Science

doctor evil

So how do people find it?. I`m interested in doing it so thoughts and opinions please!.

whiskeyman

*Edit* Post something of use next time. *Edit*

ApeXaviour

Tis good. I do it in trinity so can only really speak for that. You pick 3 of 5 subjects in first year (Biology, chemistry, maths, physics, geog/geol), 3 of 7 in second year (Bio1, Bio2, Chemistry, Physics, Maths, geology, geography) and specialise in third/fourth year in any of the following degree courses (depending on subjects studied and in the case of competition for places, then marks also count):

-Biochemistry
-Biochemistry with
Immunology
-Botany
-Chemistry
-Environmental sciences
-Genetics
-Geography
-Geology
-Microbiology
-Neuroscience
-Physics
-Physiology
-Zoology

In third year too there are also sometimes (depending on places) options to jump into Physics & chemistry of Advanced materials, medicinal chemistry, human genetics, comp phys or comp chem etc also

Science at TCD thread on the tcd board

http://www.tcd.ie/Science/tr071.php

Science is a fun subject to pick. It's a lot of hours in first and second year and a lot of work in third and fourth. My advice is not to be too determined in what you want to do. I came into JF pretty much certain I was going to do Biochemistry. I eventually chose physics over it (weird eh?). The subjects differ one hellovalot from LC to Uni. Get a feel for the subjects and make an educated choice only when you have to..
Best of luck

Edit: DCU, UCD and UCC also do good sci courses afaik. imho don't go to ucd if you're thinking of specialising in physics tho..

tribulus

ApeXaviour wrote:

Tis good.Science is a fun subject to pick. It's a lot of hours in first and second year and a lot of work in third and fourth. My advice is not to be too determined in what you want to do. I came into JF pretty much certain I was going to do Biochemistry. I eventually chose physics over it (weird eh?). The subjects differ one hellovalot from LC to Uni. Get a feel for the subjects and make an educated choice only when you have to..
Best of luck

Edit: DCU, UCD and UCC also do good sci courses afaik. imho don't go to ucd if you're thinking of specialising in physics tho..

god i hate biochemistry:mad:

i'm second science in ucd, studying biochem, chemistry and pharmacology.

The course is very similiar to tcd, however now that modularisation has been brought in there are no core subjects in 1st year, so you pick what modules interest you most.

Like ApeXaviour said it's a lot of hours + a lot of work, if you're very interested in it you'll love it regardless.

The list of degree subjects is similiar to tcd also e.g:

chemistry
chemical biology (new)
biochem
pharmacology
botany
microbiology
zoology
geology
stats
maths
exper/theor physics
math phys
genetics
cell and molecular biology

couple others too

well worth it if you enjoy science but be prepared to work

rugbug86

2nd year biotechnology in DCU, went in through common entry science

pretty tough course, no matter what subject you pick you have a common forst year, physics, chemistry, biology, computer and maths, then you specialise in either

analytical science - biology/forensics
chemical/pharmeceutical science
applied physics
biotechnology - biology, engineering
environmental science & health
genetics and cell biology

pretty cool course when you can get into it

edanto

So how do people find it?

I love working as a scientist! I did biotech at DCU, which is a really great course but it had a bit more maths and engineering than I was expecting. If I was picking again, I'd probably go for the genetics and cell biology speciality - but hey that's the area I'm working in now.

I'm guessing you're at the stage where you're thinking of your CAO - and you might be trying to think of the type of job you'll have after college? If it's any help to tell you about mine - I work as a biomedical researcher and we're looking to understand and take advantage of genetic differences between cancer and normal tissue. I find it fascinating and really fulfilling - but it was hard to find a research job in Ireland when I came back from travelling a few years ago.

Most of the biotech jobs I saw advertised were in production - pharma, food etc. Things are changing quickly now, SFI are pumping loads of money into biotech and ICT to get more research going in the country with resulting spin off companies. There's a really positive article about it, with a biotech slant, at http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=mg18825282.000

Anyhow - I just wanted to tell you a bit about how I find working in science - but that's not as important as what you'd be interested in when it comes to picking a college course.

Do you read New Scientist or anything like that? What type of science news stories interest you - space, IT, chemistry, medicine, weather? Get a handle on that and you might be closer to picking a college course. There's a thread here where some people are giving their backgrounds, you could ask anyone there how they find their work.