Natural Sciences

Natural sciences is an interdisciplinary degree that allows you to study multiple scientific disciplines simultaneously rather than committing to a single subject from the outset. It is designed for students who are genuinely curious across the boundaries that divide biology, chemistry, physics, earth sciences, and mathematics, and who want a broad scientific education alongside developing real depth in the areas that interest them most. The natural world does not divide itself along departmental lines, and some of the most interesting problems in contemporary science lie precisely at the boundaries between disciplines.

At Birkbeck College, this three-year full-time programme allows you to construct your degree around your favourite science subjects, from outer space to the human brain and the full range of the natural world between. You will build a broad scientific knowledge base while also beginning to develop specialist depth in your chosen areas. Birkbeck's distinctive position as a research-led university that combines academic rigour with flexibility and accessibility provides an unusual learning environment.

The programme is designed to prepare you to tackle the scientific challenges of the future, whatever form those challenges take.

You will develop the quantitative and analytical skills that are common across the natural sciences, as well as the specific laboratory and computational methods associated with your chosen subjects. Scientific writing, data interpretation, and the ability to evaluate evidence critically are developed throughout the degree.

Graduates are well positioned for careers in a wide range of scientific fields, depending on the subjects they have studied most intensively. Research, pharmaceuticals, environmental science, data science, science communication, healthcare, and education are all common destinations. The breadth of a natural sciences degree is valued by employers who want scientists who can think across boundaries.

Postgraduate study in a specific discipline or in a cross-disciplinary area such as biophysics or geochemistry is a natural next step.