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Application for the Major Subject is part of the Part II Allocations Procedure. The  application needs to completed by mid-May. Some departments ask for additional information - check the Allocations Procedure website. Those who want to study BBS should select their preferred Department for their major subject, and then select 'BBS' in the consecutive question. Places will be allocated after the exams, and students should know if they have a place before the summer vacation.

On this page you will find information to help you choose your Major Subject:

Neuroscience within the BBS Course

Those who wish to study Neuroscience within the BBS course can do so by taking a Major Subject in Psychology, PDN, or Zoology.  Students can then choose from a variety of shared modules:
PS2: Memory
PS3: Brain Mechanisms of Emotional Regulation and Motivation
N3: Neuroscience: Circuits and Systems
N6: Higher Order Brain Function and Dysfunction
ZM5: Evolution and Behaviour: Genes and Individuals
ZL3: Evolution and Behaviour: Populations and Societies
There are certain criteria dependant on the major subject, so please investigate these further using the Major subject links below.
 

Departments offering BBS Major Subjects in 2024/25

Click on the tiles below to access the respective departmental webpages relating to the Major Subjects on offer.

 
 
 
 

Major Subjects Course Format for AY24-25

Subject

Course format

Modules offered
Pathology (402) Choose two modules for Michaelmas Term and two modules for Lent Term.
Michaelmas:
(A) MT Genetics of Disease
(B) MT Epidemiology and Control of Infectious Disease
(C) MT Host-Pathogen Interactions
(D) MT Immunology I*
 
Lent:
(E) LT Cancer Biology
(F) LT Infectious disease: a one-health perspective
(G) LT Virology
(H) LT Immunology II*
 
*Immunology I & II must be taken together

Pharmacology (408)

(Maximum 15 candidates)

Same lectures as the single subject.

The course typically covers:

Drug Discovery
Cancer
Cardiovascular diseases
Neurotransmission and chronic pain
Receptors and ion channels
Cellular signalling
Controlling the cell proteome
Infectious Diseases

Psychology (409)

(Maximum 25 candidates across both options)

Students must have taken MVST Part IB or NST Part IB Experimental Psychology to take this Major Subject.

Same lectures as the single subject

Students can choose between one of the two following options:

Option A

Paper 1: Methods and Inquiry
Paper 2: Cognitive and Experimental Psychology
Paper 3: Cognitive and Behavioural Neuroscience
Paper 4: Developmental Psychopathology, Advances Topics in Social and Applied Psychology or The Family

Option B

Option B is currently being restructured for the 2024-25 academic year, the planned course modifications are subject to approval by ASEC. In the proposed new structure, students will take the following papers:

Paper 1: Methods of Inquiry
Paper 2: PS2 Memory
Paper 3: PS3 Brain Mechanisms of Emotional Regulation and Motivation

Paper 4: Choose one module in psychology, neuroscience and behaviour offered through PDN or Zoology
 

Biochemistry (411)

(Maximum 7 candidates)

The course is grouped into four 24 lecture modules, one of which has a branched structure to provide internal choice

Module A: Structural and Chemical Biology
Module B: From Genome to Proteome
Module C: Stem - The Dynamic Cell
plus either:
Branch 1 - Bioenergy OR
Branch 2 - Molecular Microbiology of Infectious Disease
Module D: Cell Cycle, Signalling and Cancer

Plant Sciences (412) Choose two modules for Michaelmas Term and two modules for Lent Term.
 
Michaelmas:
 
PLM1:   Plant signalling networks in growth and development
PLM2:   Microbes: Evolution, genomes and lifestyle
PLM3:   Evolution and ecosystem dynamics
ZM2:     Conservation Science
 
Lent:  
 
PLL1:     Plant genomes and synthetic biology
PLL2:     Responses to global change
PLL3:     Exploiting plant metabolism
ZL3:       Evolution and Behaviour: Populations and Societies
ZL4:       Applied Ecology
ZL5:       Evolutionary Genetics and Adaptation
BBS Minor 128: Bioinformatics
 

Genetics (414)

(Maximum 10 candidates)

Choose four of the five modules offered for the single subject (two per term).

Michaelmas:

Module 1: Genomes
Module 2: Early Development & Patterning: Genetic and Cellular Mechanisms 

 

Lent:

Module 3:    Genetics of Health & Disease
Module 4:    Evolutionary Genetics and Adaptation
Module 5:     Mathematical Genetics

Physiology, Development and Neuroscience (415)

(Maximum 25 candidates)

Choose a total of four modules from the list.

Alternatively, choose at least two N and/or P modules, and up to two more either from the list, or from the two modules offered by both Psychology and Zoology, (subject to availability).

Michaelmas:

N1: Developmental Neurobiology
N3: Neuroscience: Circuits and Systems
N4: Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience 
P1: Cellular Physiology
P3: Fetal & Placental Physiology
P4: Early Development & Patterning: Genetic and Cellular Mechanisms
P9: Cell Assembly and Interactions

Lent:

N6: Higher Order Brain Function and Dysfunction 
N9: Modulation, Plasticity and Behaviour
P2: Development and Stem Cells
P5: Bioinformatics
P6: Development: Cell Differentiation & Organogenesis
P7: Pathophysiology of Cancer
P8: Systems and Clinical Physiology

Zoology (427)

(Maximum 25 candidates)

Choose two modules for Michaelmas Term and two modules for Lent Term. (The majority of combinations are available but please check with the Zoology Teaching Office for all permissible combinations)
 
Michaelmas:
 
ZM1: Vertebrate Evolution
ZM2: Conservation Science
ZM5: Evolution and Behaviour: Genes and Individuals
ZM6: Cell Assembly and Interactions [Shared with PDN]
ZM7: From Genome to Proteome [Borrowed from Biochemistry]
ZM9: Developmental Neurobiology [Shared with PDN]
ZM10: Early Development & Patterning: Genetics & Cellular Mechanisms [Shared with Genetics and PDN]
PLM3: Evolution and Ecosystem Dynamics [Borrowed from Plant Sciences]
N3: Neuroscience: Circuits and Systems [Borrowed from PDN]
PS3: Brain Mechanisms of Emotional Regulation and Motivation [Borrowed from Psychology]
 
Lent:
 
ZL1: Evolution and Comparative Anatomy of Mammals
ZL2: Responses to Global Change [Borrowed from Plant Sciences]
ZL3: Evolution and Behaviour: Populations and Societies
ZL4: Applied Ecology
ZL5: Evolutionary Genetics and Adaptation [Shared with Genetics]
ZL6: Development: Cell Differentiation and Organogenesis [Shared with PDN]
ZL7: Cell Cycle, Signalling and Cancer [Borrowed from Biochemistry]
102: Bioinformatics [Borrowed from Genetics]
N6: Higher Order Brain Function and Dysfunction [Borrowed from PDN]
PS2: Memory [Borrowed from Psychology]
 

Human Evolution, Ecology and Behaviour (429)

(Maximum 10 candidates)

Two modules from B2, B3 and B4, and two optional modules from B11-14, and B17

B2: Human Ecology and Behaviour
B3: Human Evolution
B4: Comparative Human Biology

B11: Quantitative Modelling in Archaeology and Biological Anthropology
B12: Human Palaeobiology
B13: Evolutionary Medicine
B14: A Technologically Dependent Lineage
B17: Our Extended Family: Primate Biology and Behaviour

 

History and Philosophy of Science and Medicine (430)

(Maximum 12 candidates)

 

Four modules from the single subject

Early Medicine
Modern Medicine and Biomedical Sciences
Philosophy of Science and Medicine
Ethics of Medicine

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Major Subjects Contact Details (AY23-24)

Course code

Course

Course Organiser

Teaching administrator

Email address

402

Pathology

Dr Paolo D'Avino

Beatriz Jimenez Martin

teach@path.cam.ac.uk

408

Pharmacology

Dr Cathy Wilson

 Christine Roberts

Undergrad@phar.cam.ac.uk

409

Psychology

Professor Nicky Clayton

Kate Limond

teaching@psychol.cam.ac.uk

411

Biochemistry

Professor Bill Broadhurst Sam Chapman ug-admin@bioc.cam.ac.uk

412

Plant Sciences

Professor Jim Haseloff

Katherine Maltby

414

Genetics

Dr Christine Farr

Mitha Madhu

undergrad.admin@gen.cam.ac.uk

415

Physiology, Development & Neuroscience (PDN)

Professor Amanda Sferruzzi-Perri

Sophie Jones

part2@pdn.cam.ac.uk

427

Zoology

Professor Walter Federle

Francesca Anthony / Barbara Chase

teaching@zoo.cam.ac.uk

429

Human Evolution, Ecology and Behaviour

Dr Guy Jacobs Josh Giles undergraduate-secretary@arch.cam.ac.uk

430

History and Philosophy of Science and Medicine 

Dr Daniel Margocsy

David Thompson

hps-admin@lists.cam.ac.uk

 

 

Major Subjects Contact Details (AY24-25)

Course code

Course

Course Organiser

Teaching administrator

Email address

402

Pathology

Dr Paolo D'Avino

Beatriz Jimenez Martin

teach@path.cam.ac.uk

408

Pharmacology

Dr David Bulmer

 Christine Roberts

Undergrad@phar.cam.ac.uk

409

Psychology

Professor Nicky Clayton

Kate Limond

teaching@psychol.cam.ac.uk

411

Biochemistry

Professor Bill Broadhurst (TBC) Sam Chapman ug-admin@bioc.cam.ac.uk

412

Plant Sciences

Professor Jim Haseloff

Katherine Maltby

414

Genetics

Dr Christine Farr

Mitha Madhu

undergrad.admin@gen.cam.ac.uk

415

Physiology, Development & Neuroscience (PDN)

Professor Amanda Sferruzzi-Perri

Dr Hannah Clarke

Sophie Jones

part2@pdn.cam.ac.uk

427

Zoology

Professor Walter Federle

Francesca Anthony

Barbara Chase

teaching@zoo.cam.ac.uk

429

Human Evolution, Ecology and Behaviour

Dr Guy Jacobs (TBC) Josh Giles undergraduate-secretary@arch.cam.ac.uk

430

History and Philosophy of Science and Medicine 

Dr Daniel Margocsy (TBC)

David Thompson

hps-admin@lists.cam.ac.uk

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