Biological Sciences

Our flexible MBiolSci lets you tailor your degree to the areas of biological science you’re passionate about, linked to your career goals. If you're thinking about a career in research, this course involves a major research project in your fourth year.

Our four-year MBiolSci Biological Sciences course is perfect if you're thinking about a research career. It gives you the flexibility to explore the subject and discover what excites you most before completing a major research project in your fourth year (known as an integrated masters).

You'll start your first year by studying a broad foundation in biological science, before choosing the topics you want to study from carefully built pathways. Whether your interests lie in molecular biology, organismal biology, or span both fields, at Sheffield we have expertise across the breadth of biology, allowing you to explore areas including:

• Molecular genetics and genomics

• Cell biology and function

• Neuroscience and animal behaviour

• Microbiology and infectious disease

• Ecology, biodiversity, and conservation

• Ecosystem dynamics and environmental processes

• Sustainability and global change

• Evolution and the diversity of life

Throughout the course, you’ll be encouraged to be creative, think independently, and express your ideas. Depending on your interests and the modules you choose, you could be carrying out fieldwork investigating soil, plant, and animal ecology. You’ll be out in the Peak District on our doorstep and at other sites of interest across the country, before embarking on a once-in-a-lifetime field course in the UK or abroad. Many students also choose to study animal anatomy and physiology in our on-site Alfred Denny Museum of Zoology.

Alternatively, you could be studying life at the molecular level, modelling the gene networks that resulted in speciation, investigating bacterial pathogenicity, or even working with scientists from Sheffield Children's NHS Foundation Trust to learn how to diagnose genetic disorders such as cancer or rare inherited disease.

No matter what areas of biological science you choose to study at Sheffield, you'll develop practical laboratory and transferable skills that make our graduates attractive to employers including project management, problem-solving, communication skills, and data analysis.

All this experience will prepare you for your third-year research project where you could be laboratory-based, field-based, focus on computer modelling, science education, or even science communication. Recent student research projects have explored:

• What determines the evolution of wing shape in tropical butterflies?

• How activating a key gene can prime plants to tolerate environmental stress (like droughts linked to climate change) across generations.

• What makes bacteria dangerous? Using high-tech computer modelling software to analyse real-world scenarios like antibiotic-resistant superbugs or hospital outbreaks.

Your fourth year is designed to equip you with advanced laboratory or field research skills, ready for a rewarding career in science. You'll spend the bulk of this year focused on a major research project in an area of biological sciences of your choice, and graduate with a masters degree.

If you choose to spend a year on a work placement as part of your course, this tends to take place after your second year. It’s a great way to gain valuable experience and test out a career path that you're considering. Our students have found placements in science and non-science-based roles with a range of organisations including GSK, Cancer Research Technology, Kew Gardens, and the Environment Agency. You can opt into the scheme once you get to Sheffield.

Accreditation

This course has advanced accreditation by the Royal Society of Biology which shows employers that you've developed the scientific knowledge and technical and transferable skills that you'll need for a great career.