New Zealand Diploma in Applied Science (Level 5)

Note: As a business division of Te Pūkenga - New Zealand Institute of Skills and Technology, UCOL is committed to providing the best learning outcome for you. As part of this, all programmes are currently being reviewed to make them portable, consistent, and closely aligned with the needs of the industry. When published, this course information is correct, but the courses offered may change over time. If you have any questions, call an enrollment advisor at 0800 468 265.

This programme consists of 120 credits.

Professional Skills in Science (15 Credits)
Learn to work effectively in an applied science setting with an understanding of workplace legislative requirements. The course covers:

• Employer and employee obligations under workplace legislation
• Professional communication skills, including teamwork, workplace behaviour, ethics and integrity
• The Treaty of Waitangi
• Oral and written communication skills
• Competence in using software technologies with guidance
• Computerised inventory and reporting systems
• Hazardous chemical classification, handling & storage

Practical Skills (15 Credits)
Learn to safely carry out a range of generic laboratory or workplace tasks. The course covers:

• Autopipetting
• Calibrate and maintain and calibrate generic equipment (Burettes, pipettes, balance, pH meter and pH electrode, viscometer, refractometer and pycnometer)
• Perform quantitative spectrophotometric analysis, produce a standard curve, and interpret spectrophotometric data
• Gravimetric technique of analysis for a metal or an anion

Quality Assurance (15 Credits)
Learn organisational techniques for establishing, maintaining and improving quality and business sustainability. The course covers:

Chemistry for Applied Science (15 Credits)
Learn the theoretical and practical skills relevant to further study in chemistry and the applied sciences. The course covers:

• The periodic table, atomic structure and properties of elements
• Structure, properties and bonding of chemical compounds
• Chemical formulae and chemical equations
• Redox chemistry, balancing redox reactions and redox titrations
• Acid-base equilibria including buffers and pH
• Calculations related to chemical analysis
• Laboratory safety

Bioscience in Industry 1 (15 Credits)
Acquire the practical skills and theoretical knowledge in microbiology required to practise safely in a laboratory or industry setting. The course covers:

• Traditional and molecular microbiology methods for food and environmental quality
• Food, water quality and industrial microbes of interest
• Sterilisation and disinfection

Industrial Biomolecules (15 Credits)
Apply your knowledge of the structures and properties of biomolecules to their extraction and associated product quality requirements. The course covers:

• Carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, nucleic acids
• Manufacturing processes including extraction and purification
• Bioreactors 
• Logic structure of process controllers 
• Food and non-food products 
• Soxhlet fat extraction

Biostatistics 1 (15 Credits)
Learn to make sense of numbers, graphs and fundamental statistical concepts; and to use, interpret and report them in a meaningful way in business practice. This course also provides a foundation for further study, research and project management requiring an analytical approach. The course covers:

The Chemical Basis of Biology and Separation Science (15 Credits)

Develop an understanding of chemical processes in biological systems and industrial applications. Learn to employ solvent extraction and distillation as techniques to isolate and separate organic compounds from each other from a given mixture. Analyse chemical compounds using techniques involving extraction methods, distillation, and chromatography (thin layer and column). This course also introduces elementary thermodynamics and kinetics experiments and calculations. The course covers:

• Introductory thermodynamic concepts and the thermodynamic laws.
• High energy biomolecules, phosphoric acid anhydrides and ATP as an intermediate shuttle molecule.
• Energetics involving ATP recycling in the human body
• Reaction orders, radioactive decay law and reaction rates
• Fundamentals of enzyme kinetics, Michaelis Menton kinetics
• Kinetics experiments
• Thin layer and paper chromatography. Column chromatography (Size exclusion and ion exchange)

Previous Related Programmes

To optimise chances of success, full attendance is strongly recommended. The availability of a particular elective course is subject to an appropriate number of students enrolling in that course and not all electives may be offered in any given intake.

Recognition of prior learning
Applications for Recognition of Prior Learning, including Cross Credit, Credit Transfer and Assessment of Prior Learning may be made on the Recognition of Prior Learning Form where a student believes all learning outcomes for a course have already been met. Applications will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis in accordance with the UCOL Te Pūkenga Academic Statute and other relevant policies and procedures.

• National Student Number (NSN) (If you don't have a NSN, you may request one from NZQA, or you can supply a verified copy of your birth certificate, passport or Whakapapa statement.)
• Evidence of your highest level of academic achievement (and evidence of prior learning, if applicable)
• Evidence that you meet the entry requirements of the programme
• Check if you're eligible for additional support or a scholarship. If you're 19 years or younger, you may be eligible to enrol in one of our free Youth Transition programmes.

Note that you will need to provide any verified documents in person, via post or email (not via the online application form).

• Scientific calculator: $34-130
• Stationery (pens, pencils, ruler, paper etc): $30