Animal Behaviour [with Foundation Year]

Learn why animals behave in the ways that they do and how it influences the management of companion, domestic, captive and wild creatures.

• Be part of the longest established animal behaviour course in the UK, accredited by the Royal Society of Biology.

• Get hands-on by using cutting-edge technologies and techniques to study animal behaviour, and how it’s used in solving conservation and welfare problems.

• Bring the world of work to life through Live Briefs; designed, developed, and run with zoos, farms, and wildlife charities, giving you exposure to ‘real world’ challenges, including the option to study animal behaviour locally and abroad.

• Study in Cambridge – a hub of wildlife and conservation research, and home to our £45m Science Centre.

• Complete projects and internships with our research-active expert staff from the School of Life Sciences, and access work placements with a range of employers.

We know more than ever before about the behaviour of animals. But with so much still left to learn, you could even have the chance to discover a scientific breakthrough as you develop the skills to investigate animals that will allow you to contribute to important discoveries in the future.

Animal Behaviour is a practical subject with plenty of opportunities to hone your skills, both in the lab and out in the field.

As a student at ARU, you’ll learn from staff who are involved in field and captive studies internationally and in the UK, and have research links with a range of organisations including some of Britain's most respected zoos.

Study with us in Cambridge and you’ll learn why animals behave in the ways that they do, and how this can impact on the management of animals both in the wild and in captivity.

As part of your Animal Behaviour degree, you'll visit a number of locations and organisations to observe and undertake animal handling and training and to learn about and practise advanced behavioural data collection in the field and within captive environments.

Our students have undertaken final year projects, placements and summer internships with a range of organisations including (but certainly not limited to) Natural England, Shepreth Wildlife Park, Woburn Safari Park, Wildwood Trust and the Cambridge Museum of Zoology. We also engage in Live Briefs with BCN Wildlife Trust.

There are opportunities to attend residential field trips to North Devon, where you can learn a range of practical skills. There are also day trips to carry out animal behaviour observations at locations including the Norfolk coast, Wimpole Home Farm and Banham Zoo.

Field trips that are a compulsory part of your course are covered by your fees. Some are optional field trips (either extra-curricular or an integral part of an optional module you select to take) that you would have to pay for.

Similar courses you might study at our Cambridge campus are BSc (Hons) Ecology and Conservation and BSc (Hons) Zoology.

Going to university can offer you a series of once-in-a-lifetime opportunities. As part of your course, you could study abroad with one of our short-term Global Experience programmes. Opportunities include summer schools and placements, lasting from one to four weeks and funded by ARU’s UK Turing Scheme grants.