Ecotoxicology

Roughly 70 new chemicals are described every hour, and modern society uses more than 100 000 of those for different purposes, for example as pesticides, pharmaceuticals or laundry agents. They are embedded in a broad range of products for industry and consumers. All of these chemicals are being potentially released into the environment at some stage of their life cycle.

Ecotoxicology is concerned with the environmental impact of these substances. It aims at characterizing, understanding and finally predicting the effects of toxic chemicals on plant and animal populations, ecological communities and whole ecosystems. As such, Ecotoxicology is the scientific basis for environmental frameworks such as for example the REACH regulation, the Water Framework Directive or the Marine Strategy Framework Directive.

Interdisciplinary Science

As an interdisciplinary science ecotoxicology has strong connections to biology, ecology, toxicology, biochemistry, analytical and environmental chemistry, statistics and social sciences. Therefore the ecotoxicology program is run as a collaboration between the faculty of humanities, the zoological department, the department of plant and environmental science, the chemistry department and GU's mathematical sciences.

The program first provides an overview of ecotoxicology as a scientific discipline and then you will apply this knowledge in laboratory courses and finally in individual master works. We will put equal emphasis on theory and practice. The aim is to train skills that are necessary for identifying ecotoxicological problems, recognizing essential knowledge gaps and developing appropriate problem-solving strategies.

Career

The program is aimed at students with an interest in environmental sciences that have a basic competence in biology, chemistry or related fields. The program leads to a Master of Science degree. Successful participants will have the necessary skills to work either with regulatory authorities, environmental consultants or in chemical industry. It also opens up the possibility to further pursue an international university career in the field, for example as a PhD student.

Teaching methods

Besides providing an education in ecotoxicology per se, the master program provides tools for self-study towards a set goal - in a team with supervisors and peers. It teaches on how you can communicate within a scientific and public context. Many of the courses use problem-based learning approaches in small groups and ample time will always be given for discussions, exchange of knowledge, and critical reviews.

Contents

The master programme is structured in three main parts:

Introduction: Fundamentals of Ecotoxicology and Environmental Impact Assessment

Core courses: Physiological and Molecular Ecotoxicology, Ecotoxicology from an Ecological Perspective and Chemical Risk Assessment.

Individual master work (1 year) as member in a research team or, alternatively, additional specialised courses at University of Gothenburg or another University plus a half-year master work.

Entrance Requirements:Bachelor of Science (or equivalent) from a university including at least 90 hec in biology and chemistry (with a minimum of 30 hec in biology and 30 hec in chemistry). The course ES1305, 15 hec (or ES1303, 7.5 hec + ES1304, 7.5 hec) can be counted within the requested 90 hec above. These prerequisites can be waived if an applicant has verifiable equivalent knowledge/skills. Applicants must prove their knowledge of English: English 6/English B from Swedish Upper Secondary School or the equivalent level of an internationally recognized test, for example TOEFL, IELTS.Selection: Selection is based upon the number of credit points from previous university studies, maximum 225 hec. English Language Requirements IELTS band: 6.5 TOEFL paper-based test score : 575

A chance to fund your studies

The University of Gothenburg is convinced that education and research flourish in an international environment. A mixture of students from different cultures enriches the learning environment and the University believes that motivated students should have a chance to study here, even if they dont have the means to cover all costs.

There are a number of opportunities to get a scholarship if you apply to the University of Gothenburg. If you are obliged to pay tuition fees in Sweden, you can apply for our scholarship that cover from half, to all of your tuition fees for the entire study programme.

There are also scholarship programmes available at bachelor's, master's, PhD and post-doctoral levels, which are administered by the Swedish Institute. The scholarship programmes target highly qualified students from certain countries.

http://www.utbildning.gu.se/education/application/scholarships/