MSc (by Dissertation) Environmental Biology

University of Essex

Great support from Life Sciences researchers and a feeling that they care for their students. Campus is lacking good food outlets, overpriced and unhealthy food. Buffalo Joes is ludicrously priced for the quality of the food you receive and everything available is processed rubbish across campus. For a campus that is self contained and not within walking distance to amenities in town there is very little options available, previously we had outlets like Waterstones, now we have empty units that offer nothing.

The university has a really good library with multiple floors in which you can certainly find your preferred study area. On campus there are multiple rooms to choose from if you want to work away from your accommodation, there are many quiet place where you can really focus. Social life is good when you are able to get to talk with people and step out of your comfort zone, otherwise it gets rather lonely quite quickly and it feels like your are isolated no matter how many people there are around you. You have to put yourself out there. The large park on campus is nice and beautiful, aside for the mud when it gets too rainy. The green space is a good opportunity to take a walk to clear your mind, feel refreshed, or if you want to get your steps in for the day. Most people mind their own business, from my experience, and it’s nice to realise and know that you can be comfortable with yourself as well as go for activities that the Student Union puts out for everyone. As I am in an accommodation without a common room, only a kitchen, I think it would be great to make it possible to feel like there are places to go to feel more at home, instead of spending most of the time in your room.

Great teachers and facilities, as well as a beautiful park in the uni campus. However, students behavior on campus leaves a lot to be desired.

The lecturers seem to actually care about us and marking feels fair too. You seem to get out what you put into it. The lectures and labs are interesting and the assignments feel like they are actually there to develop your skills and push you, they don’t feel pointless. If you reach out for support the staff are supportive and willing to try to accommodate you. However the amount of coursework can feel heavy when there’s many deadlines all around the same time.

The staff are friendly, experts and very good at breaking down complex skills into manageable chunks of tasks. The facilities are very good, especially the various laboratories I have had the privilege of learning in or observing others in. A close location to London makes out of term time travel much less expensive for many Marine Biology students than would otherwise be the case studying somewhere like Hull, Bangor or St. Andrew's. The campus is beautiful, very spaced out and there are many different environments that cater to specific studying styles like quiet and focused or more social discussion and project planning rooms adjoining the library. Unfortunately Student life is not particularly shining as ever since 2023/24, low cost options and freebies have been filtered out such as the Jacket Potato shop which had £2 jacket potato options that felt viable and healthy for students struggling with costs of living and various other £2 eating options across other outlets on the campus. I haven't interacted much with the student's union but they seem functional and they helped me get a refund when I mistakenly bought a society membership that clashed with my timetable.