Welcome to the School of Natural Sciences

We are looking forward to welcoming you to the School of Natural Sciences and are committed to providing the best student experience possible.

From Monday 18 September, your Departmental Welcome, Induction and Transition programme will begin for your area of study. There will be a range of activities to help you make friends, meet your lecturers and settle into University life. It is important that you make arrangements to attend all of these sessions. They should automatically appear on your personal timetable which can be accessed once you complete registration. Additionally, the School will share a copy of the timetable with you via email nearer the time.

We have also collected all the tools you need for your studies and essential resources, such as your timetable, Blackboard (including your community space or virtual common room), the library and the student system. Access the systems and find out more.

Please ensure you have activated your IT account to enable you to access this information. You will then need to register as a student. We suggest you do this before arriving in Manchester. You can start to register online from the 1 September and we recommend that you register as soon as possible; failing to register during this time will incur a late registration fee.

Blackboard community space

Once you have access to the Blackboard community space or virtual common room for your studies you will find an extensive list of useful information and resources including a copy of the Welcome, Induction and Transition programme for 2023. You will need to log in with your new username and password.

The link to your blackboard page will be available here soon.

Compulsory online modules

There will be some important online modules for you to complete in the first few weeks, Health and Safety, Academic Malpractice and Equality, Diversity, Inclusion and Accessibility (EDIA) modules. These will be made available to you via Blackboard.

Timetables

You will receive an email from your Department with your Welcome, Induction and Transition programme timetable, nearer the time. This will include information about the activities that you must attend.

Student attendance

We record and monitor student engagement at timetabled teaching activities, along with other engagement points. Recording attendance helps us see where you might be struggling and offer support. It will also help us make sure everyone is meeting their attendance requirements, for example if your attendance is required for a professional accreditation or your student visa.

University accommodation

Most of you will already have arranged your university accommodation. If this isn't the case, or if you need any help or advice, you should contact the University Accommodation Office by email at accommodation@manchester.ac.uk

Student Support in the School of Natural Sciences

You can get support from the Student Support Hub (School of Natural Sciences) in the Alan Turing Building (map ref: 46). Or visit the Student Support Hub (School of Engineering) on the first floor of Engineering Building A (just type 1A.043 into the interactive map), depending on the nearest location to you at the time.

Alan Turing Student Support Hub

The Welcome, Induction and Transition period can be a challenging and exhilarating time, where you will be meeting both academic and support staff and will be able to participate in a range of social events.

You'll need to absorb and process a great deal of information in a relatively short period of time, so try to be as prepared as possible before you arrive.

We look forward to meeting you soon!