Program Description
About the course
Human Biology is an ever-evolving branch of science that includes the study of the human body, the changes that occur in disease, and the interaction between humans and their environment. With this in mind, the Human Biology Combined Honours curriculum has been designed to provide a contemporary and dynamic programme to challenge students across a broad base, but with depth in areas of staff specialisms.The curriculum includes the foundation disciplines of anatomy and physiology, cellular and molecular biology, human metabolism and immunology. These will be delivered in the context of contemporary health issues including aging, obesity, cancer, infectious and non-communicative chronic diseases. Students will benefit from the input of research active scientists from across the range of disciplines within the School of Health Sciences. This will support the development of an integrated, innovative and applied programme of study that is the cornerstone of the curriculum of the School of Health Sciences. Graduates will leave the programme with a fully rounded skill set and with experience in a wide range of standard and specialist lab techniques. Graduates will gain experience, competence and confidence through small group learning, giving specialist and transferable skills, allowing them to succeed in a competitive and demanding employment market.
Course structure
Teaching on this degree is structured into lectures, where all students are taught together, seminars and lab practicals of smaller groups of around 15 - 20 students, and tutorials that typically have no more than 10 students. Lab practicals are a strong feature of the course and you typically be taught in this environment 2-3 hours every week. On top of teaching hours, first year students will take part in a short fieldtrip to the University’s Plas Caerdeon outdoor education facility in North Wales.In your first year of study, there are approximately 12 teaching hours each week, which reduces to approximately 10 teaching hours in your second and third years. On top of usual teaching hours, you are also expected to spend approximately 30 hours studying independently each week (across both subjects), as well as studying in groups to prepare for any group assessments that you may have. Staff are available for 3 hours per week for one-to-one tutorial meetings in their office hours.
