Theory and Modelling in Chemical Sciences

You will also select five optional courses from a choice of:

• Quantum Mechanics
• Statistical Mechanics
• Mathematics 1
• Statistics
• Computer Programming and Numerical Methods
• Methods of Computer Simulation
• Electronic Structure Theory
• Software Development Training.

In addition, you will also be required to undertake two six-week projects, one at Oxford and one at either Bristol or Southampton University, and each project will be assessed based on a report that you will write.

The compulsory and optional courses are assessed in various ways detailed on the course website. If you are successful in the first-year assessments, you will be awarded an MSc, and you may transition to the DPhil or PhD in one of the three participating institutions. A termly report is submitted by your supervisor throughout the course. After seven terms you must pass Transfer of Status, which is to ensure that you do have the potential to gain a doctorate.

Research proceeds with termly reporting throughout the next two years, and there is the opportunity to follow further courses during this period. By the end of the third year you must pass Confirmation of Status, which is to ensure that you are on track to complete the thesis within a reasonable time.