Follow in the footsteps of Nobel Prize winner Howard Florey and kick-start your career in medical research with the Bachelor of Medical Science.

You’ll delve into genetics, immunology, nutrition, physiology, microbiology, biochemistry and anatomy to understand how the human body works.

Learn directly from biomedical scientists and health professionals, who are working to develop new cancer vaccines or ground-breaking treatments for autoimmune diseases.

Find out more about medical science, the degree structure, the university experience, career opportunities and student stories on our website.

Get the inside story on what it’s like to be an ANU student by visiting our student blog.

This program is not available for Semester 2 commencement.

When undertaking the Bachelor of Visual Arts at the ANU, you will be immersed in a program of rigorous scholarship and intensive studio practice, tailored to your aspirations and informed by internationally renowned art practitioners within Australia’s top-ranking university. You will graduate with the essential creative skills and critical knowledge to address the grand challenges of a rapidly changing world.

You will develop deep disciplinary knowledge and learn specialist skills offered across the School of Art and Design studio disciplines, including animation and video, ceramics, furniture, glass, hybrid art practice, jewellery and object, painting, photomedia, printmedia and drawing, sculpture and spatial practice, and textiles. You will extend your study through access to courses in the Centre for Art History and Art Theory, combined with access to electives from across the ANU.

Learning Outcomes

1. develop, apply, integrate and generate scientific knowledge in educational and professional contexts;
2. use a range of skills and methods to identify, analyse and respond to problems and issues;
3. convey and relate professional and disciplinary information and ideas to diverse audiences in effective and appropriate ways;
4. work in both independent and collaborative ways with others to encompass diverse abilities and perspectives; and
5. exercise personal, professional and social responsibility as a global citizen.

1. apply technical skills and specialist knowledge to realise artworks, artefacts and related forms of creative expression;

2. demonstrate skills and knowledge of the practices, languages, forms, materials, technologies and techniques in the visual arts;

3. recognise and reflect on social, cultural and ethical issues, and apply historical and theoretical perspectives to practice in the visual arts;

4. develop, express and evaluate ideas, concepts and processes by thinking creatively, critically and reflectively;

5. interpret, communicate and present ideas, problems and arguments in modes suited to a range of audiences; and

6. work independently and collaboratively in response to project demands.

Further Information

Advice for first year students:

Students should complete BIOL1003, BIOL1004, CHEM1101 and CHEM1201 in their first year.

Additional advice:

• For students taking BIOL3208 or BIOL3209 as part of this program, the research project must be in the field of medical science.
• Students interested in incorporating an internship into their degree can find out more from the College of Science website.
• Students undertaking the Bachelor of Medical Science as part of a flexible double degree will need to take care when selecting 2000 level BIOL courses for a smooth progression into 3000 level BIOL courses. For advice, please book an appointment with the Science Sub Dean .

Want to learn more about the structure of the Bachelor of Medical Science or wish to map out your degree? Click here to see a short program presentation video and access the study plan.

Advice for first year students:

Students should complete BIOL1003, BIOL1004, CHEM1101 and CHEM1201 in their first year.

Additional advice:

• For students taking BIOL3208 or BIOL3209 as part of this program, the research project must be in the field of medical science.
• Students interested in incorporating an internship into their degree can find out more from the College of Science website.
• Students undertaking the Bachelor of Medical Science as part of a flexible double degree will need to take care when selecting 2000 level BIOL courses for a smooth progression into 3000 level BIOL courses. For advice, please book an appointment with the Science Sub Dean .

Want to learn more about the structure of the Bachelor of Medical Science or wish to map out your degree? Click here to see a short program presentation video and access the study plan.

Admission Requirements

At a minimum, all applicants must meet program-specific academic/non-academic requirements, and English language requirements. Admission to most ANU programs is on a competitive basis. Therefore, meeting all admission requirements does not guarantee entry into the program.

In line with the university's admissions policy and strategic plan, an assessment for admission may include competitively ranking applicants on the basis of specific academic achievement, English language proficiency and diversity factors.

The University reserves the right to alter or discontinue its programs and change admission requirements as needed.

Domestic applicants

Before applying for a program, you should review the general information about domestic undergraduate admission to ANU programs and how to apply, and the program-specific information below.

• Applicants with recent secondary education are assessed on:
  • completion of Australian Year 12 or equivalent, and the minimum Selection Rank (from their academic qualifications, plus any adjustment factors) requirement for this program; and
  • co-curricular or service requirement (applies to applicants who complete secondary education in the year prior to commencing at ANU); and
  • English language proficiency; and
  • any program-specific requirements listed below.
• Applicants with higher education study are assessed on:
  • previous higher education studies; or secondary education results if completed less than one full-time equivalent year (1.0 FTE) of a degree; or the result from a bridging or preparatory course; and
  • English language proficiency; and
  • any program-specific requirements listed below.
• Applicants with vocational education and training (VET) study are assessed on:
  • previously completed VET qualifications at AQF level 5 or higher (i.e. a Diploma or above); or secondary education results if the VET qualification is not completed; and
  • English language proficiency; and
  • any program-specific requirements listed below.
• Applicants with work and life experience are assessed on:
  • ATAR or equivalent if secondary education was completed; or the Special Adult Entry Scheme (SAES); or work experience; and
  • English language proficiency; and
  • any program-specific requirements listed below.

International applicants

Applicants who complete a recognised secondary/senior secondary/post-secondary/tertiary sequence of study will be assessed on the basis of an equivalent selection rank that is calculated upon application. A list of commonly observed international qualifications and corresponding admission requirements can be found here. Applicants must also meet any program specific requirements that are listed below.

Diversity factors & English language proficiency  
As Australia's national university, ANU is global representative of Australian research and education. ANU endeavours to recruit and maintain a diverse and deliberate student cohort representative not only of Australia, but the world. In order to achieve these outcomes, competitive ranking of applicants may be adjusted to ensure access to ANU is a reality for brilliant students from countries across the globe. If required, competitive ranking may further be confirmed on the basis of demonstrating higher-level English language proficiency.

Further information is available for English Language Requirements for Admission

Prerequisites

ACT: Chemistry (Major); NSW:  Chemistry or equivalent. More information about interstate subject equivalencies can be found here.

Students who do not meet the chemistry requirement may be admitted into the program via a different pathway. Students who:

• Have an ATAR score of 90 or higher, and

• Commence the Bachelor of Science program after completion of the chemistry bridging course available in February through the ANU Research School of Chemistry (or equivalent) and complete CHEM1101 and BIOL1003 with a minimum average of 65%, may then apply to transfer to the Bachelor of the Medical Science program.

Adjustment Factors

Adjustment factors are additional points added to an applicant's Selection Rank (for example an applicant's ATAR). ANU offers adjustment factors based on performance and equity principles, such as for high achievement in nationally strategic senior secondary subjects and for recognition of difficult circumstances that students face in their studies. 

Selection Rank adjustments are granted in accordance with the approved schedules, and no more than 15 (maximum 5 subject/performance-based adjustment factors and maximum 10 equity-based adjustment factors) can be awarded. 

You may be considered for adjustment factors if you have:

• applied for an eligible ANU Bachelor degree program
• undertaken Australian Year 12 or the International Baccalaureate
• achieved an ATAR or equivalent at or above 70
• not previously attempted tertiary study.

Please visit the ANU Adjustment Factors website for further information.

Scholarships

ANU offers a wide range of scholarships to students to assist with the cost of their studies.

Eligibility to apply for ANU scholarships varies depending on the specifics of the scholarship and can be categorised by the type of student you are.  Specific scholarship application process information is included in the relevant scholarship listing.

For further information see the Scholarships website.

Program Requirements

The Bachelor of Medical Science flexible double degree component requires completion of 96 units, of which:

A maximum of 30 units may come from completion of 1000-level courses

The 96 units must include:

54 units from completion of the following compulsory courses:

BIOL1003 Evolution, Ecology & Genetics (6 units)

BIOL1004 Molecular and Cell Biology (6 units)

BIOL2142 General Microbiology (6 units)

BIOL2161 Genes: Replication and Expression (6 units)

BIOL2171 Biochemistry and Nutrition (6 units)

BIOL3190 Medical Science in the Workplace (6 units)

CHEM1101 Chemistry 1 (6 units)

CHEM1201 Chemistry 2 (6 units)

MEDN2001 Medical Physiology and Pharmacology (6 units)

6 units from completion of courses from the following list:

BIAN3014 Research Design and Analysis in Biological Anthropology (6 units)

BIOL2001 Introduction to Quantitative Biology (6 units)

BIOL2202 Experimental Design and Analysis in Biology (6 units)

ENVS1003 Introduction to Environmental and Social Research (6 units)

PSYC2009 Quantitative Methods in Psychology (6 units)

12 units from completion of courses from the following list:

BIOL2117 Cell Biology (6 units)

BIOL2151 Genetics (6 units)

BIOL2162 Molecular Gene Technology (6 units)

BIOL2174 Cell Physiology in Health and Disease (6 units)

 24 units from completion of courses from the following lists:

A minimum of 12 units of core biomedical courses from the following list:

BIOL3108 Hallmarks of Cancer (6 units)

BIOL3141 Infection and Immunity (6 units)

BIOL3142 Biomedical Parasitology (6 units)

BIOL3144 Advanced and Applied Immunology (6 units)

MEDN3186 Human Anatomy (6 units)

BIOL3204 Genetics of Human Disease 1 (6 units)

BIOL3205 Genetics of Human Disease 2 (6 units)

NEUR3101 Cellular Neuroscience (6 units)

NEUR3112 Systems Neuroscience (6 units)

A maximum of 12 units of biomedical electives from the following list:

BIOL3107 Advances in Medical and Plant Biochemistry (6 units)

BIOL3161 Genomics and its Applications (6 units)

BIOL3191 Biology, Society and Ethics (6 units)

BIOL3193 Bacteria and Health: An Ecological and Evolutionary Perspective (6 units)

BIOL3203 Advanced Microscopy in Biosciences (6 units)

BIOL3208 Biology Research Project (6 units)

BIOL3209 Biology Research Project (12 units)

POPH3000 Introduction to Population Health (6 units)

Students must achieve a minimum 65% weighted average mark across all science courses in the Bachelor of Medical Science undertaken in each period (Summer/First Semester/Autumn and Winter/Second Semester/Spring) in order to continue in the Bachelor of Medical Science.

Students who do not achieve a minimum of 65% weighted average mark will be transferred to a different Science program.

The Bachelor of Visual Arts flexible double degree component requires completion of 96 units, of which:

A maximum of 48 units may come from completion of 1000-level courses

The 96 units must include:

24 units from completion of the following compulsory courses:

ARTH1006 Art and Design Histories: Form and Space

ARTH1007 Art and Design Histories: Making and Meaning

ARTV3035 Creative Research Practice: Extending and Consolidating an Independent Project

6 units from completion of a foundation course from the following list:

ARTV1020 Figure & Life

ARTV1021 Image and Object

ARTV1033 Hold Everything: Studio Foundation

DESA1021 Precise Drawing and Model Making

DESN1002 Visual Communication: Design and Production

DESN1003 Contemporary Design in Context

12 units from completion of art history and theory courses from the following list:

ARTH2043 After the Bauhaus: Design from the Interwar Period to the Age of Climate Crisis

ARTH2044 Art and Its Context: Materials, Techniques, Display

ARTH2045 Curatorship History and Evolution

ARTH2050 Photography and Art

ARTH2052 Art of the Modern Print

ARTH2056 Art and Architecture of Southeast Asia: Tradition and Transformation

ARTH2059 Art of Asia: Histories and Traditions

ARTH2061 The Postmodern and the Contemporary: World art, 1970 to the present

ARTH2080 Art and Visual Culture of the Long Eighteenth Century, 1660-1815

ARTH2081 Art of the European Courts, 1500-1815

ARTH2082 Art, War and Conflict

ARTH2097 Victorian and Edwardian Art: Australia and Europe 1837-1914

ARTH2098 Australian First Nations Art and Culture

ARTH2104 Asian Art In-Country

ARTH2161 Contemporary Australian Art

ARTH2162 Art in the Digital Age

ARTH2166 Individual Research Unit

ARTH2167 Issues in Contemporary Craft and Design

ARTH2168 Renaissance and Baroque Art

ARTH2169 Introducing Asian Modernisms

ARTH2170 Contemporary Asian Art

ARTH2171 Australian Art: The Modern Period

ARTH2173 Art and the Moving Image

ARTH2174 Art, Medicine, Gender from the Renaissance until Today

ARTH2175 Across the Pacific: Australian Interactions with American Art and Art-Worlds

ARTH3004 City Sites: studies in art, design and urbanity

12 units from completion of introductory studio courses from the following list:

ARTV1101 Ceramics: Introduction to Clay Forming and Technology

ARTV1102 Ceramics: Throwing & Surface Decoration

ARTV1201 Furniture: Shape/Structure

ARTV1202 Furniture: Elevate/Surface

ARTV1301 Glass Hot Forming Introduction: Fundamentals for Contemporary Practice

ARTV1302 Glass Kiln Forming Introduction: Fundamentals for Contemporary Practice

ARTV1403 Jewellery & Object: Introduction to Precise Miniature Construction

ARTV1404 Jewellery & Object: Maker, Wearer, Viewer, User

ARTV1501 Painting: Introducing Painting

ARTV1502 Painting: Composition & Space

ARTV1601 Hyperanalogue: the alchemy of darkroom photography

ARTV1610 PhotoVideo: Interrogating the Camera

ARTV1611 Expanded Studio Practice: Constructing Worlds

ARTV1612 Video Art: Editing & Montage

ARTV1613 Foundations of Animation

ARTV1614 Post-Digital Photography: bending the image

ARTV1703 Drawing into Print: Etching and Relief

ARTV1704 Drawing into Print: Screen Printing and Stencils

ARTV1803 Supports: conceptual and material

ARTV1804 Place, time, and wood

ARTV1901 Textiles: Plants & Place

ARTV1902 Textiles: Pattern & Print

18 units from completion of intermediate/advanced studio courses from the following list:

ARTV2027 Professional Practice: Economies and Ecologies in the Australian Cultural Sector

ARTV2038 Workshop Atelier

ARTV2057 Hands On: Material Language

ARTV2059 Immersive Media

ARTV2060 Contexts of Making: Globalisation and Change

ARTV2061 Contexts of Making: Materiality and Value

ARTV2117 Ceramics: Glaze & Colour Development

ARTV2119 Ceramics: Experimental Methods and Meanings

ARTV2120 Ceramics: Designing for the Table and Home

ARTV2124 Ceramics: Surface, Form and Connectivity

ARTV2125 Ceramics: Moulding, Casting & Digital Technologies

ARTV2206 Furniture: Bend/Curve

ARTV2207 Furniture: Support/Body

ARTV2208 Furniture: Contain/Display

ARTV2209 Furniture: Collect/Treasure

ARTV2313 Glass Kiln Casting for Contemporary Practice

ARTV2314 Glass Blowing for Contemporary Practice: Materiality and Form

ARTV2315 Glass Kiln Forming for Contemporary Practice

ARTV2316 Glass Blowing for Contemporary Practice: Utility and Narrative

ARTV2401 Jewellery & Object: Making with machines

ARTV2402 Jewellery & Object: Utility as Context

ARTV2410 Jewellery & Object: Experimenting with process

ARTV2421 Jewellery & Object: Hollow Construction

ARTV2506 Painting: Approaches to Abstraction

ARTV2507 Painting: Painting in the Photo Digital Age

ARTV2508 Painting: Taking Your Own Direction

ARTV2509 Painting: Approaches to Composition and Colour

ARTV2605 The Photographic Document: Materiality and Form

ARTV2607 Photomedia: Large Format Photography

ARTV2608 Photomedia: Experimental Processes

ARTV2609 Animation and Video: Visual Storytelling

ARTV2610 Animation and Video: Character development

ARTV2613 Animation and Video: Landscape and Environment

ARTV2614 Animation and Video: Non-linear Forms

ARTV2706 Printmedia and Drawing: Drawing Beyond the Line

ARTV2707 Printmedia and Drawing: Extended Etching and Relief Printing

ARTV2708 Printmedia and Drawing: Construct Meaning with Drawing

ARTV2715 Printmedia and Drawing: Typography

ARTV2717 Printmedia and Drawing: The Book as Art

ARTV2723 Printmedia and Drawing: Extended Screen Printing

ARTV2727 Printmedia and Drawing: Lithography

ARTV2801 Socially Engaged Art Practice: Authorship, Dialogue and Community

ARTV2802 Politics of Memory: Video Installation, Sculpture, Documentary and Monuments

ARTV2810 Politics of Bodies: Sculpture, Figure Modelling, Performance and Choreography

ARTV2820 Politics of Spaces: Installation, Sculpture and Spatial Practice

ARTV2821 Posthuman Sculpture Practice with Active Materials: Bronze Casting, 3D Modelling and Bio Art

ARTV2830 Automation and Autonomy: Process, Accident, Sculpture

ARTV2906 Textiles: Approaches to Drawing for Craft and Design

ARTV2907 Subverting Stitch

ARTV2908 Woven Worlds

ARTV2909 Social Fabric: Crafting Communities

ARTV2911 Spatial/Temporal Methods

ARTV2921 Environment Studio: field based research and studio practice in visual arts

ARTV3031 Making Research for a Studio Practice in the Visual Arts

ARTV3032 Demonstrating research methods for a studio practice in the visual arts

ARTV3507 Painting: Open to Influence Studio Research

ARTV3508 Painting: Materiality and Meaning

ARTV3510 Painting: Critical Analysis and Reflection in the Studio

12 units from completion of courses listed in either the ‘introductory studio courses’ list or the ‘intermediate/advanced studio courses’ list above.

6 units from completion of an advanced studio course from the following list:

ARTV3028 Developing a Contemporary Craft Practice

ARTV3033 Creative Research Practice: Developing an Independent Work Proposal

6 units from completion of an engagement course from the following list:

ARTV2027 Professional Practice: Economies and Ecologies in the Australian Cultural Sector

ARTV2921 Environment Studio: field based research and studio practice in visual arts

ARTV3031 Making Research for a Studio Practice in the Visual Arts

ARTV3032 Demonstrating research methods for a studio practice in the visual arts

Majors

Bachelor of Visual Arts Majors

Minors

Bachelor of Visual Arts Minors

Study Options