BSc (Hons) Chemistry with a Year Abroad Bachelor's degree at the University of Kent

Embark on a fascinating journey into the heart of matter with our Fundamentals of Chemistry module, designed to ignite your curiosity and lay the foundations for your understanding of the chemical world. Delve into the fundamental principles that govern the behaviour of atoms and molecules, explore the mysteries of chemical reactions, and investigate the endless possibilities that chemistry offers in shaping our world. From understanding atomic structure to unraveling the complexities of bonding

Tackles big questions How do chemical and technological processes shape and influence the natural world? What can we as chemists do to tackle environmental challenges? As a burgeoning chemist, you will explore how chemical processes shape and influence the world around us. By fostering an understanding of environmental chemistry alongside essential skills in scientific communication, data analysis, and ethical conduct, this module equips you with the tools you need to tackle pressing environment

Why do we make molecules? Why does nature make molecules? What do these molecules do? What makes carbon so vital to life? What makes one molecule a medicine and another a poison? You'll start your journey in organic chemistry by answering some of these questions. We'll introduce you to the basics of fundamental organic chemistry, looking at the structures of carbon-based molecules and how they can be put together in millions of different ways. We'll see how they bond with other elements to give

How do the elements vary across the periodic table? How can we utilise these variation to optimise the reactivity of compounds and their physical properties as is required by modern society? This module gives you an understanding of how the variation in bonding across the periodic table leads to predictable and useful trends in structure and properties. The key properties of the transition metals are explored; this will enable you to understand how their fascinating and versatile properties aris

What drives a chemical reaction? How can we control chemical reactions? And why is it important to control chemical reactions? We discuss the key ideas of thermodynamics and kinetics in a chemical context. It shows how the universe may be understood in terms of the flow of energy, allowing us to understand what transformations are possible and how fast they will occur. These essential physical principles are then applied to real world phenomena, showing that even the most fundamental theories ha

Practising chemists are respected for their ability to understand complex theory, and test it experimentally. This module guides you through the introductory stages of your journey to competency in applied experimental chemistry. Comprising a rigorous set of practical experiences, you'll gain a robust understanding of core practical chemistry skills, from working hands-on skillfully in the wet laboratory, to venturing into the modern world of coding and computation. Along the way you'll explore

Why is analytical chemistry important within the chemical and forensic industries? What approaches should we take when considering the chemical analysis of an unknown sample? Analytical chemistry is essential throughout the chemical and forensic world - covering not only how we design experiments to understand the composition of unknown samples, but also how we confirm and quantify results and assign a level of confidence to our findings. This module takes a pragmatic, application-driven approac

Do you want to know more about the structure of DNA and how its structure has evolved to provide the building blocks of life? Have you wondered why different drugs behave in different ways inside our bodies? How do we create new treatments and therapies to tackle disease? This module introduces you to the key ideas and fundamental molecular components of biochemistry. You'll look at simple biomolecules and non-covalent interactions, building up to biological oligomers before you are introduced t

Organic Chemistry is the science of making molecules. Understanding organic reactions helps scientists invent new drugs, discover eco-friendly materials, and decode the language of life. This module builds upon your knowledge of structure and reactivity and applies it in the context organic synthesis, molecular design, reaction mechanisms. You'll dive deeper into learning about creating more challenging target molecules from simple ones; along with industry-standard techniques to identify and fo

Explore the fascinating interplay between transition metals, organic molecules, and main group elements, unlocking the secrets behind some of the most pivotal chemical transformations shaping our world. From unraveling the intricate mechanisms of catalysis to harnessing the catalytic power of transition metal complexes, you'll delve deep into the frontiers of chemical innovation. You'll also gain an understanding of the rich structural and chemical diversity of inorganic solid-state compounds th

Why do atoms and molecules behave the way they do? How can we understand the intricate dance of electrons and nuclei at the quantum level? What impact do these insights have on shaping the molecules of the future? In this module, you'll explore the core principles of quantum chemistry and molecular spectroscopy, two pillars of modern chemistry that illuminate the intricacies of matter at its most fundamental level. Starting with the foundational postulates of quantum mechanics and the wavefuncti

The modern practical chemist must operate successfully across the range of chemical disciplines, applying core chemical knowledge to a range of unfamiliar problems. You'll venture through a diverse and challenging range of practical and theoretical experiences, conducting experiments across many disciplines to illustrate the multi-faceted, versatile, and employable characteristics of a practising chemist. By the end of this module you'll be more confident working alone and in groups to carry out

Modern Chemistry and Forensic Science rely heavily on a suite of chromatographic and spectroscopic techniques. But which of these should we apply for our particular cutting-edge chemical research, or to obtain the specific, precise and robust forensic evidence we require? This module builds upon your knowledge of fundamental concepts and methods to understand the specificity, advantages and limitations of these more advanced techniques, and explore approaches to best apply them across a broad ra

What types of functional properties do solids exhibit? How can these be harnessed to address key global challenges, such as enabling the ongoing data revolution and reducing our dependance on polluting energy sources in the future? Gain an understanding of how such functional properties work, the types of inorganic materials that can be used for them and how these can be made and characterised.