Overview

The BSc (Hons) Animal Science and Welfare provides you with the skillset, knowledge and hands-on experience to be career-ready in the animal science and welfare care industries.

The course centres around three core themes: animal biology, animal behaviour, and animal welfare. At our Middlesbrough campus, you study animal biology, including animal physiology, cell and tissue structure, and bioethical understanding of animal welfare. At our partner institute, East Durham College (Houghall campus), you gain hands-on experience with native and exotic animals. This includes understanding their physiology, nutrition and digestion, husbandry, and management, and how scientific tools and research can benefit the health and welfare of all animal species.

The animal behaviour and welfare themes modules and research experiences at Houghall are delivered by highly trained and specialist animal welfare staff. Your free travel bus pass enables you to attend Houghall.

The Houghall campus is on a 476-acre estate close to Durham city centre and houses a diversity of animals. These include a purpose-built small animal care centre with several specialist facilities, including a reptile house, invertebrate house, small mammal house and several large animal enclosures. There is also a commercial dog grooming studio, 22-bay dog kennel, and dog agility and walking area. The site is also home to horse riding stables, an arena, and commercial pig and cattle facilities. An optional work placement year is included, at no extra cost.

Top reasons to study animal science and welfare

• Hands-on practical experience in labs, on the farm, and in urban and countryside settings
• A strong scientific foundation in animal science and welfare
• Our teaching team includes active and internationally published researchers

Course structure

Year 1 core modules

Animal and Plant Biology

This module focuses on multicellular organisms such as animals and plants to introduce physiology, population biology, ecology and the complexity of ecosystems. You gain a thorough introduction to the lecture series and develop these themes during seminars integrating discussion, problem-solving and quantitative techniques.

Lectures and practical seminars are also an opportunity to comprehend the relevance of the biological processes introduced to our human societies. Learning is also supported by a field trip within the local area, the first-hand experience of animal and plant biological surveying in the natural environment.

Biodivercity and Evolution

You study the concept of evolution and how it led to the development of biodiversity and the world we now inhabit. You discuss evolution by natural selection and our development from the common ancestor, along with the principles of taxonomy, speciation and the evolutionary tree to demonstrate relationships between species. We highlight the impact of modern molecular methods of taxonomy in the form of phylogenetics, particularly the discovery of the domain of archaea. We discuss the complex biodiversity of the microbial, plant and animal worlds and their importance in ecological balance for the earth, humankind and society in the form of conservation. Lectures and tutorial sessions provide an insight into the theoretical aspects of evolution and biodiversity, and you discuss and analyse problem-based exercises to affirm your theoretical knowledge.

Cell Biology

You increase your understanding of biological processes at the cellular level. You will explore eukaryotic cell architecture and function with a molecular and mammalian focus, and learn about cell division and the cell cycle, genetic organisation of cells, DNA replication and gene expression. Your exploration of these aspects of cell and molecular biology will be supported by a series of laboratory-based sessions.

Global Environmental Issues

Humankind faces environmental challenges which are severe and varied. Threats are as diverse as climate change, the supply of fresh water, soil fertility and plastic waste pose problems that differ in immediacy and scale. You will be introduced to the careful appraisal of information relating to these challenges, how the scale of the problem and its consequences may be measured and where the solutions might lie.

Introduction to animal welfare

You are introduced to animal welfare, developing your understanding of how the impact of the environment on both farmed and companion animals can affect animals’ wellbeing. You discuss the complex issues of animal welfare from a scientific, ethical and practical perspective as well as being aware of the relationship between the animal and the environment and how it can influence the overall welfare of the animal. Practical sessions are delivered at the East Durham College Houghall Campus and focus on animal welfare together with the relationship between the animal and the environment in which it lives.

Large Animal Management and Handling

You learn about animal anatomy and physiology, basic nutrition and digestion, as well as husbandry, management and production systems of these large animals. You explore subjects such as the growth and welfare of farmed animals and horses, protein evaluation systems for ruminants and non-ruminants, and comparisons to wild animals where applicable. Practical sessions are delivered at the East Durham College Houghall Campus and focus on the methodologies used to safely handle large animals. You gain hands-on experience of animal husbandry, nutrition and health.

Career opportunities

You will be well placed to seek employment in a range of sectors that support animal science and welfare including public services, zoos, wildlife parks, charities, conservation, and animal research. This degree will also provide a strong basis for postgraduate study.

Work placement

A work placement officer and the University's careers service are available to help you with applying for a placement. Advice is also available on job hunting and networking.

By taking a work placement year you gain experience favored by graduate recruiters and develop your technical skillset. You also gain the transferable skills required in any professional environment, including communication, negotiation, teamwork, leadership, organization, confidence, self-reliance, problem-solving, being able to work under pressure, and commercial awareness.

An increasing number of employers view placement as a year-long interview and, as a result, placements are increasingly becoming an essential part of an organization's pre-selection strategy in their graduate recruitment process.

Potential benefits from completing a work placement year include:

• improved job prospects
• enhanced employment skills and improved career progression opportunities
• a higher starting salary than your full-time counterparts
• a better degree classification
• a richer CV
• a year's salary before completing your degree
• experience of workplace culture
• the opportunity to design and base your final-year project within a working environment.