We're delighted you'll be joining us at ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½!
Starting university is an exciting time, and we want to help you feel as prepared as possible before you arrive. To get you off to the best start, we've created a short checklist of important tasks to complete before your course begins.
We're looking forward to meeting you during Welcome Week and supporting you throughout your journey with us. If you have any questions or run into any issues while completing the checklist, please contact us and we'll be happy to help.
Things to do before you arrive
1. Order your lab coat
All incoming year 1 undergraduate students and Science with a Foundation Year students will be conducting lab work as part of your degree and will require a lab coat. Your lab coat will be given to you as part of a lab safety session.
In order to ensure you have the correctly sized lab coat please complete the form below with the size you require.
To determine which size you require, you will need a measuring tape. We advise you wear a jumper or hoodie to calculate which size you need. Please complete the form by 12pm on Tuesday 1 September to secure your lab coat. If you miss the deadline, contact us.
2. Familiarise yourself with digital skills
Your learning programme is supported by the university's digital systems and services. Please see our Student guide to digital learning to see what to expect from our digital platforms, what facilities you will have access to, and how to get help.
3. Read the Student Code of Conduct
Before you arrive, please read the Student Code of Conduct. It outlines the behaviour expected from everyone at the ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ so we can maintain a community built on inclusivity, fairness and respect.
4. Read your School of Life Sciences handbook
Our undergraduate and postgraduate handbooks provide key information to support you in your studies at ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½, including details on your course, module choice, assessments, as well as key dates. You should bookmark your handbook and refer to it regularly.
5. Pre-arrival reading lists
Below are some reading suggestions from our academics that might be of interest to you over the summer for each of our subject areas:
To read:
-
‘Jurassic Park’ by Michael Crichton (Note: A great introduction to molecular biology, behaviour and chaos theory)
-
‘The Selfish Gene’ by Richard Dawkins
-
‘The Extended Phenotype’ by Richard Dawkins
-
‘Silent Spring’ by Rachel Carson
-
‘Superior: The Return of Race Science’ by Angela Saini (Note: Covers more genetics but does influence how we conduct our research and is current)
To listen:
Other resources for biology:
To read:
-
‘Bad Science’ by Ben Goldacre
-
(free with an Audible Trial)
-
‘How to Make the World Add Up’ by Tim Hartford
-
‘The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark’ by Carl Sagan.
-
Alice Roberts: The Incredible Unlikeliness of Being: Evolution and the Making of Us
To watch:
Three TED talks on cell biology and biochemistry
Other resources:
has several short guides to topics in biochemistry.
This is hidden
Science with a Foundation Year
Foundation students and new undergraduates should familiarise themselves with the work of the .
Their website has some great videos, posters and blogs which look at what it means to be an effective learner.
To watch:
To read:
-
'The man who mistook his wife for a hat’ by Oliver Sacks
-
‘Phantoms in the Brain: Probing the Mysteries of the Human Mind’ by Sandra Blakeslee and V. S. Ramachandra
-
Livewired: The Inside Story of the Ever-Changing Brain' by David Eagleman
To watch:
-
My Beautiful Broken Brain – on Netflix
-
Pain, Pus and Poison (3-part documentary) on BBC iPlayer. (Note: It discusses the discovery of morphine and other pain killers in the first episode)
-
Secrets of Skin Episode 6 on BBC iPlayer. (Note: Episode 6 is all about sensory perception)
Other resources:
To Read:
To Watch:
- Pain, Pus and Poison (3-part documentary) on BBC iPlayer
To look up:
Recommended textbooks for year one (all of these are available in the university libraries, so it is not necessary to purchase them):
-
‘Neuroscience: Exploring the brain’ by Mark Bear et al.
-
‘Human Physiology’ by Lauralee Sherwood
-
‘Essential Cell Biology’ by Bruce Alberts
-
‘Biochemistry’ by Hames & Hooper