Zoology

Our three-year BSc Zoology course is about animals, their evolution, and their interactions with each other, the environment and biodiversity conservation.

You'll study microbes, invertebrates, birds, fish, mammals, and humans and learn how they evolved, how their physiology works, how they behave, and how they respond to global change.

You’ll even discover how their biodiversity is maintained and lost, and use this knowledge to help us address important issues such as tropical wildlife conservation, disease outbreaks, and maintaining functioning ecosystems.

At Sheffield, you’ll be encouraged to be creative, think independently, and express your ideas. You'll be in the lab completing in-depth practicals, and studying animal anatomy and physiology in our Alfred Denny Museum of Zoology. You'll learn off campus too, carrying out fieldwork in the Peak District, visiting zoos, aquariums, and other scientific spots around the country, and embarking on a once-in-a-lifetime field course in the UK or abroad.

As you progress through your degree you’ll have the option to specialise in key areas, such as biodiversity conservation, evolutionary biology, genetics or ecological modelling.

No matter what areas of zoology you choose to study, you'll develop practical laboratory and transferable skills that make our graduates attractive to employers, including project management, problem-solving, communication skills, and data analysis.

All this experience will prepare you for your third-year research project where you could be laboratory based, field-based, focus on computer modelling, or even science communication.

Gain extra experience as part of your degree You can add an extra year of research experience with an integrated masters (MBiolSci), or spend a year on a work placement and gain transferable skills working with a top employer.