Microbes, whether they be bacteria, viruses, parasites or fungi, live in every environment on the planet, from scorching hot deep sea vents, nuclear reactors, oceans and volcanoes, to plants, animals, humans, and even (sometimes) inside each other! They are put to work in food manufacturing (beer, wine, bread), pharmaceuticals (antibiotics), agriculture, and copper mining. More worryingly, approximately 15 million people die each year from infectious diseases such as HIV, malaria, and cholera, and with increasing resistance to antibiotics, the battle against infectious diseases continues to rage.
If you are interested in discovering where Microbiology could take you, then check out the following pages for ideas. You can also look around the rest of CID website to see the research that we do at Cambridge University.
- Biocareers - Microbiology
- NHS Careers - Clinical Microbiologist
- New Scientist Careers advice column, the Insider
- UCAS- Microbiology courses
- UCAS- Virology courses
- Microbiology- the Complete University Guide
- Natural Sciences at Cambridge University
Find out about the various careers open to microbiologists, UK Microbiology courses, and how to become one.