Chemistry
Our range of standalone modules are available as short courses ideal for those interested in continued professional development.
Whether you're a recent chemistry graduate or an experienced practitioner, browse our modules exploring the fields of catalysis, medicinal chemistry and applications to sustainability to find the right fit for you.
Level 4 stand alone modules
Introduction to Drug Development
Credits
10 credit module
Course description
This module gives an overview of the process of drug development from selection of therapeutic area through to use of a drug in patients.
The different stages of the pharmaceutical pipeline will be explored, including the challenges faced at each one and strategies for overcoming these, with consideration given to scientific, technical, financial, and legal hurdles.
You will become familiar with pharmaceutical industry terminology used to refer to different aspects of drug development, the diverse skills necessary to bring a product to market, and the employment opportunities available in the pharmaceutical industry.
Dates and cost
Spring Semester. Contact us for the latest timetable and fee information.
Delivery
The module will be delivered through 16 x 1-hour lectures and 2 x 2-hour formative workshops and one summative workshop.
You will have the opportunity to research an aspect of drug development and careers in pharmaceuticals and to present your findings.
The workshops will provide a forum for you to explore and discuss the opportunities and challenges in bringing a new drug to the clinic.
Introduction to Green and Sustainable Chemistry
Credits
10 credit module
Course description
This module introduces the challenges associated with greenhouse gas emissions, air pollution, waste generation, plastic contamination, fossil-fuel based feedstock and sustainability.
This module further introduces the difference between linear economy and circular economy and the necessity to transform from the current linear society to a circular society.
After introducing the challenges, this module discusses the principles of green chemistry, metrics to assess the greenness of chemical and fuel production processes, life-cycle analysis, role of chemistry and catalysis in addressing the above-mentioned global grand challenges.
Finally, you will be introduced to the current developments in the sustainable production of chemicals and fuels from renewable feedstock such as waste biomass and CO2.
Emerging novel greener alternatives to conventional chemical synthesis methodologies will also be discussed.
Dates and cost
Autumn Semester. Contact us for the latest timetable and fee information.
Delivery
The module will consist of 24 hours lecture, workshop and worked examples.
Level 6 stand alone modules
Advanced Spectroscopy and Diffraction
Credits
10 credit module
Course description
This module explains how detailed information about structure, stereochemistry, and the behaviour of chemical species in solution and in the solid state can be obtained by using luminescence spectroscopy, electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy, and diffraction techniques (specifically X-ray diffraction, neutron diffraction and electron diffraction, as well as electron microscopy).
Dates and cost
Spring Semester. Contact us for the latest timetable and fee information.
Delivery
The module will consist of 21 lectures and three formative workshops.
Heterogeneous Catalysis
Credits
10 credit module
Course description
This module will provide insight into the importance of heterogeneous catalysis in the modern world, and it will allow you to learn how it is applied for societal benefit.
It will demonstrate the diverse applications of heterogeneous catalysis and its importance to both the modern chemical industry and protecting the environment.
It will outline the essential fundamental concepts and methodologies available for studying these processes, as well as showing you molecular level mechanisms and principals involved in catalysis.
Processes covered include oxidation reactions, car exhaust treatment, reducing NOx emissions from stationary sources, and acid-catalysed reactions.
The importance of heterogeneous catalysts and their applications in environmental applications and sustainability will be outlined and addressed.
For particular applications, examples of several types of catalysts, including supported metals, metal oxides, and zeolites, will all be presented and discussed.
We will cover key details and catalyst characteristics, as well as the typical attributes and preparation of a heterogeneous catalyst.
We will assess a catalyst's performance, provide quantitative descriptors, and discuss catalyst deactivation processes.
We will examine heterogeneous catalyst mechanisms and contrast the various models.
The Langmuir-Hinshelwood, Eley-Rideal, and Mars van Krevelen mechanisms will be addressed, and experimental methods used to identify mechanism will be covered.
Dates and cost
Spring Semester. Contact us for the latest timetable and fee information.
Delivery
The course consists of 22 lectures across the Spring semester, with approximately 2 lectures each week.
Lecture material will be supported by three workshops. Two workshops will take the form of face-to-face sessions, and these will focus on supporting problem solving based on material from lectures.
A single workshop will focus on research into a self-selected industrial catalytic process, and you will attempt this over a timescale of several weeks using independent study.
You will be required to submit a one-page critical narrative summary for assessment.
Structure and Mechanism in Organic Chemistry
Credits
10 credit module
Course description
This module outlines:
- The techniques and approaches of physical organic chemistry that are be used to study mechanisms of organic, bioorganic, and catalytic reactions.
- MO theory as applied to the analysis of organic reactions, including in pericyclic reactions.
Dates and cost
Spring Semester. Contact us for the latest timetable and fee information.
Delivery
The module is taught using a combination of online recordings, interactive workshop-style lectures, a workshop, and a presentation session.
Homogeneous catalysis
Credits
10 credit module
Course description
This module will focus on aspects of homogeneous catalysis to include the derivation of catalytic cycles, identification of key reactions steps and highlight reactions of industrial relevance. Through carefully selected examples, you are able to appreciate the key concepts in catalytic cycles and how ligand design can play an important role in the development of new catalysts.
Modern approaches to a more sustainable future are embedded in the module.
Dates and cost
Spring Semester. Contact us for the latest timetable and fee information.
Delivery
The course consists of 22 x 1-hour face-to-face lectures during the Spring semester, with approximately 3 lectures a week for 7-8 weeks.
Engineering Biosynthesis
Credits
10 credit module
Course description
This module concerns the engineering of biosynthetic pathways for synthesis of organic chemicals for use as pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals, flavours/fragrances, and fuels.
Biosynthesis enables sustainable manufacture of complex molecules in multistep routes using fermentation from renewable feedstocks under benign conditions.
The combination of synthetic chemistry with biosynthesis provides an efficient avenue to novel compounds for screening as drugs.
The strategies and challenges for production of organic chemicals through biosynthetic pathways will be described and illustrated with examples drawn from the biosynthesis of different classes of secondary metabolite.
Dates and cost
Spring Semester. Contact us for the latest timetable and fee information.
Delivery
The module will be delivered primarily using lectures (22 hours across one semester) where the principles of biosynthesis of different classes of secondary metabolite will be introduced including case studies of engineering from the literature.
In addition, lectures will include worked problems and informal ad hoc activities.
Workshops will be used to enhance and assess problem-solving and literature searching skills.
Level 7 stand alone modules
Heterogenous Catalysis
Credits
10 credit module
Course description
This module will provide insight into the importance of heterogeneous catalysis in the modern world, and it will allow you to learn how it is applied for societal benefit. It will demonstrate the diverse applications of heterogeneous catalysis and its importance to both the modern chemical industry and protecting the environment.
It will outline the essential fundamental concepts and methodologies available for studying these processes, as well as showing you molecular level mechanisms and principals involved in catalysis.
Processes covered include oxidation reactions, car exhaust treatment, reducing NOx emissions from stationary sources, and acid-catalysed reactions. The importance of heterogeneous catalysts and their applications in environmental applications and sustainability will be outlined and addressed. For particular applications, examples of several types of catalysts, including supported metals, metal oxides, and zeolites, will all be presented and discussed.
We will cover key details and catalyst characteristics, as well as the typical attributes and preparation of a heterogeneous catalyst. We will assess a catalyst's performance, provide quantitative descriptors, and discuss catalyst deactivation processes.
We will examine heterogeneous catalyst mechanisms and contrast the various models. The Langmuir-Hinshelwood, Eley-Rideal, and Mars van Krevelen mechanisms will be addressed, and experimental methods used to identify mechanism will be covered.
We will approach the specifics of how heterogeneous catalysts are utilised in various reactor types, covering both laboratory and industrial scales. The various physical forms of the catalysts will also be taken into account in the context of various reactors and performance optimization.
Dates and cost
Spring Semester. Contact us for the latest timetable and fee information.
Delivery
The course consists of 22 lectures across the Spring semester, with approximately 2 lectures each week, and tree workshops in total.
Structure and Mechanism in Organic Chemistry
Credits
10 credit module
Course description
This module outlines, the techniques and approaches of physical organic chemistry that are be used to study mechanisms of organic, bioorganic, and catalytic reactions and MO theory as applied to the analysis of organic reactions, including in pericyclic reactions.
Dates and cost
Spring Semester. Contact us for the latest timetable and fee information.
Delivery
The module is taught using a combination of online recordings, interactive workshop-style lectures, a workshop, and a presentation session.
Engineering Biosynthesis
Credits
10 credit module
Course description
This module concerns the engineering of biosynthetic pathways for synthesis of organic chemicals for use as pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals, flavours/fragrances, and fuels.
Biosynthesis enables sustainable manufacture of complex molecules in multistep routes using fermentation from renewable feedstocks under benign conditions.
The combination of synthetic chemistry with biosynthesis provides an efficient avenue to novel compounds for screening as drugs.
The strategies and challenges for production of organic chemicals through biosynthetic pathways will be described and illustrated with examples drawn from the biosynthesis of different classes of secondary metabolite.
Dates and cost
Spring Semester. Contact us for the latest timetable and fee information.
Delivery
The module will be delivered primarily using lectures (22 hours across one semester) where the principles of biosynthesis of different classes of secondary metabolite will be introduced including case studies of engineering from the literature.
Workshops will be used to enhance and assess problem-solving and literature searching skills.
Techniques in Drug Discovery.
Credits
10 credit module
Course description
In drug discovery it is essential we have ways of screening and refining compounds from initial lead or ‘hit’ compounds identified as promising compounds that may become drugs to treat a disease condition towards refining that compound into the final marketable drug molecule.
This module concerns the techniques used for discovering ‘hit’ compounds, taking this forward to leads, and compound optimisation. You will encounter both experimental and in silico (computational) techniques. Methods of quantifying physico-chemical properties of compounds will be explored and related to compounds’ activity.
Receptor binding assays and modelling of drug-receptor interactions will be presented. The module will introduce the student to a variety of key concepts in medicinal chemistry for predicting, measuring, and optimising the biological activities of novel compounds.
Dates and cost
Spring Semester. Contact us for the latest timetable and fee information.
Delivery
The module will consist of 12 × 1-hour lectures that will introduce the topics laid out in the syllabus.
You will be expected to supplement these lectures with independent research of texts, specialist reviews and peer-reviewed literature and to discuss their findings in 2 × 1-hour formative tutorials.
Computational chemistry material will be delivered in a 3-hour workshop including a working demonstration of a computational problem. There will be 2x formative workshops where you will be introduced to unseen problems in small molecule drug discovery, followed by an assessed workshop which will be a group oral presentation activity.
Drug Targets
Credits
10 credit module
Course description
Drug discovery is an interdisciplinary subject that brings together chemistry, biochemistry, biophysics, cell biology, microbiology, and virology. This module presents an overview of protein and nucleic acid targets that have been exploited in developing existing drugs to treat a wide variety of diseases, such as bacterial and viral infections, cancers, and other disorders, including depression, chronic pain, and obesity.
The course begins with online materials that review basic concepts needed to understand the role of cellular targets in disease and methods for determining the molecular mechanisms of drug action. Topics include, but are not limited to, protein and nucleic acid structure and function, enzyme kinetics and catalytic mechanisms, prokaryotic and eukaryotic cell structure, and protein/ligand interactions.
First, you will be shown the cell structure of bacteria together with key metabolic pathways that are targets for antibiotic discovery. Molecular details will be emphasised, and, when possible, the structural basis for drug/target interactions.
In the second topic, you will be introduced to the life cycles of the viruses that cause human diseases, and the strategies used to kill the virus and minimise side effects. Next, the cell cycle will be discussed, together with the mechanisms that regulate cell division, as a prelude to understanding how different kinds of anti-cancer drugs exert their effects.
Finally, you will be given a brief overview of G protein-coupled receptor-initiated signalling together with the strengths and weaknesses of using these receptors as drug targets for the treatment of pain and other diseases, such as depression.
You will also have an assessed opportunity for independent study by writing, and presenting, a short report on commonly used drugs and/or emerging drug targets.
Dates and cost
Autumn Semester. Contact us for the latest timetable and fee information.
Delivery
The module will be delivered in 6 x 2-hour face to face lectures, together with 2 x 1-hour tutorials that will discuss assigned reading from the primary literature.
Development from Laboratory to Clinic
Credits
10 credit module
Course description
This module concerns the process by which drug leads are progressed through to clinical trials, regulatory approval, and marketing.
The module will introduce you to the mechanisms by which drugs are delivered to their site of action and their fates in the human body. The process of testing of drug candidates in vitro and in vivo in animals and humans will be described.
The issues surrounding production of larger quantities of drug in sufficient quality for clinical work will be introduced. You will also gain an appreciation of the environmental, commercial, and regulatory aspects of drug development.
Dates and cost
Spring Semester. Contact us for the latest timetable and fee information.
Delivery
The module will consist of 6 × 2-hour lectures that will introduce the topics laid out in the syllabus. You will be expected to supplement these lectures with independent research of texts, specialist reviews and peer-reviewed literature.
There will be a workshop where you will consult the drug development literature and perform a problem-solving activity.
How to apply
Applications must be received at least two weeks before the module start date.
The 2026/7 semester dates are:
- Autumn: Monday 21 September 2026
- Spring: Monday 25 January 2027
For information on fees, timetable information and how to apply, or to discuss your individual learning requirements, please contact David Miller:
Dr David Miller
Senior Lecturer in Biological Chemistry and Director of Post Graduate Taught (PGT) Programmes
Entry requirements
Applicants should possess a good first degree - typically a 2:2 honours degree in a relevant subject area such as biochemistry, chemical engineering, chemistry, pharmacology, or pharmacy, or an equivalent international degree. We will also consider equivalent work experience in a relevant chemistry-based discipline. For specific details of admissions criteria please see the information on our Advanced Chemistry MSc.
Applicants whose first language is not English must meet the University's English Language requirements.
In order to apply, you must provide us with certificates and transcripts relating to previous qualifications, a personal statement, and (where applicable) proof of your English language proficiency.
