Integrated Natural Sciences

Integrated Natural Sciences (MSci) is a radical new approach in the UK, drawing on an understanding of Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Maths and Computing to address fundamental scientific questions about how the natural world works. The course seeks above all to help you develop as a scientist, able to frame good scientific questions about the mechanisms of living systems and to address them effectively by experiment.

Scientists ask questions about how the world works – especially the natural world – and then work to answer those questions using cycles of conjecture and experiment. Human curiosity leads us to ask basic questions. What is life? What distinguishes the living from the non-living? How do cells work? What causes disease?

MSci Integrated Natural Sciences aims to equip you to pose and answer scientific questions by drawing freely on the methods and mindsets of mathematics, physics, biology, chemistry and computation. By combining the strengths of Warwick's Medical School (WMS)Link opens in a new window and School of Life Sciences (SLS)Link opens in a new window, this course offers you unique opportunities to develop yourself as a scientist. The course is led by a diverse team of biologists, chemists and physicists.

Laboratory experimental work in small teams is a key part of the course right from the outset. Parallel classroom sessions will teach you relevant scientific concepts and methods, ranging across multiple disciplines. Computing as a scientific tool is emphasised throughout the course.

In your second and third years, this integrated approach runs alongside a more in-depth look at the molecular and cellular basis of life. This provides a strong foundation for lab-based experimental research in your fourth year, during which you will pursue your own, self-designed project (we will help you design this) and write a Master’s thesis.