Plant sciences, the scientific study of plants is of vital importance. Plants range from the largest forest trees to single-celled algae and 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.

A wide range of career opportunities are open to Plant science graduates. Some of our recent graduates have moved directly into a career related to plant biology, such as nature conservation, environmental consultancy, environmental protection or agricultural research. Others have worked for international foundations such as the Carbon Trust or Mary Robinson Foundation for Climate Justice. Alternatively, others have gone on to take a higher degree in Trinity or elsewhere or enter teaching at second-level. The skills you acquire in the Sophister (third and fourth) years are also widely applicable in business and industry and are in short supply. A recent survey in the UK has shown that Plant science graduates have the highest starting salaries of any graduate after those in medicine and dentistry.