Biology with a Year in Applied Research, BSc (Hons)

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10th in the UK

(The Complete University Guide, 2023)

Key Course Details

4 Year Full Time

UCAS Code: C14R
Mode of Study: Campus Based
Typical Offer (view equivalents): ABB-BBB
Location: Singleton Park Campus

Start Date	Tuition Fees - Year 1
Sep 2023	£ 9,000

4 Year Full Time

UCAS Code: C14R
Mode of Study: Campus Based
Typical Offer: ABB-BBB - More Information
Location: Singleton Park Campus

Start Date	Tuition Fees - Year 1
Sep 2023	£ 19,950

Course Overview

A deep academic understanding of life on earth is now more important than ever. Studying living organisms in all their epic variety helps us to identify critical threats and major opportunities, from the smallest scale to the biggest.

The Year in Applied Research provides an opportunity for students to spend a period of 9- 12 months (minimum of 40 weeks) in a research organisation in order to gain first-hand research experience. During the placement, students work within a research group and carry out the day-to-day research-based activities relevant to the discipline within that specific research area. Students should expect to be involved in multiple research projects, often being undertaken consecutively. Throughout the placement, students develop advanced research skills, such as mastering appropriate technology, analyses, surveying, while learning to use and apply relevant methods of experimental design, data collection and analysis. Students may also be involved in writing technical reports, searching for and synthesising relevant literature and communicating technical information via a range of modes. While on the research placement, there should be opportunities to network and build a professional profile.

Why Biology with a Year in Applied Research at Swansea?

65% of our research outputs were valued as world leading - Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2021
4% combined outputs (4* & 3*) were valued as world leading and internationally excellent- Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2021
Impact and Environment submissions were valued at 100% - Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2021
We are ranked 11^th in the UK for Research Quality [Complete University Guide 2023]
Top 3 in the UK for the percentage of students satisfied with course [Guardian University Guide 2022]

Biology at Swansea University has a strong reputation and draws students from across the world and is based on our stunning Singleton Park campus overlooking Swansea Bay.

Your learning will be shaped by inspirational and internationally-renowned academics including Professor Rory Wilson – Chief Scientific Consultant behind National Geographic’s Great Migrations, and Dr Richard Unsworth – advisor on the globally acclaimed BBC series Blue Planet II.

Related courses
- for students who don't meet the necessary requirements to enter onto the first year of a degree course.

Available with Year in Industry or Year Abroad options

Your Biology with a Year in Applied Research Experience

A flexibly structured degree path means you have the opportunity to study abroad for a year or work in industry for a year, either locally, nationally or overseas.
Our state-of-the-art teaching and research facilities include the Centre for Sustainable Aquatic Research, a Zoological Museum, a custom-designed 18 metre , and a unique visualisation centre that displays multi-dimensional information from animal tracking data.
Field courses available near and far allow you to work varied habitats. You can explore the spectacular marine coastal ecosystems of the Gower Peninsula on our doorstep, and natural life in distant lands such as India, Borneo and Puerto Rico.

Biology with a Year in Applied Research Employment Opportunities

Our graduate have become Ecologists, Project Officers, Hydrometry and Telemetry Officers, Benthic Taxonomists, Wildlife and Education Officers, Animal Keepers and Crop Technicians.

Our department has strong connections with international and national organisations such as Natural Resources Wales, The British Mammal Society and The National Wetlands Centre Wales which will add value to your studies.

Modules

You will study the following set compulsory modules and select from a choice of optional modules over the course of your degree. In your final year you will take a ten-week 30-credit biosciences research project module which can be field-based in the UK or overseas, laboratory-based or purely analytical.

Year 3 (Level 5S)

FHEQ 5 Undergraduate Sandwich Year

Compulsory Modules

Module Name	Module Duration	Credits	Module Code
Year in Applied Research	Academic Year	120	BI-E03

Entry Requirements

A levels: grades ABB-BBB, to include Biology or Human Biology, or equivalent.

Welsh Baccalaureate: Requirements are as for A levels where you can substitute the same non-subject specific grade for the Welsh Baccalaureate Advanced Level Core Grade

BTEC Extended Diploma: Grades DDD plus at least one GCSE grade B in Science with GCSE Grades C in English/Welsh and Mathematics. Accepted BTECs: Applied Science, Environmental Sustainability, Countryside Management.

Scottish Highers: ABBCC to include Biology grade B.

Access to Science (Bioscience): 24 Distinctions (3 of which must be Biology) and 15 Merits at Level 3.

IB: Pass with 32 overall to include 5 in Higher Level Biology.

IELTS: 6.0 (with a minimum of 5.5 in each component) or equivalent English test.

We may consider other qualifications if they are science-based if they are equivalent to A-levels, and if the content of the qualification includes significant amounts of Biology (i.e., equivalent to A-level Biology).

All applications will be considered on an individual basis, and we will look at the whole application when deciding whether to make an offer of a place, including: the balance, nature and quality of A-level, AS and GCSE subjects (or equivalent); personal statement and referee’s comments.

General Studies and Key Skills qualifications are normally excluded from our offers.

How You're Taught

We are proud to provide an outstanding educational experience, using the most effective learning and teaching approaches, carefully tailored to suit the specific needs of your course. Apart from a small number of online-only courses, most of our courses consist of in-person, on-campus teaching, enabling full engagement with your lecturers and fellow students.

Practical skills sessions, lab work seminars, and workshops predominantly take place in person, allowing for group working and demonstrations. We also operate virtual labs and Simulated Learning Environments which will facilitate greater access to training opportunities in the future. However, our approach also includes the use of some online learning to support and enhance traditional face-to-face teaching.

Online learning may take place ‘live’ using software such as Zoom, allowing you to interact with the lecturer and other students and to ask questions. Lecture recordings also allow for more flexibility to revisit material, to revise for assessments and to enhance learning outside of the classroom. Some modules have extra resources in Canvas, such as videos, slides and quizzes enabling further flexible study.

This course offers some modules taught through the medium of Welsh or bilingually for students who consider themselves to be fluent Welsh speakers. For more details on the provision available see the Welsh Provision expander below.

Welsh Provision

Some provision

There are opportunities for Welsh speakers to study some elements of this course through the medium of Welsh but there is not yet enough provision to reach 40 credits in each year.

Academi Hywel Teifi is here to support you throughout your time at Swansea University. We can offer you:

Access to generous Welsh-language study scholarships or bursaries.
Access to modules taught wholly or partly in Welsh.
Access to the Arwain mobile app for the latest information about Welsh-medium courses and modules available to download free on the App Store and Google Play.
An interview through the medium of Welsh when applying for a place.
The option to receive your personal correspondence in Welsh, English or bilingually.
The option to write and submit your coursework or exams through the medium of Welsh (even if you have chosen to study in English), and your work will be marked in Welsh.
A Welsh-speaking Academic Mentor.
One-to-one support to improve your academic Welsh language skills.
An opportunity to gain an additional free qualification that serves as evidence of your Welsh language ability for future employers.
Opportunity to be a member of the Swansea University Branch of the Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol.

To learn more about the above and all the opportunities available to you through the medium of Welsh, visit Academi Hywel Teifi's undergraduate pages.

Meet Your Lecturers

You will be taught by who are all active researchers. Their research activities in areas such as environmental conservation, sustainable aquaculture, biocontrol and species monitoring, help to change the world for the better.

Professor Geoff Proffitt Head of Department
Dr Penny Neyland Programme Director
Admissions Tutor

Tuition Fees

Start Date	UK	International
September 2022	£ 9,000	£ 19,000
September 2023	£ 9,000	£ 19,950

Fees for full time Undergraduate UK students may be increased in subsequent years of study by an inflationary amount determined by Welsh Government.

Fees for full time Undergraduate EU/International students will increase by 3% for each subsequent year of study.

You can find further information of your fee costs on our tuition fees page.

You may be eligible for funding to help support your study. To find out about scholarships, bursaries and other funding opportunities that are available please visit the University's scholarships and bursaries page.

Current students: You can find further information of your fee costs on our tuition fees page.

Funding and Scholarships

You may be eligible for funding to help support your study.

To find out about scholarships, bursaries and other funding opportunities that are available please visit the University's scholarships and bursaries page.

Academi Hywel Teifi at Swansea University and the Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol offer a number of generous scholarships and bursaries for students who wish to study through the medium of Welsh or bilingually. For further information about the opportunities available to you, visit the Academi Hywel Teifi Scholarships and Bursaries page.

Our degree schemes in Biology, Zoology and Marine Biology are eligible for the Ysgoloriaeth Cymhelliant scholarships for those students who wish to pursue part of their studies through the Welsh language. Students who intend to study at least 33% of their subject through the medium of Welsh can apply. We offer 40 credits through Welsh at all levels.

More information on scholarships

Additional Costs

Access to your own digital device/the appropriate IT kit will be essential during your time studying at Swansea University. Access to wifi in your accommodation will also be essential to allow you to fully engage with your programme. See our dedicated webpages for further guidance on suitable devices to purchase, and for a full guide on getting your device set up.

You may face additional costs while at university, including (but not limited to):

Travel to and from campus
Printing, photocopying, binding, stationery and equipment costs (e.g. USB sticks)
Purchase of books or texts
Gowns for graduation ceremonies

Lab coat and dissection kit (Level 1 for all degree programmes) – approximately £30
Tropical Marine Biology field course in Puerto Rico - (costs ~£1200 - £1700 tbc)
Sikkim overseas field trip (Biology and Zoology Level 3 - optional) – student contributes £500 towards travel and accommodation

*We also advise all students to have suitable outdoor clothing and sensible footwear (wellington boots)

Careers and Employability

Swansea Employability Academy (SEA) will support you at each stage of your career journey helping you build a bright future.

Our career support services include:

Employability workshops, employers’ talks, bespoke events and careers fairs
Individual advice and guidance from professionally qualified Careers Advisers
Help with finding jobs, internships, work placements and volunteering opportunities
Access to information resources on a wide range of career management topics
Advice and guidance on postgraduate study and funding
Funding to support student internship opportunities and Student Society/Club events.

We also provide help and advice for Swansea University Alumni up to two years after you graduate.

Graduates of biological sciences are set on course for a range of stimulating opportunities. These are a small number of their recent destinations.

Ecologist (Jacobs Engineering & CSA Environmental)
Delivery Officer (Biotechnology & Biological Science Research Council)
Project Officer (Amphibian & Reptile Conservation Trust)
Hydrometry and Telemetry Officer (Natural Resources Wales)
Benthic Taxonomist (Oceanology Ltd)
Wildlife and Education Officer (Ipswich Borough Council)
Crop Technician (Humber Growers)
Animal keeper (All Things Wild)
Quality Control Associate (Amgen Biovex Ltd)
Royal Navy Officer (Britannia Royal Navy College)
Research Assistant (TRP Research)

Academic Support

As well as subject specific support by college teaching staff and your personal academic mentor, the Centre for Academic Success provides courses, workshops and one-to-one support in areas such as:

Academic writing
Maths and statistics
Critical thinking
Time management
Digital skills
Presentation skills
Note taking
Revision, memory and exam techniques
English language skills (if English is not your first language).

In addition, if you have a Specific Learning Difficulty (SpLD), disability, mental health or medical condition, the Centre for Academic Success have Specialist Tutors to support your learning, working alongside the Disability Office and Wellbeing Service to support all your needs and requirements whilst studying at Swansea University.

Our lecturers operate an ‘open door’ policy so you can chat with them about any concerns you may be having. These do not have to be just course related; our academic staff are there to help you with anything at all during your time in Swansea.

Each course has a student rep. They are there to make sure that every student voice is heard. Their role is to listen and feedback on your opinions, attend regular meetings and make sure that the people who can make changes listen to the people who really matter - you!

We offer both academic mentoring and peer mentoring. All students on our undergraduate courses are assigned an Academic Mentor, who will offer you not only Academic Guidance, but advice on finding and accessing help with personal issues. Our Peer mentoring scheme is in place to help new students settle into university life here at Swansea. You will get a chance to talk to your mentor who can tell you about their experiences as a student and also chat about student life. The peer mentoring scheme is a great way to meet students and widen your friendship circle while at Swansea.

You can also get help with personal issues from our wide range of student support such as CampusLife, Inclusive Student Support Services and The Centre for Academic Success.

Study Abroad and Global Opportunities

To learn more about study abroad, visit our Go Global webpages. Enrolment on a programme with a semester/year abroad does not guarantee you a semester/year abroad placement. Spaces are limited and subject to a competitive selection process. In the event you do not secure a semester/year abroad placement, you will be transferred to the standard variant of your degree scheme without a semester or year abroad.

International summer programmes are open to students from all colleges. Programmes typically range from 2 to 6 weeks, across destinations such as China, Zambia, South Korea, Japan, Canada and across Europe. For more information about programmes and eligibility visit our Summer Abroad webpages.

How to Apply

Apply now – UK, EU and international students.

For further guidance please visit our how to apply pages.

EU students - visa and immigration information is available and will be regularly updated on our information for EU students page.

Application Deadlines

We recommend that you submit your application to our courses as early as you can in advance of our application deadlines. Courses will close earlier than the application deadlines listed if all available places are filled. You can find further information on our Application Deadlines webpage.

Additional Information

All of our Biosciences courses have modules that involve a field course. Swansea University is an ideal place to study Biosciences as we have outstanding locations on our doorstep for biology, zoology and marine biology. We make the best of our locality by visiting the coastal Gower peninsula, travelling on our boat, the R.V Mary Anning, around Swansea Bay and researching the beautiful flora and fauna both on land and at sea in South Wales.

Further afield, past field course destinations have included Puerto Rico, Borneo, and Sikkim in the Indian Himalayas. These trips of a lifetime are a great way to learn about other environments and also to bond and work collaboratively with your fellow students and lecturers.