Editing Natural Science Tripos

{{Short description|Teaching framework at Cambridge University}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2018}}
{{Infobox examination
| name                =  Natural Sciences Tripos
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| image_alt           =  
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| type                = {{Plainlist|
* Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree
* Master of Science (MSci) degree}}
| test_admin          = 
| skills_tested       = [[Natural science]]
| purpose             = 
| year_started        = 1851<ref name="Bettany1879">{{cite journal|last1=Bettany|first1=G. T.|title=The Cambridge Natural Sciences Tripos|journal=[[Nature (journal)|Nature]]|volume=21|issue=526|year=1879|pages=86–87|issn=0028-0836|doi=10.1038/021086a0|bibcode=1879Natur..21...86B|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref name=nsttl>{{cite journal|title=The Natural Sciences Tripos, Cambridge|journal=[[The Lancet]]|volume=85|issue=2160|year=1865|pages=66|author=Anon|issn=0140-6736|doi=10.1016/S0140-6736(02)69618-7}}</ref><ref name=studentsguide/>
| year_terminated     = <!-- {{End date|df=y|YYYY}} -->
| duration            = 3 or 4 years
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| offered             = 
| attempt_restriction =
| regions             = [[University of Cambridge]]
 language
| test_takers         = 
| prerequisite        = 
| fee                 =  
| score_users         = 
| qualification_rate  = 
| free_label          = based on
| free                = [[Tripos]]
| website             = {{Official URL}}
| footnotes           =  
}}
The '''Natural Sciences Tripos''' is the framework within which most of the science at the [[University of Cambridge]] is taught. The [[tripos]] includes a wide range of [[Natural Sciences]] from [[physics]], [[astronomy]], and [[geoscience]], to [[chemistry]] and [[biology]], which are taught alongside the [[history and philosophy of science]]. The tripos covers several courses which form the [[University of Cambridge]] system of [[Tripos]]. It is known for its broad range of study in the first year, in which students cannot study just one discipline, but instead must choose three courses in different areas of the natural sciences and one in mathematics.  As is traditional at Cambridge, the degree awarded after Part II (three years of study) is a Bachelor of Arts (BA). A Master of Natural Sciences degree (MSci) <ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.natsci.tripos.cam.ac.uk/subject-information/overallps|title = Programme Specification: Introduction|date = 3 December 2012}}</ref> is available to those who take the optional Part III (one further year).<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.natsci.tripos.cam.ac.uk/ |title=Natural Sciences Tripos |publisher=[[University of Cambridge]] |date=2020 |access-date=5 January 2020}}</ref> It was started in the 19th century.<ref name="Bettany1879"/><ref name=nsttl/><ref name=studentsguide>{{cite journal|url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/the-students-guide-to-the-university-of-cambridge/the-natural-sciences-tripos/4AD642E39CDCA633F2214CA9252C5022|doi=10.1017/CBO9780511694158.008|title=The Student's Guide to the University of Cambridge|first=G. D.|last= Liveing|year=1874|author-link=George Downing Liveing|website=cambridge.org|url-access=subscription}}</ref>

==Teaching==
Teaching is carried out by 16 different departments. Subjects offered in Part IA in 2019 are Biology of Cells, Chemistry, Computer Science, Evolution and Behaviour, Earth Sciences, Materials Science, Mathematics, Physics, Physiology of Organisms and Mathematical Biology; students must take three experimental subjects and one mathematics course. There are three options for the compulsory mathematics element in IA: "Mathematics A", "Mathematics B" and  "Mathematical Biology".<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.zoo.cam.ac.uk/degree/1aquantbio/index.html |title=IA Mathematical Biology Site |access-date=8 June 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081031094750/http://www.zoo.cam.ac.uk/degree/1aquantbio/index.html |archive-date=2008-10-31 |url-status=dead }}</ref> From 2020 Computer Science will no longer be an option in the natural sciences course.

Students specialize further in the second year (Part IB) of their [[Tripos]], taking three subjects from a choice of twenty, and completely in their third year (Part II) in, for example, [[genetics]] or [[astrophysics]], although general third year courses do exist – Biomedical and Biological Sciences for biologists and Physical Sciences for chemists, physicists, etc. Fourth year options (Part III) are available in a number of subjects, and usually have an entry requirement of obtaining a 2:1 or a First in second year Tripos Examinations, and is applied for before the commencement of the third year. As of 2008, options with an available Part III option are: [[Astrophysics]]; [[Biochemistry]]; [[Chemistry]]; [[Earth Sciences]]; [[Materials Science]]<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.uniadmissions.co.uk/application-guides/what-is-materials-science/ |title=What Is Materials Science? |access-date=2022-11-04 |website=uniadmissions.co.uk}}</ref> and [[Metallurgy]]; and [[physics|Experimental and Theoretical Physics]]. {{As of|2018}} the tripos is delivered by sixteen different departments including:
* The [[Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge|Department of Chemistry]]
* The [[Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology, University of Cambridge|Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology]]
* The [[Department of Genetics, University of Cambridge|Department of Genetics]]
* The [[Cavendish Laboratory|Department of Physics]]
* The [[Institute of Astronomy, University of Cambridge| Institute of Astronomy]]
* The Department of Biochemistry
* The Department of Pharmacology
* The [[Department of Pathology, University of Cambridge|Department of Pathology]]
* The [[Department of Plant Sciences, University of Cambridge|Department of Plant Sciences]]
* The [[Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience, University of Cambridge|Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience]]
* The Department of Zoology
* The Department of Psychology
* The [[Computer Laboratory, University of Cambridge|Department of Computer Science and Technology]]
* The [[Department of Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge|Department of Earth Sciences]]
* The [[Department of Materials Science and Metallurgy, University of Cambridge|Department of Materials Science and Metallurgy]]
* The [[Department of History and Philosophy of Science, University of Cambridge|Department of History and Philosophy of Science]]

==Motivation==
The University of Cambridge believes that their course's generalisation, rather than specialisation, gives their students an advantage.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.oxbridgeapplications.com/blog/is-natural-science-right-for-you/|title=Is Natural Science Right For You?|website=oxbridgeapplications.com}}</ref> First, it allows students to experience subjects at university level before specialising. Second, many modern sciences exist at the boundaries of traditional disciplines, for example, applying methods from a different discipline. Third, this structure allows other scientific subjects, such as [[Mathematics]] (traditionally a very strong subject at Cambridge), Medicine and the [[History of science and technology|History]] and [[Philosophy of science|Philosophy of Science]], (and previously [[Computer science]]s before it had been removed for 2020 entry) to link with the Natural Sciences Tripos so that once, say, the two-year Part I of the Medical Sciences [[tripos]] has been completed, one can specialise in another biological science in Part II during one's third year, and still come out with a science degree specialised enough to move into postgraduate studies, such as a PhD.

==Student enrolment==
As a result of this structure, the Natural Sciences Tripos has by far the greatest number of students of any Tripos.{{citation needed|date=November 2015}} Undergraduates who are reading for the Natural Sciences Tripos in order to gain their degrees are colloquially known in University slang as '''NatSci''s (pronounced "Nat-Ski's"), being broadly nicknamed [[physical science]] ('phys') or [[biological science]] ('bio') NatScis, according to their course choices. (Of course, many students choose both physical and biological options in first year.) The split tends to be about 50:50 between the physical and biological sciences.{{citation needed|date=November 2015}}

In 2018, 2594 students applied and 577 were admitted to the Natural Sciences Tripos.<ref>{{cite web |title=Undergraduate Study: Application statistics |url=https://www.undergraduate.study.cam.ac.uk/apply/statistics |publisher=University of Cambridge |date=2020 |access-date=5 January 2020}}</ref>

In order to be accepted to study on the Natural Sciences course, students must sit the ESAT (Engineering and Science Admissions Test) exam in the year of their application.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-02-09 |title=Admission tests and assessments |url=https://www.undergraduate.study.cam.ac.uk/apply/how/admission-tests |access-date=2025-02-09 |website= Cambridge University |language=en-US}}</ref> This is a test required by Cambridge to assess their candidates.

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Academic courses at the University of Cambridge]]