The Faculty of Science conducts undergraduate and postgraduate courses on
the Clayton, Caulfield and Gippsland campuses and undergraduate courses on the
Berwick and Peninsula campuses.
The faculty comprises six departments and one school, each of which is
responsible for carrying out teaching and research activities within the areas
of expertise of their academic staff. A number of departments from other
faculties, primarily from the Faculty of Medicine, also contribute
significantly to the teaching and research programs of the faculty.
The departments within the faculty are Biological Sciences, Chemistry, Earth
Sciences, Mathematics and Statistics, Physics, and Psychology. Science
disciplines are also offered by the departments of Anatomy, Biochemistry and
Molecular Biology, Chemical Engineering, Microbiology, Pathology and
Immunology, Pharmacology and Toxicology, Physiology and the schools of Computer
Science and Software Engineering, and Geography and Environmental Science.
The School of Applied Sciences operates on the Gippsland, Berwick and Peninsula
campuses and offers studies in biochemistry, chemistry, mathematics (including
applied statistics and operations research), microbiology, psychology and
resource/environmental management. Computing studies are offered by the
Gippsland School of Computing and Information Technology towards the BSc.
The academic operations of the faculty are governed by the faculty board. The
dean of the faculty, whose role is to exercise a general superintendence over
the academic and administrative affairs of the faculty, chairs the board. The
dean is assisted by three associate deans. The heads of departments are
ex-officio members of the board and there are elected members representing
various groups of staff within the departments of the faculty and the School of
Applied Sciences, as well as representatives of undergraduate, graduate and
distance education students. Student representatives may be contacted through
the appropriate campus student organisation. Representatives from other
faculties and of extra-faculty departments teaching science students also make
up the membership of the board. The board seeks advice from a number of
standing committees, such as the faculty's Education Committee and the
Committee on Graduate Matters.
The faculty registrar (Science), with the assistance of administrative
officers, is responsible for the activities of the faculty office and works
closely with the dean in the provision of administrative support to the
faculty. The faculty office, located on the ground floor of the central science
building at Clayton and in building 3W at Gippsland, is the first point of call
for students seeking assistance or advice. Assistance may also be obtained at
the departmental offices.