In practice, the boundaries of the groups overlap considerably and most staff interact extensively with colleagues from a range of subject areas in this and other Departments. In the current year, the Department has approximately 700 full-time equivalent students. All degree programmes now form part of the University's modular degree system.
Students take six modules in each of the two semesters.
Our main course for many years has been the B.Sc. Biological Sciences degree, for which we have achieved a good reputation for providing a balanced and well-rounded view of biology, with the opportunity for some specialisation. This successful course will continue, but since 1994, the Department's policy has been to encourage the opportunities for students to select more specialised programmes of study, and we have designed a number of routes to meet this aim. The degree in Marine Biology is now in its fourth year of operation, and is rapidly gaining a strong reputation and attracting increasing numbers of well-qualified students. We have recently developed new specialist degrees in areas which are underpinned by our research activities, namely Ecology , Microbial and Cellular Biology and Plant Sciences .