Biological Sciences

Genetics within the Biological Sciences programme at Edinburgh examines the fundamental control mechanisms of living systems, exploring how biological variation is generated, inherited, and expressed. It is a field that underlies almost every area of modern biological research, from medicine and agriculture to evolutionary biology and conservation. Genetics investigates how information encoded in DNA determines the characteristics of organisms, how that information is passed from one generation to the next, how it varies within and between populations, and how genetic mechanisms have evolved.

At the University of Edinburgh, this four-year full-time programme with a year abroad places you within one of the world's leading research universities for the life sciences. The year abroad gives you the opportunity to study at a partner institution overseas, encountering genetics research and teaching in a different scientific and cultural environment. You will engage with molecular genetics, population genetics, genomics, gene regulation, developmental genetics, and the computational methods that are now central to genetic analysis.

The research environment at Edinburgh means that you are learning in direct contact with scientists who are making significant contributions to the discipline.

You will develop laboratory skills, computational and statistical capabilities, and the scientific reasoning needed to design and interpret experiments in a fast-moving field.

Graduates go on to work in pharmaceutical and biotechnology research, genomics and diagnostics, agricultural genetics, conservation genetics, science communication, healthcare, and a range of other life sciences roles. Many continue to postgraduate study, including PhDs in genetics, molecular biology, genomics, or related fields. The depth of scientific training a genetics degree at Edinburgh provides opens doors across the international research and industry landscape.