Program

Advanced Science / Engineering - 3941

Program Summary

Faculty: Faculty of Science

Contact: http://www.science.unsw.edu.au

Campus: Sydney

Career: Undergraduate

Typical Duration: 6 Years

Typical UOC Per Semester: 24

Min UOC Per Semester: 3

Max UOC Per Semester: 27

Min UOC For Award: 288

UAC Code: 429360

Domestic Entry Cut-off: 95.00  

International Entry Requirements: See International Entry Requirements

View program information for previous years

Program Description

The Faculty of Science and the Faculty of Engineering offer a dual degree program which qualifies students for two degrees after the equivalent of six years of successful full-time study leading to the award of the degrees Bachelor of Science (Advanced) and Bachelor of Engineering.

The Faculty of Science administers the program, and delegates administration of the Bachelor of Engineering requirements to the School which offers the Engineering discipline selected. Students should seek advice from the Faculty of Science regarding their Advanced Science program, and the relevant Engineering School Office, or the Faculty of Engineering regarding their Engineering program.

Program Objectives and Graduate Attributes

For the Bachelor of Science (Advanced), please see program objectives and learning outcomes as listed in program 3972 Bachelor of Science (Advanced).

For Bachelor of Engineering please see http://www.eng.unsw.edu.au/info-about/our-faculty/faculty-policies/bachelor-program-rules.

Program Structure

With this dual degree program, students take the 144 units of credit core of the Bachelor of Science (Advanced) program (program 3972) and the 168 units of credit core of the relevant Bachelor of Engineering program. Because of an overlap of 24 units of credit of Science courses in the core for both degrees, the total units of credit required for completion is 288 UOC, rather than 312 UOC (please see Academic Rules below for more details).

The BSc (Adv) BE dual degree is offered in the following Engineering disciplines:

General Education Requirements

Students enrolled in a dual program are not required to complete any General Education requirements.

Honours

Bachelor of Science (Advanced)

Honours is a core part of the Bachelor of Science (Advanced) program. It comprises one year of full-time study which will include an independent research project and may include advanced coursework. This will typically be completed in the final year of a student’s program. Progression to honours is subject to academic performance. Students are expected to have attained an overall WAM of 70 or higher to be eligible to continue to Honours. Admission is subject to appropriate research and supervision resources being available and quotas may be imposed for entry in any year, in which case admission will be determined on academic merit. Students should seek the guidance of the appropriate School at an early stage of study to ensure that the study stream being followed is best suited to lead to the stage 4 Honours. Applications for admission into Honours should be made with the relevant School. Students who are ineligible to progress to Honours, will be required to transfer to the Bachelor of Engineering / Bachelor of Science program and graduate with the Bachelor of Science award at pass level. Students should be aware that not all Advanced Science majors are available in the Bachelor of Science, meaning that graduation may occur in a less specialized major.

Students completing Stage 4 Honours will be considered for the award of honours according to the following scale (based on performance in stage 4 or over the entire program according to the rules of the relevant Honours program):
  • Honours Class 1: mark or weighted average of 85 or greater;
  • Honours Class 2 Division 1: mark or weighted average from 75 to 84;
  • Honours Class 2 Division 2: mark or weighted average from 65 to 74;
  • Honours Class 3 or Pass: mark or weighted average below 65.
Students enrolled in the Advanced Science program who wish to take out the Bachelor of Science award at pass level without proceeding to Honours, are required to transfer to the Bachelor of Science program. Applications to transfer should be lodged with the Science Student Centre no later than the census date for the semester in which the student expects to satisfy requirements. Students applying after that date may not be able to graduate in the next round of ceremonies. Students should be aware that not all Advanced Science majors are available in the Bachelor of Science, meaning that graduation may occur in a less specialised major.

Bachelor of Engineering

Honours in the BE component will be awarded for meritorious performance over the degree program with special attention paid to a candidate's performance in the final year courses and thesis project, please see link to Honours Policy Rules.

Academic Rules

Requirements for the Bachelor of Science (Advanced Science) in dual degree mode with Bachelor of Engineering

When taken in dual degree mode a Bachelor of Science (Advanced) is comprised of 144 units of credit which includes:
  • An approved major from the Bachelor of Science (Advanced) program;
  • SCIF1121 or SCIF1131*;
  • 48 UOC Honours Year;
  • Science elective courses.
*For students completing a Bachelor of Science (Advanced) with a Bachelor of Engineering, ENGG1000 Introduction to Engineering Design and Innovation will be counted towards meeting this requirement (ie 3941 students are not required to enrol in SCIF1121 or SCIF1131.

Academic rules relating to the Bachelor of Science (Advanced) in dual degree mode are as follows:

Where a student undertakes a Bachelor of Science (Advanced) degree program as part of a dual degree with a Bachelor of Engineering degree at UNSW, the program rules for the Bachelor of Science (Advanced) are as follows:

    1. Students must complete a minimum of 144 units of credit;

    2. Students must complete at least one approved Bachelor of Science (Advanced) major, and this must be declared before enrolling in level II courses. Details of approved Bachelor of Science (Advanced) majors and how to declare a major can be found on the 3972 Bachelor of Science (Advanced) program page.

    3. Students are not required to enrol in SCIF1121 Advanced Science: Professional Perspective and Practice (6 units of credit) or SCIF1131 Science: Technological and Professional Perspectives(6 units of credit) as ENGG1000 Engineering Design and Innovationwill be counted towards meeting this requirement.

    4. An Honours Year of 48 units of credit must be completed. For information regarding the admission requirements and application process for honours, please see the information under 'Honours';

    5. In addition to the courses required for a student's chosen major, and honours, students must take 'science' courses so that the major plus ENGG1000, plus Honours year plus 'science' courses total 144 units of credit. Details of what courses constitute ‘Science’ courses can be found in Table 1 on the 3972 Bachelor of Science (Advanced) program page;

    6. Students must complete at least 24 units of credit of 'science' level I courses. Most majors in the Bachelor of Science (Advanced) already satisfy this requirement, for example, the Molecular and Cell Biology major requires BABS1201, BABS1202, CHEM1011, CHEM1021, MATH1031 and MATH1041. This is a total of 36 units of credit of science level I courses, therefore, no more level I science courses are required. Where a major does not include at least 24 units of credit of science level I courses, students will need to choose additional level I science courses to bring the total to 24 units of credit. For example, Psychology requires PSYC1001 and PSYC1011, therefore, students will need to choose an additional 12 units of credit of science level I courses. These science level I courses also count towards the 144 units of credit requirement at rule number 5. Please note that in the Bachelor of Engineering program, students will complete level I ‘science courses’, which may be used towards meeting this requirement i.e. MATH1131, MATH1231 and PHYS1121.

    7. A minimum of 30 units of credit of level III courses must be completed. Typically Advanced Science majors contain 18 -30 units of credit of level III courses. Therefore students may be required to take an additional 0-12 units of credit of level III courses which must be 'science' courses such that a total of 30 units of credit at level III is completed. These additional level III courses should be completed in a student's major area of study, or a complementary area that will be beneficial for a student's chosen honours area. Students completing a double major will typically meet this requirement through completion of level III courses for the second major. These additional level III science courses count towards the 144 units of credit requirement at rule number 5 above.

    8. Where offered in a particular major, students must take higher versions of courses. Any variation to this must be approved by the Associate Dean (Undergraduate Programs) or nominee;

    9. No student may commence level II courses until 30 units of credit of level I courses have been successfully completed. (This is 30 units of credit of courses taken towards the entire dual degree program and not just courses for the Science component);

    10. Students may commence level III courses upon successful completion of 72 units of credit. (This is 72 units of credit of courses taken towards the entire dual degree program and not just courses for the Science component).

    11. Progression to stages 2, 3, and 4 in the Bachelor of Science (Advanced) program is subject to academic performance. Students will be required to attain a weighted average mark (WAM) of 70 in each semester. Where students do not maintain this minimum level of academic performance, they will be transferred to the Bachelor of Science / Bachelor of Engineering program.

Notes:
  • Students wishing to complete a double major in the Bachelor of Science (Advanced) when taken as part of a dual degree with another degree program at UNSW, should be aware that it will be very difficult to complete two majors within 144 units of credit. Therefore where a dual degree student would like to undertake a double major, they should be aware that it may involve extra time and cost to complete, and may have visa implications for international students.
  • Students majoring in Advanced Physical Oceanography, Climate Dynamics, Mathematics, Physics, and Statistics in the Bachelor of Science (Advanced) will need to replace one or two of the second year Mathematics courses in their Engineering program with second year Mathematics courses required for the relevant Advanced Science major. For further information regarding this, students should read this document Mathematics in BE / BSc(Adv) Programs, or see staff in the Science Student Centre or School of Mathematics and Statistics.
  • Students undertaking a major in Biological Science, Earth Science, Ecology, Geochemistry, Human Geography, Physical Geography, and Marine and Coastal Science as part of the Bachelor of Science (Advanced), will be exempted from completing MATH1041 Statistics for Life and Social Sciences and BEES2041 Data Analysis for Life and Earth Sciences where MATH1131 Mathematics 1A, MATH1231 Mathematics 1B, and a relevant second year statistics courses has been completed as part of the Bachelor of Engineering. For further information regarding this, please see the Science Student Centre.
  • Students completing a major in Biological Science, Biotechnology, Genetics, Geochemistry, Molecular and Cell Biology, and Pathology need to carefully choose one of their first year Engineering electives to take a course for this major, otherwise, it will require more than 288 units of credit to complete the requirements for the Engineering degree and Advanced Science program. This could involve an extra semester of study, extra cost and would have visa implications for international students. Students should seek advice from the Science Student Centre as soon as they start planning their enrolment.
  • Students wishing to complete a Biotechnology, Neuroscience or Vision Science major will not be able to complete their major and the Engineering program within 288 units of credit. Completing one of these majors as part of the dual program will involve an extra semester of study, extra cost and would have visa implications for international students.
  • Where students complete the requirements for the Bachelor of Engineering and the Bachelor of Science (Advanced) in less than 288 units of credit, the remaining elective courses taken to bring the total to 288 units of credit must be taken from the Faculty of Engineering or the Faculty of Science.
Requirements for the Bachelor of Engineering in concurrent mode with the Bachelor of Science(Advanced)

To obtain the Bachelor of Engineering and the Bachelor of Science (Advanced) a student must successfully complete courses that total at least 288 units of credit and include courses making up at least 168 units of credit described in the degree requirements for the BE specialisation for which the student is enrolled except for the 12 units of credit General Education requirement and 12 units of credit of professional elective. Students must also complete 60 days of Industrial Training.

Academic rules relating to the Bachelor of Engineering in dual degree mode are as follows:
  1. Students may not count more than 60 units of credit of level 1 courses in this 168 units of credit;
  2. Students may only commence Level 2 courses once 30 units of credit of Level 1 courses have been successfully completed;
  3. Students may only commence level 3 courses once 72 units of credit have been successfully completed.

Fees

For information regarding fees for UNSW programs, please refer to the following website:  https://my.unsw.edu.au/student/fees/FeesMainPage.html

Area(s) of Specialisation