Biological Sciences

During Welcome Week the School of Biological Sciences will have academic inductions for our new undergraduate students. More information will follow.

Once you are fully registered, you will also find details on your induction and course on MyAberdeen.

School of Biological Sciences induction activities:

New level 1 students

• School Welcome and Orientation Talk: Wednesday 18^th September, 10:00 – 11:00, ZG18 Zoology Building Lecture Theatre
• Meet your Programme Coordinators: Wednesday 18^th September, 11:00 – 12:00, ZG18 Zoology Building Lecture Theatre
• Personal Tutor Meetings: Friday 20^th September, 11:30 – 12:00, Personal Tutor Meetings, location TBC - you will receive an email with location details w/b 23^rd September
• Welcome picnic: Friday 20^th September, 12:00 – 14:00, Cruickshank Gardens - Please bring your own picnic.
   

Direct entry students level 2 and 3

• School Welcome and Orientation Talk: Wednesday 18^th September, 11:00 – 12:00, ZG18 Zoology Building Lecture Theatre
• Friday 20^th September, 11:00 – 11:30, Personal Tutor Meetings, location TBC (direct entry students level 2 and 3), you will receive an email with location details w/b 23^rd September
• Welcome picnic: Friday 20^th September, 12:00 – 14:00, Cruickshank Gardens - Please bring your own picnic.

New BSc Animal Behaviour and Welfare students

• Meet your Programme Coordinators; BSc Animal Behaviour and Welfare: Wednesday 18^th September, 13:00 – 14:00, ZB19 Zoology Building
• Welcome picnic: Friday 20^th September, 12:00 – 14:00, Cruickshank Gardens - Please bring your own picnic.

Professor Michelle Pinard
Director of Education
Email: m.a.pinard@abdn.ac.uk

Biological Sciences Admin Team
sbsteaching@abdn.ac.uk

Reading lists for individual courses will be available through MyAberdeen later in the summer. In the meantime, you can brush up your study skills and learn more about the University at our award-winning Toolkit website.

Some specific suggestions for readings are as follows: 

Level 2

• (For BI2020 Ecology) Schilthuizen, M (2008) The Loom of Life:  Unravelling Ecosystems.  Springer-Verlap, Berlin
• (For BI2017 Genes and Evolution) Carey N (2012) The Epigenetics Revolution:  How Modern Biology is Rewriting Our Understanding of Genetics, Disease and Inheritance.

Level 3

• (Animal Behaviour, Behavioural Biology) Budiansky, B (1999) The Convenant of the Wild:  Why Animals Chose Domestication.  Yale University Press. 
• (Zoology, Biology, Biological Sciences, Ecology, Conservation Biology) Coyne, J (2010) Why Evolution is True.  Oxford University Press, Oxford.  (For Z03515 Animal Evolution and Biodiversity)
• (Marine Biology) Kaiser, M.J., et al. (2011) Marine Ecology: processes, systems, and impacts. 2nd edition. Oxford University Press, Oxford. (For ZO3306 Marine Ecology and Ecosystems)
• (Environmental Science) Blume, H.P. et al. (2016). Soil Science. Berlin: Springer Verlag. (For EV005 Global Soils and the environment)
• (Plant and Soil Science) Gregory, P.J. and Nortcliff, S. 2013. Soil Conditions and Plant Growth. Wiley-Blackwell, 472 pp. SBN: 1405197706 (PL3311 Plants, Soil and Sustainability)

Level 4

Your project supervisor can provide you with suggestions.

In the School of Biological Sciences, the majority of assessments will be through coursework including online tests.  A  few courses will have an end of course on campus exam.

Many courses include practicals in either laboratories or computer classrooms and some also include day field trips. There will be opportunities to take residential field courses throughout your degree.

Please note that all new Science Teaching Hub students should possess a clean, white, Howie laboratory coat to use in laboratory classes.

• This should be a ‘Howie’ style laboratory coat – elasticated cuffs, fastening all the way up to the neck with popper fastenings. Press stud fastenings are integral for Howie style coats to enable the coat to be removed quickly should contamination occur. Fabric · Polyester Cotton approximately [65%:35%]. Coats made from this fabric are light weight [195g/coat] and easily laundered.
• Older lab coats that are open at the collar or those with button fastenings are not suitable and should be avoided.

If a practical has a special exemption where a laboratory coat is not required, students will be informed. However, you should always assume you need your lab coat for practicals and bring it with you. If you do not bring a laboratory coat, you will not be admitted to a laboratory class.

Students must also bring their own safety glasses.

• For Safety Glasses, there are many options available online. They should have side shields. The examples below all have a suitable safety rating (EN 166) and  If you wear spectacles, you should look for styles of safety glasses that will fit over them.

You will be responsible for cleaning and maintaining your own laboratory coat and safety glasses throughout the term.

You can purchase a lab coat on campus from Bear Essentials shop in the Students' Union Building. 

During Welcome Week the School of Biological Sciences will have academic inductions for all new Postgraduate students. More information will be shared on these pages.

Once you are fully registered, you will also find details on your induction and course on MyAberdeen.

School of Biological Sciences induction activities:

• Thursday 19 September, 10:00 – 12:00,
  Intro to your MSc programme & academic orientation to UK education, ZB16 Zoology Building  
   
• Thursday 19 September, 13:00 – 15:00,
  cademic writing, ZB16 Zoology Building  
   
• Thursday 19 September, 15:00 – 16:30,
  alk around Seaton Park and surrounding areas
   
• Friday 20 September, 12:00 – 14:00,
  Welcome picnic (bring your own picnic), Cruickshank Gardens

Dr Vasilis Louca
SBS PGT Coordinator and MSc Environmental Science (Jan Start) Programme Coordinator
Email: v.louca@abdn.ac.uk

Biological Sciences Admin Team
Email: sbsteaching@abdn.ac.uk

If you would like to do some background reading/study before starting your MSc (this is not compulsory) you may find the following recommendations helpful; feel free to browse all categories, whichever MSc you are doing. Many texts will be free to access online once you have your University of Aberdeen login. Log in to the University library search system, RIMO, to find them.

Statistics

• A good introductory book is Quinn GP, Keough MJ (2002) Experimental design and data analysis for biologists.
• There are also useful free introductory statistics MOOCs available online.
•  Familiarise yourself with R software. You could use excellent material produced by our SBS statisticians https://alexd106.github.io/intro2R/index.html or other freely available material eg: https://cran.r-project.org/doc/contrib/Verzani-SimpleR.pdf , https://cran.r-project.org/doc/manuals/r-release/R-intro.pdf 

Environmental/soil topics

• Duarte, A.C., Cachada, A., Rocha-Santos, T.A.P. (Eds.), 2017. Soil Pollution: From Monitoring to Remediation. Academic Press.
• Blume, H.-P., Brümmer, G. W., Fleige, H., Horn, R., Kandeler, E., Kögel-Knabner, I., et al. (2016). Scheffer/Schachtschabel Soil Science. Berlin: Springer Verlag

Our PGT assessments are mainly coursework, such as reports, presentations, essays, research proposals etc. There are some online tests within courses, but no formal exams.

Many courses include practicals in either laboratories or computer classrooms and some also include day field trips. 

For laboratory practicals you will need your own lab coat and safety glasses. Your lab coat should be ‘Howie’ style, with elasticated cuffs and popper fastening all the way up to the neck. Safety glasses should have side shields, a suitable safety rating (EN 166), and if you wear spectacles you should get safety glasses that will fit over them.

You can purchase a lab coat on campus from Bear Essentials shop in the Students' Union Building. 

Fieldwork takes place at all times of year, so you will need warm, waterproof clothing (jacket and trousers) and sturdy, waterproof footwear, preferably walking boots.

We are looking forward to welcoming you to campus to start your research journey with us. As a Postgraduate Research student you will have the opportunity to attend a University wide induction in addition to your school induction.

The University of Aberdeen Orientation programme has been designed to take you through all of the essential information you will need for your student life. You can get started now by working through the interactive modules.

There are a series of modules that you can work through before you arrive. Once you have registered you can access the remaining modules and complete your mandatory training programme through your bespoke PGR training platform on our virtual learning environment.

There will be a school welcome event for Postgraduate Research students. This will provide an opportunity to meet Postgraduate coordinators and PhD supervisors. There will also be time to answer any questions you may have. Further details regarding the welcome event will follow in due course.

As a PGR student you may have the opportunity to audit Master‘s courses to augment your research training. Please discuss this with your supervisor and check out the postgraduate taught pages above.

The PGR School also offers a comprehensive training programme to support your research journey.

The PGR School training and development programme offers academic, professional, and personal development through a number of training workshops, resources and opportunities, all intended to support the PGR community at the University of Aberdeen.

Find out more here.