Chemistry (With options for placement opportunities)

Summary
Chemistry is at the heart of solving global challenges. From tackling climate change to developing new medicines, it has the power to improve lives and shape the future.

On this course, you will study chemistry in depth while shaping your degree around the areas that interest you most. Whether your curiosity lies in medicinal chemistry, sustainability, chemical biology or computational chemistry, you can tailor your learning to match your ambitions. You also have the option to gain valuable experience with a range of placement opportunities.

Your studies are driven by discovery. You will learn from researchers advancing fields such as clean energy and disease treatment, gaining insight into how chemistry is applied in the real world.

This is a degree that gives you choice, flexibility and the skills to make an impact.

Key features of the course
Shape your own path. Choose from a wide range of optional modules, including medicinal chemistry, sustainable chemistry, chemical biology and computational chemistry.

Take your learning further. Your final year can include an extended project in our research facilities, a year-long industrial placement or a placement at a university overseas.

Explore global opportunities. Study or work abroad in locations such as Australia, Canada, the USA or Singapore, or take a paid industry placement in the UK.

Gain real-world experience. Work in modern laboratories using the same high-tech equipment found in industry, including benchtop NMR and IR spectrometers and X-ray diffractometers.

Learn by doing. Design and carry out your own experiments, making and analysing samples with full support and training.

Focus on sustainability. Incorporate green chemistry practices into your lab work, reflecting how the industry is evolving.

Be part of cutting-edge research. Learn from academics working on challenges such as battery technology, drug development and disease modelling.

Student support
Your Personal Academic Tutor will support you throughout your studies, offering guidance on your academic progress and personal development.

You will be part of a supportive Chemistry community, with spaces to study, connect and collaborate with staff and fellow students.

Further information
This course is accredited by the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC), supporting your future professional development.

You will have the opportunity to gain experience through industry or international placements, building skills that stand out to employers.

Graduates go on to careers across science and beyond, including roles in finance, management, law, teaching and research.

Course Modules

Core modules in the first and second year are shared across most of our chemistry degrees. This makes it easy to transfer if you decide you’d like to do our MChem with six-month or year-long placement. Depending on your optional module choices or level of maths study, there’s also the possibility of moving to one of our specialist MChem courses.

In years one and two, core modules provide a solid foundation for more in-depth study in your third and fourth year. You’ll learn the fundamentals of organic, inorganic and physical chemistry, as well as practical lab techniques. In year one you’ll also take a mathematics module tailored to your previous maths experience.

You’ll be able to select optional modules in years two, three and four. These cover a wide range of topics, such as:
• environmental chemistry;
• chemical biology;
• introduction to programming;
• medicinal chemistry;
• artificial intelligence and machine learning in chemistry;
• synthetic methods in organic chemistry;
• sustainable chemistry;
• quantum mechanics in chemistry and spectroscopy.

You can also choose modules from other disciplines such as oceanography, biology, physics or a language.
Year three includes advanced practical projects. In year four you’ll undertake an advanced research project in an area that interests you. The project could be working within one of our research groups in Southampton or could be taken as part of an industrial or overseas placement. You’ll contribute to chemistry research, develop your professional skills and generate new knowledge, and there’s a good chance of getting your research published.

There are written examinations at the end of each semester to test your knowledge and understanding of material presented in the lectures and workshops. Many modules also have coursework components that feed into final module marks as well. The coursework can take on a variety of forms from analysing data, to working through problem sets. The practical work is continuously assessed primarily through written reports.

Project work is assessed by dissertation and oral examination together with a report on your relevant skills from your supervisor. A written literature review related to the project is also assessed. Alongside these summative assessments are several formative pieces of work where feedback can be provided to allow for continuous improvement of your chemistry skills.

The research project will be assessed via a variety of means including review of your laboratory notebook, your assessments of the risks and hazards of your work, written reports, oral presentations, the production of a dissertation, and an oral examination.

Professionally accredited courses provide industry-wide recognition of the quality of your qualification.

• Chemistry, Royal Society of