Biology 2015-2016

1) Where did you do your minor?

Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spanje

2) How much effort did it take to organize the minor? (In case of a minor in a foreign country, also think about factors like getting a scholarship, finding a room and signing up for courses)

Annabel: To organize a minor in a foreign country, much paperwork is needed, but everything is given in advance. So there is a lot of time to fill them out and to look at the different courses offered. If you start on time, it shouldn’t be a problem. Finding a room can be difficult, but if you start early and look on various different sites, it is usually not a problem.

3) What is your general impression of the minor?

Annabel: In general I liked my minor, but because I had a limited choice of courses, the courses didn’t interest me as much as I had hoped.

4) How do your minor and your major connect?

Annabel: The course “Evolution of biological thinking” gave me a good general idea of how biology had developed, which gave me a nice insight. “Management of coastal systems” gave me a good idea of how ecology and evolution could be applied. The other 2 courses also developed my knowledge on microbiology.

5) What is the curriculum of the minor like? (Think about schedules, courses, lab work, etc.)

Annabel: I only had courses in the morning, and in the afternoon I was free to study or to do assignments. The 2 labworks lasted 1 week and was always scheduled in the afternoon. At the end of the courses, we had about 3 weeks to study for the exams and to do the projects.

6) How is the way of teaching in the minor? (In case of a minor in a foreign country, also think about language skills)

Annabel: Mostly, the classes were composed of 10 to 30/40 students. The professors gave lectures with the help of PowerPoints. These PowerPoints were usually given online (but not always). Most of my courses were given in Spanish, but because it was in Catalonia, Catalan was also commonly used. 60% of the courses are in Catalan.

7) What are the exams like?

Annabel: I had 2 final projects and 2 exams. In Spain, the subjects of the projects tend to be vague. The problem with this is that you don’t have any grading guidelines. The exams are mostly open questions.

8) How much time did you spent on the minor (per week) compared to Biology/LS&T?

Annabel: A bit less.