Discover the elements of

success. Your introduction to Chemistry & Southampton

Application Process

‘Maureen through the round bottomed flask’

Eligible for offer

Find out more on a UCAS visit Day

Receive academic offer

A level: AAB including chemistry and preferably

one other science (minimum grade A GCSE maths)

IB: 34 pts (18HL) including 6 in chemistry (HL)

Your decision

The School of Chemistry.

The membership of our learning community

Our teaching framework

Monday Tuesday Wednesday

Thursday Friday

9.00 Chemistry lecture

Electives

10.00 Chemistry lecture

Chemistry lecture

Chemistry workshop

11.00 Chemistry lecture

Electives Maths (Chem)

workshop

Chemistry lecture

Chemistry workshop

12.00 Electives Maths (Chem)

workshop

Chemistry lecture

13.00

14.00 Chemistry practical

Chemistry practical

Electives

15.00 Chemistry practical

Chemistry practical

Electives

16.00 Chemistry practical

Chemistry practical

Electives

17.00 Chemistry practical

Chemistry practicalElective courses – typically involve 4 – 5 lecture and 2 tutorials (and

possibly a practical session)

Key

Chemistry Lecture

Chemistry workshop

Chemistry practical

(6 hrs within

this time)

Electives

An approximate timetable for Semester 1

A sense of the chemistry curriculum in Semester 1Inorganic

Structure and symmetry (inc VSEPR); NMR spectroscopy; Comparative main group chemistry - trends in chemistry of Groups 13, 14, 15; acid-base chemistry, Brønsted-Lowry systems, Lewis systems and donor-acceptor compounds

Organic Structure –of molecules: functional groups, isomerism including optical activity, nomenclature, infrared spectroscopy (functional groups); bonding (hybridisation and shape); conformational analysis; Reactivity – curly arrows, acidity (alcohols, phenols and carboxylic acids); basicity (BuLi, hydroxide, methoxide, Et3N); resonance; aromaticity; nucleophilic substitution at sp³ carbon (SN1 and SN2 mechanisms); nucleophilicity.

Physical Thermochemistry- A review of enthalpy and entropy; introduction of Gibbs free energy; equilibrium. Electrochemistry, Buffers and Kinetics – Electrochemcal cells and reactions, energy changes and equilibria; action of buffers and relevant calculations; introduction to kinetics

Laboratory courses in Year 1Six hours per week (2 x 3h) two three hour sessions in timetabled slots covering 8 hours.

Practical contained in a standalone module CHEM1017 (across two semesters)

Interactive, informative and ‘quizzing’ pre-labs help prepare for the practical work

Practical work most completed individually with a small amount of group work

Assessed on the basis of pre-lab work, practical outcomes (and their communication), and theory exercises.Jason and Montserrat contemplate the

process of evaporation under reduced pressure

Weekly maths workshops are provided throughout the year

Embedded in the practical module with a 25% assessment weighting

W/shops are taught by chemists and use chemistry based problems to provide a context for the development of your mathematical knowledge

There are several problem sets that need to be completed and passed by all students

Additional courses in maths at many levels are available from the School of Mathematics and may be taken as one of your electives

Meeting the mathematical challenge

Arlanda, Danielle and Anna tackle problems during a workshop session.

Curriculum delivery and assessment(Years 1 & 2)

Lectures Workshops Electronic resources (via

Blackboard) Laboratory work Peer group learning Academic tutoring

Written examinations In lecture tests (focussed

and synoptic) Laboratory reportsOur undergraduates’ learning is supported by

our postgraduate teaching assistants as well as academic staff

MChem

BSc

Single

Combined

Decision time at the end of the second year

Note that different conditions apply to transfers from/to the MChem with Placement

programmesThis is discussed later on.

Electives in chemistryCore chemistry Research project/ advanced practical

BSc Chemistry

2

3

3

BSc degree final year

These are the distributions of activity for our current 3rd year students.

MChem Chemistry (F103)

Year 4Year 3

Year 4Year 3

MChem Chemistry with Mathematics (F1GC)

Electives in chemistryCore chemistry Research project Electives in mathematics

MChem completed entirelyin Southampton These are the distributions of activity

for our current 3rd/4th year students.

MChem with one year placement (F102)

Year 3

Year 4

Electives in chemistryCore chemistry Research project External Placement

Placements for one calendar year starting between July and September after the end of the 2nd year

Placements will be in the UK

Project will be with a company in the chemical industry

Projects may be in any area of chemistry and must contain an opportunity for the student to demonstrate initiative and research skills

Assessments based mainly on the performance in the project work (75%) but also through some directed learning (25%) which is assessed by a mixture of coursework and exam.

50% tuition fee reduction for the year of the placement

Placements taken from July to December in the fourth year

Placements might be anywhere in the world (subject to considerations of personal safety)

Project might be hosted in industry or an academic laboratory (outside the UK only)

Projects may be in any area of chemistry and must contain an opportunity for the student to demonstrate initiative and research skills

Assessment entirely based on performance on placement and includes evaluation of your thesis, a viva, and a presentation (no directed learning)

A similar model is available for MChem Chemistry with Medicinal Science (F1BC)

Year 3

Year 4

MChem with six month placement (F101)

Electives in chemistryCore chemistry Research project External Placement

Over 80 collaborating organisations in 14 countries

Transferring between placement programmes You are encouraged to enrol on the

programme that you are most keen to study.

The possibility will exist to transfer between the two placement programmes during your first year of study.

Any transfers will require the approval of the MChem Placement Tutor.

It will not be possible to transfer between the two placement programmes after the end of Year 1.

Transfers from either placement programme to the MChem based in Southampton will be permitted up until the end of Year 2.

6 months

1 year

or

Agfa GaevertAkzoNobelAmershamAnionics Inc.AntisomaAstex TechnologyAstraZeneca CharnwoodATDBioAWEBAe SystemsBASF AktiengesellschaftBayer CropscienceBiocompatiblesBiofocus (Galapagos)BP Amoco ChemicalsBritish Nuclear Fuels LtdChemring Countermeasures City TechnologyCoopervisionCurtin University AUSCytec Engineered MaterialsDaresbury LaboratoriesDe La Rue International LtdDERADSTL

OptichemOSI Pharmaceuticals

PfizerProctor and Gamble

Protherics Molecular DesignQinetiq

Quest International Renishaw PLC

RhodiaRibotargets Ltd

Sharp Laboratories Shell Global SolutionsStrasbourg University

SunChemSyngenta

TintometerThe Paul Scherrer Institute

UCB PharmaUnilever

University of British ColumbiaUniversity of CaliforniaUniversity of MichiganUniversity of Montreal

University of OttawaUniversity of Pittsburgh

Eli LillyEvotec LtdFerring PharmaceuticalsForensic Science ServiceGlaxoSmithKline USAGlaxoSmithKline UKGlaxoSmithKline ItalyGuritHitachiHMS SultanHoechst MarionIlikaJames Cooke University AUSJohnson MattheyLaboratoires FournierMaybridgeMedisenseMerck FrosstMerck Sharp and DohmeMerck ChemicalsNanyang Technological UniversityNanotectureNational Physical LaboratoryNovartis UKNovartis Switzerland

Some organisations involved in recent years

4.8 out of 5.0 The level of satisfaction with our placement support (NSS 2009)

Laboratory reporting (Yr 1-4)

Description, discussion and debate (Yr 1-4)

Thesis preparation (Yr 3-4)

Scientific writing for publication (Yr 3-4)

Authoring a research proposal (Yr 4)

Poster presentation (Yr 3-4)

Skills development embedded in the core curriculumWritten communication

Verbal communication

One -to-one and group scientific discussions (Yr 1-4)

Verbal examination (viva) (Yr 3 and 4)

Interview skills (Yr 2-4)

Formal presentations (Yr 3 and 4)

Poster presentation (Yr 3-4)

Laboratory competency (Yr 1)

IT skills (Yr 1-4) Data acquisition and

analysis (Yr 1-4) Using the primary

scientific literature (Yr 1-4)

Understanding risk assessment (Yr 1-4)

Practical and theoretical problem solving (Yr 1-4)

Advanced technical skills (Yr 3-4)

… and many more

Scientific skills Personal skills

Independent study and research skills

Time management Scientific enquiry Self awareness and

evaluation in your personal development

Influencing others When to lead and

when to be led

… and many more

Extra-curricular skills development

A team building group in with their tutor

The Organic Chemistry Summer School

A first year ‘pipelines’ event

An outreach event with Key Stage 2 and 3 students

Team building events in Years 1 and 2.

Mentoring more junior undergraduate students (‘parenting’ and supporting academic development)

A month long summer school in practical chemistry sponsored and delivered with three industrial partners

Summer internships in our, or industrial, laboratories

In recent years, some of our students have undertaken summer internships to develop teaching resources (e.g. Prelabs, directed learning materials)

The chance to support and (later on) lead the teaching in our extensive outreach activities in local schools (not just for prospective teachers!)

It is possible to include some experience of teaching in a secondary school in one of our third year teaching modules

Raising awareness of the careers out there and how to get them

The returning alumni team (clockwise from top left): Rob (research chemist); Mike (electrochemist);

Joanna (medicinal chemist); Nick (teacher), Paul (IT consultant), Pushwinder (technology

specialist); Xameerah (scientific writer); Geoff (finance).

Annual Careers and Placement Day - using senior MChem students returning from placement and our graduate alumni to give first hand accounts of their experience of industry.

Seminars from industrialists on their sector of the chemical industry (and beyond) and careers available within it (also the possibility of a limited number of site visits) and the selection methods that they use to recruit staff.

Discussion sessions with academics and industrialists on the development of professional skills in readiness for independent research or full time employment (an evolving programme)

CV workshops and interview skills to develop the skills needed to stand out during a selection process

What others say about us

The School of Chemistry is in the top 10 universities in the UK in all the different university league tables

One of only 7 UK based Schools of Chemistry in the European premier league for research (called the Excellence group)

The Universities of Southampton and Cambridge as being up with Stanford (in the US) for successful commercialisation of research (a Library House survey)

What our students say about us

4.9…

…out of 5.0 for ‘overall quality of the course’ for students graduating in 2009.

Ranked 2nd in chemistry in the UK, and 1st among Russell Group Universities.

www.unistats.com

Some other highlights

www.unistats.com

4.5 out of 5.0 for ‘Teaching’

4.8 out of 5.0 for ‘The course is intellectually stimulating’

4.5 out of 5.0 for ‘Personal development’

4.8 out of 5.0 for ‘As a result of my course, I have improved my career prospects’

4.8 out of 5.0 for ‘Quality of learning resources provided by your School (e.g. equipment, software, labs)’ (SEQ)