Bachelor of Social Science

at University of Wollongong - Wollongong Campus Australia

Environmental science is the study of the interaction between living and non-living elements of the environment, and how humans impact on these elements. Environmental scientists use a multi-disciplinary knowledge base to assess, research, and manage a wide range of environmental issues.

The Bachelor of Science major in Environment is a multi-disciplinary degree that draws together concepts from geosciences, biological sciences, chemistry, and physics. This degree develops wide-ranging capabilities involving fieldwork, mapping, computing and laboratory skills. The superb local marine and coastal habitats, amidst fresh-water and terrestrial ecosystems means Wollongong is ideally located for unique field experiences to enhance studies of the environment.

This course is ideal if you would like to complete a science-based environmental degree with career paths in environmental assessment, monitoring and management, or to consider trending jobs related to environmental sustainability, renewable energy, transitions from rural to urban landscapes, and urban greenspaces.

Studying a degree in science and business teaches you to constantly seek out knowledge, analyse it and apply it, opening up opportunities to enter a wide range of growing professions.

Double degrees aim to broaden your knowledge and skill base and improve career options in competitive, increasingly interactive fields. Studies in science allow you to research problems, interpret data and propose solutions. Studies in business will focus on how organisations operate in the wider commercial and economic environments. When combined, the skills and knowledge from these two fields can place you in a key position to work with the complex challenges we will face in the future.

Business people are a flexible and diverse group of professionals who think strategically and critically to solve complex problems. The strategic thinking and data analysis skills you will gain from studying business are significantly valuable when applied to the planning, running or reviewing scientific studies.

What you will study
The major areas of study in Science include: Ecology and Conservation Biology, Cell and Molecular Biology, Chemistry, Geology, Environment and Physical Geography.

You can choose one major from the Bachelor of Business: Accountancy, Business Law, Economics, Finance, Financial Planning, Human Resource Management, International Business, Management, Marketing, Public Relations, Sport Marketing and Management, or Supply Chain Management.

This one-year degree is designed for high-achieving and motivated students who have fulfilled the requirements of a Bachelor of Nursing and have achieved the required academic standard. There is a forecasted growth of 25.1% within Health Care and Social Assistance and with this comes exciting employment opportunities and career options. Health care has been the primary provider of new jobs within Australia and is projected to make the largest contribution to employment growth from 2017 to 2022. Source: Employment Projections

This degree
The Honours program provides supervision for a beginning researcher through individual mentoring and group seminars.

What you will study
The Bachelor of Nursing (Honours) is designed for exceptional nursing students looking to extend their knowledge and skills by researching a topic of interest. The degree will provide you with the skills to engage in a research topic that is of interest to you. A major component of the course is to guide you through the research process, including formulating testable questions from the research literature; devising appropriate methods to test these questions; obtaining ethics committee approval; data collection and analysis; oral presentation of results; and report writing. You will develop and conduct a research project resulting in a thesis presentation.

In the Digital and Social Media major, you will learn skills in digital media production, content development, social media curation and project design through ideas and practice. These real-world practical skills are backed up with high-level critical and creative analysis of emergent media phenomena.

Students will graduate as digital change-makers, with future-facing career options in social media management, digital content analysis, online campaign design, digital innovation and creative entrepreneurship.

The Bachelor of Communication and Media enables you to expand your career options by combining the Digital and Social Media major with one of four other majors in the degree: Screen Media Production; Journalism; Visual Communication Design; or Marketing Communication and Advertising. This is an ideal degree if you are interested in more than one area of media and communications and want a flexible future career path.

What you will study
You will study digital and social media, with a focus on the process of media development. From day one you will use a wide variety of technologies and platforms to test your ideas in projects defined and driven by you.

Our unique approach to learning through project development means that you will rapidly become skilled in innovation, prototyping, testing and practice through creative media approaches to real-world problems. You will learn how to create work that meets the needs of users and clients, and how to use feedback to grow your project potential.

At the same time, you will study the ethical, social and technological changes that are shaping digital media careers in Australia and overseas.

In addition to the core subjects and a major in Digital and Social Media,  there is also the opportunity to complete another major from the below list.  This will increase your knowledge and employability in the media and communication industries.

Financial planning is the design of specific financial outcomes that meet a client's unique needs and objectives, given their financial resources and risk profile. Its broad approach is to fulfil clients' total needs, incorporating investment planning, taxation and social services planning, retirement planning, risk planning and estate planning. The areas of service provision are very wide including investment and asset portfolio construction and advice, superannuation, retirement and estate planning and associated services.

This degree
The Bachelor of Mathematics and Finance (Honours) teaches you the skills to apply sophisticated mathematical and statistical techniques to real-world problems. You are also encouraged to develop computing and communication skills, which are assets in the job market.

Bankers, investment managers, insurance companies and financial companies all rely on financial mathematics to survive and stay ahead of the competition. Maths and Finance graduates work in all areas of industry and government as risk managers, investment advisers, traders, financial analysts and more. They work in all aspects of the finance sector from traditional banking to futures trading.

There are opportunities for scholarships from corporate partners, plus summer scholarships and undergraduate research projects with academic staff, access to programs of the Australian Mathematical Sciences Institute (AMSI) and inter-university courses via our Access Grid Room.

What you will study
You will learn not only finance but accounting, management and marketing principles. You will investigate securities and the markets they operate in as well as theories of the market and the equilibrium prices of securities. You will learn how to assess investments, and the method for identifying the best financial product for a client, with particular attention to their risk profile. You will learn the codes of conduct governing the financial planning industry and relevant regulatory frameworks, advising techniques, and how to build and maintain clients' investment portfolios.

Subjects you will study include: investment analysis, advanced corporate finance, retirement and estate planning, taxation for financial planners, risk and insurance, and advanced financial planning. You will complete a Mathematics and Finance Honours Project.

International History aims to contextualise global issues through a historical perspective. What explains the rise and fall of powerful states and empires? What lessons can we learn from past conflicts and challenges that might prepare us better for the future? How did the social and economic networks that connect people around the world evolve and change over time?

International History will help students interested in world politics, conflict, diplomacy, religion, and political ideologies to understand the contemporary world.

This degree
The Bachelor of International Studies examines the relationships of politics, society, culture, language, and history in a range of countries. You will analyse national and current global issues, focusing on the way global forces and interactions increasingly influence domestic politics. You will also be encouraged to study abroad or undertake a study tour.

What you will study
You will undertake core subjects that introduce you to key concepts in international studies, as well as building out your major through a wide range of subjects covering international history such as modern dictatorships, Australian foreign policy, model United Nations, and empires of the east and west.

A core component of this degree is completing a language minor, with a choice between Mandarin, French, Italian, Japanese or Spanish.

You will have additional elective credit that will allow you to turn your language minor into a major, or take an additional major or minor from within the Faculty of the Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities.

Geographers help shape the future by understanding, explaining and predicting both human and physical environments. You will study the human and physical forces that shape the planet and the political, social and environmental issues that arise as a consequence of human interactions with the Earth. Never before have geography skills been so important: faced with anthropogenic climate change and predictions of rising seas, bushfires and flooding, geographers will help understand and plan for a sustainable, socially just and resilient future.

Equally, in an era of massive data of both physical and human processes, geographers have never been better positioned to support decision making and planning at all levels of government and business.

Your degree
The Geography program at UOW includes the opportunity to undertake practical laboratory and fieldwork, taking advantage of the local Illawarra environment including urban and heritage landscapes, coastal landscapes, rainforest escarpment and freshwater ecosystems.

You will develop the knowledge and skills to apply the latest technologies in spatial analysis and satellite imagery within the context of these environments. These skills are in demand across a broad range of sectors including government bodies, industry, and consultancies.

What you will study
You will learn skills in logical and critical thinking, creative problem-solving, practical research, organisation and project management, numeracy, statistical literacy, computer applications (including geographic information systems), and strong communication. You will apply these skills to problems in physical and human geography, studying the natural environment, its processes, and the interaction of these with human society and the way it shapes and is shaped by the natural world.

Your studies will include climate change, biogeography, coastal and fluvial environments, populations, urban and regional societies, spatial geography and environmental management.

On completion, high performing students considering further study or a career in research should consider the Bachelor of Science (Honours) program. This one year degree offers students a pathway to expanding their knowledge in geography and achieving their postgraduate research aspirations.

Studying a Bachelor of Creative Arts - Visual Arts at UOW will allow you to explore diverse materials, processes and practices in an intensive, hands-on environment drawing on a range of studio practices from the established to the emerging, the analogue and the digital, from 2D to object and time-based works.

A Bachelor of Creative Arts at UOW encourages you to immerse yourself creatively, critically and practically. The Creative Industries are one of the fastest growing, most dynamic sectors in the world.
The Visual Arts major equips you with a sound knowledge of contemporary art practices and art history and theory within Australia and internationally. It also offers you the opportunity to take minors and electives that broaden your career opportunities such as, for instance, Creative Writing, Media Arts, Technical Theatre, Music Production, Photography, English Literature or languages.

Visual Arts is taught by academics who are also practising artists and scholars, and who work with you to develop your creative and critical abilities. You will work towards a major exhibition by the end of your degree, and are encouraged to participate in Student Initiated Projects (SIPS).

What you will study
This flexible degree equips you with technical skills and best-practice processes in studio practice and related theory and history studies. The studio processes cover textiles, painting and sculpture. You'll also receive a strong foundation in visual and design concepts and then work towards your chosen area of specialisation.

The Master of Computer Science will provide you with the skills and ability to solve complex real world problems by integrating computer science methods with effective management strategies, and by developing and deploying computer applications. During this degree you will be able to put theory into practice with an individual capstone project.

What you will study

You will study subjects in IT project management, advanced programming, algorithms and data structures. You can choose to complete subjects from the below four areas:

• Computational intelligence, and reasoning and learning
• Machine learning algorithms and big data
• Advanced network security and computer security
• Software requirements and specifications, and service-oriented software engineering

The Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) – Bachelor of Science (Exercise Science) provides the skills and knowledge for the application of engineering techniques to problems in rehabilitation and biomedical technologies.

You will gain a unique understanding of both engineering and the anatomical and physiological basis of human motion and biomechanics. Examples include research and design of orthopaedic devices, rehabilitation engineering, development of prostheses such as artificial limbs or electronically controlled wheelchairs, and the development of biomaterials.

Exercise scientists look at the effect of exercise on human performance. They design, implement and evaluate exercise and physical activity for a wide range of people within the community. They provide programs for improving general health, the prevention of chronic diseases, health promotion and enhanced sports performance. There is a forecasted growth of 25.1% within Health Care & Social Assistance for 2017-2022 and this brings increased employment opportunities and career options. Source: Employment Projections

This degree

As an engineering student at UOW you can gain credit for relevant work experience, either in Australia or overseas, by participating in our Professional Options Program. You will undertake practical hands-on experience with industry for 12 weeks prior to the conclusion of your academic studies.

You will work in well-designed laboratories and workshops essential to the development of engineering skills. An effective experimental program is also a feature of our courses.