Skip to content

Breadcrumbs navigation

Bachelor of Science (Honours) Biology and Sustainable Development


BSc (Hons) Biology (Joint Honours): First year
Code Module name Credits
BL1101 Biology 1 20 AND
BL1102 Biology 2 20 AND
Remaining credits from Level 1000 options

Further requirements

Choose 120 credits in the academic year

BSc (Hons) Sustainable Development (Joint Honours): First Year
Code Module name Credits
SD1000 What is Sustainable Development? 20 AND
SD1004 Sustainable Development Goals: Challenges & Opportunities 20 AND
Remaining credits from Level 1000 options
Please balance your choices across the academic year.

BSc (Hons) Biology (Joint Honours): Second year
Code Module name Credits
^ View list 60 credits from Module List: BL2300 - BL2399
BL2300 Research Methods in Biology 15
BL2301 Cell Biology 15
BL2302 Molecular Biology 15
BL2303 Evolutionary Biology 15
BL2304 Invertebrate Zoology 15
BL2305 Cell Systems 15
BL2306 Biochemistry 15
BL2307 Ecology 15
BL2308 Vertebrate Zoology 15
BL2309 Applied Molecular Biology 15
BL2311 The Oceans 15
BL2312 Animal Behaviour 15
Note:
- Not all modules are available in every academic year and/or semester
- Individual modules may have requisites to satisfy to be eligible to select them

For further details, see the module catalogue entry for each individual module above

Further requirements

Choose 120 credits in the academic year
Choose a minimum of 80 Level 2000 credits

Automatic entry to Honours requires

  • passes in modules marked ^
BSc (Hons) Sustainable Development (Joint Honours): Second Year
Code Module name Credits
^ SD2005 From Sustainable Development to Human Security 20 AND
^ SD2006 Changing Natures 20 AND
^ SD2100 Sustainable Scotland 20

Further requirements

Choose 120 credits in the academic year
Choose a minimum of 80 Level 2000 credits

Please balance your choices across the academic year.

Automatic entry to Honours requires

  • passes in modules marked ^

Entry to Honours

Students who meet the requirements specified above, and who meet all other programme requirements, will be given automatic entry into Honours programmes.

See: www.st-andrews.ac.uk/students/academic/academic-advising/glossary/honours-entry/ )

BSc Honours

The general requirements are 480 credits over a period of normally four years (and not more than five years) or part-time equivalent, of which the final two years form an approved Honours programme of 240 credits, of which 90 credits are at 4000 level and at least a further 120 credits at 3000 and/or 4000 levels.


BSc (Hons) Biology (Joint Honours): Third year
Code Module name Credits
BL3320 Statistical and Quantitative Skills for Biologists 10 AND
( BL3000 Field Course 10 OR
BL3322 Basic Biochemistry Laboratory 10 ) AND
View list 40 credits from Module List: BL3301 - BL3319, BL3324-BL3325, PN3312 - PN3313
BL3301 Protein Structure and Function 20
BL3302 Gene Regulation 20
BL3303 Membranes and Cell Communication 20
BL3307 Evolution 20
BL3308 Methods in Aquatic Biology 20
BL3309 Ecosystems and Conservation 20
BL3311 Infection and Disease 20
BL3315 Genes, Cells and Development 20
BL3316 Co-evolution: living together 20
BL3318 Biology of Marine Organisms 20
BL3319 Animal Behaviour: A Quantitative Approach 20
BL3324 Advanced Biochemistry 20
BL3325 Quantitative ecology 20
PN3312 Neuropharmacology 20
PN3313 Advanced Principles of Neuroscience 20
Note:
- Not all modules are available in every academic year and/or semester
- Individual modules may have requisites to satisfy to be eligible to select them

For further details, see the module catalogue entry for each individual module above

Further requirements

Choose between 120 to 160 credits in academic year

BSc (Hons) Sustainable Development (Joint Honours): Third Year
Code Module name Credits
View list Between 0 and 120 credits from Module List: SD3100 - SD4296
SD3101 Developing a Sustainable Development Research Proposal 10
SD3102 Sustainable Development Field Course 20
SD3103 Kenya Field Course for Sustainable Development 20
SD3111 Home and Energy Geographies 30
SD4110 Transitioning to sustainability: community, nature and governance 30
SD4111 Governance for Sustainability 30
SD4116 Building sustainable, inclusive and just cities 30
SD4117 The Blue Economy and Maritime Security Intersections and Interdependence 30
SD4118 Extractive Environments 30
SD4119 Nature4Climate: Hybridized green blue infrastructures in the Global South 30
SD4120 Valuing Environments 30
SD4124 Sustainable Catchment Management 30
SD4125 Biocultural diversity: understanding ecosystem change in the Anthropocene 30
SD4126 Sustainable Populations 30
SD4127 Environment and health 30
SD4128 Coordinating a Humanitarian Disaster Response 30
SD4129 Digital inequalities and sustainable development: Trends, patterns, and implications 30
SD4130 Communication and Visualization for Sustainable Development 30
SD4131 Critical Dimensions of Environmental Management 30
SD4132 Extreme events and society in a changing climate 30
SD4133 Migration and Sustainable Development: Displacement, policy and lived realities 30
SD4225 Green Politics: theory and practice 30
SD4226 Global Health Disparities 30
Note:
- Not all modules are available in every academic year and/or semester
- Individual modules may have requisites to satisfy to be eligible to select them

For further details, see the module catalogue entry for each individual module above
Please balance your choices across the academic year.

Students must have at least 120 SD honours credits in total by the end of their honours programme

BSc (Hons) Biology (Joint Honours): Fourth year
Code Module name Credits
View list At least 45 credits from Module List: BL4200, BL4201, BL4210-4301, BL4797, BL5042, BL5124, ID4001, PN4107, PN4112, PN4230 - PN4235 AND
BL4200 Literature-based Research Project 30
BL4201 Experimental Research Project 60
BL4210 Practical Skills for Molecular Biology and Biochemistry 15
BL4211 Antimicrobials - Mode of Action and Resistance 15
BL4212 How Enzymes Work 15
BL4213 Molecular Virology 15
BL4214 The Science of Race and Racism 15
BL4215 Bacterial Virulence Factors 15
BL4216 Structure-based Drug Discovery 15
BL4220 Molecular Mechanisms of Degenerative Diseases 15
BL4221 Forensic Biology 15
BL4222 Metabolic and Clinical Biochemistry 15
BL4223 Molecular and cell biology of eukaryotic DNA replication 15
BL4224 Molecular Mechanisms of Membrane Trafficking 15
BL4225 Advanced Microscopy and Image Analysis - Seeing is Believing 15
BL4226 Chromatin and Genome Stability 15
BL4249 Scientific Diving 15
BL4251 Tropical Marine Biology 15
BL4252 Measuring coastal ecosystem function 15
BL4254 Fisheries Research 15
BL4255 Marine and Environmental Biotechnology 15
BL4256 Marine Bioacoustics 15
BL4258 Foraging in Marine Mammals 15
BL4259 Marine Mammals and Humans 15
BL4260 Biological Oceanography 15
BL4262 Environmental Drivers of Marine Habitats 15
BL4263 The Question of Culture in Animals 15
BL4266 Conservation Research Methods 15
BL4268 Science Communication of Biodiversity and Conservation 15
BL4270 Plant-environment Interactions 15
BL4271 Natural History, Museums and the Public 15
BL4272 Rewilding and Restoration Ecology 15
BL4273 Computational Genomics 15
BL4274 Evolutionary Developmental Biology 15
BL4278 Biology of Dinosaurs and Other Extinct Vertebrates 15
BL4279 The CRISPR system for Antiviral Defence and Genome Engineering 15
BL4281 Animal Communication and Cognition 15
BL4282 Biology and Behaviour of Social Insects 15
BL4285 Complex Systems in Animal Behaviour 15
BL4286 Advanced Topics in Evolution 15
BL4288 Major Review Paper in Evolutionary Biology 15
BL4294 Biomolecular Sciences Public Engagement 15
BL4295 Applications of Mass Spectrometry 15
BL4296 Biology and Ecology of Antarctic Krill 15
BL4297 Current Topics in Antibiotic Research 15
BL4797 Joint Honours Project 60
BL5042 Advanced Animal Cognition 15
BL5124 Predator Ecology in Polar Ecosystems - Antarctica 15
ID4001 Communication and Teaching in Science 15
PN4107 Evolution of Human Behaviour and Culture 15
PN4112 Forging Sustainable Research 15
PN4230 Maladaptive Changes in the Nervous System 15
PN4231 Neuromodulation 15
PN4232 Neuroethology 15
PN4234 Synaptic Transmission in Health and Disease 15
PN4235 Motoneurons: From Physiology to Pathology 15
Note:
- Not all modules are available in every academic year and/or semester
- Individual modules may have requisites to satisfy to be eligible to select them

For further details, see the module catalogue entry for each individual module above

Further requirements

Choose 120 credits in academic year

At least one of BL4200, BL4201, Honours Project/Dissertation from the Joint School, or other approved Joint Honours Project must be taken. Students may not take BL4201 alongside another Honours Project/Dissertation module worth more than 15 credits; students may not take BL4797 alongside another Honours Project/Dissertation module. If BL4797 is taken, at least 15 further credits are required from the 4th-Year Biology options list.

BSc (Hons) Sustainable Development (Joint Honours): Fourth Year
Code Module name Credits
View list 60 credits from Module List: SD3100 - SD4297
SD3111 Home and Energy Geographies 30
SD3223 Navigating the Complexity of Coupled Social and Ecological Systems 20
SD4110 Transitioning to sustainability: community, nature and governance 30
SD4111 Governance for Sustainability 30
SD4116 Building sustainable, inclusive and just cities 30
SD4117 The Blue Economy and Maritime Security Intersections and Interdependence 30
SD4118 Extractive Environments 30
SD4119 Nature4Climate: Hybridized green blue infrastructures in the Global South 30
SD4120 Valuing Environments 30
SD4124 Sustainable Catchment Management 30
SD4125 Biocultural diversity: understanding ecosystem change in the Anthropocene 30
SD4126 Sustainable Populations 30
SD4127 Environment and health 30
SD4128 Coordinating a Humanitarian Disaster Response 30
SD4129 Digital inequalities and sustainable development: Trends, patterns, and implications 30
SD4130 Communication and Visualization for Sustainable Development 30
SD4131 Critical Dimensions of Environmental Management 30
SD4132 Extreme events and society in a changing climate 30
SD4133 Migration and Sustainable Development: Displacement, policy and lived realities 30
SD4225 Green Politics: theory and practice 30
SD4226 Global Health Disparities 30
SD4297 Dissertation in Sustainable Development 30
SD4297 Dissertation in Sustainable Development 30
Note:
- Not all modules are available in every academic year and/or semester
- Individual modules may have requisites to satisfy to be eligible to select them

For further details, see the module catalogue entry for each individual module above
Please balance your choices across the academic year.

Students must have at least 120 SD honours credits in total by the end of their honours programme

Other information

With the permission of the Director of Teaching up to 20 credits per programme may be taken in a module outwith the specified modules in all School of Biology Programmes. Where there are choices between modules in the programmes, some options may have pre-requisites therefore the 1000- and 2000-level modules taken may limit choices. The availability of 4000-level modules in the School of Biology will be dependent on sufficient student demand.

Study abroad

In the case of students who spend part of the Honours programme on a recognised Study Abroad scheme, the Programme Requirements will be amended to take into account overseas courses which are approved by the relevant St Andrews School in the Learning Agreement (see www.st-andrews.ac.uk/students/study-abroad/academic ).