It also exposes students to the applied aspects of crop and animal husbandry. The Department provides quality teaching and research and its degrees are recognised among the best in Australia. The Department contributes extensively to first-year subjects in biology and offers subjects leading to the Bachelor of Science pass and honours degrees. In the third year of the course, students have the option of pursuing specialisation at the molecular, whole plant or community level. Postgraduate training is available in a wide range of fields in the plant sciences.
Postgraduate training leading to masters and doctoral degrees is also available.
The microbiology subjects are intended to provide a basic education and training in fundamental aspects of general microbiology and the necessary practical skills required for careers in such fields as research, industry and teaching. Zoology is the study of animals in all of their many facets. It includes the study of individual animals and populations of animals, their relationships with one another, with plants and with their physical environment. The Department offers subjects which cover many sub-disciplines which reflect the research interests of the staff, including, systematics and taxonomy, cell biology, cell, general and comparative physiology, ecology and conservation, biogeography, palaeontology, evolution, behaviour, freshwater ecology, marine biology, morphology, histology and cytology, entomology and economic ecology. Another distinctive feature of the Department is its strong emphasis on student participation in learning, with more practice classes and fewer lectures than is customary in other university mathematics courses.