Hello, my name is Adam and I am subject ambassador for Biochemistry.
The full title of the course is molecular and cellular biochemistry, and that sums up what you will study. It is all taught as a mixture of lectures, tutorials and practicals. First year has two courses called molecular and cellular that introduce you to the main parts of biochemistry, in addition to organic chemistry, physical chemistry and maths. You get lots of support from our amazing tutors JL and Struan as well as tutors from other colleges. The practical course is also really fun and means you get to spend most Fridays of first year in the lab doing some of the famous experiments you may have read about.
In the second and third year courses you are taught about the fields in molecular and cellular biology you have touched on in first year in greater depth, often by scientists who are currently working in that area. This may seem daunting but it gives you opportunities to ask them questions in tutorials and hear their opinions on current science that you don’t get elsewhere. Lab time is a little more variable, but there is at least one assignment each week that is not lecture or tutorial based. Third year is also the time when you will hopefully start to decide which areas you are interested in to choose a masters project for fourth year.
Away from the academic side, Corpus has a huge variety of activities to get involved with including sports teams, the boat club, music, drama and much more. A piece of advice I would give is to get involved with at least one club or society in college or the wider university. I am currently secretary of the university rifle club and very much enjoy the social side, as well as working on a committee and meeting people from outside of my immediate group. Corpus is also a very convenient place to live and work, only a few minutes’ walk from the science area and very near the centre of the city.
Overall, I would strongly encourage anyone to make an application for Biochemistry at Corpus. It is a course that exposes you to the most interesting parts of science and to get to study it in such great surroundings is extremely rewarding. If I can help in any way then please write me an email.
Resources
Resources categorised by subject and by Key Stage, as well as materials for applying to Oxford and finding out more about Corpus, can be found here.