Natural Sciences Durham University

Overview

The Natural Sciences degree programme has the following features:

• The degree programme is based at the Durham campus.

• The University operates on a system of undergraduates studying 120 credits each year drawn by combining modules offered by departments.

• There are two types of degree that you can obtain, a 3-year BSc (degree code CFG0) or a 4-year MSci (degree code FGC0). The MSci is only available in certain subjects, namely Biology, Computer Science, Chemistry, Earth Sciences, Maths and Physics. Both the BSc and the MSci contain BSc Joint Honours and MSci Joint Honours degrees as well as the more broad BSc Natural Sciences and MSci Natural Sciences degrees. 

• You should note that not all combinations of all modules in all subjects are feasible. Choices are constrained by the limits of the University timetable, which changes every year.

Students on the Natural Sciences programme design their own programme, so depending on their choices they learn through a combination of lectures, seminars, tutorials, practical classes, fieldwork, informal but scheduled one-to-one support, and self-directed learning, such as research, reading, and writing. All of these are supported by a virtual learning environment, Durham University Online (DUO).

The degree programmes in Natural Sciences are designed to feature fewer formal sessions and more independent research as students move from their first to their final year. Small-group teaching and one-to-one attention from the personal academic advisor (provided for all students when they enter the programme) are part of the learning experience throughout, but by the final year classroom time gives way, to some extent, to independent research, including a major project that makes up a minimum of a third of final year credits. In this way, the degree programme systematically transforms the student from a consumer of knowledge in the classroom to a generator of knowledge, ready for professional or postgraduate life. These formal teaching arrangements are supported by “drop-in” surgeries with teaching staff and induction sessions that begin in the week before the start of the programme and continue at key times throughout each year of the programme. Students can also attend an extensive programme of research-focused seminars where staff and visiting scholars in various academic departments present their cutting-edge research.