Plant and Microbial Sciences in the Natural Sciences Tripos
An understanding of plants and microbes is essential to solve major problems affecting our planet:
 Global warming and the greenhouse effect |
 Food production and plant disease |
 Impact of genetically manipulated crops |
Plant and microbial sciences form an integral part of the Natural Sciences Tripos. The three biological courses in the first year will introduce you to the following areas of plant biology:
Physiology of OrganismsPlant physiologyResponses of plants to their environment Plant - microbe interactions |
Evolution and BehaviourPlant evolutionPlant diversity |
Biology of CellsPhotosynthesisPlant metabolism Plant genetics |
 Stomata control water loss from plants in all ecosystems |
 Molecular Structure of Rubisco the most abundant protein in the world! |
In the second year you build on this knowledge to answer the following questions:
Plant and Microbial SciencesHow do plants obtain their nutrients?How do plant pathogens cause disease? How do plants develop and grow? |
EcologyHow do environmental and climate changes influence plant distribution? |
 Agricultural productivity limits food yield |
 Plant root development |
 Deserts are a big challenge for plant colonisation! |
The third year allows you to take a specialised course in plant and microbial sciences:
In the lab - a final year research project
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Plant Sciences
This modular course allows you to specialise in a range of courses including:
- Molecular biology
- Plant metabolism
- Transport and signalling
- Development
- Plant pathology
- Microbial physiology
- Ecology
- Variation and evolution
- History of vegetation
- Conservation biology
You also have the opportunity to perform an original research project and write a scientific review.
What about afterwards? Graduates who have taken Plant Sciences are highly sought after. They go on to careers in research, industry, teaching, conservation biology and business, to name a few!
For more information contact the Teaching Coordinator at the Department of Plant Sciences (email Teachco@plantsci.cam.ac.uk) or browse our website.
For information on courses in NST click here