Explore biosciences
Biosciences is a broad field encompassing lots of different things.
It can be divided into two areas:
- Biological sciences - the study of life and living organisms, their life cycles, adaptations and environment.
- Biomedical sciences - the human system and how cells, organs and systems function.
You can study a little bit of everything across biosciences, or specialise in an area that particularly interests you, such as cell biology, biochemistry, anatomical science, plant science or developmental biology. If you haven’t decided which area you want to study or would like to keep some flexibility in your course, many bioscience degrees will offer a broad choice of modules in the first year with the opportunity to specialise in second and third year.
Videos: more about biosciences
Biosciences careers
Because biosciences is so broad, there are many jobs that a biosciences degree could lead to.
Scientific research
You could work in the lab to help make breakthroughs in our understanding of health, the planet and the economy. This might mean working in research institutions or non-profit organisations. You could also work at a university and combine research and teaching.
Read a blog about one of our Pharmacology graduates and how she's pursuing a research career: Looking back at my MSci and forward to my PhD.
Technical and clinical roles
You could get a job as a biomedical scientist in the NHS, a quality controller for a food or pharmaceutical company, or as a forensic scientist in a government lab.
Hear from one of our Biochemistry graduates about his job at pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline: What it's like to work on clinical trials.
Science in the field
If you don't want to spend all your time in a lab, you could work on gathering data in the field for testing in the lab. This might mean working as a zoologist, ecologist or conservation officer, for example. You could end up working for governments, environmental trusts, charities or research institutes.
Read about the work one of our Zoology graduates is doing within conservation: Navigating a career in conservation.
Science communication, education and policy
You could help to interpret scientific discoveries so that they can be understood by the public, the media and other audiences. Science communication jobs can be found in the government, museums, journalism, and the civil service, among other sectors.
Find out why a Biomedical Science graduate decided to go into science communication: Life outside the laboratory: my MSc Science Communication experience.
Science administration and sales
This might involve helping to give grants and contracts to scientific researchers, or you might even manage a research project yourself. As a science administrator, you could work in research councils, clinical trials or patents.
Learn about the kinds of jobs that are available in the pharmaceutical industry: The different roles within a pharmaceutical company.