Materials Chemistry MChem (Honours) 2022 entry

The MChem (Hons) in Materials Chemistry seeks to develop an understanding of the interrelationships between the composition, structure, microstructure and properties of matter in order to design and develop new materials. Examples may include: semiconductor processing and fabrication; materials for energy and IT; biomaterials; catalyst materials; ‘smart coatings’; and nanotechnology.

The MChem allows you to study the subject at great depth with a significant emphasis on research, combined in a single five-year programme, graduating with a Masters degree. The course is designed to give you the best possible training for a career in chemistry and is tailored for those intending to enter the professional chemical sector or to carry out postgraduate study.

Students can also take Materials Chemistry as a standard four-year BSc degree.

Accreditation

All single Honours Chemistry degree programmes are accredited by the Royal Society of Chemistry.

How to apply Register your interest

UCAS code

F200 (MChem), F113 (MChem with external placement)

Course type

Master in Chemistry (Integrated Masters degree)

Course duration

Five years full time

Start date: 5 September 2022
End date: 30 June 2027

Entry requirements

These grades are the overall standards required to consider you for entry. Find out more about Standard, Minimum and Gateway entry requirements using academic entry explained and see which entry requirements you need to look at using the entry requirements indicator.

- Standard entry grades: AAAAB, including A in Chemistry and an A in one other subject from the following:
  - Biology (or Human Biology)
  - Computing Science
  - Economics
  - Geography
  - Mathematics
  - Physics.
- Minimum entry grades: AABB, including A in Chemistry and an A in one other subject from the following:
  - Biology (or Human Biology)
  - Computing Science
  - Economics
  - Geography
  - Mathematics
  - Physics.
- Gateway entry grades: BBBB
- Standard entry grades: AAA, including A in Chemistry.
- Minimum entry grades: ABB, including A in Chemistry.
- Standard entry grades: 38 (HL 6,6,6), including HL6 in Chemistry and HL6 in one of the following subjects:
  - Biology
  - Computer Science
  - Economics
  - Geography
  - Mathematics
  - Physics.
- Minimum entry grades: 36 (HL 6,5,5), including HL6 in Chemistry and HL5 in one of the following subjects:
  - Biology
  - Computer Science
  - Economics
  - Geography
  - Mathematics
  - Physics.

We accept a wide range of qualifications for entry on to our programmes, please see our entry requirements for more information.

Direct entry to second year

Well-qualified school leavers may be able to apply for admission directly into the second year of this course.

International applicants

If English is not your first language, you will need to provide an English language test score to evidence your English language ability. Find out more about English language requirements.

How to apply

Do I need to have studied this subject before?

Applicants must have studied Chemistry at SQA Higher, GCE A-Level, or equivalent. Preference may be given to candidates offering strong science qualifications.

General entry requirements

All applicants must have attained the following qualifications, or equivalent, in addition to the specific entry requirements for individual programmes.

SQA National 5 (B) in English and one SQA National 5 (B) from the following:
- Biology
- Chemistry
- Computing science
- Geography
- Lifeskills Mathematics (A grade)
- Mathematics
- Physics
- Psychology.
GCSE (5) in English language or English literature, and one GCSE (5) from the following:
- Biology
- Chemistry
- Computing Science
- Geography
- Mathematics
- Physics
- Psychology.

Other qualifications

More information on how to apply via other entry routes or accreditation of prior learning and experience can be found on the University’s entry requirements web page.

Reputation

The School of Chemistry was ranked third in Scotland by the Complete University Guide 2022.

The School of Chemistry is determined to actively support equality and fairness irrespective of race, disability, age, faith, gender or sexual orientation and is taking active steps to stamp out any explicit or implicit discrimination of staff and students on the basis of these differences.

The University of St Andrews as a whole was voted top in the UK for student academic experience in The National Student Survey 2021. More than 93% of St Andrews final-year students gave the University top marks for the quality of the learning and teaching experience.

In the UK Research Excellence Framework 2014, chemistry research at St Andrews was ranked top in Scotland with 95% of its overall research activity rated as world leading or internationally excellent.

Video transcript

- If you're thinking of applying to St Andrews, you definitely should.

It's so rewarding. There are so many things you can do here.

Although it's a small town, the opportunities are completely endless.

>>FIONA: St Andrew's location is stunning. A small seaside town on the east coast of Scotland.

>>PROFESSOR JUDITH WOLFE: Close enough to places like Edinburgh, and frankly to all of Europe. We are connected while also being our own place.

>>HENRY: For me, the best thing about St Andrews is the fact that it's such a small town, but yet it's got so many different opportunities within it.

>>THOMAS: Whether it's the societies or the sports clubs that you can get involved with. It's so much more than just academia.

>>DR JAMES RAE: St Andrews is a fantastic place to study because you get a university that has a strong research focus, but it's also a university that really values its teaching. We do that through having small class sizes, and through, I think, a really, a kind of strong community feel.

>>AABIYAH: The lecturers are really, really helpful. There's not this kind of hierarchy or anything. Everyone's really, really friendly and everyone's really trying to help out.

>>PROFESSOR KISHAN DHOLAKIA: Why does a person go to University? They want to expand their mind. They want to push the boundaries of what they know from a personal level and an academic level. It's not just education, it's research. Because they want to go to a place that is pushing the frontiers of human knowledge.

>>DR DHARINI BALASUBRAMANIAM: We look for people who are willing to question what they are taught and willing to explore their subject in depth.

- We want people who are curious, who are motivated, who want to understand the world around them, and then apply that to make ideally the world a better place.

>>PROFESSOR CLARE PEDDIE: The University degree at St Andrews reflects the Scottish degree system. Students coming into first and second year can take subjects outside their intended degree specialisation and then specialise in their degree subjects in third, and fourth, and possibly fifth year.

- It just offers an opportunity to explore new subjects and it's kind of changed my way of thinking.

>>MARKUS: It really helped me to just explore different things and try out everything.

- St Andrews has a really big feel.

-You really get to know everyone. You see a lot of people that you know and you recognise.

>>RACHEL: Hall life plays such a big part in St Andrews. Living in halls has such a wonderful atmosphere.

>>SHUTONG: It is a really tight community.

- You get a lot of different students, you get to meet a lot of different people which you normally wouldn't meet.

- We come from very different educational backgrounds, so, therefore, we're all gonna have a different point of view. So, you know, you're not gonna have people that agree with you all the time or they're gonna pick up on things that you don't necessarily pick up on.

>>DR STEPHEN TYRE: With a St Andrews degree you can almost do anything because the skills that you learn here are attractive to employers.

>>PROFESSOR FRANK LORENZ MULLER: Our students go into all kinds of professional careers, whether that's the law, whether that's financial services, whether that's civil service or government. Many of them also go into further study.

- Our students tend to be in great demand from employers. We have companies that see character in graduates.

- The skills that students get here allow our students to be successful at getting jobs, and they seem to be equipped very well for a wide range of jobs.

- If you're thinking of applying, do it. Absolutely do it. It's been one of the best decisions that I've made.

>>SARA: St Andrews really isn't a place to be afraid of, but going to college is scary, because you don't know what you're gonna have when you get there, but it's really great here because it's so easy to feel like you have everything.

Course information

The MChem in Materials Chemistry is a five-year Integrated Masters course run by the School of Chemistry. During the course, you will develop an awareness and appreciation of the latest advances in materials chemistry in addition to the fundamentals of the subject. You will receive a high level of general intellectual and scientific training which allows many graduates to enter challenging careers in areas not directly related to chemistry.

In the first two years, you will take modules in organic, inorganic and physical chemistry.

Alongside chemistry, in the first year of your studies you will be required to study an additional two subjects. In the second year, you will usually carry on at least one of these subjects, sometimes two. Find out more about how academic years are organised.

The knowledge and skills in research and analysis that you gain during the sub-honours years will prepare you to undertake more advanced and specialist modules during your final three (Honours) years. These specialist subjects include (but are not limited to):

energy conversion and storage
functional materials
materials analysis
materials processing.

In your fourth year, you will have the opportunity to apply for an external placement in a leading industrial laboratory either in the UK or overseas. The School of Chemistry will assist you in applying for a placement.

During your final year, you will also carry out a research project in one of the School’s highly rated research groups on a topic chosen in consultation with staff.

The University of St Andrews operates on a flexible modular degree system by which degrees are obtained through the accumulation of credits. More information on the structure of the modules system can be found on the flexible degree structure web page.

Well-qualified school leavers may be able to apply for admission directly into the second year of this course.

Students can also take Materials Chemistry as a standard four-year BSc degree.

Modules

In the first two years of your degree (sub-honours level), you will take the required modules in chemistry alongside modules in at least one other subject.

Typically, you will take one or two chemistry modules per semester during your first two years, and four to six per semester during your third, fourth and fifth years (Honours level). Find out more about the modular Scottish degree system.

Students will take the following compulsory first-year modules:

Introductory Inorganic and Physical Chemistry: covers origin of the elements and the periodic table, atomic structure, shapes and properties of molecules, chemistry of the elements, properties of solutions, thermochemistry, thermodynamics and kinetics, and mathematical tools for chemistry.
Inorganic and Physical Chemistry 1: covers bonding in simple molecules, inorganic solids, chemistry of the first-row transition metals, properties of solids, states of matter, and introductory spectroscopy.
Organic and Biological Chemistry 1: covers the structure and nomenclature of simple organic compounds, basic stereochemistry, fundamental organic reaction mechanisms, organic functional groups and their reactions, introductory bioorganic chemistry, and organic spectroscopy.

Each of the compulsory sub-honours modules in chemistry involves a mixture of lecture-based and practical teaching.

Students will take the following compulsory second-year modules:

Inorganic Chemistry 2: covers metal complexes and organometallics, descriptive transition-metal chemistry, atmospheric chemistry, solid-state chemistry and descriptive main-group chemistry.
Organic Chemistry 2: covers methods for carbon-carbon bond formation and interconversion of functional groups, aromatic and heteroaromatic reactivity, retrosynthetic analysis, mechanistic biological chemistry and organic spectroscopy.
Physical Chemistry 2: covers quantum mechanics, thermodynamics and electrochemistry, chemical kinetics, molecular spectroscopy and diffraction, and advanced mathematical tools for chemistry.

Each of the compulsory sub-honours modules in chemistry involves a mixture of lecture-based and practical teaching.

If you decide to take materials chemistry in your third year, you choose from a wide variety of advanced options, including modules ranging from physical inorganic chemistry to quantum theory of atoms, molecules and solids.

Examples of Materials Chemistry Honours modules that have been offered in previous years include:

Chemistry of Materials
Introduction to Analysis of Materials
Quantum Theory of Atoms, Molecules and Solids
Statistical Mechanics and Computational Chemistry.

During fourth year, you will have the opportunity to work on a placement outside St Andrews for up to 12 months. This is a great chance to gain experience in industry and to add value to your CV at the same time.

Typically, you may join a research and development group within a leading research laboratory and receive a salary for the duration of your placement. It is also possible for the placement to be carried out in an overseas academic institution.

The School has links with many large and small companies and will assist students in CV preparation, interview techniques and making placement applications. Some of the companies that students from St Andrews have completed placements with recently include:

Agfa (Mortsel, Belgium)
AkzoNobel (Sassenheim, The Netherlands)
AstraZeneca (UK)
BASF (Ludwigshafen, Germany)
BP (UK)
DSM (Amsterdam, Netherlands)
GlaxoSmithKline (UK)
Johnson Matthey (UK)
Roche (Basel, Switzerland)
Rolls Royce (UK)
SINTEF (Norway).

Alternatively, you have the choice to complete the MChem without doing an external placement, and will take lectures and practical modules during your fourth year at St Andrews instead.

During fifth year, you will take advanced research-led modules in your chosen specialist area. Advanced modules offered in the past include:

Chemical Applications of Electronic Structure Calculations
Energy Conversion and Storage
Nanostructured Materials
Processing of Materials
Surface Science and Heterogeneous Catalysis.

Students will also undertake a substantial research project in their final year on a topic chosen in consultation with academic staff. The project aims to develop your skills in experimental design and problem-solving, the evaluation and interpretation of data, independent working, and both oral and written communication.

The compulsory modules listed here must be taken in order to graduate in this subject. However, most students at St Andrews take additional modules, either in their primary subject or from other subjects they are interested in. For Honours level, students choose from a range of Honours modules, some of which are listed above. A full list of all modules appropriate to the programme for the current academic year can be found in the programme requirements.

Teaching

Teaching format

Chemistry is taught through a combination of lectures (80 to 200 students) and labs (20 to 50 students), which are supplemented by small group tutorials (5 to 10 students). Class sizes decrease significantly at Honours level.

All lecture courses have online support materials, and additional teaching support is given for selected topics, such as mathematics.

When not attending lectures, tutorials and labs, you will be expected to continue learning independently through self-study. Typically, this will involve:

working on individual and group projects
undertaking research in a laboratory
undertaking research in the library
preparing coursework assignments and presentations
preparing for examinations.

You will be taught by an experienced teaching team of world-leading academics and specialists in materials chemistry. Postgraduate research students who have undertaken training may also contribute to the teaching of practical classes under the supervision of the module leader.

You can find contact information for all chemistry staff on the School of Chemistry website.

In addition to your studies in the School of Chemistry, optional academic support is available through practical study skills courses and workshops hosted within the University.

The University’s Student Services team can help students with additional needs resulting from disabilities, long term medical conditions or learning disabilities. More information can be found on the students with disabilities web page.

Assessment

All sub-honours modules are assessed by 60% to 70% written examinations combined with 30% to 40% coursework covering laboratories, tutorials and transferable skills exercises.

For Honours modules, assessment is either by written examination for lecture-based modules, or by coursework (including written reports, oral presentations and oral examinations) for laboratory, workshop and research project modules.

Examinations are held at the end of each semester during a dedicated exam diet with revision time provided beforehand.

The School aims to provide feedback on assessments and coursework within three weeks to help you improve on future assessments.

Undergraduates at the University of St Andrews must achieve at least 7.0 on the St Andrews 20-point grade scale to pass a module. To gain access to Honours-level modules, students must achieve the relevant requisites as specified in the policy on entry to Honours and in the relevant programme requirements. Please note that some Schools offer qualified entry to Honours, and this will be clearly specified in the programme requirements. To find out the classification equivalent of points, please see the common reporting scale.

Meet us online

If you're interested in studying at St Andrews, join us on a visiting day or online information session to find out about our courses, how to apply, and to meet current students.

Virtual visiting days

Fees

Tuition fees for 2022 entry

Home-funded	Tuition fees for Scottish applicants have yet to be set for 2022 entry.
Rest of the UK	Tuition fees for applicants from the rest of the UK have yet to be set for 2022 entry.
Islands (Channel Islands, Isle of Man)	Tuition fees for Islands applicants have yet to be set for 2022 entry.
Overseas	Tuition fees for EU and overseas applicants have yet to be set for 2022 entry.

For overseas students, tuition fees will be fixed for the duration of your programme.

More information about tuition fees can be found on the undergraduate fees and funding page.

Accommodation fees

Find out about accommodation fees for University accommodation.

Funding and scholarships

The University of St Andrews offers a number of scholarships and support packages to undergraduate students each year.

Your future

Careers

St Andrews chemistry graduates have an employment rate of over 95% and are in demand by large multinational and grassroots companies alike. Chemistry degrees provide a range of highly desirable skills that are prized by employers across numerous sectors, including:

problem-solving
numeracy
data handling
teamwork
oral and written communication.

St Andrews chemistry graduates move into a wide range of employment both in the materials, chemical and allied industries, as well as sectors outside physical sciences. Many MChem graduates continue on to PhD-level degrees both in the UK and overseas.

The Careers Centre offers one-to-one advice to all students as well as a programme of events to assist students to build their employability skills.

Study abroad

Chemistry students can apply to participate in the University-wide St Andrews Abroad programme. Chemistry students are only able to study abroad for the full academic year (semester placements are not available). For information about study abroad options, please see the study abroad site.

Working abroad

Completing a work placement abroad is a good opportunity to gain work experience in another culture or language and to enhance valuable skill sets. As part of specific degree programmes in chemistry, you may apply to undertake a work placement abroad for credit.

Student life

The School of Chemistry at the University of St Andrews offers a unique experience, blending education in state-of-the-art science facilities while enjoying the traditions of an ancient university in a historic and picturesque setting.

The relatively small size of the School's undergraduate chemistry cohort fosters a nurturing and nourishing environment where students have frequent contact with world-class academics. The School of Chemistry is ranked as one of the top chemistry departments in the UK, and is known for the personal and flexible nature of its undergraduate chemistry programmes.

The School is located in the Purdie Building in the North Haugh on the western edge of town. This building offers recently upgraded lecture theatres and seminar rooms, as well as state-of-the-art teaching laboratories for chemistry.

The town of St Andrews itself has lots to offer. As University buildings are located throughout the town, walking around you encounter ancient and modern buildings, parks and beaches, providing a rich, beautiful backdrop to learning. Find out more about the town of St Andrews.

Find out more about student life at the University of St Andrews.

“In my first year I found the amount of one-on-one time with the lecturers was amazing and having weekly tutorials was very helpful. The teaching laboratories allowed me to become proficient in not only my favourite branch of chemistry – organic - but also in computational, physical, and inorganic. If you want to go to a place where you can meet people from all around the world of different cultures and backgrounds, then you can find it here in St Andrews.”

Tommy (Missouri, USA)

Contact

School of Chemistry
University of St Andrews
North Haugh
St Andrews
KY16 9ST

Phone: +44 (0)1334 46 3800
Email: chemistry@st-andrews.ac.uk

School of Chemistry

Policies

Admission to the University of St Andrews is governed by our admissions policy.

Information about all programmes from previous years of entry can be found in the archive.

Curriculum development

As a research intensive institution, the University ensures that its teaching references the research interests of its staff, which may change from time to time. As a result, programmes are regularly reviewed with the aim of enhancing students' learning experience. Our approach to course revision is described online.

Tuition fees

The University will clarify compulsory fees and charges it requires any student to pay at the time of offer. The offer will also clarify conditions for any variation of fees. The University’s approach to fee setting is described online.

Discover Uni

Discover Uni provides official statistics about higher education courses taken from national surveys and data collected from universities and colleges about all their students. You can use this data to compare information for different degree programmes to help you make a decision about what and where to study.