Plant Biology

Rice plants

Plant biology impacts a wide range of industries from agri-food to pharmaceuticals, but have you thought about how you want to use the skills and knowledge you are developing when you graduate?

Join the Biosciences Careers moodle

MyCareer

What skills will I gain during my degree?

Depending on which degree pathway you are following you will be developing a range of valuable skills.

Analytical skills
Ability to communicate findings and results to a range of audiences
Ability to analyse data taking a methodological approach
Problem solving skills
High levels of accuracy and good attention to detail
Time management and organisational skills
Ability to working collaboratively in teams

Biosciences Core Graduate Competencies

You will also develop 12 competencies which have been divided into these four headings:

Fundamental skills
Interpersonal skills
Personal aspiration and development
Professional responsibility

Explore the Biosciences Core Graduate Competencies

How can I develop my skills and experience during my degree?

Explore a Year in Industry

Why not take an optional industry placement, between years two and three of your degree? This will extend your degree to a four-year programme.

Year in Industry

Try a summer internship

Summer internships are also a great way to gain experience, whether in science or non-science based roles. You can search for roles using the links below, but do also consider making targeted speculative applications to smaller companies who may not advertise all opportunities.

My Career - internships from companies targeting Nottingham students

Nottingham Internship Scheme

Royal Society of Biology - placement opportunities

Plant Science Futures undergraduate summer placements

For list of organisations offering work experience or internships in the lab visit: laboratory work

Find out more about summer research placements

Gaining research experience over the summer is particularly valuable if you are considering applying for a PhD after graduation. Summer research placements through the School of Biosciences depend on the research being conducted, but it is worth directly approaching the academic staff working in the area of research that you are interested in.

There are also other sponsored opportunities and funding for summer research placements through organisations such as the BBRSC.

Royal Society of Biology - undergraduate studentships

Plant Health Undergraduate Studentships

Wellcome Trust - Biomedical Vacation Scholarships

Get involved in Students' Union activities

Involvement in relevant SU activities including volunteering, sports clubs and societies can help you to develop and enhance skills that employers look for such as working in multidisciplinary teams, communicating scientific information to a non-science audience and consulting with local businesses.

Conservation Society

Sustainability Society

Find societies that interest you

Volunteering

Join the Nottingham Advantage Award

Through the completion of extracurricular modules, the Nottingham Advantage Award helps you develop key life and work-based skills and reflect on your experiences, allowing you to demonstrate your achievements and skills more effectively when applying for jobs

If you’re thinking of moving into consultancy after graduation, the Nottingham Consultancy Challenge module will help you develop and demonstrate all the right skills.

Nottingham Advantage Award

Please be aware that study abroad, compulsory year abroad, optional placements/internships and integrated year in industry opportunities may change at any time for a number of reasons, including curriculum developments, changes to arrangements with partner universities or placement/industry hosts, travel restrictions or other circumstances outside of the university's control. Every effort will be made to update this information as quickly as possible should a change occur.

What are the range of careers I could enter?

Plant biology graduates often go on to work in a wide variety of fields such as research and development, green energy and biofuels, industrial biotechnology, conservation, agriculture, education, and science communication.

Here are some examples of the graduate positions our plant science students have taken up:

Graduate technical manager at a fruit marketing company
Research scientist and a laboratory researcher at a statutory levy board
Trainee plant breeder at a plant breeding and food production company
Research biologist at a crop science company

What do graduates from my course go on to do?

Graduate Outcomes is a national survey capturing the activities and perspectives of graduates launched in 2018 and is the biggest annual social survey in the UK.

You can view the destinations of graduates, who completed the survey, from your course by booking an appointment with an adviser. This can help you to explore your options if you are unsure what you want to do.

Find out more about the Graduate Outcomes survey

What are my further study options? Watch our webinar on PhD study

A large proportion of our plant biologists progress into further study. Many graduates choose to build on their undergraduate qualification by undertaking a related master's course or PhD.