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Astrobiology

gerfygub

What is the most viable route to get to studying Astrobiology in the UK?

Reply 1

artful_lounger

Universities Forum Helper

Original post

by gerfygub

What is the most viable route to get to studying Astrobiology in the UK?

Hi, I've moved your thread to the physical sciences forum (for lack of any more specific forum!) from medicine (as it's not about applying to medical schools in the UK) :smile:

I'd start by pointing out that it's important to bear in mind that astrobiology is not a field that really exists by itself at undergraduate level. It's rather niche even at graduate level I think!

I would imagine most astrobiologists probably did their graduate studies in some area of planetary science, from various undergraduate backgrounds. It's probably fruitful to look at the academic backgrounds of active researchers in the area - as normally they will indicate broadly what area they at least got their PhD in and what particular approaches they are currently taking in their research, from which you can reverse engineer options for undergraduate study.

Essentially though you would need to do some kind of science undergraduate degree in an area which aligns with your background and interests broadly. Earth and planetary science related courses are probably particularly well aligned to that though I imagine, although also e.g. physics and its various subdisciplines, potentially chemistry or bioscience backgrounds may also be appropriate for particular avenues of research. Joint honours between physical/life/earth sciences and/or combined honours courses like natural sciences degrees might also provide relevant backgrounds to pursuing a PhD programme in some astrobiological project.

Reply 2

Muu9

Cambridge natsci, presumably.

Reply 3

SolarBuddhist

Original post

by gerfygub

What is the most viable route to get to studying Astrobiology in the UK?

Birkbeck University of London has a master's in Astrobiology, as does Edinburgh University. If you complete a science based undergraduate, you can also go onto the Open University PhD programmes in Astrobiology. The OU publishes great research in the field. Hope this helps :smile:

Reply 4

DerDracologe

Study Forum Helper

Original post

by gerfygub

What is the most viable route to get to studying Astrobiology in the UK?

Astrobiology was a major interest of mine when I started a levels so i can tell you what i know 🙂
Theres only a couple of places offering an astrobiology ungrad in the uk so its more likely that youll study a broader undergrad and then specialise more after this. Birkbeck offers an astrobiology undergrad but state that this may not be suitable for further study within in the field which is unusual!
I originally was looking to pursue astrophysics or planetary because of my interest in astrobiology however i have now decided to pursue biology instead of physics as i liked astrobiology because of its basis in evolution. Id strongly suggest that you research exactly what it is that you like about astrobiology and then choose a broader degree based on that. I do a level env sci and we do some astrobiology stuff in that which is very cool so env sci undergrad could be a great option for you to consider. The way i made my decision on physics vs biology was by doing an online course on astrophysics and one on biology and i decided bio was much more for me!
Btw we have a tsr astrobiology society that youre welcome to join 🙂
https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/group.php?groupid=5359

Reply 5

gerfygub

I recently did an online course for astrobiology/biology and it strengthened my interest in the subject further, really looking forward to being able to study it after I pursue a biology masters, if you have any advice for where to find astrobiology courses or any academic content on the matter that would be helpful, ive only been able to find select online courses and books which are more surface level into the subject and havent been able too find content that has the level of depth im looking for.

Reply 6

Muu9

Original post

by gerfygub

What is the most viable route to get to studying Astrobiology in the UK?

I would guess physical natsci at Cambridge - you could take a 3 modules among physics, chemistry, earth science, and biology in your first year.

In general, there are many potential routes into astrobiology from molecular biology to earth science to physics.