Honours is a widely recognised and highly regarded additional year of undergraduate study available to you after you complete your undergraduate course. It's a unique opportunity for you to explore your research potential and put the theory from your undergraduate studies into practice. An honours qualification is not only well regarded in academia, but also in industry where further, concentrated studies in a specialised area is highly sought after. Extend your knowledge of your undergraduate degree with a stand-alone Honours year in your subject area expertise. This course is available to students who have already completed their studies in this study area. Depending on your interests and the availability of honours projects, you might wish to undertake honours in anatomy, biochemistry, biology (genetics), cell pathology, histology and embryology, immunology, infectious diseases, microbiology, pharmacology or physiology. This course is also offered at the Westmead precinct. The Faculty of Science has an outstanding reputation for the quality of its postgraduate research programs across a wide range of science disciplines. With significant levels of funding from various research councils and bodies, and the provision of major research facilities, the Faculty is committed to providing leading education and research training to its students. There are a range of research programs available, depending on which stage you are at in your academic career. Whether at the doctoral or masters level, you undertake self-directed, supervised research in your specialised area of science, and produce a thesis considered to be a substantially original contribution to the subject concerned. The Honours year in Science provides a research training pathway to our higher research degrees, the Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) and Master of Science (MSc). The postgraduate research programs offered by the Faculty attract a large number of domestic and international students each year.
If you are interested in a research career in physics, an honours degree is realistically the minimum requirement. It is also necessary to have an Honours degree before proceeding to postgraduate study. By doing honours in physics you gain not only the benefit of studying physics to a higher level (with a wide choice of courses to be taken), but you also gain invaluable experience in undertaking a research project supervised by one or more members of staff, and producing a report. Many students also end up publishing one or more scientific papers based on their honours research. The School of Physics at the University of Sydney is the leading Physics department in the country, with outstanding staff and students undertaking world-leading teaching and research. Our 120 staff and 160 postgraduate students conduct research across a vast range of interests from nanoparticles to clusters of galaxies and from theoretical modelling to laboratory experiments. With access to supercomputers, modern laboratory facilities and observatories, locally, nationally and internationally, the School of Physics is the premier environment for physics education and research. During the honours year you will be welcomed as a member of the active research group in which you undertake your project. You will be provided with office accommodation and access to the School's extensive computer facilities plus sophisticated software and (where relevant) laboratory and astronomical equipment.