Collaboration between the arts and sciences has the potential to create new knowledge, ideas and processes beneficial to both fields. Artists and scientists approach creativity, exploration and research in different but increasingly connected ways and perspectives; when working together they open up new ways of seeing, experiencing and interpreting the world around us.

This dual degree program enables students to complete a Major sequence from those available in the Bachelor of Science and complete a Bachelor of Fine Arts, where students can study a wide range of fine art, design and media art disciplines.

The typical duration of this program is 4 years full-time. For admission to the program, students must satisfy the entry requirements to both the Bachelor of Science (3970) and the Bachelor of Fine Arts (4800) programs.

For questions regarding the Bachelor of Fine Arts requirements for the program, students should consult staff in the UNSW Art & Design Student Centre. For questions relating to the Bachelor of Science component of the program, students should consult the Science Student Centre.

Please refer to the program objectives as listed for the 3970 Bachelor of Science program and the 4800 Bachelor of Fine Arts program.

A total of 192 Units of Credit (UoC) is required to complete this dual degree program. Students must satisfy the following requirements for the Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Fine Arts components.

Where the requirements for the two programs are completed in less than 192 UoC due to overlapping courses, students must make up the remaining UoC from UNSW Art & Design or UNSW Science.

Requirements for the Bachelor of Science in dual degree mode:

When taken as part of a dual degree, a Bachelor of Science is comprised of 96 units of credit which includes:

Academic rules relating to the Bachelor of Science in dual degree mode are as follows:

1. Students must complete a minimum of 96 units of credit for the Bachelor of Science;

2. Students must complete at least one approved Bachelor of Science major, and this must be declared before enrolling in level II courses. Details of approved Bachelor of Science majors and how to declare a major can be found on the 3970 Bachelor of Science program page;

3. In addition to the courses required for a student's chosen major, students must take 'science' courses so that the major plus 'science' courses total 96 units of credit. Details of what courses constitute 'science' courses can be found in Table 1 on the 3970 Bachelor of Science program page;

4. Students must complete at least 24 units of credit of science level I courses;

Most majors in the Bachelor of Science already satisfy this requirement, for example, the Molecular Biology major requires BIOS1101, BABS1201, CHEM1011, CHEM1021 and 6 units of credit of Mathematics. This is a total of 30 units of credit of science level I courses, therefore, no more level I science courses are required. Where a major does not include at least 24 units of credit of science level I courses, students will need to choose additional level I science courses to bring the total to 24 units of credit. For example, Psychology requires PSYC1001 and PSYC1011, therefore, students will need to choose an additional 12 units of credit of science level I courses. These science level I courses count towards the 96 units of credit requirement at rule number 3.

5. No student may commence level II courses until 30 units of credit of level I courses have been successfully completed. (This is 30 units of credit of courses taken towards the entire dual degree and not just courses for the Science component);

6. Students may commence level III courses upon successful completion of 72 units of credit. (This is 72 units of credit of courses taken towards the entire dual degree and not just courses for the Science component);

Students wishing to complete a double major in the Bachelor of Science when taken as part of a dual degree with another degree program at UNSW should be aware that it will be very difficult to complete two majors within 96 units of credit. Therefore where a dual degree student would like to undertake a double major, they should be aware that it may involve extra time and cost to complete, and may have visa implications for international students.

Requirements for the Bachelor of Fine Arts in dual degree mode:

Fine Arts Major (48 UoC)

Level 1:

Fine Art Streams:

Painting, Drawing, Sculpture Installation Performance, Printmaking, Photography, Textiles, Cross-Media Art

Design Streams:

Graphics Media, Object Design, Spatial Design, Textiles, Jewellery, Ceramics

Media Art Streams:

Animation and Visual Effects, Video Sound Image, Cross-Media Arts

Honours in the Bachelor of Science Component

Students undertaking the Bachelor of Science in Dual Award mode may apply to complete an additional year (48 UoC) of study for the award of Honours. For details of Honours please see 4500 Bachelor of Science (Honours).

Honours in the Bachelor of Fine Arts Component

Students undertaking the BFA in Dual Award who would like to apply for Honours should contact the UNSW Art & Design Student Centre for more information.

For program rules and requirements, please refer to the Program Structure section above.

For information regarding fees for UNSW programs, please refer to the following website:  https://my.unsw.edu.au/student/fees/FeesMainPage.html