Doing a Bachelor of Science inspired William Arlidge to do Masters

William Arlidge so enjoyed studying toward his Bachelor of Science in Marine Biology, Ecology and Biodiversity that he decided to stay on and do a Masters.

He’s found his study towards a Masters of Science in Marine Ecology at Victoria University even more rewarding than his undergraduate degree. “The whole medium of how you learn changes. You don’t really have lectures anymore, you’re not spoken to and taught – you have seminars and conversations with your lecturers and your peers. It’s way more involved. 

“Another aspect of Masters is that you can publish scientific papers, so you actually become a published scientist – if you wanted to you could submit work to Nature or Science.”

William admits that postgraduate work is also challenging. “You have to be a lot more on your game. You only have one seminar a week, but every week you have to really know your stuff, or you look like an idiot. If you haven’t read the papers, your lecturers are going to know. But you feel a lot more part of academia than you do at undergraduate level.”

Read about how William's gap year helped him decide on a degree