We offer a range of Single Honours and Combined Honours undergraduate degree programmes in Chemistry over three and four years duration. Using an innovative approach with full in-person teaching aided by online and interactive resources, you will be fully supported to get the most out of your course. With courses fully accredited by the RSC, we have consistently high levels of student satisfaction.
State-of-the-art facilities
We have one of the best-equipped Chemistry departments in the UK, including the recent addition of the £40m Collaborative Teaching Laboratory providing an outstanding learning experience for our students, which is one of the reasons we consistently achieve high student satisfaction results in the National Student Survey.
Our student Seraphim explains how the new CTL has shaped her degree.
Our degree programmes
We offer three-year BSc and four-year MSci degree programmes in Chemistry, including courses specialising in:
Our research-inspired curriculum has been developed based on the principles of effective learning in science. Our programmes facilitate active learning through a themed module structure. Each module involves a series of weekly topics based around in-person lectures. Our lectures are designed to maximise deeper learning rather than just listening to a lecturer. Short pre-lecture material prepares you for more interactive lectures that allow you to develop your understanding of concepts and engage in problem-solving led and supported by a lecturer.
Post-lecture quizzes help you to measure your understanding of the topic and readiness for formal assessment later in the year. Regular small-group tutorials with an academic provide direct support based on problem-solving challenges. All our lecturers provide Office Hours after each Topic for students to get focused feedback on the topics that they find most challenging. Lecturers also signpost optional further self-study materials that you can access if you are interested in learning even more about a particular area.
On top of fundamental organic, inorganic and physical chemistry modules, our courses also include optional modules in topics including Medicinal Chemistry, Biological Chemistry, Sustainability, Analytical Chemistry and Materials Chemistry. You will be able to define your own pathway through the programme by selecting options relevant to your interests and career intentions.
- Our core modules are designed to develop a comprehensive understanding of the key principles of chemistry. You start with a general chemistry focus through Inorganic Chemistry and Organic Chemistry to learn about structure, bonding and reactivity. In the second half of the year you will focus on Organic and Physical Chemistry with topics including Mechanistic Organic Chemistry and Reactivity, Thermodynamics, Spectroscopy and Kinetics.
- Our Practical Chemistry teaching at the start of the degree programme focuses on developing key practical skills:
- The laboratory sessions to start with focus on the development of core experimental skills and have been designed to help familiarise you to a professional laboratory environment;
- Following this your laboratory experiences allow you to apply these skills to investigations that mimic the types of activities that professional chemists do
- We have developed a new skills development programme that is based on innovative approaches to learning and guidance from industrial partners and is embedded through theory and practical courses:
- You will learn the core skills that you need to succeed at university at beyond including time management, making productive use of feedback and preparing for assessments
- Context- and Problem-Based Learning (C/PBL) activities allow you to work in a team on an open-ended investigation based on the challenges that professional chemists are addressing. These activities help you develop your communication, interpersonal and project management skills.
- The second-year core modules build on the understanding that you develop in year one. In the core Inorganic, Organic and Physical modules you will encounter topics of significance to professional chemists including Quantum Mechanics, Organometallic Chemistry and Heterocyclic Chemistry.
- Our year 2 options modules allow you to study topics of particular interest and relevance to you including Introductory Medicinal Chemistry, Introductory Bio-organic Chemistry, Analytical science, Statistics and Biomineralization and Biomimetic Materials Chemistry.
- In the Practical Chemistry course, you will be given more opportunity to plan and design your own experimental investigations with the support of research experts. You will apply the skills and experiences developed in year one to complex, multi-stage investigations.
- As part of your wider skills development, you will learn about the application of chemistry to sustainability by working as part of a team on an open-ended investigation. You will report your findings back by participating in a press-conference presentation and by writing a review article.
- Our Year 3 core modules build on the fundamental material that you encountered in years one and two. The core modules cover research-focused topics including Polymer Chemistry, Asymmetric Catalysis, Metals in Medicine and Surface Chemistry
- The options modules give you a chance to learn about exciting research topics from experienced research specialists. Topics covered include Advanced Medicinal Chemistry, Metal Organic Frameworks, Bio-organic Chemistry, Polymer Synthesis and Bio-inorganic Chemistry.
- In Year 3 our MSci students encounter cutting-edge research with mini-projects in year three. These have been designed to give you training and experience that will prepare you for your year four research project. You will develop experience of experimental design, advanced instrumentation techniques, data analysis, critical thinking, keep professional records of your work (as required in industry) and disseminating your research findings.
- BSc students complete mini-projects or a literature-based research project. Project students receive dedicated supervision from an academic researcher who specialises in that area.
- Our Chemistry with Industrial Experience and Study Abroad students undertake a year-long placement during Year 3. These placements have been designed to provide students with enriching experiences that broaden their perspectives of how the subject is applied. By taking these placements in year 3, our students benefit from being able to apply that experience to their final year of study.
- Year 4 modules have been designed to give our students experience of cutting-edge research themes. Topics covered include Transition Metal Catalysis, Catalytic Asymmetric Synthesis, Electrochemical Reactions and Interfaces, Nanotools, Soft Matter Surfactants, Micelles and Microemulsions, and Bioactive Natural Product Chemistry.
- Our MSci students' final year research project sees them working in our research laboratories alongside postgraduate researchers and other final-year project students. Project students receive dedicated supervision from an academic researcher who specialises in that area. The final year project gives students the opportunity to develop their ability to design experiments, their data analysis and interpretation skills, their time management and organisation skills as well as their ability to disseminate research findings to different audience types
Learn more about how our Chemistry degree programmes are structured.
Industry and Academic partnerships
We have a wide range of partnerships with industry leaders and global academic institutions to give students plenty of choice on Chemistry courses with a year out. Our Chemistry with Study Abroad (F106) students have spent their year at universities as far-flung as New Zealand, Australia, USA, Canada, Germany and Singapore. Chemistry with Industrial Experience (F104) students benefit from our close partnerships with GlaxoSmithKline, BASF, Nestlé, AstraZeneca, Roche, Reckitt Benckiser and more, with many going into jobs in the chemical industry after their studies.