The Biology course at Oxford covers wide-ranging subject areas, from cellular to whole organism, woven together in an evolutionary framework, and explored with cross-disciplinary approaches. Students can choose to leave after three years and graduate with a BA, or, contingent on a satisfactory academic performance, they can continue to a fourth year and graduate with an MBiol. In the fourth year, students conduct an extended project, which can be lab or field based, plus advanced research skills training.
St Anne’s typically has four places to read Biology each year. We welcome applications from home and international candidates, and in keeping with St Anne’s commitment to fostering a diverse and inclusive community, encourage applications from under-represented backgrounds. We participate in the Opportunity Oxford program that provides additional support for talented offer-holders from under-represented backgrounds in the UK.
Dr Sonya Clegg, Associate Professor of Evolutionary Ecology, is the Biology Fellow at St Anne’s, and is the personal tutor for all Biology students. Other biologists who have affiliations with St Anne’s also frequently interact with undergraduates. St Anne’s biology students benefit from their combined range of expertise, that includes organismal biology, cell biology, evolutionary biology, quantitative methods, and various branches of ecology. One of the great strengths of an Oxford undergraduate degree is the tutorial system, where students have opportunities to have an in-depth discussion with an academic in a small group setting. In Biology, tutorials occur weekly. First year tutorial provision is organised by the Biology Fellow, and second and third year students self-organise their tutorial schedule, covering topics of their interest provided by the Biology Fellow and St Anne’s Biology biologists, and a broad range of academics from the departments and other colleges. Lectures, practicals and field courses are delivered jointly by the Department of Zoology and Department of Plant Sciences, both located a short walk or bike ride from St Anne’s.
Biology students are further supported by the College in multiple ways. They have access to the excellent resources of the St Anne’s Library – the largest College library in Oxford. We endeavour to keep multiple copies of the most relevant and up to date text books to support Biology study, and extensive online access to literature. Biology undergraduates can apply for a number of different internships, studentships and travel funds from St Anne’s to gain further professional experience in international and national settings over the vacations.
Many St Anne’s biology graduates go on to have a career in biology-related fields working as university academics, forest officers, natural history film producers, tropical agricultural developers, industrial entomologists and horticulturists, and wildlife conservationists, while others apply the wide set of skills and knowledge they have learned in other areas such as medicine, accountancy, business, banking, advertising, law and teaching.