Our new building welcomes new students for the first time
The Life Sciences building welcomed students for the first time at the start of the 2010/11 academic year.
State-of-the-art laboratories and lecture theatres will make learning a pleasure for undergraduates and postgraduates alike.
Admissions tutor Dr Malcolm East is delighted with the new facilities: “It’s a flagship building and anyone coming onto the Highfield campus will notice it straightaway. We have excellent resources for both teaching and research and I’m sure both students and staff will appreciate it.”
Around 230 first year undergraduates will join the Biological Sciences community this autumn, after winning a place to study against fierce competition. The average A level score per successful student was 355 points, the equivalent of AAB; that score has risen each year for the past two years. All undergraduate places were filled quickly after A level results day in August 2010 and the School did not offer any vacancies through clearing.
Many of the freshers will have decided to apply to Southampton through taking part in an Open Day or Visit Day. Around 2,000 would-be Biological Sciences students attend talks and tours on campus, talking to academics and current undergraduates about the realities of studying science at the University. A large number later say this helped influence their decision to choose Southampton.
“We have high standards at the School of Biological Sciences. Our degree programmes are rewarding and enjoyable but they are also challenging and demanding,” says Malcolm. “It’s an exciting time to be studying the biological sciences, new discoveries are being made and we have sophisticated equipment to help with the exploration. It’s a complex subject. The more you find out, the more you want to find out.”
Three or four years after enrolling as a fresher, around half of graduates of the Biological Sciences take jobs directly related to their studies, in healthcare/medicine, the pharmaceutical industry, biotechnology, academic research, teaching, agriculture, fisheries or conservation. Others use their analytical and problem-solving knowledge and skills in other areas of employment such as finance, IT and publishing.