Our degree incorporates physics, chemistry, biological and earth sciences which are taught through research based learning.

Full entry requirements

Interdisciplinary Science at Leicester

Interdisciplinary Science is Leicester's Natural Sciences degree. But it offers more than traditional natural sciences programmes by being a truly integrated, research-led programme of study. The course modules are specifically designed to be multi-disciplinary in content. They are taught through a Problem Based Learning (PBL) approach allowing you to tackle cutting edge issues while acquiring a sound basic knowledge across the sciences. You will learn to become an independent researcher by:

• Carrying out research from the start on relevant, current real-world problems
• Tackling complex open-ended problems with no single correct solution
• Working in groups to exploit the benefits of collaborative learning
• Identifying the new content you need, acquiring new knowledge and applying it
• Learning how to present and communicate research results to peers and tutors

You study fundamental and advanced scientific concepts from Biological Sciences, Chemistry, Physics and Earth Sciences, but in interdisciplinary contexts where the connections between the different disciplines are highlighted. This design, using specially constructed modules, enables you to study much of the core material to the same level as in programmes in the single disciplines. The programme thrives on the University’s strong culture of interdisciplinary research, from green chemistry to biophysics, climate change to forensic science, and sustainable development to astrobiology. This approach feeds into the degree programme itself – training in research skills begins from the very start of the degree, and you will be trained to become an active researcher from day one. You become practiced at confronting problems in novel situations in preparation for a career in research or science-based employment.

Why Choose Interdisciplinary Science at Leicester?

Places: 20
Applications: 54
Example Jobs: Science Coordinator; Marketing and Sales Executive; Further studies – MBBS Medicine; MSc Sustainable Management of Natural Resources; MSc Forensic Science.
Example Employers: RBS; Royal College of Opthomologists; SPM.
Example jobs and employers information comes from the University’s ‘Where Did They Go?’ survey, and shows destinations of 2009/10 graduates 6 months after graduation.

The University of Leicester, supported by the Institute of Physics and with guidance from the Royal Society of Chemistry draws on its traditional strengths in interdisciplinary research to offer a course that fully integrates many scientific disciplines into one degree. The Centre for Interdisciplinary Science is part of the national Centre for Excellence in the innovative teaching of the physical sciences at the University, and several of the teaching staff on the course hold prestigious awards for their teaching as well as their research.

The Interdisciplinary Science degree at Leicester is a challenging, elite programme intended to provide students with a broad interdisciplinary knowledge base and the professional and research skills to go on to academic research or science-based employment.

Course Opportunities

Various additional opportunities are available to students studying with us. We have exchange links with McMaster University in Canada, where a similarly integrated sciences degree programme has been developed. McMaster is a world-leading University in both research and teaching, and, like Leicester, brings the two together in its research-led ISci programme.

Second and Third Year students are also offered the opportunity to undertake field work at Lake Bogoria in the Kenyan Rift Valley. Through the Undergraduate Ambassador Scheme, you can spend some time as a teaching assistant in a local school for course credit. There is also an opportunity to gain credit for summer employment.

Teaching, Learning and Assessment

Interdisciplinary Science students study by research-based learning. You work individually and in groups to investigate real-world contextual problems, gaining subject knowledge and skills by practising and researching. Throughout, you will be supported by Interdisciplinary Science Centre academics and teaching fellows.

In addition to lectures, class teaching takes many forms: seminars, workshops, laboratory practicals and small group tutorials, all designed to support your individual development as a scientist. Your lecturers will be leading researchers from the Departments of Chemistry, Geology, Geography, Physics and Astronomy, and Biological Sciences. In addition, and unique to this programme, you will be supported in classes by University Teachers who have both research and teaching qualifications.

The course materials are mainly electronic, which means that you have access to course documents, resources, communication methods and timetables online. An e-library of multimedia resources has been developed for the programme.
In addition to examinations, there is a large component of continuous assessment that varies from formal reports and essays, to presentations and posters, to modern media increasingly required by scientists such as podcasts, web material and videos.

The Interdisciplinary Science course is built around a set of core modules. You work on one core module at a time, incorporating scientific content from across Biological Sciences, Chemistry, Physics and Earth Sciences (examples of modules can be found below). Alongside run laboratories, and supporting modules in professional skills, computing, and mathematics. Our unique approach to the teaching of mathematics gives all students the opportunity to reach advanced levels. Practical work is carried out in discipline-based laboratories.

Each module has a defined core content, but also provides the opportunity for students to go beyond this by specialising in a chosen topic. Projects also provide either a further way to integrate your scientific knowledge or to concentrate on a particular discipline. A series of elective modules will give you the additional opportunity to specialise in, or gain experience of, a broad range of areas of contextual use of scientific expertise. By following particular options, perhaps with a view to your future career, you choose to can gain experience and competency in one of the particular areas of management, mathematical modelling, science communication, or sustainable development.

The Centre for Interdisciplinary Science has a suite of teaching rooms and dedicated study and social space which creates a sense of community amongst Interdisciplinary Science students.

Skills Gained

The emphasis of the degree programme is to train you to be a professional scientist, either in academic or industrial research, or in the area of educational and public communication.
You will gain:

• Advanced knowledge in key areas of physics, chemistry, biological and earth sciences, plus knowledge of specific applications across the range of these areas.
• The ability to undertake research in interdisciplinary areas of science.
• A working knowledge of IT and computing, and competency in mathematics for science.
• High level professional and personal skills (presentation, individual and collaborative writing, project planning and team work).
• Experience and confidence in science communication.

Graduate/Career Opportunities

The three-year BSc course is an excellent route to a wide range of careers in industry, in commerce and in the public sector and has the support of the country’s leading employers. Recent graduates from the Interdisciplinary Science degree have gone into a wide range of careers, including publishing, web design, management and teaching. In addition to this, many have gone on to postgraduate study in areas such as environmental toxicology, medicine, and sustainable development.

Interdisciplinary Science is a highly commended route to science teaching. Our Undergraduate Ambassador Scheme allows those interested in teaching to spend some time as a teaching assistant in a local school.

Interdisciplinary Science students have a range of choices for further study.
The four-year MSci course is aimed at those who wish to train as professional scientists and opens up further career possibilities in industrial research and development and academia. It is also a means of specialising in an interdisciplinary field of science, such as Astrobiology, Complexity Science, or Environmental Science. Students leaving with an MSci or BSc can apply to continue studying for an MSc or a PhD in a related area.

If during the course of your studies you discover a particular passion for a single discipline you also have the opportunity to spend two years studying Interdisciplinary Science, and then transfer into the Second Year of a single-discipline undergraduate degree. Your core modules are then selected to give you the best grounding for transferring into physics, chemistry or biological sciences. This route or ‘pathway’ gives you a broader based science degree compared with students taking just a single-subject degree.

Full entry requirements

Opportunities to Visit and Further Information

Interdisciplinary Science Administrator – Alex Mack
0116 252 5631
Fax: 0116 252 2070
iscience@le.ac.uk
www.le.ac.uk/iscience/

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