Welcome to the School of Biological Sciences

The future of Australia, and the Earth as a whole, is critically dependent on a workforce skilled in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) to meet the challenges of environmental change and an aging, and sedentary, population.

In the School of Biological Sciences, we aim to be at the forefront of meeting these challenges.

The School of Biological Sciences is dedicated to excellence in teaching and research across all of the life sciences. We deliver an immersive education that emphasises the scientific process and trains students to push the boundaries of knowledge. In doing so, we prepare our graduates to address the challenges of the future.

Biology is the study of life. We seek to understand the origin of the diversity of living organisms, how they grow and reproduce, where they live and how they survive the environments they encounter, and how they will be affected by environmental change. Areas of particular strength include evolutionary biology, conservation biology and ecology, and genetics and genomics. Our students are encouraged to engage in research at both undergraduate and post-graduate levels. Our access to research infrastructure and expertise is unparalleled in the Australian setting. Our teaching laboratories are among the best equipped in any tertiary institution globally. They provide interactive microscopy, computing, and image analysis which in turn enable peer-to-peer learning, real-time online integration of student discovery and instructor feedback, and life-long educational impact. We also offer unique opportunities for undergraduate field training, including in Borneo, the Great Barrier Reef and locally in the Melbourne area, including extensive use of the Jock Marshall Reserve on campus. The School has a truly international set of research and educational activities. We are home to students from Australia, Asia, Europe, the Americas and elsewhere. Our students have also taken opportunities to work across the globe including at our international campuses. On graduation our students find a wide range of careers in research, industry, business, government and non-governmental organisations. We recognise across all of our degree offerings that our graduates play a variety of significant roles in society, from policy and research excellence to leadership in the growing business of modern biology. This brochure outlines the Monash University teaching programs in Biological Sciences, which are focussed in the flagship B.Sc., B.Sc. Advanced – Global Challenges (Honours), and the B.Sc. Advanced – Research (Honours). We look forward to welcoming you into the School of Biological Sciences and a prosperous future in STEM.

CRAIG R WHITE

Professor and Head