Zoology

Entry requirements

Applicants for this course should have achieved a UK 2:1 Honours Degree.

Months of entry

January, April, October

Course content

The Department of Zoology brings together researchers from a great diversity of disciplines, ranging from cell biology to field ecology. What unites us is an interest in the whole organism, and in how systems interact across different levels of organisation to generate the complexity of form, function and behaviour that is observed in the living world. Evolution is a theme that underpins and unites much of our work, as does an appreciation of the interaction between living organisms and their environments.

We offer both research MPhil (duration of one year) and PhD (three to four years) degrees.

The PhD degree is a minimum of three years of full-time research with an individual supervisor. At the end of their degree, students will produce a written thesis, which will be assessed by independent experts, and examined with a viva. This is the principal research degree offered in the Department of Zoology and the great majority of our students are registered for it.

Students are directly supervised by one of our group leaders, who will support them in developing an independent and novel project in their field of interest. Students will learn how to review relevant literature, to phrase and answer scientific questions, and how to report their findings to the scientific community, at conferences and through peer-reviewed scientific publications. We very much encourage students to get experience in undergraduate teaching, which can be either as demonstrators during practical classes or supervisors teaching small groups.

At the end of their first year of study, students are required to complete a satisfactory first-year report and viva. A brief report (without viva) is required at the end of the second year and third year.

All candidates are expected to take part in the Department’s Graduate Training Programme and the Graduate School of Life Science’s Researcher Development Programme.

Most candidates taking this option starting in October, to take advantage of Departmental and University induction programmes, but admission in January or April is also possible.