School of Life Sciences

Welcome to the School of Life Sciences. The School is committed to the pursuit of excellence in learning & teaching, research, knowledge development & commercialisation throughout our three academic departments. These are the Department of Biological & Biomedical Sciences, the Department of Psychology and the Department of Vision Sciences

Our Undergraduate Programmes have more than 1500 students studying a range of degree programmes including BSc(Hons) in Biomedical Science, Applied Biomedical Science (with Placement), Dietetics, Food Bioscience, Applied Nutrition, Clinical Physiology, Pharmacology, Cell & Molecular Biology, Microbiology, Forensic Investigation, Human Biology-Sociology & Psychology, Optometry, Dispensing Optics, Psychology with Interactive Entertainment, and Psychology. The majority of our undergraduate programmes are accredited by professional bodies since they initiate specific career paths. Our Health Professions Council & Institute of BioMedical Science approved provision in Biomedical Science (including Applied Biomedical Science) is the largest in Scotland and one of the largest in the UK, whilst our Health Professions Council & General Optical Council approved programmes in Optometry & in Dispensing Optics are unique. Many of our Psychology based programmes are recognized by the British Psychological Society, including MSc Forensic Psychology, Graduate Conversion Diploma in Psychology and Scotland’s only Doctorate on Counselling Psychology (joint with Strathclyde University).

We also have more than 200 students on taught Postgraduate Programmes, including Masters routes in Dietetics, Applied Nutrition, Biomedical Sciences and Forensic Psychology.

We have a thriving Research culture with approximately 75 registered PhD students and a substantial number of research projects supported by external funding bodies. 77.4% of our Biomedical & Vision Sciences submission to RAE 2008 was at least internationally recognized, gaining the largest reward of any Scottish University for RAE Panel 11.  Our Psychology submission  gained the largest reward for any Scottish Modern University.  All of our departments actively pursue research excellence and we are working with the Institute of Applied Health Research, and the Institute of Society & Social Justice alongside the other University Schools to enhance our research further,  reflecting the national and international impact of our research.

Whichever parts of our portfolio you choose to interact with, we feel sure that you will have a positive experience.  Please browse our web pages for more information about our School's programmes, facilities, research and other activities, and feel free to contact us for more information.

Professor Kevan MA Gartland

Dean, School of Life Sciences

Glasgow Caledonian University