Zoology with a Year in Industry

It’s hard not to marvel at the diversity of the natural world. From the smallest insect to the largest mammal, Zoology at Royal Holloway, University of London explores how each and every creature has a role to play in the ecology of our planet.

The programme examines animal evolution, physiology and diversity, developing your understanding of how animals behave, how they function and how they interact with their environments. A combination of field and lab-based learning lets you make the most of our state-of-the-art mass spectrometry, proteomics and metabolomics facilities, while our marine and freshwater aquaria, glasshouses and plant and animal cell culture facilities mean you can study a diverse range of animal specimens.

Nearby sites of national scientific importance including Windsor Great Park, Box Hill and Chobham Common give you access to biodiverse habitats ideal for fieldwork, while a flexible programme structure lets you choose from a range of courses, even within your first year.

The Department of Biological Sciences was ranked 25th in the UK for influential research output by the Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2014, and you’ll become a part of this renowned research culture as you complete your fourth year research project. Zoology students join a friendly, welcoming learning environment with a high staff-to-student ratio, allowing for small group and even one-on-one tuition to maximise your learning.

The transferable skills you’ll learn studying Zoology will make you an attractive prospect to employers in a range of sectors, helping you to join Royal Holloway alumni in areas including environmental monitoring and practical conservation.

Our year in industry degrees are highly valued by employers and they give you the chance to gain first-hand experience of the world of work and to apply your learning to real-world scenarios. Your year in industry will start at the end of year 2.

• Field courses in marine biology, practical field ecology, and Mediterranean conservation and ecology.

• Flexible programme structure with a range of courses to personalise your learning.

• Learn how ecologists investigate the behaviour of animals and recent advances in behavioural ecology research.

• Enhance your skills in scientific illustration, microscope use, identification and animal handling.

• Learn how to organise data in a logical, presentable and persuasive way.

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

• Year in Industry

Year 4

• 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 4

• 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-with-a-year-in-industry/

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 fourth 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 fourth 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. Year three is the placement year. In your fourth 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.

Professionally accredited courses provide industry-wide recognition of the quality of your qualification.

• Royal Society of Biology