Your complete guide to a master's in Animal Science

Everything you need to know about studying a master's in Animal Science

part of Agriculture & Forestry

What is Animal Science?

An Animal Science degree is concerned with the study of animals' biology, behaviour, and their role in our society. The programme blends biological science with practical skills in managing livestock like horses, sheep, cattle, as well as pets. You will come to understand animal health, welfare, and the impact of livestock on human health and environmental sustainability.

Animal Science Specialisations

There are several specialisations or areas of focus that animal scientists can pursue, depending on their interests. The most common specialisations in Animal Science are:

  • Animal Nutrition,
  • Animal Breeding and Genetics,
  • Animal Behaviour and Welfare,
  • Livestock Production,
  • Veterinary Science.

Bachelor's degrees will give you a well-rounded understanding of all areas related to Animal Science, while a Master's programme is great for exploring in more detail what you're most interested in.

 

What will you learn during an Animal Science programme?

During an Animal Science programme, you'll explore the animal world from all points of view, from biology to animals’ role in our daily lives and our ecosystems. Here's what you'll learn:

  • the study of animal anatomy and physiology;
  • understanding of animal nutrition, breeding, and behaviour;
  • skills in livestock management and production;
  • knowledge of animal diseases and their impact on public health;
  • skills to assess and enhance animal welfare.

Courses you'll likely take include:

  • Animal Anatomy and Physiology, the in-depth study of animal biology;
  • Animal Nutrition, understanding animal diets and how what they eat impacts their health and productivity;
  • Animal Behaviour, the study of how animals interact with each other and their environment;
  • Livestock Production, the exploration of practices used in breeding, raising, and managing livestock;
  • Animal Health and Disease, learning about common animal diseases, their prevention, and treatment.

Animal Science is a good degree for people who love animals and want to promote animal health, welfare, and sustainable livestock management. You will use the skills and knowledge you gain from this degree to work in fields like veterinary medicine, agriculture, wildlife conservation, and more.

Skills required for a degree in Animal Science

Animal Science is a blend of science studies and practical skills you use in fieldwork. To thrive in this field you need to be especially good at biology, but also feel comfortable to get your hands dirty and work directly with animals and their living environments. However, the most important Animal Science degree requirement is having love and compassion for animals.

 

What can you do with an Animal Science degree?

An Animal Science degree can lead to several rewarding careers. Some of the most popular jobs you can get with an Animal Science degree include:

  • Veterinarian;
  • Animal Nutritionist;
  • Livestock Manager;
  • Wildlife Biologist;
  • Animal Behaviourist.

So, is an Animal Science degree worth it? Absolutely! If you're passionate about improving animal lives and advancing sustainable agriculture, this degree is a fantastic choice.

Read more

Check out our list of Master's degrees in Animal Science. Keep in mind you can also study an online Masters in Animal Science.

Interesting programmes for you

Best Universities for Animal Science on MastersPortal

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Universities Location U.S. News & World Report Ranking (2018)
University of California, Davis Davis, United States 1
Cornell University Ithaca, United States 2
Wageningen University and Research Wageningen, Netherlands 3
University of California, Berkeley Berkeley, United States 4
Ghent University Ledeberg, Belgium 5
University of British Columbia Vancouver, Canada 6
University of Oxford Oxford, United Kingdom 7
Harvard University Cambridge, United States 8
Michigan State University East Lansing, United States 9
University of Florida Gainesville, United States 10
University of Cambridge Cambridge, United Kingdom 11
University of Copenhagen Copenhagen, Denmark 11
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences Uppsala, Sweden 13
University of Minnesota Twin Cities Minneapolis, United States 14
Duke University Durham, United States 15
Pennsylvania State University State College, United States 16
University of Wisconsin Madison Madison, United States 17
University of Queensland Saint Lucia, Australia 18
The University of Western Australia Perth, Australia 18
Australian National University Canberra, Australia 20
Utrecht University Utrecht, Netherlands 21
The University of Tokyo Tokyo, Japan 22
University of California, Riverside Riverside, United States 23
University of California, San Diego San Diego, United States 23
University of Montpellier Montpellier, France 25
The University of Arizona Tucson, United States 26
Stanford University Stanford, United States 27
Iowa State University Ames, United States 28
Oregon State University Corvallis, United States 29
University of Helsinki Helsinki, Finland 30
North Carolina State University Raleigh, United States 31
University of Washington Seattle, United States 32
University of Zurich Zürich, Switzerland 32
University of Sao Paulo São Paulo, Brazil 34
Yale University New Haven, United States 35
ETH Zurich - Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zürich, Switzerland 36
University of Georgia Athens, United States 37
University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign Urbana, United States 37
Purdue University West Lafayette, United States 39
University of Sydney Sydney, Australia 40
University of Göttingen Göttingen, Germany 41
University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Los Angeles, United States 42
China Agricultural University Beijing, China 43
The Ohio State University Upper Arlington, United States 43
The University of Edinburgh Edinburgh, United Kingdom 45
Zhejiang University Hangzhou, China 46
Kyoto University Kyoto, Japan 47
Ludwig-Maximilians-University (LMU) Munich München, Germany 47
University of Guelph Guelph, Canada 49
University of Toronto Pickering, Canada 50
University of Freiburg Freiburg, Germany 51
Melbourne Business School Melbourne, Australia 52
Colorado State University Fort Collins, United States 53
Texas A&M University College Station, United States 53
University of Vienna Vienna, Austria 53
Imperial College London London, United Kingdom 56
James Cook University Townsville, Australia 56
Sorbonne University Paris, France 58
University of Adelaide Adelaide, Australia 59
Aarhus University Aarhus, Denmark 60
AgroParisTech - Institut des Sciences et Industries du Vivant et de l'Environnement Paris, France 60
Washington State University Pullman, United States 60
University of Pretoria Pretoria, South Africa 63
University of Tasmania Hobart, Australia 64
Uppsala University Uppsala, Sweden 64
Nanjing Agricultural University Xiaolingwei, China 66
Peking University Beijing, China 67
Huazhong Agricultural University Wuhan, China 68
Princeton University Princeton, United States 69
Autonomous University of Barcelona Barcelona, Spain 70
University of Lausanne Lausanne, Switzerland 71
University of Michigan Ann Arbor, United States 71
University of Missouri - Columbia Columbia, United States 73
The University of Exeter Exeter, United Kingdom 74
Umea University Umeå, Sweden 75
Aix-Marseille University Marseille, France 76
Kansas State University Manhattan, United States 77
University of Leeds Leeds, United Kingdom 78
University of Sheffield Sheffield, United Kingdom 78
Seoul National University Anyang, South Korea 80
University of Maryland College Park, United States 80
National Autonomous University of Mexico Coyoacán, Mexico 82
Nagoya University Nagoya, Japan 83
University of Nottingham Nottingham, United Kingdom 83
University of York York, United Kingdom 83
University of Bristol Bristol, United Kingdom 86
Virginia Tech Blacksburg, United States 87
University of Bern Bern, Switzerland 88
University of Tübingen Tübingen, Germany 89
University of Texas at Austin Austin, United States 90
University of Bonn Bonn, Germany 91
Charles University Prague, Czech Republic 93
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem Jerusalem, Israel 94
University of Amsterdam Amsterdam, Netherlands 95
University of Glasgow Glasgow, United Kingdom 96
Lund University Lund, Sweden 97
University of Barcelona Barcelona, Spain 98
University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna Vienna, Austria 98
Freie Universität Berlin Berlin Steglitz, Germany 100
Rutgers University New Brunswick, United States 100
University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, United States 102
McGill University Montréal, Canada 103
KU Leuven Brussels, Belgium 104
University of Alberta Edmonton, Canada 105
Technical University of Denmark (DTU) Copenhagen, Denmark 106
University of North Carolina Chapel Hill Chapel Hill, United States 106
Hokkaido University Sapporo, Japan 108
King Saud University Riyadh, Saudi Arabia 108
University of Aberdeen Aberdeen, United Kingdom 110
University of Chicago Chicago, United States 110
Macquarie University Sydney, Australia 112
Humboldt University Berlin Berlin, Germany 113
Western Sydney University Paramatta, Australia 113
Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU) Ås, Norway 115
Technical University of Munich München, Germany 115
The University of Manchester Manchester, United Kingdom 115
University of Oslo Oslo, Norway 115
University of Padua Padua, Italy 119
University of Tennessee Knoxville Knoxville, United States 119
University of Neuchâtel Neuchâtel, Switzerland 121
University of Basel Basel, Switzerland 122
Washington University in St. Louis Saint Louis, United States 122
Royal Veterinary College London, United Kingdom 125
Leiden University Leiden, Netherlands 126
University of Groningen Groningen, Netherlands 126
University of Lisbon Lisbon, Portugal 126
University of Nebraska-Lincoln Lincoln, United States 126
University of Cape Town Cape Town, South Africa 130
University of Liverpool Liverpool, United Kingdom 131
National University of Singapore Singapore, Singapore 132
University of Hamburg Hamburg, Germany 133
Complutense University of Madrid Madrid, Spain 134
The Universidade Estadual Paulista (Unesp) Bauru, Brazil 135
University of Tartu Tartu, Estonia 136
University of St Andrews St Andrews, United Kingdom 137
Northwest A & F University Xi'an, China 138
Palacký University Olomouc Olomouc, Czech Republic 139
Sapienza University of Rome Roma, Italy 139
Friedrich Schiller University Jena Jena, Germany 141
Stellenbosch University Stellenbosch, South Africa 142
University of Paris Sud Orsay, France 142
Massey University Palmerston North, New Zealand 144
Federal University of Viçosa Juatuba, Brazil 145
University of Liège Liège, Belgium 146
Fudan University Shanghai, China 147
National Taiwan University Taipei, Taiwan 147
The University of Milan Sesto San Giovanni, Italy 149
University of Kentucky Lexington, United States 150
UCL London, United Kingdom 151
Tohoku University Sendai-shi, Japan 152
University of Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, Argentina 153
University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna Vienna, Austria 154
Chiba University Chiba, Japan 155
Murdoch University Murdoch, Australia 156
Masaryk University Brno, Czech Republic 157
Arizona State University Tempe, United States 158
University of East Anglia Norwich, United Kingdom 158
University of Massachusetts Amherst Amherst, United States 158
Louisiana State University Baton Rouge, United States 161
University of New South Wales Sydney, Australia 162
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam Amsterdam, Netherlands 162
University of Bologna Bologna, Italy 164
University of Warwick Coventry, United Kingdom 165
University of Geneva Genève, Switzerland 166
University of Würzburg Würzburg, Germany 166
Tel Aviv University Tel Aviv Yaffo, Israel 168
University of Otago Dunedin, New Zealand 168
University of Turku Turku, Finland 170
Martin Luther Universität Halle Wittenberg Halle, Germany 171
University of Auckland Auckland, New Zealand 171
University of Saskatchewan Saskatoon, Canada 171
University of Kansas Lawrence, United States 174
University of Bergen Bergen, Norway 175
University of Strasbourg Strasbourg, France 176
Stockholm University Stockholm, Sweden 177
University of Münster Münster, Germany 177
University of Naples Federico II Naples, Italy 177
University of Malaya Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 180
University of California, Santa Cruz Santa Cruz, United States 181
UNICAMP - University of Campinas Campinas, Brazil 182
University of Innsbruck Innsbruck, Austria 182
Laval University Québec, Canada 184
University of Porto Porto, Portugal 185
Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf Düsseldorf, Germany 186
University of Cologne Köln, Germany 186
University of Turin Turin, Italy 188
Okayama University Okayama, Japan 189
University of Gothenburg Göteborg, Sweden 189
University of Montreal Montréal, Canada 191
Queen's University Belfast Belfast, United Kingdom 192
Goethe University Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main, Germany 193
Monash University Clayton, Australia 194
Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul Porto Alegre, Brazil 195
Heidelberg University Heidelberg, Germany 195
Université Grenoble Alpes Grenoble, France 195
University of Hohenheim Ostfildern, Germany 198
The Federal University of Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 199
University of Antwerp Antwerpen, Belgium 199
Bielefeld University Bielefeld, Germany 201
Stony Brook University Stony Brook, United States 202
The University of Montana Missoula, United States 202
Jagiellonian University Kraków, Poland 204
University of Pisa Pisa, Italy 204
Dalhousie University Halifax, Canada 206
University of Reading Reading, United Kingdom 206
Lomonosov Moscow State University (MSU) Moscow, Russia 208
University of Lorraine Maxéville, France 208
Shanghai Jiao Tong University Shanghai, China 210
University of South Bohemia in Ceské Budejovice (USB) Budweis, Czech Republic 210
Kyushu University Fukuoka, Japan 212
Justus Liebig University Giessen Gießen, Germany 212
Oklahoma State University Stillwater, United States 214
University of Kwazulu Natal Durban, South Africa 214
Trinity Western University Township of Langley, Canada 216
Leibniz University Hannover Hannover, Germany 217
University of Idaho Moscow, United States 218
University of California, Santa Barbara Santa Barbara, United States 219
Auburn University Auburn, United States 220
Indiana University Bloomington Bloomington, United States 222
Sun Yat-sen University Guangzhou, China 222
The University of Hong Kong Hong Kong, Hong Kong (SAR) 222
University of Manitoba Winnipeg, Canada 225
University of Tsukuba Naka, Japan 226
Federal University of Paraná Curitiba, Brazil 227
University of Eastern Finland Kuopio, Finland 227
University of Valencia Valencia, Spain 229
Austral University of Chile Puerto Montt, Chile 231
University of Tehran, Kish International Campus Kish, Iran 232
University of Colorado at Boulder Boulder, United States 233
Claude Bernard Lyon 1 Villeurbanne, France 234
North Dakota State University Fargo, United States 235
Clemson University Clemson, United States 236
Polytechnic University of Valencia Valencia, Spain 236
Czech University of Life Sciences Prague Prague, Czech Republic 238
Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) Trondheim, Norway 239
Leipzig University Leipzig, Germany 240
UCLouvain Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium 241
University of Bayreuth Bayreuth, Germany 242
University of Haifa Haifa, Israel 242
Newcastle University Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom 244
University of Bari Aldo Moro Bari, Italy 244
Autonomous University of Madrid Alcobendas, Spain 247
Columbia University New York City, United States 247
Université Montpellier 3 Paul Valéry Montpellier, France 249
Federal University of Minas Gerais Belo Horizonte, Brazil 251
Kasetsart University Mueang Nonthaburi, Thailand 252
University of Florence Florence, Italy 252
The University of New Mexico Albuquerque, United States 252
Universidade Nova de Lisboa Lisbon, Portugal 255
Southwest University China Chongqing, China 256
Utah State University Logan, United States 256
University of Calgary Calgary, Canada 258
Ben-Gurion University of the Negev Beersheba, Israel 260
King Abdulaziz University Jeddah, Saudi Arabia 260
University of Plymouth Plymouth, United Kingdom 260
University Putra Malaysia Kampong Baharu Balakong, Malaysia 263
University of Potsdam Potsdam, Germany 265
Carleton University Ottawa, Canada 266
South China Agricultural University Dasha, China 267
University of Arkansas Fayetteville, United States 267
University of Canterbury Christchurch, New Zealand 269
University of Stirling Stirling, United Kingdom 269
Chonnam National University Gwangju, South Korea 271
University of Graz Graz, Austria 271
University of Ljubljana Ljubljana, Slovenia 271
University of Southampton Southampton, United Kingdom 274
University of Cordoba Cordova, Spain 275
University of Granada Granada, Spain 276
Mississippi State University Starkville, United States 277
Radboud University Nijmegen - Summer School Nijmegen, Netherlands 279
Eötvös Loránd University Budapest, Hungary 280
SUNY - College of Environmental Science and Forestry Syracuse, United States 280
Università degli Studi della Tuscia Viterbo, Italy 280
Pontifical Catholic University of Chile Villa Presidente Frei, Ñuñoa, Santiago, Chile, Chile 283
University of Hawaii at Manoa Honolulu, United States 283
Warsaw University of Life Sciences Warsaw, Poland 285
Aristotle University of Thessaloniki Thessaloníki, Greece 286
University College Dublin Dublin, Ireland 286
University of the Basque Country Lejona, Spain 286
Northeast Forestry University Harbin, China 289
Estonian University of Life Sciences Tartu, Estonia 290
University of Chile Lo Prado, Chile 290
University of New Hampshire Durham, United States 292
University of Palermo Palermo, Italy 292
Universitat de les Illes Balears Palma de Mallorca, Spain 294
Chiang Mai University Chiang Mai, Thailand 295
Simon Fraser University Burnaby, Canada 295
University of Oulu Oulu, Finland 295
Universidad de Castilla la Mancha Toledo, Spain 298
University of Kiel Kiel, Germany 298
National Chung Hsing University Taichung, Taiwan 300
Queen's University Kingston, Canada 301
TU Dresden Dresden, Germany 301
Adam Mickiewicz University Poznan Poznan, Poland 304
Federal University of Pernambuco Freguesia do Ribeirao da Ilha, Brazil 304
UIT the Arctic University of Norway Tromsø, Norway 306
University of Delaware Newark, United States 307
University of Coimbra Coimbra, Portugal 308
University of Seville Sevilla, Spain 308
Cardiff University Cardiff, United Kingdom 310
University of Tours Tours, France 312
University of Alaska Fairbanks Fairbanks, United States 313
Lanzhou University Lanzhou, China 314
University of Malaga Málaga, Spain 314
McMaster University Hamilton, Canada 316
Griffith University Nathan, Australia 317
University of Algarve Faro, Portugal 318
University of Connecticut Storrs, United States 318
Institut National Polytechnique de Toulouse Toulouse, France 320
University of Belgrade Belgrade, Serbia 321
University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg Johannesburg, South Africa 321
Universidade de Aveiro Aveiro, Portugal 323
University of Quebec in Montreal Montréal, Canada 323
University of Brasil Brasília, Brazil 325
Hiroshima University Hiroshima, Japan 326
Cairo University Cairo, Egypt 327
Universidad Politécnica de Madrid Madrid, Spain 327
National University of Córdoba Córdoba, Argentina 329
University of Ottawa Ottawa, Canada 329
Chulalongkorn University Bangkok, Thailand 331
University of Wyoming Laramie, United States 332
Institute for European Studies - Universite Libre de Bruxelles Brussels, Belgium 333
National Taiwan Ocean University Keelung, Taiwan 334
Rhodes University Grahamstown, South Africa 334
Florida International University Miami, United States 336
Ocean University of China Qingdao, China 337
University of New England Armidale, Australia 337
Mahidol University Sam Phran, Thailand 339
University of Nevada, Reno Reno, United States 339
Victoria University of Wellington Wellington, New Zealand 341
Deakin University  Burwood, Australia 342
Federal University of Lavras Lavras da Mangabeira, Brazil 342
University of Rennes Rennes, France 344
University of Debrecen Debrecen, Hungary 346
University of Zagreb Zagreb, Croatia 346
University of Zaragoza Delicias, Spain 346
Mendel University in Brno Brno, Czech Republic 349
University of Miami Coral Gables, United States 350
Montana State University Bozeman, United States 351
La Trobe University Melbourne, Australia 352
Guizhou University Guiyang, China 353
Flinders University Adelaide, Australia 354
Istanbul University Istanbul, Turkey 354
University Sains Malaysia George Town, Malaysia 356
University of Vigo Vigo, Spain 357
Bangor University Bangor, United Kingdom 358
Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC) Araranguá, Brazil 358
The University of Vermont Burlington, United States 360
Chungnam National University Seoul, South Korea 362
Kyungpook National University Daegu, South Korea 362
University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain 362
University of Victoria Victoria, Canada 365
Texas Tech University Lubbock, United States 366
Brigham Young University Provo, United States 367
Kyung Hee University Seoul, South Korea 367
National University of Colombia Bogotá, Colombia 369
West Virginia University Morgantown, United States 369
Gyeongsang National University Jinju, South Korea 371
Konkuk University Kuri, South Korea 371
Wuhan University Wuhan, China 374
University of the Ryukyus Ginowan, Japan 375
Charles Sturt University Wagga, Australia 376
Iwate University Morioka, Japan 377
University of Catania Catania, Italy 377
University of Paris Paris, France 380
University of Prince Edward Island Charlottetown, Canada 381
Federal University of Santa Maria Santa Maria, Brazil 382
University of Lleida Lleida, Spain 383
Marche Polytechnic University Ancona, Italy 384
North-West University (NWU) Potchefstroom, South Africa 384
University of Santiago de Compostela Santiago de Compostela, Spain 386
Tufts University Medford, United States 387
University of Perugia Perugia, Italy 389
Ege University Izmir, Turkey 390
Agricultural University of Athens Athens, Greece 391
Ankara University Ankara, Turkey 393
Xiamen University Xiamen, China 394
Korea University Seoul, South Korea 395
Southern Cross University Bilinga, Australia 395
University of South Florida Tampa, United States 395
College of William & Mary Williamsburg, United States 398
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