Explore career options
School of Science
Natural Sciences
Your careers team
Careers Network is here to support you by providing information, advice, guidance, events and opportunities to enable you to secure placements, work experience, self-employment and graduate careers.
Working closely with your academic school, our team of experts ensures that every student has access to careers advice. As well as large careers fairs, we hold sector-specific events, involving employers and º¬Ðß²ÝÊÓƵ alumni, to help you make valuable connections and secure high-quality placements and graduate roles.
To find out more about what we do and how we can support you, visit Meet the teams.
Details of the Placements Officers for your school can be found here.
We look forward to supporting you throughout your º¬Ðß²ÝÊÓƵ journey.
Key skills developed during your degree
- Understanding of the scientific concepts required to explain the natural world and the fundamentals of physical, biological and mathematical sciences
- Specialist technical and laboratory skills, ability to complete practical work
- Interdisciplinary mindset, big picture thinking
- Mathematical, data handling and analysis skills
- IT literacy
- Communication ideas effectively – verbal and written
- Project management
- Interdisciplinary approach to problem-solving
- Analyse and solve problems and make decisions
- Multidisciplinary scientific research skills
- Organisation and time management
- Work independently and in teams, including multidisciplinary project groups
Career options
Jobs directly related to your degree:
- Scientific Laboratory Technicican
- Teaching Laboratory Technician
- Secondary School Teacher
- Nanotechnologist
- Clinical Research Associate
- Neuroscientist
- Pharmacologist
- Research scientist (physical sciences)
- Research Scientist (life sciences)
- Science writer
- Biotechnologist
- Clinical scientist - Biochemistry
- Toxicologist
- Analytical chemist
- Clinical research associate
- Biomedical Scientist
- Colour technologist
- Radiation protection practitioner
- Food technologist
- Research Scientist - Medical
- Oceanographer
- Forensic scientist
- Palaeontologist
- Materials Engineer
Jobs where your degree would be useful include:
Further study
Further study at º¬Ðß²ÝÊÓƵ:
Many students stay on to complete Master’s and PhDs at º¬Ðß²ÝÊÓƵ, and you can find further information about the courses available here.
Further study elsewhere:
Where do graduates go?
Employers are increasingly looking for graduates with expertise in multiple science subjects. A degree in Natural Sciences can prepare you well for a variety of different career paths.
As a relatively new course at º¬Ðß²ÝÊÓƵ, detailed destination data is not currently available. However, you can see the destinations of graduates from related programmes under ‘Options with your degree’; choose programmes such as Mathematical Sciences, Physics, Chemistry, Geography, Biological Sciences, Human Biology and Materials Engineering.
Destinations from these similar subject areas include: GlaxoSmithKline; 3M; Fujitsu UK; Lubrizol; Pirelli; Unilever; PricewaterhouseCoopers; Argos; Barrier Energy; BUPA; Key Forensic Services Ltd; Home Office; National Nuclear Laboratory; Nova Nordish; Shell Global Solutions; Lyons Seafoods Ltd and Havas Life Medicom.
Further Information:
For more information on companies graduates work for, industry links and career opportunities, visit the subject area page of the University website. You can also find out what our students say in our student stories of personal journeys through and beyond º¬Ðß²ÝÊÓƵ and track the career journeys and º¬Ðß²ÝÊÓƵ experiences of some of our alumni.
Resources to research career areas
- Prospects – Science and Pharmaceutical Sector
- Overview of the healthcare industry – Prospects
- Natural Sciences Occupations - UCAS
- New Scientist Career Guides
- Cogent Science Career Pathways
- The Science Council - Working towards becoming a Registered Scientist
- Graduate Entry Medicine information from the Medic Portal
You can find further links within the other departmental pages:
- Biological Sciences and Human Biology
- Physics
- Chemistry
- Mathematical Sciences
- Materials Engineering
- Geography
Resources to find work experience, placements and graduate jobs
Students have the option of taking a year-long placement in industry which provides an invaluable opportunity to develop their professional and technical skills further. You will receive talks in your department and one-to-one appointments to help you with the recruitment process for this.
Additionally, we advertise many opportunities for summer internships and encourage students to gain experience valuable in the workplace through extra-curricular activities such as volunteering, committee memberships, work-shadowing and part-time work.
Find a selection of useful job sites below.
- Target Connect - Our website for vacancies and opportunities and internally through your department.
- TalentMatch – º¬Ðß²ÝÊÓƵ’s own internship programme.
- LinkedIn Jobs
- EDT Year In Industry – This organisation can help match you to industrial placements. It's free to use for our students.
- Gradcracker - Search for internships, placements and graduate opportunities. Search under Science
- TargetJobs - Browse opportunities, career sectors, internships and careers advice.
- Prospects - Search for graduate jobs.
- Bright Network - Search for graduate jobs, internships and placements.
- Handshake – Grad jobs and internships
- Milkround – Grad jobs and work experience
- RateMyPlacement – For placements and internships
- Student Circus - For international students - Pre-filtered jobs with UK employers who sponsor a Skilled Worker visa
- STEM Graduates - Search for STEM specific graduate jobs.
- Adzuna
- CareerJet
- Jobs.ac.uk
- Jobted
- TotalJobs
- Reed
Industry specific websites:
- ABPI Careers
- Chemistry World Jobs
- New Scientist Jobs
- NHS Jobs
- NHS Graduate Management Training Scheme
- NHS Scientist Training Programme
- C+D Jobs
- NHSScotland Jobs
- Pharmaceutical Journal Jobs
- Cogent Skills
- Nature Careers
- British Pharmacological Society - Jobs & Opportunities
- PharmaJobs
- emedcareers
- Springpod offer virtual work experiences in healthcare
There are many specialist recruitment agencies, some of which are listed below:
- Agency Central – for searching agencies by discipline
- Jobs in Science
- Cranleigh
- Hyper Recruitment Solutions
- SRG - A science, engineering and technical recruiter
- Graduate Recruitment Bureau
- N2 Talent - Jobs board
- ECM Selection
- VRS Recruitment
You can find information on using recruitment agencies on the Prospects website here.
Professional bodies, sector and labour market information (LMI)
Professional bodies:
- Association of Applied Biologists
- Association of British Science Writers
- Association of Clinical Scientists
- Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management
- The Chartered Society of Forensic Sciences (CSFS).
- Institute of Biomedical Science
- Institute of Scientific and Technical Communicators
- Institution of Environmental Sciences
- The Royal Society
- Society for the Environment
- Royal Society of Biology
- Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC)
- Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics
- Institute of Mathematics and its Applications
- British Astronomical Association
- Institute of Physics
- Royal Astronomical Society
- The Science Council
- Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC)
- Institute of Science & Technology (IST)
- Royal Geographical Society
- Biochemical Society
- Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI)
- British Toxicology Society
Sector and labour market information:
- Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council
- Natural Environment Research Council
- Royal Society of Chemistry
- NHS Careers
- New Scientist
- Chemistry World
- Pharmiweb.com
- Laboratory News