Field and Lab Skills in the Biosciences

Sunday 27th July to Saturday 16th August

Academic Entry Requirements:

The programme is intended for students on an undergraduate biological or environmental science programme, who have completed year 2 (pre-Honours)

English Language Entry Requirements:

Applicants will need to demonstrate that they meet the necessary English language requirements.

We will accept a Statement of Language Level Form signed by their home institution, confirming that the student’s level of English is B2 or above on the Common European Framework of Reference for languages in line with requirements for the Standard Visitor Visa.

Alternatively, we also accept any formal certification from the approved range of official qualifications listed at Undergraduate Degrees - English Requirements | Study Here | The University of Aberdeen (abdn.ac.uk).

These must have been issued within two years prior to planned commencement at Aberdeen.

£3000

Price Includes:

• Tuition
• Lab materials
• Transport costs to and from field sites.
• 20 nights accommodation (uncatered) in University halls of residence.
• Leisure and Social activities 

Not included:

• International travel to and from the UK.
• Transport costs to/from the University from within the UK.
• Travel or health insurance.
• Visa costs, where applicable.
• Subsistence costs

Applicants who successfully complete the programme will be awarded 10 University of Aberdeen academic credits.

Receiving applications up until March 28th 2025

The aim of this course is to develop field and laboratory skills relevant to the life sciences, as well as introduce students to a variety of teaching, learning and assessment types. The schedule will include a mixture of classroom, field and laboratory activities but will also include visits to cultural sites to introduce students to areas of interest in NE Scotland.

Field Trips

Field exercises will expose students to techniques for identifying and characterising organisms, and for sampling aspects of the environment. Field trips likely to include insect sampling, Caledonian pine forest ecology and management, agricultural soils, methods of remote and indirect sampling for squirrels, investigating plant growth and development and rocky shore ecology.

Lab Practicals

Lab practicals will develop students’ skills and relate observations and hands-on experience to concepts introduced in lectures, with post-lab debrief sessions ensuring students consolidate their learning. Laboratory sessions likely to include the use of ELISA methods to detect parasite antigens, glucose homeostasis to detect metabolic disease, plant-water relations, measuring and interpreting carbon respiration in agricultural soils, and river water analysis to examine the impact and consequences of nitrate in the environment.

Assessment

Formative exercises will introduce students to a range of novel assessment types and provide a scaffold for the final summative assessment. The types of assessments that will be introduced will include: reflective writing; critiques of published papers; oral presentations; and, graphical abstracts. Through the production of a graphical abstract and written report students will demonstrate their understanding of one of the experiments conducted during the course.

Find out more about what your summer school programme might look like by viewing our Field and Lab Skills in the Biosciences Timetable - 2025.*

If you have any questions about the details included here, don't hesitate to contact us at goabroad.incoming@abdn.ac.uk.

*For illustrative purposes only, subject to change.

This summer school includes a mix of field-based and lab-based practical work. On the field trips we will visit a variety of habitats and ecosystems in north-eastern Scotland.

You will need to bring clothes suitable for the changeable weather conditions we have, for example, warm clothes, a rainproof jacket and a good pair of walking shoes or boots. If we are working in very wet conditions, we can loan you welly boots.

If you have limitations in regards to mobility, please let us know at goabroad.incoming@abdn.ac.uk so that we can make suitable arrangements.