Chemistry

By Emma Prest

Published: 15 August 2004

What do you come out with? BSc or MChem/MSci

Why do it? Because you were good at chemistry at school. You enjoyed the subject. Plus you know it's one of the broadest undergraduate disciplines and that chemists do anything from running giant computers to making paint. And you can always go into finance or accountancy.

What's it about? It's as old as the hills. All those years ago, when people fused sand into glass or brewed beer, they were engaged in chemistry. There are four kinds: organic, inorganic, physical and analytical. Organic chemistry involves plastics, polymers and drugs; inorganic is about metals, mining and lasers; the physical stuff is the link between physics and chemistry; analytical chemistry provides the underpinning for almost anything, from whether food contains additives to whether petrol is clean. At Liverpool you study equal amount or inorganic, organic and physical chemistry in your first year. The course has been redesigned to offer greater flexibility earlier on and to introduce cross-disciplinary thinking. You do a project in your third year and an even bigger project if you stay on for a fourth year to earn your MChem. Roughly half of students apply to do an MChem. A large part of the course is lab work as is the case at most universities. In your third year you spend two days per week in the lab. Sussex has a similar structure with compulsory core modules in years one and two, and a choice of over thirty areas to specialise in the third year, which culminates in a project. Most universities offer a variety of chemistry degrees such as medicinal, analytical or biological chemistry.

How long is a degree? Three years if you do a straight BSc. Four, if you do a MChem and/or you spend a year in industry or abroad.

What are the students like? Career-minded. More women than previously. Sussex has 40 per cent women. At Liverpool it is about half and half.

How is it packaged? At Leeds, a quarter of the course is practical and the rest is theory. Of the theory, 80 per cent is examined and 20 per cent is assessed. At Sussex, the ratio of exams to coursework is 60:40; at Southampton and Liverpool, 80:20; at Bristol, 75:25

How cool is it? It's not, though it should be. The chemical industry is easily Britain's most successful manufacturing industry. And the subject is expected to undergo a renaissance. When the Genome Project is complete, new areas of biotechnology will open up and chemists will be in demand.

What A-levels do you need? Chemistry plus two other subjects. Physics and maths are usually preferred, though two other sciences will be accepted. Most places will accept geography as a science. So, you can get in with A-levels in, say, chemistry, Spanish and geography

What grades? At Bristol: BBB; Southampton: ABB (from 320 UCAS points); Leeds: BBC with a B in chemistry; at Sussex: BBB. CCC for a BSc and BBC for an MChem at Liverpool.

Will you be interviewed? Yes, at most places. Liverpool give informal interviews.

Will it keep you off the dole? Yes. Many students go on to higher degrees. Some go into industry, where they use their chemistry; others go into jobs where they use their science background but not directly, eg in finance, management, sales, journalism or insurance. Starting salaries are good: £20,000 in the pharmaceutical industry.

What do students say? Josh Rowlands, 20 studying for BSc Chemistry at Bristol. “The course offers a lot of choice. In the first year only one third is chemistry, the rest is open units. The standards of teaching are high. Some of the tutorials are good and a few of the tutors are very passionate about their subject.”

Araminta Ledger, going into her 2nd year of BSc Chemistry at Exeter. “All my tutors are quite young and enthusiastic. They bring their research projects into lectures so it is all very up-to-date. It is a diverse course with lots of different areas you can choose to go into.”

Where's best for teaching? Imperial, the Open University, Nottingham Trent, Bristol, Cambridge, Durham, Hull, Leeds, Leicester, Manchester, Nottingham, Oxford, Southampton, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Glasgow Caledonian, Robert Gordon, St Andrew's, Strathclyde, Bangor and Cardiff were rated excellent.

Where's best for research? Bristol, Cambridge, Durham, Imperial, Oxford and UCL scored tip-top 5*; Birmingham, UEA, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Nottingham, Sheffield, Southampton, Sussex, Warwick, York, Edinburgh and St. Andrews got a 5; Bath, Exeter, Hull, King’s, Leicester, Loughborough, UMIST, Newcastle, Reading, Glasgow, Heriot-Watt, Strathclyde, Swansea, Cardiff and Queen’s Belfast received a 4.

Where's the cutting edge? Atmospheric chemistry at Leeds; materials and polymers at Sussex; surface science, new anti-malarial drugs, materials and medicinal chemistry at Liverpool.

Who are the stars? Nobel Prize winner Professor Harry Kroto at Sussex. He discovered the carbon footballs or fullerenes. Another Nobel Prize winner, also at Sussex, is John Cornforth, a Royal Society professor. At Bristol, Professor Stephen Mann, for work on biomemetic materials, and Dr Andrew Orr-Ewing for atmospheric chemistry. At Leeds, Professor Ron Grigg, who discovered a novel method for showing up fingerprints. At Southampton, Professor Mark Bradley, who has just won lots of money for a new building for combinatorial chemistry. Professors Mathew Rosseinsky, Andrew Cooper, Rasmita Raval and Paul O’Neill at Liverpool.

Related courses: Chemical and pharmaceutical sciences at Sunderland; chemistry with languages, with management studies, and with pharmacology at Leeds; chemistry with law, management, education studies, North American studies and European languages at Sussex; chemistry and maths at Southampton. Strathclyde offer biomolecular and medicinal chemistry, forensic and analytical chemistry or study it along with a teaching qualification or with instrumental analysis. Loughborough offer a medicinal and pharmaceutical chemistry BSc or you can combine it with analytical chemistry, forensic analysis, sports science or with a foundation year. At Kings partner it with a year abroad or in industry or with management or philosophy of science. At Liverpool study it with oceanography if you don’t want too much physical chemistry. Sheffield offer chemistry with enterprise management or a year abroad in Japan, Australia and North America along with other combinations.

Added value: As part of Southampton's MChem, you can do a six-month placement in industry or six months in research. In an effort to boost the subject, Oxford has a virtual lab you can tap into and do experiments. Try it on www.chem.ox.ac.uk/vrchemistry