Chemistry (BSc)

We aim to provide an exceptional environment for chemical education and our undergraduate degrees reflect our current research strengths and interests, with final-year projects fully integrated into our research groups. Your course of study has been designed to enable you to realise your maximum potential. We aim to deliver expert teaching and comprehensive pastoral care.

Teaching is undertaken through a series of lectures, tutorials, workshops and practical classes. These are supported by material hosted on Learning Central, the University’s virtual learning environment.

Lectures

One major element of teaching is through lectures, typically 10-12 per week of 50 minutes duration. Subject matter is supported in various ways depending on the topic. This can include slides, computer presentations, handouts and course summaries.

Laboratory work

The second part of teaching involves practical classes, again typically averaging about 10-12 hours each week. In year one the emphasis is on basic techniques and simple but accurate recording of observations. Skills are taught by practical demonstrations and supported by a range of e-learning resources freely available and readily accessible to all students.

Self-testing offers insight into different practical techniques, and the chance to correct mistakes before attending laboratory sessions.

Laboratory work progresses towards substantial experiments that need careful planning, analysis and interpretation of results, as well as professional standard reporting. Practical work provides experience in all the main laboratory procedures and techniques, and is designed to extend your level of proficiency in practical chemistry, preparing you to undertake an independent research project in the final stages of your degree.

Small-group teaching

Small group tutorial classes are given in all years, allowing practice, discussion and analysis of the lecture material, as well as the development of communication skills. Sessions are delivered by three allocated staff members, one specialist in each of the areas of organic, inorganic and physical chemistry. The same three tutors usually remain assigned to each group throughout your degree.

Project

All our Chemistry courses have a major element of independent, supervised project work. In the final year of the BSc course you will work on a project in your preferred area of chemistry, and be allocated a topic to investigate or develop. Working under the guidance of an expert in the field, you will present results of your work orally and in writing. In the past, this has led to undergraduates co-authoring published papers.

How will I be supported?

Every student has three academic tutors, one of whom also acts as your personal tutor. You will see one of your tutors each week, either as part of a small tutorial group or on a one-to-one basis in a personal tutorial.  All staff operate an open-door policy, meaning you can always approach staff with issues, academic or otherwise.  

You will be given access to a comprehensive handbook appropriate to your year of study, containing details of the School’s procedures and policies.

We make extensive use of the University’s Virtual Learning Environment (Learning Central) to share information. 

How will I be assessed?

Formative and summative assessments are carried out during each year of study. This gives a measure of performance to inform you, us as staff, and potential employers about your progress and achievement. It can also help the learning process by highlighting areas of success and areas needing more attention. Assessment for the BSc degree involves methods that are selected to suit the particular outcomes of each module and the course as a whole. These methods include the following:

• Formal examinations with fixed time-limits
• Class tests
• Reports on laboratory work
• Planning, conduct and reporting of project work
• Essays
• Problem-solving exercises (as workshop assignments)
• Oral presentations
• Preparation and display of posters.

What skills will I practise and develop?

Knowledge & Understanding:

On successful completion of the Programme you will be able to demonstrate systematic knowledge and a critical comprehensive understanding of essential facts, concepts, principles and theories relating to the subject area of chemistry. Specifically:

• Chemical terminology, nomenclature, conventions and units.
• The structural feature and chemical behaviour of chemical elements and their compounds, including group relationships and trends within the Periodic Table.
• The principles and procedures used in chemical analysis and the characterisation of chemical compounds, including the application of spectroscopies to the determination of structure and properties of chemical entities.
• Theories describing structure, bonding, reactivity and chemical change and the relationship between microscopic and bulk properties of matter.
• The properties and major types of chemical reaction of inorganic, organic, biological, organometallic and coordination compounds.
• Mathematical knowledge in basic algebra and calculus and numerical manipulation appropriate for the analysis and evaluation of chemical problems.

Intellectual Skills:

On successful completion of the Programme you will be able to demonstrate:

• The application of knowledge and understanding of the subject areas identified above to the solution of qualitative and quantitative problems of a familiar and unfamiliar nature.
• Recognition and analysis of problems and strategies, criticise techniques applicable to their own advanced scholarship, and plan strategies for their solution.

Professional Practical Skills:

On successful completion of the Programme you will be able to demonstrate the ability to:

• Plan and safely carry out standard laboratory procedures for preparation, purification, and analysis of a range of substances, and use appropriate instrumental techniques for their study.
• Monitor chemical and physical properties or changes across a wide range of chemistry, by observation and measurement, and record, in a systematic and reliable fashion, documentation relating to these events in a manner appropriate for a professional chemist working in an academic or industrial situation.
• Research, review and execute a project, selecting appropriate procedures from literature and knowledge, and proceed from the problem-recognition stage through to the evaluation and critical appraisal of outcomes.
• Interpret data derived from laboratory observations and measurements in terms of their current significance and the theory underlying them, to assess their significance and place in context.
• Present scientific material and arguments clearly and correctly, in writing and orally, to a range of audiences including peer-reviewed chemistry journals, seminars and colloquia.
• Demonstrate computational, data-processing skills and electronic searching skills, relating to chemical information, data and the primary literature.

Transferable/Key Skills:

On successful completion of the Programme you will be able to demonstrate the ability to:

• Communicate orally and in writing.
• Apply information technology such as word processing, spreadsheets, data-logging and storage, web communication and chemical drawing packages.
• Interact with other people and engage in team-working.
• Plan and implement projects working towards a goal.
•  Independently identify and undertake study needed for continuing professional development