CHEMISTRY B.Sc (Hons)

Keele’s our award-winning teaching and research span the wide diversity of chemistry, helping you to develop subject knowledge and transferable skills in a supportive learning environment.

You’ll develop a solid foundation of theory and practical skills, building to cover advanced concepts and contemporary issues in chemistry in later years. You can tailor your studies to reflect your interests, and learn how to pursue your own research. You’ll have hands-on experience with state-of-the-art scientific instruments and techniques, and enjoy access to dedicated IT facilities. You’ll learn to use chemistry in problem solving, and to present your theories and findings confidently and imaginatively to your audiences. You can even spend a semester or year abroad or on placement in industry.

DURATION OF STUDY
3 years / 4 years with international or placement year

COURSE CONTENT
YEAR ONE

Our modules are designed to focus our students on the fundamental aspects of chemistry and necessary laboratory and analytical skills in preparation for advanced study.

From bonding to reactivity, spectroscopy to lanthanides, a range of topics are taught as part of our Chemical Structure and Reactivity module. A wide range of teaching styles are used from traditional lectures and problem classes to team-based learning workshops. Through the KLE, our virtual learning environment, you have access to all the course materials as well as specially developed screen casts and edited lecture captures to help you with your studies 24/7. Feedback on marked coursework is focused on showing you where you can develop your understanding and improve your performance.

In the laboratory you will engage in a highly innovative and cutting edge laboratory course designed to equip you with the basic skills required by a practising chemist. This includes how to handle chemicals safely; measure out chemicals and solutions accurately; choose and use appropriate glassware and undertake reactions; use spectrometers such as IR and UV/vis and interpret the spectra; to analyse and present data. You will be trained how to keep an accurate laboratory notebook and write up technical reports.

As part of our commitment to the environment and sustainability we have dedicated one whole module to this topic in which students are invited to explore how chemistry contributes to solving the worlds environmental problems. These activities are also designed to improve your group working and writing and presentational skills.

YEAR TWO

The Year 2 chemistry modules build on knowledge and skills gained in Year 1 and place theory alongside relevant modern applications of chemistry and practical experience of the chemistry. Highlights include;

• An exploration of chromatographic and analytical techniques applied to the analysis of a range of organic and inorganic materials is taught theoretically and then put into practice using our state of the art analytical teaching facilities. Here, for example, you can record and analyse the NMR spectrum, and run Gas Chromatography and High Performance Liquid Chromatography on your samples.
• Within synthetic chemistry your knowledge of organic reactions is extended; you begin to apply this to the design of syntheses towards target molecules. Organometallic chemistry is introduced and modern synthetic techniques such as undertaking reactions under an inert atmosphere and using air sensitive reagents are developed in the lab.
• You are introduced to a range of theoretical models that are able to account for many of the experimentally observed properties of quantum systems, f-block chemistry, electrolyte solutions, phases and the diffraction of X-rays by crystals.
• A module devoted to understanding how the chemical industry works.

In addition, during Years 1 and 2 you have the choice of elective modules from across the University to continue developing a breadth of skills.

YEAR THREE

These modules cover a spectrum of advanced chemistry to give you the breadth of knowledge needed for your future career and as demanded by the Royal Society of Chemistry accreditation scheme. In the Topics in Chemistry module you have the freedom to choose the areas of chemistry that interest you so you can tailor it to your interests. Current topics include Colloids, Zeolites, Main Group Chemistry, Diastereoselectivity, Asymmetric Synthesis, Enzymes, Biosynthesis, Electrochemistry, and Nuclear Chemistry.

Instead of scripted practicals you will undertake a research project and dissertation under the direct supervision of a member of staff and in an area of chemistry that is of interest to you. This gives you the experience of what it is like to conduct your own research project, making the day to day decisions on how to undertake reactions and measurements and interpret the results of your experimentation.