Chemistry

Course detail Description

Our Chemistry BSc will provide you with a comprehensive theoretical and practical understanding of chemistry preparing you for a professional life in the ever-changing environment of 21st century chemistry. To achieve these goals, our course integrates the teaching of chemistry foundations with the application of chemistry principles and techniques using examples taken from the very broad range of chemical and biomedical research and practice at King’s.

The course starts with the principles of physical, organic and inorganic chemistry, with additional maths, to ensure you can successfully handle advanced physical and computational chemistry. It incorporates an integrated laboratory course that brings together the different strands of chemistry and applies them to a range of chemical systems.

Our academics have expertise in a number of research areas, including the development of the full range of modern in vivo imaging techniques, enzyme biomimics, biomolecular spectroscopy, computational methods, materials science and nanotechnology, pharmaceutical sciences from drug discovery to drug delivery, analytical, green and sustainable chemistry, and a wide range of developmental and cell biology.

Transferring between courses:

Students on the BSc and MSci courses do the same first three years, which includes project-driven laboratory practicals in Year 3 (introduced in Year 2). Students wanting a general Chemistry degree, for instance to progress to teaching, journalism, management and similar careers, will usually opt for the BSc degree. However, if you want a full-research experience that introduces you to current areas of intensive chemical research you should choose the MSci degree, which involves an additional year. To do this you would normally require marks in Year 3 equivalent to a 2:1 or above. Transfer between these two degrees is possible up to and including the third year.

Transfer from the Chemistry MSci/BSc degrees, to the Chemistry with Biomedicine MSci/BSc degrees, is also possible up to and including the first term of the second year.

Year’s Professional Placement:

Students on the Chemistry and Chemistry with Biomedicine BSc/MSci courses are also able to transfer to the corresponding ‘with a Year’s Professional Placement’ course after their second year providing they meet the academic requirements and gain one of the competitive year-long internships. This will add an extra year to the course, making a BSc 4 years and an MSci 5 years.

Study Abroad:

This is a pathway available for students to transfer into and spend their third year, or a semester of their third year, studying at a partner institution before returning to King’s to study the fourth year. Students must obtain an average of 60 per cent in the first year of their course, and sustain an average of 59 per cent in the second year to progress to Study Abroad in the third year.

If the MSci and Year’s Professional Placement courses are of interest, please refer to the course listing for details on content, fees and visas.

Teaching is led by the Chemistry Department. You will also be taught by chemists whose chemical expertise is embedded within different faculties of King’s.

You are expected to spend approximately 10 hours work per credit for each module you attend in your degree, e.g. 150 hours work for a 15 credit module. These hours cover every aspect of the module: lectures, workshops, laboratory sessions, independent study, coursework and preparation for examinations.

You will be primarily assessed through written examination at the end of each year, but also through in-course tests and coursework.

One of the characteristics of our courses is the variety of assessment methods across all years of study, including essays, poster design and presentation, short talks and reports. The nature of assessment varies by module.

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Structure

• Year 1
• Year 2
• Year 3

Year 1

Courses are divided into modules. Each year you will normally take modules totaling 120 credits.

King’s College London reviews the modules offered on a regular basis to provide up-to-date, innovative and relevant programmes of study. Therefore, modules offered may change. We suggest you keep an eye on the course finder on our website for updates.

You are required to take:

• Integrated Chemistry Laboratory 1 (15 credits)
• Integrated Chemistry Laboratory 2 (15 credits)
• General Chemistry (15 credits)
• Organic Chemistry 1 (15 credits)
• Organic Chemistry 2 (15 credits)
• Physical Chemistry 1 (15 credits)
• Inorganic Chemistry 1 (15 credits)
• Mathematics for Chemists (15 credits)

Year 2 Required Modules

You are required to take:

• Integrated Chemistry Laboratory 3 (15 credits)
• Integrated Chemistry Laboratory 4 (15 credits)
• Organic Chemistry 3 (15 credits)
• Inorganic Chemistry 2 (15 credits)
• Physical Chemistry 2 (15 credits)
• Physical Chemistry 3 (15 credits)
• Chemistry in Cells (15 credits)

In addition, you are required to take 15 credits from a range of optional modules that may typically include:

• Nano-scale & Extended Systems (15 credits)
• Protein Structure & Function (15 credits)

Year 3 Required Modules

You are required to take:

• Research Methods (30 credits)
• Catalysis (15 credits)
• Advanced Analytical Chemistry (15 credits)
• Advanced Topics in Synthesis & Reactivity (15 credits)
• Advanced Topics in Physical & Computational Chemistry (15 credits)

In addition, you are required to take 30 credits from a range of optional modules, which may typically include:

• Chemistry of Disease & Therapy (15 credits)
• Molecular Biology in Chemistry (15 credits)
• Advanced Topics in Chemistry 1 (15 credits)
• Advanced Topics in Chemistry 2 (15 credits)