Undergraduate Studies in Biology

I, Paul Grogan (Undergraduate Chair), would like to introduce you to our brief Biology Undergraduate Newsletter.  This short newsletter is designed primarily as a working tool to help steer you through the time-sensitive intricacies of course selection, registration, and associated decisions.  The second priority of the newsletter is to highlight tools and events for career development.  Keep these newsletters handy for helpful pointers and timelines.  So to begin, here are this month’s pointers.  

We are a diverse science department dedicated to research and academic excellence. Our research spans a wide array of biological disciplines including plant sciences, biochemistry, proteomics, cell and molecular biology, animal physiology, limnology, evolution, ecology and behaviour. Specifically, the Biology Department Student Council is your connection to the biology department and faculty. We run events for students like Beer with Profs, BEWICS sports teams, a Biology Formal and Career Nights.

The Queen’s Undergraduate Internship Program (QUIP) provides students with a 12-16 month work experience. QUIP internships are paid, professionally supervised, career-related positions designed to offer second or third year students the opportunity to learn about current advances, practices and technologies in business and industry. 

A degree in Biology will equip you for a world of post-graduate opportunities. Our graduates follow a variety of paths, including careers in Biology research and Biology education; and a wide array of exciting careers outside of the academic world of biological research, including Medicine, Environmental Science and Law, Consulting, Biotechnology, and Genetic Counselling. Where will your Queen’s Biology degree take you?

The Department offers a wide range of courses in diverse areas of Biology, and in a wide range of formats and settings: lectures, seminars, online, in the field, and at the lab bench. As a student in Biology, you can select courses that span its breadth, or choose to take courses that permit a greater focus on a specific sub-discipline. Many of our faculty and staff are award-winners for their teaching efforts, and all are dedicated educators.

Queen’s Biology has a plan for you. With a three year General Plan, four distinctive Honours Degree Plans, and Arts and Science Minor Plans, our degree plans range from broadly-based and customizable to having a high degree of focus and specialization. Because these degrees cover areas of Biology as diverse as Molecular Biology, Evolution, Ecology, BioMath, BioPsychology, and Biotechnology, there is something for just about everyone. 

The expertise of our faculty spans all the way from fine-scale molecular to large-scale ecosystem biology, which allows us to integrate across all scales in biology. This breadth provides an engaging learning environment for our students because it emphasizes intellectual breadth in addition to depth. The opportunities available to students--both inside and outside the classroom--encourages students to set their learning in the broadest context.