what uni does arachnology ?

[Chaika]

I just want to point out that the Cambridge Natural Sciences Tripos course is top class. I speak as someone who has gone through it myself and have had the opportunity to compare with courses from other universities. You get a great opportunity to try different subjects within the sciences and an opportunity to really specialise in a chosen field in you second and third year. This is an invaluable opportunity at 18, if you want to go into research, to figure out what kind of field you will be interested in. Hence, I strongly disagree with the comment below:

Originally Posted by GRB

don't be fooled into thinking that "Oxbridge" is the only way to go - you'll end up studying "Natural Sciences" which IMO is a waste of time in this era of super specialisation.

18 is not a time to specialise but rather a time to discover what you want to specialise in. A Natural Sciences degree from Cambridge or Oxford is very respected around the world and opens many doors. You will also get to meet some of the leading researchers in their field and it is certainly not a waste on time.

I also respectfully disagree with the following in bold although the rest of the requirements are spot on:

Originally Posted by matto2k

you'll need top grades, a huge pile of money and a strong back ground in the choosen subject.

This is a big misconception about Oxbridge. In fact, since both of these universities have several times more money than any other university in the UK, they can offer a lot more in terms of bursaries and monetary support for poorer students (something that I and my friends did make use of while we were there). My parents definitely did not have a 'huge pile of money' when I started, in fact, they had no savings whatsoever... Accomodation and food in Cambridge (I assume it is similar in Oxford) is provided by the colleges at hugely subsidised rates and living there is therefore ridiculously cheap and the accomodation standard generally higher than that available on the market at most other universities.

The fact that you don't need to have gone to Oxbridge to get into research is very true (although, I can tell you that it really doesn't hurt your chances). The important thing is to try and get a biology degree from a university with a good reputation for the subject; examples that spring to mind are, York, St Andrews and Edinburgh universities, among others.

Originally Posted by GRB

You don't actually need to go down the Msc Entomology route if you get a decent 2:1 from a good university.

Very true. I went straight into a PhD without doing a Masters with a good 2.1 from Cambridge. However, more and more research groups want students to do a Masters degree, something that I came up against myself. What is frustrating is the lack of funding available for anyone that takes this route, especially in pure research subjects! Not everyone has a spare £4,000-£10,000 (the range that I found) lying around after they finish to spend on another degree, expecially when they are probably already in debt.

Originally Posted by GRB

One last thing, keep your options open. It's hard to get established - once you get established in the field, then you can hopefully specialise into tarantulas with greater ease. Trying to do a PhD solely on them for example will probably be met with failure to secure funding. A multi taxa study, using tarantulas as part of a guild of predatory organisms, will probably secure more chance of funding.

Finally, this is really great advice ! Patience and the ability to keep an open mind are really important skills for getting to study a particular subject.

[Josh-sama]

For moving into university courses, do these all break down under Zoology?

Zoology
- Ecology
- Entomology etc?

Quite confusing haha!

[Chaika]

Originally Posted by Josh-sama

For moving into university courses, do these all break down under Zoology?

Zoology
- Ecology
- Entomology etc?

Quite confusing haha!

Zoology is the study of animals so therefore would include entomology (the study of insects) and ecology (the study of the relationships between organisms and their environments).

When I was specialising in Zoology in my final year at Cambridge, there was a large number of modules available, all the way from insect biology to development and evolution to ecology and conservation (and these are just a couple of examples )

[Josh-sama]

Originally Posted by Chaika

Zoology is the study of animals so therefore would include entomology (the study of insects) and ecology (the study of the relationships between organisms and their environments).

When I was specialising in Zoology in my final year at Cambridge, there was a large number of modules available, all the way from insect biology to development and evolution to ecology and conservation (and these are just a couple of examples )

OH!

So you get to pick the modules to specialise in your 2nd & 3rd year?

[joeyboy]

Originally Posted by Josh-sama

OH!

So you get to pick the modules to specialise in your 2nd & 3rd year?

well all degrees have optional modules in yr 2 and yr 3, you have to pick a certain number of them to get enough points for the year kind of thing.

So their might be 3 modules everyone does, and then out of 6-7 options you have to choose another 3.

I'm doing animal biology Bsc at Notts Trent next year. It'll be great for me as it has a lot of ecology, behaviour and physiology etc rather then doing tons of stuff focused on cells and that. Also you can do a years work placement between yr 2 and 3 in places including zoos.

[Chaika]

Originally Posted by Josh-sama

OH!

So you get to pick the modules to specialise in your 2nd & 3rd year?

In that particular university, yes. The way the Natural Sciences Tripos course works at Cambridge is that you pick subjects that you prefer in each year, gradually getting more specialised.

For example in your 1st year you get to pick three rather general experimental subjects out of 8 and one maths (from a choice of 3 different maths courses). For example, I picked; Biology of Cells, Chemistry and Physiology of Organisms as well as Mathematical Biology as my maths option.

Then in your second year, depending on what you did before you can pick 3 subjects from about 20 different options. I picked: Animal Biology, Cell and Developmental Biology and Experimental Psychology.

Then, finally, in my 3rd year I chose to specialise in Zoology out of 16 different subjects and the zoology course had about 12 modules of which you had to pick 4 to study. So depending on where you felt your interests lie you could do the same course as me but end up specialising in Astrophysics or Genetics or Psychology (to name a few of the 16 options), depending on what options you picked over the 3 years.

[GRB]

Originally Posted by Chaika

I just want to point out that the Cambridge Natural Sciences Tripos course is top class. I speak as someone who has gone through it myself and have had the opportunity to compare with courses from other universities. You get a great opportunity to try different subjects within the sciences and an opportunity to really specialise in a chosen field in you second and third year. This is an invaluable opportunity at 18, if you want to go into research, to figure out what kind of field you will be interested in.

Fair points - I had heard this course was far more "general", and somewhat enforced until quite late on. This is at odds with your description however, which sounds much more moderate.

18 is not a time to specialise but rather a time to discover what you want to specialise in. A Natural Sciences degree from Cambridge or Oxford is very respected around the world and opens many doors. You will also get to meet some of the leading researchers in their field and it is certainly not a waste on time.

True indeed - I just suggest to people not to always go for the hype associated with Oxbridge - there are many world class researchers in often bizarre places. For example, the Scottish expert on Opiliones was actually based at the University of Paisley, which might not garner the same "wow factor" as Oxford upon first glance.

I do firmly believe that there are certain "types" of student ideal for certain institutes. I would not have liked Cambridge (I like the place, not the method of teaching), but I can see why others would not enjoy St Andrews. The important thing is to research well, listen to students currently there and try to meet the staff - world class is nothing if they are dragons!


This is a big misconception about Oxbridge. In fact, since both of these universities have several times more money than any other university in the UK, they can offer a lot more in terms of bursaries and monetary support for poorer students (something that I and my friends did make use of while we were there). My parents definitely did not have a 'huge pile of money' when I started, in fact, they had no savings whatsoever... Accomodation and food in Cambridge (I assume it is similar in Oxford) is provided by the colleges at hugely subsidised rates and living there is therefore ridiculously cheap and the accomodation standard generally higher than that available on the market at most other universities.

I do agree here too, as coming from St Andrews the rent is actually more expensive than reports I've had from Cambridge. The cheapest hall (and thus most hotly contested) is about £2200 - the others hover around £4000 for the 9 month year and some are well about £4500.

The average house price is now about £85+ /week + bills. Being from similar circumstances, I really struggled at St Andrews with just finding a place to stay.

The fact that you don't need to have gone to Oxbridge to get into research is very true (although, I can tell you that it really doesn't hurt your chances). The important thing is to try and get a biology degree from a university with a good reputation for the subject; examples that spring to mind are, York, St Andrews and Edinburgh universities, among others.

Again, good advice. I would say try to get a good institute and also one that suits your personality. If you hate cities for example, Edinburgh will be a nightmare, good rep or not.

See above.