Bachelor's program in biology
Read more about Biologi, kandidatprogram at gu.se.
Here you will find information about the structure of the program and which courses you can take, who to contact if you have questions about your education, and what you need to consider before the thesis during your final year.
How is the program structured?
When you enroll in the Bachelor's program in Biology, you will follow a specific curriculum during the first two semesters. After that, you can choose from various specialized courses as well as courses in supporting subjects such as chemistry, geoscience, or statistics, etc. During the first year, you will study alongside students in both the Bachelor's program in Molecular Biology and the Subject Teacher Education program.
Note that most of the education the first year will be in Swedish only.
When do I need to apply for courses and how do I know which ones I can choose?
Upon admission to the program, you are automatically enrolled in the compulsory courses of the first and second semester. Remember to accept the courses when you receive your admission notification.
From the third semester onwards, you will have greater freedom of choice, and you will need to apply for most of the courses you wish to take via www.antagning.se (see information in Swedish about which courses we recommend for the second and third years). BIO172 and NTH001 are mandatory, and you do not need to apply for them but will be automatically enrolled. To obtain a Bachelor's degree in biology, you must have completed at least 90 credits in biology, including a minimum of 15 credits for a thesis. However, there is room to supplement your education with courses in other relevant subjects. You can find the complete course offerings for the University of Gothenburg under Find courses. You can sort them by subject, level, and semester, among other criteria.
- Courses in Biology, basic level (given in English)
- Courses in Biology, advanced level (given in English)
All Biology courses within the program, including the basic courses from the first year, are also offered as standalone courses. This means that even if you are not enrolled in the Bachelor's programs in biology or molecular biology you can apply for them.
The final application deadline is around October 15th for the spring semester and April 15th for the fall semester. If you have missed the application deadline, you may still be able to make a late application, but please note that this does not apply to all courses, and the chances of being admitted to popular courses decrease.
Who decides on the program?
The Bachelor's program in biology is run by the Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences (BioEnv) in close collaboration with the Department of Chemistry and Molecular Biology (KMB). During your studies, you will take courses at both of these departments. You can also take certain courses offered by the Department of Marine Sciences. All three departments are primarily located at Natrium (Medicinaregatan 7b).
The biology program board is responsible for coordinating all biology programs. It is led by the program board chair, who is also the director of studies at the Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences. The board includes additional teachers from the three departments and at least one student representative.
Who should I contact?
If you have specific questions about our various courses and educational programs, please contact our study counselors or study administrators first. You can find the contact information at Service and support/Study counselling.
If you have more general questions about the education at the department, contact the education director (deputy head of department with responsibility for undergraduate education) or the program board chair. Contact information for staff at BioEnv (especially under Educational matters).
Contact information for those responsible at the Department of Chemistry and Molecular Biology, as well as the Department of Marine Sciences, can be found on their respective external websites.
Time for the thesis - what do I need to consider?
What is meant by a thesis?
The thesis is an independent project carried out within the framework of one of our degree project courses, aimed at providing you with in-depth knowledge in one of the research areas of biology and preparing you for work or further studies. Assessment is based on a written report as well as an oral presentation of your results. In addition, a number of lectures and seminars on the book "Asking Questions in Biology" are included.
General information about theses in biology and environmental sciences and what to consider when looking for suitable projects can be found under Degree project (go to Your studies/Exams). There you can also find lists with current projects.
Also, see course-specific information on open course pages in Canvas (go to Search courses and search for BIO602).
You need to find a supervisor and project yourself
All projects must have a supervisor. Typically, you will work in one of our research groups, where your project will be an important part of advancing research. This means you cannot expect to have the freedom to come up with your own project.
Every semester, we offer a variety of exciting and current projects, ranging from studies at the cellular and molecular level to integrative physiology, phylogenetic analysis, ecology, and conservation biology, focusing on animals, fungi, microorganisms, or plants. You are expected to have contacted potential supervisors within the university well before the course starts.
What is required to start a thesis in biology?
To undertake a project course, you must have completed at least one in-depth course in biology/molecular biology of (at least) 15 credits, in a relevant subject area. In addition, you must have applied for and been admitted to a degree course.
Which degree project course should I apply for?
If you are enrolled in the Bachelor's program in biology, you should normally take the course Biology: Bachelor´s degree project (15 or 30 credits), which includes projects in ecology, physiology, conservation biology, systematics, and marine biology.
The course is applied for via antagning.se. Note that only the 15 credit course (BIO602) is searchable; an extension to 30 credits (BIO603) can be made at the start of the course after an agreement with the supervisor and course coordinator.
The degree course can be started at all course start dates, i.e., September, November, January, March, and June. There is no web registration for these courses, that is you will be registered at the start of the course.
BIO602 and BIO603 are run by the Department of Biology and Environmental Sciences, and the course coordinator is Lotta Kvarnemo.
Further studies?
When you have finished you bachelor's degree you may continue on one of our Master's program n biology or nearby subjects. Most of our advanced courses are also open to take even if you are not enrolled on a specific program.