Studying Natural Sciences (Biological) at Cambridge

Stay tuned as Professor Anton Enright, Natural Sciences Director of Studies at Trinity Hall, delves into what the Cambridge Natural Sciences course offers, the differences between Biological Natural Sciences and Physical Natural Sciences, and what sets it apart from programs at other universities.

Anton studied Natural Sciences at Trinity College Dublin, specializing in Genetics, before completing his Ph.D. at the University of Cambridge in 1998, focusing on protein families and biological network analysis. He has since led research on non-coding RNAs at institutions including the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, EMBL-European Bioinformatics Institute, and the Department of Pathology, where he now oversees genomics and sequencing facilities

00:00 Introductions

01:30 How do you study Biology or Chemistry at Cambridge?04:00 The differences between Biological Natural Sciences and Physical Natural Sciences

08:15 Can you describe the structure of the first year for the Natural Sciences course?

09:45 How are NatSci students taught?

11:30 What are supervisions? Would the course be the same without them?

19:00 How do students decide which modules to take in the second year?

22:00 How much overlap is there between Biology and Physics?

28:30 What’s the difference between Biochemistry, Chemistry, and Biology?

31:00 When is it right to specialise? And what are the advantages of Natural Sciences?

35:00 Some of the different Biochemistry/Biology modules on offer in the second year

38:30 The structure of the third-year course

41:45 The structure of the fourth-year course, which courses allow for a fourth year, and other master's programs related to Biological Sciences

46:00 Different routes into PhD study via research placements or master's courses

51:00 What is neurobiology? (One of the second-year choices available)

53:00 Can you explain the Experimental Psychology options in the first year and how students can graduate with an accredited Psychology degree through studying Natural Sciences?

55:00 What’s the difference between the Evolutionary Behaviour and Experimental Psychology modules?

56:10 Advantageous and necessary A-Level subjects/combinations for studying Natural Sciences

59:40 How different colleges have different entry requirements for Natural Sciences

01:00:00 Choosing between Oxford and Cambridge