The Department of Zoology was a former science department in the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

's Mathematical, Physical and Life Sciences Division founded in 1860. From 1 August 2022 its functionality merged with the Department of Plant Sciences to become the Department of Biology at the

. Many distinguished scientists worked in the department at various stages in their careers, including three

Nobel Laureate The Nobel Prizes (, ) are awarded annually by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, the Swedish Academy, the Karolinska Institutet, and the Norwegian Nobel Committee to individuals and organizations who make outstanding contributions in th ...

s (

Peter Medawar Sir Peter Brian Medawar (; 28 February 1915 – 2 October 1987) was a British biologist and writer, whose works on graft rejection and the discovery of acquired immune tolerance have been fundamental to the medical practice of tissue and organ ...

Niko Tinbergen Nikolaas "Niko" Tinbergen ( , ; 15 April 1907 – 21 December 1988) was a Dutch biologist and ornithologist who shared the 1973 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Karl von Frisch and Konrad Lorenz for their discoveries concerning th ...

, and Sir John Gurdon), three winners of the

Crafoord Prize The Crafoord Prize () is an annual science prize established in 1980 by Holger Crafoord, a Swedish industrialist, and his wife Anna-Greta Crafoord following a donation to the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. It is awarded jointly by the Acade ...

( Bill Hamilton, Ilkka Hanski, Bob May), the

Kyoto Prize The is Japan's highest private award for lifetime achievement in the arts and sciences. It is given not only to those that are top representatives of their own respective fields, but to "those who have contributed significantly to the scientific, ...

( Bill Hamilton) and Blue Planet Prize ( Bob May), as well as four winners of the

Copley Medal The Copley Medal is the most prestigious award of the Royal Society of the United Kingdom, conferred "for sustained, outstanding achievements in any field of science". The award alternates between the physical sciences or mathematics and the bio ...

(the Royal Society's premier research award).

History

The Department of Zoology was housed in the Tinbergen Building in Oxford, designed in 1965 by Sir Leslie Martin (who also designed the

Royal Festival Hall The Royal Festival Hall is a 2,700-seat concert, dance and talks venue within Southbank Centre in London, England. It is situated on the South Bank of the River Thames, not far from Hungerford Bridge, in the London Borough of Lambeth. It is a G ...

) and opened in 1971, the Tinbergen Building was a large

Modernist Modernism was an early 20th-century movement in literature, visual arts, and music that emphasized experimentation, abstraction, and Subjectivity and objectivity (philosophy), subjective experience. Philosophy, politics, architecture, and soc ...

building housing over 1,600 staff and students. It was Oxford University's largest building. In February 2017, university officials announced that the Tinbergen Building would be closed for two years and all research and teaching activities of the Zoology Department would be moved elsewhere. This was due to the discovery of more

asbestos Asbestos ( ) is a group of naturally occurring, Toxicity, toxic, carcinogenic and fibrous silicate minerals. There are six types, all of which are composed of long and thin fibrous Crystal habit, crystals, each fibre (particulate with length su ...

than had been previously known; too much than could be removed during necessary maintenance with the building remaining occupied. On the 1 August 2022 the Department of Zoology merged with the Department of Plant Sciences to form the Department of Biology. The Department of Biology currently primarily located in various places, including temporary accommodation at 11a Mansfield Road and on South Parks Road. The Tinbergen Building was demolished in spring 2020. It is to be replaced by a new £200m, 26,000 sq/m building, named th
Life & Mind Building
scheduled to open in 2024. Planning permission was granted in early 2021. On completion, the building will house the Department of Biology and the Department of

Experimental Psychology Experimental psychology is the work done by those who apply Experiment, experimental methods to psychological study and the underlying processes. Experimental psychologists employ Research participant, human participants and Animal testing, anim ...

at the University of Oxford.

References

{{coord missing, Oxfordshire 1860 establishments in England Biology education in the United Kingdom

Zoology Zoology ( , ) is the scientific study of animals. Its studies include the anatomy, structure, embryology, Biological classification, classification, Ethology, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinction, extinct, and ...

Universities and colleges established in 1860

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...