About the school
We offer an intense short summer field course in practical field botany (Biology 305). The course caters for people wanting to acquire or upgrade taxonomic skills - both current students and people in the workforce. “I'm totally hooked on botany now, I absolutely loved the course!”: Marcia Dale, Ryder Consulting Limited.
About the school
With nearly 100 staff and several hundred students we are a large and dynamic school offering a diverse range of courses across undergraduate and postgraduate levels.
Our national ranking
The Performance Based Research Fund ranks UC's School of Biological Sciences as the top biology department in New Zealand.
Our teaching staff are all active researchers and very passionate. Dynamic teams are leading research in a wide range of biology disciplines, from understanding nutrient flows and food webs across terrestrial-freshwater-marine ecosystems to investigating the amazingly good eyesight of jumping spiders.
Our state-of-the-art research building is packed full of equipment to help us measure, manipulate, visualise and quantify the living world. In one lab our analytical ultra-centrifuge allows us to study biomolecules and their interactions, with the team aiming to develop treatments for chronic inflammatory diseases such as Crohn's disease and rheumatoid arthritis.
In another lab our confocal laser scanning microscope uses fluorescent markers, bound to chemicals in live cells, to understand how cells grow and communicate.
Our researchers
We have some of the brightest minds in biology including three Rutherford Discovery Fellows.
Our cutting-edge research covers a broad range of biological fields and 11 of our teachers have University teaching awards. Four have national Tertiary Teaching Awards.
Ko te Uaratanga | Our Mission
- To provide high quality education for undergraduate and postgraduate students from Aotearoa New Zealand and overseas. We strive to offer a nationally and internationally recognised integrative undergraduate curriculum that is taught by educators dedicated to using research to inform our teaching. We also work to provide a vibrant research environment led by researchers with international reputations and strong supervisory skills.
- To provide excellent research and professional expertise to the Aotearoa New Zealand and international communities, through relevant research, consulting and community engagement activities.
- To expand the frontiers of knowledge, serve as a repository for knowledge, and act as critic and conscience of society.
- To deliver on our mission objectives with a strong commitment to environmental sustainability and a diverse and inclusive community.
Ko Ngā uara | Our Values
Our culture is expressed through a strong sense of whanaungatanga, the behaviour of our staff and students, and the quality of our interactions with our community. Defining expected behaviour based on a set of core, shared values is important for the School. We challenge ourselves to become more collaborative, inclusive and culturally competent, as well as showing respect for our different areas of expertise (Tohungatanga).
The School’s profile and international recognition, and hence ability to attract high quality staff and postgraduate students, will be enhanced by a strong sense of belonging to a cohesive and inclusive whanau. A shared value in a purposeful, planned and sustainable future is an important feature of the School.
The following values are central to the School and its members:
Manaakitanga | Responsibility
- We believe that the School is a team of individuals, with the whole greater than the sum of the parts. We are committed to a collective mission and common core values. We believe that all members of the School contribute to our mission and should be recognised.
- We believe that all members of the School should have an opportunity to pursue their professional goals and aspirations across the teaching-research-service spectrum, within the framework of the School’s overall objectives and values.
- We are committed to welcoming a diversity of students and staff into the School and supporting them in the development of their careers.
Tikanga | Integrity
- We believe that our reputation and success are measured by the quality of our graduates, both undergraduate and postgraduate, by the quality of our research, the reputation of our staff members and the willingness of our staff and students to serve as the public critic and conscience of society. We believe that the success of our staff is inseparable from the success of the communities we serve, and the success and well-being of our students during their studies, are of primary importance to us.
Tohungatanga | Expertise/Professionalism
- We defend the academic freedom of students and staff as it applies to our choice of research activities, our right to hold differing points of view, and our teaching methodology. We also believe that collective and collaborative contributions are a powerful way to advance the core mission of the School.
Kaitiakitanga | Stewardship
- We are committed to working actively to protect people, environment, and knowledge.
BioSoc is a student-led group for all people with a fascination for biology. Members do not have to be studying Biological Sciences.
Events include barbecues, quiz nights and an annual ball. We also offer tutorials and facilitate closer links between staff and students.
Find us on Facebook.
The school has Twitter and YouTube accounts, the student club BioSoc has a facebook page. You can widen your networks with the University's LinkedIn, Wechat and Instagram accounts.
The School of Biological Sciences has developed resources for use in schools as part of the College of Science's Outreach programme.
- See the Science Outreach page for bookings of our outreach modules.
Matt Walters
Scientific Communication Specialist
Science Communication, Digital Imaging, Outreach
The School of Biological Sciences and the Christchurch Botanic Gardens work closely together. Staff learn from each other, call on each other’s expertise, co-supervise students and take part in joint seminars.
Summer scholarships
As part of our partnership, joint summer scholarships are offered most years.
A UC Summer Research Scholarship involves working on a specific research project under the supervision of an academic staff member for approximately 10 weeks over the summer period. In addition summer scholarship students will complete a short research skills programme and will give a short presentation on their research project.
- For more information and to apply see the UC Scholarships database
Past scholarship research projects
- Understanding and enhancing mistletoe biodiversity around urban Christchurch (Juanita Miln, supervised by Dave Kelly)
- Descent into the understorey: orchid pollination in the shadows
- Pollination effectiveness and pollinator substitution in urban landscapes (Della Bennet supervised by Dave Kelly)
- Urban pollinators: rare, distracted or redundant? (Christie Webber and Amanda Peterson supervised by Dave Kelly)
- Botanic sentinels guard against biological invasions (supervised by Paula Jameson)
- Botanic Gardens not all exotic (Matt Wallace)
- Canterbury’s natural plant communities (Bronwyn Slack)
- Earthquakes and freshwater wildlife (Matt Kippenberger)
- Native or exotic? Which would you prefer if you were a pollinator? (Christie Webber and Amanda Peterson supervised by Dave Kelly)
Gain practical skills and degree points with our popular summer courses.
- BIOL 305 is an intensive, field-based course at the Cass alpine field station. It is designed to meet the need for training in the collection, preparation, and identification of botanical specimens. The course is targeted at participants with various entry levels, from students with a limited plant knowledge to experienced career professionals.
- WATR 203 This five-day course will be based primarily at UC but involve learning practical freshwater field sampling including hydrological, water chemistry, aquatic plant, invertebrate, fish and bird identification.
Our alumni can be found in a wide range of industries, reflecting the broad skill base a degree in science offers.
The School of Biological Sciences also offers an Inspirational Alumni award, bestowed on former students who have made a significant contribution in their fields.
- For a profile on a former biology lecturer with an unexpected career along with a full list of our Inspirational Alumni, see our Inspirational Alumni page.