Microbiology

Microbiology at University of Canterbury is the study of organisms such as algae, fungi, bacteria, and viruses that cannot be seen with the naked eye. These micro-organisms are abundant and diverse, and they affect humans in both negative and positive ways.

This is a broad major, covering bacteria, archaea, eukaryotic microbes and viruses, and environmental, evolutionary, and molecular microbiology.

Why study Microbiology at University of Canterbury?

• Our courses emphasise the use of microbes in multiple contexts, including for industrial microbiology, medicine, environment, and genomics.

• Our courses are structured to have a large hands-on practical component.

Curriculum:

• Some micro-organisms cause diseases in humans, other animals, or agricultural crops, and are therefore of significance to our biosecurity.

• Others can be used to benefit humans, such as microbes that can be used to kill insect pests (bio-control) and those that destroy harmful chemicals such as pesticides (bio-remediation).

• Other microbes are simply essential to the maintenance of all life, such as those that generate oxygen and other critical elements.