduate/biological-sciences/zoology/

Each year you will take modules worth a total of 120 credits, with most individual modules worth 15 credits. In your final year, your Individual Research Project is worth 30 credits.

The first year is formative, while outcomes of your second and third year contribute one third and two-thirds of your final degree classification respectively.

You will attend a mixture of lectures, seminars and small-group tutorials, with class sizes that range from 6 to 180 students. Practical classes are a major part of all first and second year modules, and include experiments that are integral to the subject, helping to familarise you with the material and augment your understanding of key topics. These are either laboratory-based or field-based with laboratory follow-up. In your third year, you will complete an individual research project supervised by one of our academics, and you may have the opportunity to contribute towards a published scientific paper. The individual research project is assessed on the basis of a written report, supervisor assessment, and an oral presentation.

During your first and second years, you will complete essays and reports, and sit written examinations. In your third year, assignments include a range of activities, such as preparation of posters, oral presentations, creation of leaflets and podcasts, coursework essays, mock research grant applications and scientific news-and-views articles, as well as analysis of data from online repositories in mini-research projects.