BSc Honours in Marine Biology with Professional Studies 4-yr SW (UCAS Code: C164)
For entrance requirements
E: admissions@qub.ac.uk
T: +44 (0)28 9097 3838
For course information
The School Manager
School of Biological Sciences
T: +44 (0)28 9097 5786
E: e.purdy@qub.ac.uk
W: http://www.qub.ac.uk/bb
BSc Honours
Marine Biology 3 yrs (C160)
Marine Biology with Professional Studies 4-yr SW (C164)
Entrance Requirements
A-level: BBB including Biology or Double Award Applied Science + GCSE Chemistry or Double Award Science + GCSE Mathematics.
Note: it would be an advantage to have studied Chemistry beyond GCSE level.
Irish Leaving Certificate: B2B2B2B2CC/B2B2B2B2B2 including Higher Level grade B2 in Biology + if not offered at Higher Level then Ordinary Level grade C in Chemistry and Mathematics.
Note: it would be an advantage to have studied Higher Level Chemistry.
For students whose first language is not English
An IELTS score of 6.5 with a minimum of 5.5 in each test component or an equivalent acceptable qualification, details of which are available at: http://go.qub.ac.uk/EnglishLanguageReqs
If you are an international student and you do not meet the entrance requirements, you should consider a preparation course at INTO Queen's University Belfast, which will prepare you for successful study on these degree courses. INTO Queen's University Belfast is based on the University campus and offers a range of courses including: International Foundation in Engineering and Science
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Over 70 per cent of the Earth's surface is covered by seawater and all known phyla are believed to have originated in the sea or have marine representatives. The world's oceans influence all major processes on earth and provide a large proportion of the resources used by humans. Our Marine Biology degrees at span this multidisciplinary field, linking biology with oceanography to learn how life on Earth affects, and is affected by, marine processes. Areas of marine expertise at Queen's range from the molecular evolution of marine flora and fauna, invasive species, community ecology and climate change to the migration and foraging ecology of marine vertebrates such as basking sharks and sea turtles.
We are ideally located for the study of marine biology, with close access to diverse habitats, from estuaries and mudflats to rocky shores and the Atlantic Ocean. The Queen's University Marine Laboratory is our research centre for interdisciplinary marine sciences, located 30 miles from the main campus, in the Strangford Lough Marine Nature Reserve, on a site we share with the Northern Ireland aquarium, Exploris. All students take at least one residential field course each year at the Laboratory, and have the opportunity to pursue an independent research project for their Honours thesis in their final year.
Stage 1
Biological Diversity
Environmental Biology
Genetics and Molecular Biology
Introductory Skills for Biosciences
Micro-organisms
And normally Biochemistry
This gives Marine Biology students a broad base in the biological sciences on which to build their Stage 2 and Stage 3 studies.
Stage 2
There are three compulsory modules for Marine Biology students at Stage 2:
Adaptations in the Marine Environment
Invertebrate Biology
Marine Ecology (with field course)
The remaining modules normally include:
Applied Ecology
Environmental and Applied Microbiology
Molecular Ecology and Evolutionary Genetics
Note: Marine Biology with Professional Studies students undertake a one-year, degree-related work placement between Stages 2 and 3.
Stage 3
During their final year, students undertake a two-module research project carried out under the supervision of one or more members of academic staff. The project generally involves practical work carried out in the field and/or at the Marine Laboratory, in one of the many active areas of marine research in the School.
There are two compulsory taught modules at Stage 3:
Marine Processes
Marine Zoology
Students are also required to take two additional taught modules, normally Parasitology and Behavioural Ecology and Sociobiology.
'My subsequent career path has been a credit to the training I received at Queen's, having gone on to complete an Oceanography Masters in Southampton and begin my research career, complete with expeditions to the Indian Ocean, Greenland, the Arctic and Baltic Seas.'
Clare Webster, Scotland
Graduate (2009)
Facilities: excellent facilities for training and research are provided at the University's Marine Laboratory in Portaferry, which provides opportunities to gain field experience on small boats and a wide range of shoreline and laboratory-based techniques.
Accreditation: the most generally appropriate professional bodies for Marine Biology graduates are the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, the Fisheries Society of the British Isles and the Society of Biology.
Placement: students can complete an optional 16-week work placement period as a component of Stage 2. Marine Biology with Professional Studies students, on completion of Stage 2, undertake a 46-week period of work experience.
Last updated: 11.09.13
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