Natural Sciences (Cambridge)

Natural Sciences Tripos (NST)
Type
Knowledge / skills tested Natural science
Year started 1851[1][2][3]
Duration 3 or 4 years
Countries / regions University of Cambridge
Languages English language
based on Tripos
Website www.natsci.tripos.cam.ac.uk

The Natural Sciences Tripos (NST) is the framework within which most of the science at the University of Cambridge is taught. The tripos includes a wide range of Natural Sciences from physical sciences to biology which are taught alongside the history and philosophy of science. The tripos covers several courses which form the University of Cambridge system of Tripos. It is known for its broad range of study in the first year, in which students cannot study just one discipline, but instead must choose three courses in different areas of the natural sciences and one in mathematics. As is traditional at Cambridge, the degree awarded after Part II is a Bachelor of Arts (BA). A Master of Science degree (MSci) is available to those who take the optional Part III.[4] It was started in the 19th Century.[1][2][3]

Teaching

Teaching is carried out by 16 different departments. Subjects offered in Part IA in 2010 are Biology of Cells, Chemistry, Computer Science, Elementary Mathematics for Biologists, Evolution and Behaviour, Earth Sciences, Materials Science, Mathematics, Physics, Physiology of Organisms and Mathematical Biology; students must take three experimental subjects and mathematics. There are three options for the compulsory mathematics element in IA: "Mathematics A", "Mathematics B" and "Mathematical Biology".[5]

Students specialize further in the second year (Part IB) of their Tripos, taking three subjects from a choice of twenty, and completely in their third year (Part II) in, for example, genetics or astrophysics, although general third year courses do exist - Biomedical and Biological Sciences for biologists and Physical Sciences for chemists, physicists, etc. Fourth year options (Part III) are available in a number of subjects, and usually have an entry requirement of obtaining a 2:1 or a First in second year Tripos Examinations, and is applied for before the commencement of the third year. As of 2008, options with an available Part III option are: Astrophysics; Biochemistry; Chemistry; Geological Sciences; Materials Science and Metallurgy; and Experimental and Theoretical Physics. As of 2018 the tripos is delivered by sixteen different departments including:

Motivation

The University of Cambridge believes that their course's generalisation, rather than specialisation, gives their students an advantage.[6] First, it allows students to experience subjects at university level before specialising. Second, many modern sciences exist at the boundaries of traditional disciplines, for example, applying methods from a different discipline. Third, this structure allows other scientific subjects, such as Computer Sciences, Mathematics (traditionally a very strong subject at Cambridge), Medicine and the History and Philosophy of Science, to link with the Natural Sciences Tripos so that once, say, the two-year Part I of the Medical Sciences tripos has been completed, one can specialise in another biological science in Part II during one's third year, and still come out with a science degree specialised enough to move into postgraduate studies, such as a PhD.

Student enrolment

As a result of this structure, the Natural Sciences Tripos has by far the greatest number of students of any Tripos. Undergraduates who are reading for the NST in order to gain their degrees are colloquially known in University slang as 'NatScis (pronounced "Nat-Ski"'s), being broadly nicknamed physical science ('phys') or biological science ('bio') NatScis, according to their course choices. (Of course, many students choose both physical and biological options in first year.) The split tends to be about 50:50 between the physical and biological sciences.

In 2007, 2112 students applied and 639 were admitted to the Natural Sciences Tripos.[7]

References

  1. 1 2 Bettany, G. T. (1879). "The Cambridge Natural Sciences Tripos". Nature. 21 (526): 86–87. doi:10.1038/021086a0. ISSN 0028-0836.
  2. 1 2 Anon (1865). "The Natural Sciences Tripos, Cambridge". The Lancet. 85 (2160): 66. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(02)69618-7. ISSN 0140-6736.
  3. 1 2 Liveing, G. D. (1874). "The Student's Guide to the University of Cambridge". cambridge.org. doi:10.1017/CBO9780511694158.008.
  4. ↑ http://www.cam.ac.uk/about/natscitripos/ Natural Sciences Tripos homepage
  5. ↑ "IA Mathematical Biology Site". Archived from the original on 2008-10-31. Retrieved 2010-06-08.
  6. ↑ "Is Natural Science Right For You?". oxbridgeapplications.com.
  7. ↑ Cambridge Undergraduate Admissions Statistics
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