• Question: to get a science degree, do you need to study all aspects of science and be confident with them, or can you just concentrate on a singular topic?

    Asked by ukato to Adrian, Iroise, Joe, Rachel, Ria on 11 Nov 2016.
    • Photo: Joe Bathelt

      Joe Bathelt answered on 11 Nov 2016:


      Full disclaimer: I did not do my undergraduate degree in the UK and therefore do not know the UK system that well. When I studied Biology, we had to do the basics of all the sciences, i.e. experimental physics, organic and inorganic chemistry, and maths. Most of the lectures were on Biology, but the other sciences provided a necessary background. So, you will spend most of the time focussing on your chosen subject, but it is much better if you are reasonably comfortable with other subjects, too.

    • Photo: Iroise Dumontheil

      Iroise Dumontheil answered on 11 Nov 2016:


      As Joe said, quite often you need a basic understanding of different aspects of science, and then you specialise in a particular domain. The thing is that in science we often use techniques from different fields. For example maths is important for most science, because we need calculations, statistics etc. And chemistry is relevant for many aspects of biological sciences.

    • Photo: Ria Vaportzis

      Ria Vaportzis answered on 11 Nov 2016:


      I’m one example that didn’t do much science in the final school years, and ended up with a science degree 🙂

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