Zoology UCC

niamh303

Hi everyone,

Is anyone doing zoology in ucc? Is it a good course? Also is the maths and chemistry hard? im doing ol maths and no chem?! I'm trying to decide between zoology in ucc or nuig???

Hollzy

I'm probably not the best person in the world to answer this question, but no one else has and I'm sure having one reply is better than none!

I'm a 6th year, well I suppose I'm not anymore, but I've just done the Leaving. I want to do zoology too To be honest Trinity is my first choice, UCD is my second, UCC is third and fourth and then NUIG is fifth and last. They're all down but if I don't get my first or second choice I'll proably repeat. (Now you know why I'm not the best to answer this!)

I'll fill you in on what I've found out about the colleges though! I was disappointed with the open day in UCC and the guest speaker who came to our school from there. They have no facilities for zoology, they borrow a room from a building that's not on campus, which I've been told made the students feel quite isolated and cut off from everyone else. I've spoken to people who are going to UCC doing different courses and say they love it but they wouldn't do zoology there.... On a more positive note, UCC seem to be investing a lot in their environmental and biological departments. Also, there are two courses that lead to zoology in UCC. Go for the one with Earth Systems, seeing as you haven't done Chemistry.

NUIG, I don't know as much about but anyone going there really seems to love it.... There's a bigger focus on marine biology there, which is why it's last on my list but if you want to go into marine biology, I think you should have a good look there.

I know your mind is probably made up by now anyway but thought this might help! Enjoy whichever one you choose =]
xxx

Aoi

Hi, I'm just finished first year biological & chemical sciences (which is one route to do zoology) but I'm doing a chemistry degree next year. There will be a lot of people not having done chemistry like you and the majority will only have done ordinary level maths.

The chemistry starts quite basic, but it's really left up to you to make up the ground work, because it moves quite fast. This year there were PAL sessions (peer assisted learning) and tutorials, which I assume are there every year. These are to help people who are having difficulty, with the tutorials being for everyone. The maths really is dependant on the lecturer you get, I'm not sure if the lecturer will change next year or not. There are also plenty of tutorials for maths too. Maths is between ordinary level and higher level leaving cert regards difficulty, but without the probability. There is also physics, but since you didn't mention it I assume you've done it for leaving cert, which means you'll already be familiar with 99% of the material. As far as I know the biology modules are about half and half new and already covered material, I didn't do biology for leaving cert.

I don't really know anything about the earth systems course but there is a bit of overlap with my course.

In second year you do biological sciences and in third and fourth you'd do zoology.

Brendan Mason

Had to post to counter the incorrect information posted by the second poster. I finished my zoology undergraduate career in the Department of Zoology at UCC in 2010 and am currently pursuing a masters in marine biology in the department. The department is now part of a larger school incorporating other disciplines such as geology. This does not diminish the resources available to the zoology department, which are sizeable. Unlike what the poster above has indicated, there is an entire sizeable building with laboratories dedicated to second, third and fourth years. First years are usually taught on main campus or in one of the plant science buildings.

The modules available to undergraduates are wide varied and generally excellent. It's an especially good university to attend if you have a passion for any marine animals, habitats or environments, as the department is staffed with several experts in the field. Terrestrial scientists are well catered for too, of course.

It's also one of the most social departments in the university with coffee mornings, barbeques, etc.

So yeah, generally a very good department with few shortcomings. One notable shortcoming in my opinion, is that the zoology degree in UCD allows you to come out of college with more genetic techniques. There's little focus on genetics in UCC's zoology stream, however.

flo8s967qjh0nd

I didn't do Zoology in UCC but for a variety of reasons know a bit about it.
Their website is full of information on the courses the 'school of biology, earth and environmental sciences' (BEES) offer in this area: including zoology, ecology, environmental science, geology, earth science and environmental plant biotechnology (EPB).
http://www.ucc.ie/en/bees/

I have to assume that who ever the second poster above talked to, got the wrong end of the stick entirely. Zoology at UCC (like the rest of BEES) is located in three spacious buildings about 10 minutes stroll from the main campus. It's close to the river, has room for outdoor work, glasshouses, storage of boats, etc.

All three buildings are well equipped with a variety of labs for genetics (2xlabs) plant pathology, plant tissue culture, histology, aquaculture, marine mammal post-mortems, growth rooms, etc.

To say that they are poorly equipped is quite simply incorrect.

Zoology (along with geology and botany) are some of the oldest subjects thought in UCC. They have extensive museum specimes for teaching and research (some of which Darwin brought back from his voyages) along with the most modern molecular research facilities.

On the zoology side, Marine zoology is pretty strong in Cork and students and staff have access to three field laboratories located at Lough Hyne (in West Cork) which was Europe's first ever marine nature reserve and is one of the most researched stretches of water in the world!

The school of BEES research Blog also gives you a good idea of the type of fieldwork and research areas which the whole school (including the zoology section) is involved in.
http://blogs.ucc.ie/wordpress/bees/