What is Botany?

Botany is the scientific study of plants. These studies are pursued in the field, in the botanic garden and in laboratories. Plants range from the largest forest trees to single-celled algae of fresh and marine waters. The study of plants is of vital importance; they are the source of the food we eat, the oxygen we breathe, most of the medicines we use, and are core to the understanding of the processes of global climate change. Dealing with the threats from global climate change will be one of the biggest challenges of this century. Human manipulation of plants in the future will need to provide food and energy for an expanding human population, whilst conserving the biodiversity of living organisms and integrity of habitats.

Botany: The course for you?

If you are interested in the future of the planet and life on it then Botany is for you. Almost no other course offers you the opportunity to study the natural, living World in the field and laboratory. Our graduates enter into a large range of careers and, as there is a global shortage of plant scientists find employment in a huge range of careers.

Botany @ Trinity

Trinity’s Botany course is unique in content in Ireland and uncommon in a European context. Uniquely, we integrate small-group teaching, field-based activities and the laboratory. Field-based teaching in ecology, physiology and plant evolution is at its heart: we consider both the whole plant and how it works in a natural context. All staff are research active with high profile, strong research interests in Ireland and the tropics. Consistently, our graduates have rated our course very highly indeed: we believe that our course offers you the best possible training in Ireland for your future career.

Graduate skills and career opportunities

When you graduate you can move directly into a career related to plant biology, such as nature conservation, environmental consultancy, environmental protection, plant evolutionary biology or agricultural research as well as teaching at second-level. Our recent graduates are employed in many organisations, including Teagasc, the OPW, Botanic Gardens at Glasnevin, Kew, Edinburgh, Oman and Missouri, Barclay Crop Protection and the UK Carbon Capture and Storage Research Centre. Alternatively, you might decide to go on to take a higher degree in Trinity or elsewhere. The skills you acquire in the third and fourth years are also widely applicable in business and industry.